I doubt there's any one sector which has stunk up my P&L more this year than retail – – particularly specialty retail. I know the symbols by heart – – ANN, XRT, RTH, WMT, SKS, WSM, COH – – and, having been burned far too often, now just avoid them altogether.
The intuitive side of retail would seem pretty grim; specifically:
+ High and persistent unemployment
+ The "new austerity" supposedly garnered in by The Great Recession
+ The increasing benefits costs for employees
The stock charts don't lie, however, and the ever-ascending prices for Anyone That Sells Anything seems to defy all the above. The chart for Williams-Sonoma, shown below, is pretty much what all retail stocks look like: an enormous and explosive skyrocket from the year-ago base. It doesn't make sense, but I've had enough of retail and its machinations.
