A Random Walk Through Retail

Could retail become a bargain? The combination of spectacular declines and unbelievable tax losses may be yielding something positive, although it sure is tough to find.

Most retail has overexpanded. The only retail that is coming out on top this year may be the trio of J. Crew (JCG - commentary - Cramer's Take), Guess! (GES - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Costco (COST - commentary - Cramer's Take), all of which have ample room to expand and don't have tax losses.

Up nice double digits, they could be potential markup candidates for those who stuck it out in retail.

JCG and GES are blessed by having zero housing exposure. Costco's just blessed by being the best there is.

I hear scattered willingness to buy J.C. Penney (JCP - commentary - Cramer's Take) ahead of the big Ralph Lauren (RL - commentary - Cramer's Take) launch, but that sure hasn't helped Ralph Lauren, which is trying to put a stop to its plummeting ways.

It's amazing that that stock could be down 20% for the year. But J.C. Penney is down 44%, something inconceivable and even worse than the dreaded Sears (SHLD - commentary - Cramer's Take). Although, of course, Sears is much more lambasted, mostly, I believe, because of jealousy of Eddie Lampert. I think that both are buys for those willing to lose another 10%, with hopes for bigger gains.

I don't care for the wrecked Home Depot (HD - commentary - Cramer's Take) and its incredibly poorly timed premium buyback -- only Domino's (DPZ - commentary - Cramer's Take) and Dean Foods' (DF - commentary - Cramer's Take) dividends seem more stupid.

What did they think they were, oil companies? Nor do I like Macy's (M - commentary - Cramer's Take), which bought so much stock back so high that I question management's brains. However, Macy's just announced it was closing nine stores. This could be the beginning of what we want: trimming of stores and headcount! The company said its store closings would affect 900 workers in Texas and Ohio.

Kohl's (KSS - commentary - Cramer's Take) seems a better buy, except people must wonder, why? I like Sears simply because last time it was here it had a much larger market cap, and one can only imagine what would happen if Lampert actually figured out what to do with that real estate or would fix its merchandising.

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