On August 18th Target will release its second quarter 2009 earnings report.  This report will be followed by a conference call with analysts later in the morning.  Target stock had an amazing July, rallying with the stock market ending the month up nearly 13 percent giving it a YTD return of over 26 percent.  This puts the stock at its highest levels since early October 2008 right before it went into a free fall with the rest of the stock market.  The company is still pushing expansion and hopes to open over 20 new stores in the upcoming year.  That’s a significant amount in a an economy mired in unemployment and recession, but management remains confident in its growth plans.