For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 15, 2009 – Zacks.com releases the latest Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks featured in this week’s analysis include Limited Brands (LTD), Kohl's (KSS), Target (TGT), Ross Stores (ROST) and TJX Companies (TJX).

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis is written by Charles Rotblut, CFA, Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com.

This week: Retailers’ Registers Are Ringing

Consumers are showing a willingness to spend, even as they watch their budgets.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Department said that retailers saw sales rose 0.5% last month, excluding motor vehicles and parts. Furniture & home furnishing stores, health & personal care stores, general merchandise stores and gasoline stations all saw increases of 0.8% or better.

(The hangover from the Cash for Clunkers program resulted in an 11.8% drop in sales at auto dealers. This skewed the overall change in retail sales down to -1.5%.)

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Consumers are showing a willingness to spend, even as they watch their budgets.

This morning, the Commerce Department said that retailers saw sales rose 0.5% last month, excluding motor vehicles and parts. Furniture & home furnishing stores, health & personal care stores, general merchandise stores and gasoline stations all saw increases of 0.8% or better.

(The hangover from the Cash for Clunkers program resulted in an 11.8% drop in sales at auto dealers. This skewed the overall change in retail sales down to -1.5%.)

The increase may seem surprising given the economic backdrop. After all, unemployment is rising towards 10% and another wave of foreclosures could be forthcoming as adjustable rate mortgages reset. On the other hand, the majority of Americans are employed and the improving economic data is probably giving consumers some confidence, even if the sentiment surveys are less clear.

Plus, the Commerce Department's data is backed up

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Lingering economic uncertainties kept stocks under pressure for the fourth straight day on Wednesday even as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed the economy is slowly turning a corner and inflation is likely to remain restrained.  Trading was mostly rangebound as investors chose to remain on the sidelines.  As investors went into risk-aversion mode, Treasuries jumped and corresponding yields declined, with the yield on the 10-year tanking to its lowest in more than seven weeks.  

Trading may remain subdued as the Labor Day weekend approaches.  Nevertheless, today’s trading could benefit from last afternoon’s optimistic FOMC minutes coupled with improved growth expectations from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and Chairman of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission advising regulators will promote stable markets.  China’s Shanghai Composite Index jumped 4.8% in an otherwise normal day for Asian bourses.  This morning’s stock futures are pointing to a higher opening

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US markets closed marginally lower Wednesday, capping a four-day rally, as some lackluster economic data kept investors from taking big positions.  Investors appeared to be cautious ahead of the government’s monthly report on job losses and the unemployment report, which comes out on Friday.  Yesterday’s pullback reversed Wall Street’s recent run, which has been spurred by better-than-expected corporate earnings and hopes that the worst of the economic crisis has passed.   

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 39 points, or 0.4%, the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 3 points, or 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 18 points, or 0.9% after disappointing data on private payrolls and the services sector dented some optimism.  However, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected 0.4% rise in orders for manufactured goods in June.  On the NYSE, volume was a moderate 1.53 billion as decliners outpaced advancing shares by 8 to 7

Treasuries fell,

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Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) plans to raise $500 million in senior notes, due 2019, through the private placement route.

The company said that proceeds from the placement will be utilized for reducing debt and for general corporate purposes.

The specialty retailer's performance has been affected by the continuing slowdown in discretionary spending by consumers, which caused May same-store sales to contract 7% year over year.

Limited Brands' corporate rating was cut further into junk territory by Moody's last month on weak sales and earnings results. The agency, however, did highlight the company's sound liquidity position in its report.

Shares of the Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") company have slipped more than 2% on volume of almost 2 million, which is lower than the average daily volume of about 4.8 million.

"LTD" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?Zacks Investment Research

Despite all of the ballyhoo in Washington about this administrationrsquo;s commitment to alternative energy, clean technology and energy efficiency, and the clear writing on the wall that hundreds of billions will be invested in the next few years into developing this emerging energy sector, stocks continued to take a beating this week. Here is the performance of our indices: middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Biofuels group ndash; down 21% on the week and 30% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Energy management group ndash; down 8% on the week and 11% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Energy storage group ndash; down 5% on the week and 13% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Geothermal group ndash; down 9% on the week, and 1% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Upstream solar group ndash; down 1% on the week and 20% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Midstream solar group ndash; down 11% on the week and 31% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Downstream solar ndash; down 4% on the week and 8% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Solar equipment group ndash; down 11% on the week ...

In The Forbes Growth Investor, quantitative analyst Vahan Janjigian eyes Limited Brands, which owns several leading retailing chains including Victoria’s Secret.

Track Forbes Growth picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/stocks/category/546

“Limited Brands owns and operates several specialty retailers including Victoria’s Secret, La Senza, Bath & Body Works, C.O.Bigelow, White Barn Candle Co., and Henri Bendel. In aggregate, the company has 2,992 stores across the U.S.and Canada.

“The Victoria’s Secret segment,  which accounted for 64.7% of first-half fiscal 2009 sales,is a leading marketer of intimate women’s apparel.

“Remodeled stores offset a drop in comparable store sales. Victoria’s Secret sales climbed 2.9% despite a 7% decline at comparable stores.

“Recent cost reduction initiatives have improved inventory management and reduced SG&A expense as a percentage of sales. LTD also divested 75% of its ownership in Express and Limited Stores, removing itself as a major player in the retail clothing industry.

“The company is preparing a number of marketing initiatives for the

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Taubman Centers, Inc. (TCO) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) engaged in owning, developing, acquiring, and operating regional shopping centers throughout the U.S. A large number of these shopping centers are strategically located in major metropolitan areas. The company's five largest non-anchor tenants are: The Gap (3.5% of mall GLA as of June 30, 2008), Forever 21 (3.3%), Limited Brands (2.6%), Abercrombie & Fitch (2.5%), and Foot Locker (1.9%).

We are concerned about retail stocks in a very uncertain economic environment. Consumer spending patterns are sluggish, and we expect 2008 to be one of the worst holiday shopping seasons in years. TCO missed our 2Q FFO estimates by $0.08 per share due to lower than expected fee income and higher expenses.

Overall, the company's portfolio continues to perform well; TCO reported increases in rents, sales and occupancy in the 2nd quarter vs. the year-earlier period. Additionally, the company has

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This morning, several retailers reported August same-store sales. This is an important report because it provides investors with an idea of how strong or weak the back-to-school shopping season was.

Quick Take: Overall, the back-to-school season was weak. Below is a sample of 22 retailers that reported same-store sales and only 8 of those companies reported a positive number. And despite ankle-high expectations, half of those companies reporting same-store sales missed those low expectations.

The trade down trend is still working with positive comps from Wal-Mart (WMT), Costco (COST), BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ), and TJX Companies (TJX). Department stores in the mid-to-high end continue to struggle. Specialty retailers were all over the map, with Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) down 11% while Buckle (BKL) was up 22% and Aeropostale (ARO) was up 13%.

Closing thought: Retail stocks have caught a bid over the last several weeks,

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Rampant selling by insiders continues:

Track these and other buys and sells by insiders and professionals at:

http://trackthepros.com/

SELLERS:

COMPANY NAME INSIDERS NAME TITLE $ VALUE NO. OF SHARES IN TRANS. RANGE OF VALUES TRANSACTIONS DATES International Business Machines J. Macdonald O $18,568,940 149,733 124-124.21 Aug. 27, 2008 Gap R. Fisher DO 18,436,562 952,650 19.16-19.45 Aug. 25-26, 2008 Gap D. Fisher OD 18,354,031 948,204 19.16-19.45 Aug. 25-26, 2008 Gap D. Fisher D...