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Strategies & Market Trends : Bosco & Crossy's stock picks,talk area -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Crossy who wrote (2771)	6/4/1998 10:02:00 AM
From: Thomas Frank	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 37387

Found this on Briefing 19) RETAIL, APPAREL.......1/2............6/03............(+) Comment: As we expected, a strong economy, high consumer confidence and rising personal income levels enabled the retail apparel group to outperform the market over the past 3-months. Add to these factors (which remain in place) favorable earnings comparison periods (past quarters were weak), steady growth in same-store sales, improved operating efficiencies and bullish momentum/relative strength trends and the ingredients are in place for continued outperformance over both the short- and long-term. The group is also one of the few beneficiaries of the Asian crisis, as its production costs will drop. Meanwhile, the industry has little sales exposure to the region. We continue to expect those companies with a well-defined niche and strong brand name recognition (such as Gap, TJX and Nordstrom) to be the best performers. While the near-term outlook remains quite bright, relatively high valuations, the possibility of a rate hike later this year, pricing pressures due to the overstored condition, and high levels of consumer debt keep us from assigning the group our highest rating over the long-term. Nevertheless, improved relative strength and a bullish earnings outlook lead us to bump the industry rating from 2/3 to 1/2. Stocks: Burlington Coat (BCF), Charming Shoppes (CHRS), Dress Barn (DBRN), Gap Inc. (GPS), Gymboree (GYMB), Limited Inc. (LTD), Men's Wearhouse (SUIT), Nordstrom (NOBE), Polo Ralph Lauren (RL), Saks Holdings (SKS), TJX Cos. (TJX), Talbots (TLB), Tommy Hilfiger (TOM).