October Sales: Ignore at Your Own Peril

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- October, a retail month once all-but ignored, is becoming a bigger barometer for the holiday season.

As shoppers start their search for discounts earlier this year, October is no longer the lull-and-clearance month it once was, back when retailers merely used it to prepare for the carnage known as Black Friday.

Good thing, then, that same-store sales for the month, which are due out on Thursday, are generally expected to beat expectations.

In the last week of the month, chain store sales inched up 0.1%, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. On a year-over-year basis, sales climbed 1.9%, a slower pace than in the weeks prior.

"Sales momentum slowed at the end of the fiscal month of October, as weather turned warmer and wetter," Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist, said in a statement.

ICSC expects October same-store sales to be flat, with the potential for 1% growth. Meanwhile, UBS analyst Roxanne Meyer says we will even see many companies boost their third-quarter guidance.