Free Republic

Smuggling illicit drugs across the U.S border is a lucrative business. From hiding hundreds of pounds of cocaine or marijuana in vehicles, funneling it through tunnels under fenced areas or shipping it across the Florida coastline, drug dealers based in countries like Mexico and Cuba are pretty inventive in finding ways to get their contraband past border agents and into the United States. So inventive, in fact, that U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that over the weekend, drug smugglers in Mexico used an air cannon to launch a pile of weed across the border into the U.S. According to...

Aeropostale used to be one of the most popular teen retailers. Cheaper than Abercrombie & Fitch, and less bohemian than American Eagle, the brand was the go-to for teens who still wanted to fit in with the trends. But those days are gone. The retailer has filed for bankruptcy protection, though it says it will be out of debt in six months. Last June, Crain's New York reported that the retailer lost 95% of its value in just five years. The brand has plans to close 113 stores in the US and all 41 stores in Canada. According to Reuters,...

Major retailers in the United States are shutting down hundreds of stores, and shoppers are reporting alarmingly bare shelves in many retail locations that are still open all over the country. It appears that the retail apocalypse that made so many headlines in 2015 has gone to an entirely new level as we enter 2016. As economic activity slows down and Internet retailers capture more of the market, brick and mortar retailers are cutting their losses. This is especially true in areas that are on the lower portion of the income scale. In impoverished urban centers all over the nation,...

Retailers reported mixed May same-store sales Thursday morning, but the chains in the IBD 100 list of the very best stocks based on fundamentals and technicals generally advanced. Aeropostale (ARO) IBD 100 rank: 93 The value teen apparel chain reported only a 1% same-store sales gain vs. a year earlier, but that defied forecasts for a modest decline. Shares of Aeropostale gapped 7% higher in early Thursday trading. The stock is still about 6% off