Kohl's Corp (KSS)

(A Top Pick Jan 11/13. Up 39.33%.) Retail is a very competitive environment. The weather that has kept everybody inside is not helping but she is buying on this dip. Haven’t done the best job in merchandising, but for her it is normal for a retailer to go through these rough patches. They are working on getting this better. One of the cheapest names in this sector. In the meantime, it has very good cash flow.

(Top Pick Jan 11/13, Up 32.96%) Driving home the value proposition to Mom’s. They have a lot of initiatives going on. Maybe people set expectations a little too high for the last quarter. Great balance sheet and good things to happen years down the road.

(Top Pick Feb 21/13, Up 15.32%) National brand retailing and exclusive brands. Target value consumer. People are questioning whether then can execute but she sees it as a merchandizing issue and management have made some change to that so she is comfortable holding it.

(A Top Pick April 18/13. 16.22%.) A lot of retailers were unfairly penalized for minor issues such as merchandising issues. This was a strong cash generator. Strong balance sheet.

(Top Pick Feb 20’13, Up 10.89%) Still likes it and owns it. There is a lot of hate for stores without the same store sales trends. As long as they are unhappy with no increase in same store sales trends, then she is comfortable with them.

(Top Pick Feb 21/13, Up 2.39%) 3% dividend. Likes the strong cash flow and is picking it up at 10.5x earnings, below the group. Have been struggling on same store sales and merchandising, pretty much like the others but they have been doing things about it. They were very unhappy with their results and made management changes and realigned some of the businesses. These are temporary issues and they will be able to address them

(Top Pick Jan 11/13, Up 10.88%) Multiples across that space are very, very low. Company has gone through a weak patch and fell behind peers. The first step is to look at the valuation but next is the balance sheet – fine, management – they weren’t aware of where the retail investor wanted them, you might have some positions being filled on the merchandising side.

US retailer that competes with J. C. Penney and Macy’s. Been struggling lately. Tries to buy companies when they are going through a bit of a rough patch because she can pick them up at a pretty cheap price. Trading at less than 10X earnings. Management is aware of where they need to improve. December 2012 same-store sales were up 3.5%. Dividend of 3.02%.