3 Retail Stocks Worth Watching This Holiday Season

There are two main things that will help retail stocks during this holiday shopping season, according to Ann Logue.

The first is weather. There’s been remarkably better weather in the upper Midwest this winter compared to the last. Logue said that makes people a little more interested in shopping.

A slowly improving U.S. economy will help as well, she said.

“Not as much as maybe we’d like to see, but it’s certainly improving [...] I think there’s some pent up demand out there,” she said.

Logue is a consulting analyst and the author of “Day Trading For Dummies.” She recently joined Benzinga’s #PreMarket Prep to talk about what retail stocks she’ll be watching through the shopping season.

Sears

This will be a make or break season for Sears Holdings Corp SHLD, according to Logue.

“It’s been kept up mostly by the ego and funds of [CEO] Eddie Lampert,” Logue said.

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If Lampert wasn’t sitting on a “few billion dollars,” she said, the company would have been gone long ago.

American Apparel

Currently a penny stock, Logue said she’s been watching American Apparel Inc APP for a long time.

“There’s a lot of volatility there,” Logue said.

The company recently announced the total departure of former CEO Dov Charney. Logue said it’s still a strong brand that appeals to people.

“If they can resurrect that brand under better management, that should not be a penny stock,” Logue said.

Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF also had a controversial CEO recently leave, Logue said.

Changes in the direction of the brand could be really good, she explained, but this is a market where teenagers aren’t very interested in clothing.

“So, how do you take a primarily teenage brand and make it relevant in a world where teenagers are perfectly happy to wear leggings from American Apparel with thrift shop shirts?” she asked.

Trading Ideas

Logue said this is a good time for retail.

“For traders looking for low-priced stocks with a lot of activity, I would pay attention to American Apparel, in particular,” she said.

She said should would also pay attention to Abercrombie because it has a slightly stronger brand than American Eagle Outfitters AEO, although that is not to say American Eagle deserves to be ignored entirely.

Logue also talked about Russia and crude oil.

Check out her full interview here:

Don’t forget to tune in to Benzinga’s #PreMarket Prep broadcast Monday-Friday 8-9:45 a.m. ET for a live, interactive morning show with veteran traders and featured finance industry experts ready to answer your questions for the trading day.