Top 5 Retail Stocks To Watch Right Now

Gold or MFs: Which is better for long-term investment?

Below is the verbatim transcript of Rustagi's interview with CNBC-TV18.

Q: MIPs or monthly income plans. Despite being an ideal product for retail investors, MIPs have lost ground over the last few years. Are MIPs still relevant for retail investors; is it still an option to put money in?

A: MIPs are essentially debt oriented hybrid funds wherein the significant part of the portfolio is invested in debt instrument and a part of the portfolio is invested in equities. The role of debt instrument in the portfolio is to generate regular income as well as create stability whereas equities aim to generate growth. As a combination, it has a potential to do better than traditional option like fixed deposits, bonds and debentures and for someone who invest for longer period or for a year or more and considering that mutual funds are more tax efficient, the post tax return can be much higher. Of course, considering that a part of the portfolio is invested in equity, one has to content with some amount of volatility from time to time.

Top Specialty Retail Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Erin McCarthy]

  Nordstrom Inc.(JWN) said Thursday its fiscal first-quarter profit slipped 3.5%, but the high-end department-store operator’s earnings and sales still outpaced expectations. The company also said it will seek a financial partner for its Nordstrom credit card receivables, which totals approximately $2 billion.

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), CGI Group, Inc. (NYSE: GIB), Kohl�� Corporation (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom, Inc, (NYSE: JWN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Economic Releases Expected: French GDP, German GDP, Italian GDP, British retails sales, eurozone GDP, Greek unemployment rate

  Friday

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stifel’s Dave Lutz calls retail “the main anchor on the tape today”– and we know what’s been happening with retail. Department stores are off about 1.5% as JC Penney (JCP), and Nordstrom (JWN) fall. Momentum stocks like Celgene (CELG), too, are also sagging. Add in a strengthening yen, and falling bond yields, and there you go.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Watch Right Now: J.C. Penney Company Inc. Holding Company(JCP)

J. C. Penney Company, Inc., through its subsidiary, J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., operates department stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products, and home furnishings. It also provides various services, such as styling salon, optical, portrait photography, and custom decorating. The company also sells its products through its Internet Web site, jcp.com. J. C. Penney Company, Inc. has strategic alliance with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. As of December 7, 2011, it operated approximately 1,100 department stores. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in Plano, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Douglas A. McIntyre]

  Many of the most-hated companies botched a product or a service. BlackBerry�� most recent line of smartphones, the Q10 and Z10, launched in a desperate attempt to take back some of the smartphone market, failed to catch on. Another major flop was the new store layout and pricing at JC Penney (NYSE: JCP), which alienated consumers and, eventually, investors.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  1. Penney arcane
  In a move that was long overdue, J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP  ) finally dismissed Ron Johnson as its CEO. The stock tanked on the news because the reeling department store chain merely fished out former CEO Mike Ullman to serve as its interim helmsman.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Jeff Greenberg/Alamy Now that all of the gifts have been unwrapped, you have three choices: use the present because you really do like it, put it in the back of the closet because you'll never use it but you may regift it next year, or return it. The National Retail Federation says more than $58-billion worth of gifts were returned last year. If you received something that doesn't fit, or just isn't you, there's no need to rush back to the store and do battle with all of the people looking for post-Christmas bargains. You have a little bit of time, but you have to know the rules -- and the rules differ from store to store and from one item to the next. If you have a receipt or a gift receipt, the return process is a whole lot easier. A survey by the NRF found 68 percent of the respondents say they included a gift receipt some or most of the time. You may still need to check the fine print on each retailer's website, but we'll lay out the basic policies for many of the largest chains. Most stores give you at least 30 days to make returns, and the clock does not start running until Dec. 26. Some offer 90 days, and some -- mostly high-end department stores -- are even more liberal with their policies. But there are also stricter rules and exceptions, especially when it comes to electronics, computers, digital cameras and other items. The return window for these items is only open for 15 days at some stores, and almost all stores insist that these items not be opened and that you bring it back with all of the original packing. Some stores charge restocking fees on these items. The motive behind these restrictions is to reduce fraud, which cost retailers more than $9 billion last year. How Big Chains Behave Let's start with the biggest retailer, Walmart (WMT). It gives you 90 days on most items, including electronics, but there is a fairly long list of exceptions that could be subject to as little as 15 days. Computer software, books, movies and video games mus

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Watch Right Now: Kohl's Corporation(KSS)

Kohl?s Corporation operates department stores in the United States. The company?s stores offer private and exclusive, as well as national branded apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men, and children; soft home products, such as sheets and pillows; and housewares primarily to middle-income customers. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 1,089 stores in 49 states. The company also offers on-line shopping on its Web site at Kohls.com. Kohl?s Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  There aren't many people who will suggest that Kohl's Department Stores (NYSE: KSS  ) is a subversive threat to our existence as we know it. Lucky for you, dear reader, I am one of them. As our elected officials and fossil fuel lobbyists engage in never-ending battles to ensure we maintain our energy status quo, many corporations are quietly making big investments to brighten our energy future. Today I'm looking at the top 10 finishers on the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership list. The agency ranks 50 entities, and you can see the whole list here.

Top 5 Retail Stocks To Watch Right Now: West Marine Inc (WMAR)

West Marine, Inc., incorporated in September 1993, is a specialty retailer of boating supplies and accessories. The Company offers an assortment of merchandise for the boat and for the boater. It operates in three segments: Stores, Port Supply and Direct-to-Customer. The Company sells to both retail and wholesale customers in its Stores segment. In addition, the Company has three franchised stores in Turkey. The Company�� Port Supply segment is its wholesale segment. The Company�� Direct-to-Customer, which includes e-commerce, catalog and call center transactions. During the year ended December 31, 2011, Stores segment generated approximately 90% of its net revenues. During 2011, products shipped to Port Supply customers directly from its warehouses represented approximately 4% of its net revenues.

During 2011, its Direct Sales segment offered customers around the world more than 75,000 products and accounted for the remaining 6% of its net revenues. Private label products, which the Company sells under the West Marine, Black Tip, Third Reef, Pure Oceans, Lifesling, SeaVolt and Seafit brand names, usually are manufactured in Asia, the United States and Europe.

Stores Segment

During 2011, the Company opened six stores while closing 14 stores. In December 2011, it opened its Fort Lauderdale Boating Superstore, a 50,000 square foot flagship. Its flagship stores ranging in size from 21,000 to 50,000 square feet, offering an array of merchandise typically about 16,000 items, as well as displays designed to help customers make informed product selections. It also operates large format stores, standard-sized stores and smaller Express stores. Its large format stores range from 13,000 to 19,000 square feet and carry about 11,000 items. The standard-sized stores typically range from 6,000 to 12,000 square feet and carry over 6,000 items. Express stores typically range from 2,500 to 3,000 square feet and carry over 4,000 items, mainly hardware and other supplies needed! for day-to-day boat maintenance and repairs.

Port Supply Segment

Port Supply customers include businesses involved in boat sales, boat building, boat commissioning and repair, yacht chartering, marina operations and other boating-related activities. In addition, Port Supply sells to government and industrial customers who use its products for boating and non-boating purposes. Port Supply, the Company�� wholesale segment, serves wholesale customers seeking convenience and a larger assortment of products than those carried by typical distributors.

Direct-to-Customer Segment

The Company�� e-commerce Website provides its customers with access to a selection of approximately 75,000 products, product advisor tips and technical information, over 450 product videos and customer-submitted product reviews. This segment also provides customers with access to knowledgeable technical advisors who can assist its customers in understanding the various uses and applications of the products it sell. It operates a virtual call center from which its associates assist its customers by taking calls from their homes or from its support center in Watsonville, California. Its virtual call center supports sales generated through its e-commerce Website, catalogs and stores and provides customer service offerings.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Interactive Buyside]

  West Marine (Nasdaq: WMAR) is an undervalued retailer.  The company is going through a change in focus from a bricks and mortar boat product retailer to a fully integrated retail and wholesale business through bricks and clicks, targeting the boating and water enthusiast customer.   Recent results have been affected by a severe rainy and cool spring which hurt boat usage and delayed the start of the season.  The company has accelerated cash investments to build larger more productive stores and expand its ecommerce abilities, consequently affecting free cash flow short term.  The stock lacks sponsorship as there is only one research report written on the company by a small boutique firm.  The stock trades at only book value despite the company being the leading industry player with a solid balance sheet and significant net cash position.