JC Penney's Cuts Earnings Projections By 33%

A further sign of the weakening economy---budget retailer JC Penney's is struggling. Click here for the NY Times article (click) Here is an excerpt:

But consumers are not biting — and, on Friday, J. C. Penney sharply cut its earnings forecast for the first three months of the year, by 33 percent, blaming the tough economy.

That fresh sign of distress in American retailing was reinforced by a report from the Commerce Department that consumer spending remained stagnant in February, growing at the slowest pace in more than a year because of the housing slump and a weak job market.

The dour economic data helped push all three major stock indexes down on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 86.06 points, to 12,216.40. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 10.54 points, to 1,315.22, while the Nasdaq composite index dropped 19.65 points, to 2,261.18

The slowdown at J. C. Penney bodes poorly for a wide range of retailers — and its profit warning appeared to drag down shares of Nordstrom (off 6 percent), Macy’s (6 percent) and Kohl’s (5 percent).