Foot it out of Federated and Sachet to Saks

After the quarterly earnings for first quarter 2007 are in, mid-tier stores like Federated Department Stores, which operates Macy's and Dillards Department Stores aren't looking so good, but Saks is looking as good as the merchandise it sells. While Dillards and Macy's were below investor expectations by 31.5% and 15.8% respectively, Saks was up 18.75%. This continues to show that Saks is highly focused on the right area for retail, and was probably very wise to sell off its mid-tier stores, at a premium I might add, as discussed in Saks Q1 Income Down 86%.

So, join the crowd and lets all Sachet to Saks like we own the place, which we should because they seem to be headed in the right direction!

Who doesn't want something Coach?

Coach, the all-American luxury leathergoods company has been around for years and is just exploding with growth. They have had 20 consecutive quarters with earnings of 10% or higher. Coach stock just dipped with the announcement of dropping the corporate accounts sector and poor margins in Japan. Regardless of these Coach is growing thanks in part to the economy of nations worldwide such as Japan, where they plan to open several stores in 2008. Coach has no debt, excellent products and has proven it can give a good ROI.

So, who doesn't want something Coach whether it be a purse, pair of shoes, or even some stock...you are getting good value for your money and won't regret it.

(Some information for this post is courtesy of "Cash-Rich Coach Still Cheap" on Forbes.com).

Go For the Gold with Tiffany's

Bear Stearns labeled Tiffany's stock 'buy' following an announced that Trian Fund Management LP has purchased a 5.54% stake. Today Tiffany stock closed at $52.61 and is projected to reach as high as $68 because of the recent purchase by the Trian Fund. This looks like a stock to get in now while it is still going up and see what happens and get out after making a quick return to your liking.

Saks Q1 income down 86%

Thats right Saks Department Stores (sks) net income for the 3 months ending May 5 dropped 86% mostly because of the gain of over $60 million when it sold of its mid-level stores (Parisian in Indianapolis) to focus on the luxury market. If you exlude the sale of the mid-level stores, same-store sales were actually up 14.4% (this is the key for management on performance). This shows that the luxury market is hot and companies want to focus on it where the margins are generally a lot better than mid-level or discount items. Information for this blog came from yahoo finance and the following page: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070521/earns_saks.html?.v=6.

Ralph Lauren Stock

Have you seen the price of Polo Ralph Lauren stock lately (ticker RL)? It closed today (5/15/07) at $92.19! This price is up from around $60 a year ago. What possibly could be causing the amazing increases? Check out the chart courtesy of AOL Money & Finance.