inventory

Occasionally, I play a grim game I call "Grab and Run" -- a mental exercise in which I plan which items I would take with me were I to flee an impending disaster. If a fire, flood, killer bee swarm or alien invasion happened right now, how prepared would you be?

Earnings season is near, and investors, as always are worried. Don't fret too much, though: Odds are that your company will come out on top on the bottom line -- because most do. But what will separate the winners from the whiners for the coming quarter? Here are the three key factors.

Retailers forecast that 2011 will be a year spent dealing with inflation, expanding stores and trying to wean shoppers off their markdown habit. Faced with rising costs that are pushing their prices higher, merchants say they have to focus on growing sales, regardless of the economic pressures.

Consumers reopened their wallets and manufacturers slashed inventories, indicating they're getting ready to ramp up production of more goods this year. Also contributing to growth were rising exports and falling imports. But just how good will 2011 prove to be?

As retailers wrapped up their earnings reports this week, most said they're back in cost-control mode and will tighten inventories after the holidays. Shoppers are still spending cautiously and costs are on the rise, so profits will have to be squeezed out of slowly rising sales.

On the heels of Intel's better-than-expected June quarter earnings report, the latest U.S. business inventories and import/export reports suggest the nation's economy slowed somewhat in the second quarter.

The East Coast heat wave is warming up more than sidewalks: It's also helping retailers shake up sales. Merchants are expected to report healthy numbers when they post their June sales figures Thursday, and several could update their second-quarter guidance as a result.

Shoppers looking to buy this season's most popular gifts may end up leaving stores with rain checks instead. It looks like retailers weren't kidding when they warned earlier this year that they were cutting back on inventory to avoid markdowns.

If you find that you've missed the holiday shipping deadlines or don't want to waste time and gas searching local stores for the perfect gift item, you're in luck. Milo, a new online search tool, will help you research and compare products and then find out which stores near you have them in stock....

Time was, all it took to get oil prices jumping was someone passing gas too loudly near a Nigerian refinery. Today Iran is test-firing missiles capable of hitting targets throughout the Middle East, and the oil market couldn't care less. It seems there's nothing like an oil glut to keep traders...