This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback It’s been another week with far more retail news than there is time in the day. Below, we break down some things you may have missed during the week and what we’re still thinking about. From to Ikea’s falafel promotion to Bob’s Discount Furniture making its New York Stock Exchange debut, here’s our closeout for the week.What you may have missedAdidas opens first US soccer flagship With the World Cup landing in North America this summer,  ...

Market Performance - A-shares experienced a strong rebound on January 12, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising by 0.75% to 4151.14 points and the Shenzhen Component Index increasing by 1.31% to 14305.10 points, while the ChiNext Index rose by 1.17% to 3366.71 points [1] - The total trading volume in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets reached 2.31 trillion yuan, an increase of 245.5 billion yuan compared to the previous trading day [1] Sector Highlights - AI applications continued to surge, with stocks like Worth Buying and Guangyun Technology hitting the daily limit [1] - The commercial aerospace sector remained strong, with companies like Luxin Investment achieving 10 consecutive trading limits [1] - The photovoltaic sector was active, with Dongfang Risheng reaching a 20% limit up [1] - Retail concepts also saw gains, with Maoye Commercial and Sanjiang Shopping both hitting the daily limit [1] - In contrast, sectors such as oil and gas, and coal experienced significant declines [2] Institutional Insights - Huatai Securities noted that the A-share market continued to rise with increased trading volume, indicating a spring rally driven by heightened risk appetite [3] - The report suggested focusing on high-cost performance sectors, particularly in gaming, duty-free, batteries, engineering machinery, and agricultural chemicals [3] - CITIC Construction emphasized the rapid development of the AI industry, highlighting the potential for new application waves driven by advancements in model capabilities [3][4] Government Policy - The National Development and Reform Commission issued guidelines for government investment funds, marking the first systematic regulation on fund allocation and investment direction [5] - The guidelines emphasize supporting major strategic areas and fostering new pillar industries while avoiding investments in restricted or obsolete sectors [5] Storage Market Outlook - Counterpoint Research reported that the storage market has entered a "super bull market," with prices expected to rise by 40%-50% in Q1 2026 and an additional 20% in Q2 2026 due to surging demand from AI and server capacities [6][7]

Market Dynamics - Crypto market struggles to rally because most tokens are held by OG whales and retail investors [1] - Whales, having matured, are selling their holdings after substantial gains, primarily to institutions, as initially intended [1] - Retail investors are sentiment-driven, short-term oriented, emotional, and prone to panic selling [1] - Price movements are contingent on the supply shifting back to long-term holders [1] Investment Strategy - The market is undergoing a "Great Rotation," implying a shift in asset allocation towards long-term holders [1]

At the end of the day, crypto fails to pump because most tokens sit in two hands:- OG whales- RetailWhales grew up, started families, and are selling after massive gains. Mostly to institutions, as planned.Retail is sentiment-driven. Short-term. Emotional. Panic sellers.Price moves only when supply shifts again to long-term holders.That’s the Great Rotation.Everything else is post-factum justification. ...

“On cloud nine”: A young girl’s memorable shopping tour through FAO Schwarz is part of a new retail playbook for lifting bricks-and-mortar stores https://t.co/N7G0DFmWhp ...

Consumer Behavior & Market Trends - The consumer is stable but choiceful, carefully spending between events, a trend expected to continue through the holiday season [2] - Post-Turkey 5 holiday weekend sales drop-offs are expected to be deeper each year [3] - Retailers anticipate deeper discounts this year due to consumer price sensitivity [4] - The upcoming holiday season is expected to be the last before widespread use of AI in shopping [6] Retail Strategies & Profitability - Retailers are increasing prices to create cushion for deeper discounts during key events [5] - Retail media, such as selling advertisements, is becoming increasingly important for retailer profitability [9] - Retailers need to quickly adjust to a more competitive environment with commoditized pricing [7] Key Players & Competitive Advantage - Large, well-positioned players like Walmart, Home Depot, and Costco are leading in technology deployment [10] - Target is actively working to improve its performance, and the stock is considered favorable [10] Macroeconomic Factors - Macroeconomic uncertainty, including concerns about low to middle-income consumers and tariffs, exists alongside expectations for growth [1]

Industry Perspective - Traditional finance needs to stop acting so exclusive [1] - It thrives off retail [1]

Litecoin Distribution - Retail investors hold over 50% of all Litecoin in circulation [1] - The majority of Litecoin is held by average individuals, even with institutional investment [1] - Litecoin is described as a "blue collar working coin" held by individuals [1]

AI & Retail Industry Focus - AI agents are the next level of AI, bringing outcomes to retail environments, where operational efficiency is key due to slim margins and budgets [2] - Retailers need to implement AI but often don't know where to start; solutions like Wobot offer easy accessibility [3][4] - The industry emphasizes speed of service and frictionless online-to-offline experiences, making checkout experience optimization a high-ROI starting point [6] Wobot's Solution & Technology - Wobot's video agents on the edge minimize bandwidth throughput while leveraging existing infrastructure to deliver outcomes in retail [3] - Wobot offers 100 automated out-of-the-box use cases, turning existing infrastructure into business intelligence insights [5][6] - Wobot enables integration with other systems, correlating visual data with transactional data for multimodal analysis [7][8] - Wobot combines data sets like QoS transaction level data to understand customer behavior and its impact on sales [8] - Wobot provides trend-level and predictive analytics, enabling retailers to make informed decisions [9] - Wobot's AI allows a human-centric view, freeing humans from base-level tasks to focus on high-impact work [9]

Well, thank you for joining us uh to talk about the House of Sport. It's something you and I have talked about for a long time. It's a really, really big store and it's hard to get your head around it unless you're here, unless you're in the store, >> but because not everyone is able to be here with us today, can you describe a little bit about the House of Sport concept? What is it? Why is it important to Dick Sporting Goods? House of Sport is uh it's a concept that we started roughly nine years ago and uh ...