Wal-Mart joins crowd of chains not reporting monthly sales

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Few retailers these days have an appetite for telling the world how their stores are faring each month, and now Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is joining the crowd.

When retail chains report May sales Thursday, the world's largest retailer for the first time won't be among them. Wal-Mart said it wants to encourage Wall Street to take a longer-term view of the company, and so from now on it will be reporting sales quarterly.

The move comes as analysts are predicting another down month for the retail industry, and getting a handle on consumer behavior becomes increasingly difficult.

Wal-Mart's decision is vexing because it accounts for 15 percent of retail industry sales, according to an estimate from Credit Suisse, the New York-based investment bank.

Interesting.