Here's TMFBent's pointless poser of the day: Is the bloody clubbing over at Wet Seal
Personally, I'm leaning toward the latter.
Yes, Wet Seal has been "turning around" so long that its original customers are moving into support hose. The dismal, 8%-ish comps drop it's expecting for September seems extreme, even for an also-ran. Besides, late last month, we got similarly bad news from much stronger companies, including Target
The plausible cause is plain to see. The real estate market continues to crumble. In fact, it's crumbling faster now than it was over the summer. Industrial indicators haven't looked good over the past week, either. You'd never know it, to judge by the action in stocks, but slower economic growth looks guaranteed. Given that early retail results seem to confirm a consumer-spending slowdown as well, I'm pretty sure now isn't the time to bid up retailers.
Nor am I heartened by recent executive exits. From my rats leaving (sinking?) ships file: I've got some serious doubts about upcoming numbers from Coldwater Creek
I continue to hold retailers, but only the strong ones, like American Eagle Outfitters