Article: Wal-Mart, Urban Outfitters had strong December sales.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Major retailers reported Thursday a wide range of sales results for December, reflecting their ability to draw customers to their stores with discounts during the holiday selling season.

Wal-Mart and Urban Outfitters posted some of the strongest sales increases, while a number of department store chains recorded losses.

Companies were helped during their busiest time of the year by having four weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas _ including three full shopping days before Dec. 25 _ to stage a flurry of sales, company executives and analysts said.

Analysts said they considered many retailers' results to be fairly good, given the forecasts ...

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