First, Limited Brands (LTD), which we may not want to shop at but we want to follow as a stock, reported a magnificent number. That's a great gauge of mall traffic, and it puts the lie to the idea that people are just looking -- they are actually buying.

The firm was among the most active names on the NYSE Monday.

people want to have fun and need to spend a little on themselves. When they do this one will come back

Limited (LTD) was always in the $20s, no? $6 again.

From a recent Mad Money show:"I no longer trust retailers with big dividends. Limited used to be a great company, but now its a spent and done concept and its a sell."

The Real Story Wrap: November 18: Stocks on Wall Street ended an erratic session with gains Tuesday afternoon, as traders weighed encouraging news from several big technology companies against troubles among financial firms and automotive companies.
Click here to watch the video.

The maker of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works announced that its board authorized a $250 million buyback plan. The company has returned almost $7 billion to
shareholders over the past 5 years through dividends and buyback programs.

On August 21, 2008 the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer announced second-
quarter results. Net income dropped to $102 million, or 30 cents a
share, from $264.4 million, or 67 cents a share in the same period last
year. Revenue for the quarter fell to $2.3 billion from $2.6 billion
last year and same-store sales decreased by 7%. Although the numbers
look bad, they beat analysts' expectations and sent shares up 5.9% in
pre-market trading.

Leslie Wexner, chairman and CEO said, "We are very pleased with our
performance in this challenging economic environment. Our disciplined
management of inventory and expenses resulted in earnings per share
that exceeded our initial expectations and increased 35% over last
year's comparable result in spite of negative same store sales in the
quarter."

Limited also inflated its full-year profit outlook. The company now
expects to earn $1.45 to $1.60 a share, up from the previous estimate
of $1.38 to $1.58 a share.

We took notice when we saw that C.L. King and Associates has an
accumulate rating on the company. After Limited's annual meeting,
analyst Mark Montagna commented, "Yesterday's annual update meeting
provided solid insight into the secure nature of an investment in
Limited Brands. However, our key take-away was that meaningful
operating margin expansion is not likely until 2010."

Mark added, "2010 should see the benefit of exploiting the technology
investments at Victoria's Secret (VS) and Bath & Body Works (BBW), more
finely tuned assortments at BBW, the ongoing appeal of VS as a brand
and a greater critical mass of stores in Canada." Mark has a $20-dollar
price target on the stock, representing 67% upside potential.

First Bank of Macy's?: Kristin Bentz and Debra Borchardt dismiss the Federal Open Market Committee but embrace bank holding companies. IF GMAC can do it, why not Macy's or Victoria's Secret?
Click here to watch the video.

The maker of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works announced that its board authorized a $250 million buyback plan. The company has returned almost $7 billion to
shareholders over the past 5 years through dividends and buyback programs.

On August 21, 2008 the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer announced second-
quarter results. Net income dropped to $102 million, or 30 cents a
share, from $264.4 million, or 67 cents a share in the same period last
year. Revenue for the quarter fell to $2.3 billion from $2.6 billion
last year and same-store sales decreased by 7%. Although the numbers
look bad, they beat analysts’ expectations and sent shares up 5.9% in
pre-market trading.

Leslie Wexner, chairman and CEO said, “We are very pleased with our
performance in this challenging economic environment. Our disciplined
management of inventory and expenses resulted in earnings per share
that exceeded our initial expectations and increased 35% over last
year's comparable result in spite of negative same store sales in the
quarter.”

Limited also inflated its full-year profit outlook. The company now
expects to earn $1.45 to $1.60 a share, up from the previous estimate
of $1.38 to $1.58 a share.

We took notice when we saw that C.L. King and Associates has an
accumulate rating on the company. After Limited’s annual meeting,
analyst Mark Montagna commented, “Yesterday’s annual update meeting
provided solid insight into the secure nature of an investment in
Limited Brands. However, our key take-away was that meaningful
operating margin expansion is not likely until 2010.”

Mark added, “2010 should see the benefit of exploiting the technology
investments at Victoria’s Secret (VS) and Bath & Body Works (BBW), more
finely tuned assortments at BBW, the ongoing appeal of VS as a brand
and a greater critical mass of stores in Canada.” Mark has a $20-dollar
price target on the stock, representing 67% upside potential.

Retail Holding Company owns;

Victoria Secret
Bath & Body Works
C.O. Bigelow
The white barn candle co.
Henri Bendel
La Senza

Industry: Retail

Thought this was a good retail pick and so did fast moneys Jeff Mackey