Out Fox The $treet

As investors were warned,  Rite Aid (RAD)  was only going to head lower following the 1-for-20 reverse split. The company provided the following financial targets for FY20: Sales to be between $21.5 billion and $21.9 billion in fiscal 2020  Same store sales expected to range from an increase of 0.0 percent to an increase of 1.0 percent over fiscal 2019. Net loss is expected to be between $170.0 million and $220.0 million.   Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $500.0 million and $560.0 million.   Adjusted net (loss) income per share is expected to be between a loss of $0.01 and income of $0.04. These are not the numbers investors want to see in a competitive environment where  Walgreens (WBA)  and  CVS Health (CVS)  are already dealing with competitive impacts from  Amazon (AMZN)  entering the pharmacy space. The likelihood of Rite Aid recovering isn't very high. Avoid or short the stock that k...

In the span of a couple of months, Apple (AAPL) has gone from the first Trillion dollar company to the fourth largest in the US. Amazingly, Microsoft (MSFT) has taken the lead over Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL) .

FedEx gets hit by Amazon fears every couple of years. The online retail giant isn't even a 3% revenue customer. Analyst estimates shouldn't take a hit from the expected growth of Amazon Air. The stock is too cheap trading at about 10.4x FY20 EPS estimates. The time to buy  FedEx Corporation  ( FDX ) is when the market gets anxiety over  Amazon  ( AMZN ) expanding into the package delivery space. While the large online retailer is always a threat, FedEx should continue riding the delivery economy higher. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. 

The streaming video wars should reach peak competitive levels in 2019. Netflix enters the competition while burning cash at a $3 billion annual rate. The entry of the tech giants leaves Netflix at a balance sheet disadvantage with net debt approaching $10 billion in 2019. The stock is due for another rally in early 2019 for investors to fade. The planed addition of several tech giants along with traditional media players into the direct-to-consumer streaming video segment should expose the biggest weakness of leader  Netflix  ( NFLX ). The problems with developing a leading market position without building up a pristine balance sheet is that competitors can easily attack the company's weakness and ultimately prevent a player like Netflix from achieving the massive cash flows and profits warranting a market valuation of $132 billion. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.

AT&T launched their rebranded digital ad business. Xandr is only estimated at 3% of the total revenue base. Any success of Xandr provides upside to my previous $40 base case target. The business is off to a troubling start with AppNexus CEO leaving. Last week,   AT&T   ( T ) ushered in the aggressive move into advertising. The wireless giant hopes to more effectively compete in the advertising sector against the tech giants by collecting more data from customers via various video and wireless connections. Unfortunately, the   newly created Xandr   is more likely to resemble the failure of Oath from   Verizon Communications ( VZ ). Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long T. Please read the disclaimer page for more details.   

Amazon stands to benefit from growing digital ad revenue. Research reports support the digital ad market sustaining strong growth for the next few years. The online retail giant doesn't offer the best way to invest in ad market growth due to substantial retail operations. My biggest complaint that guides my  investment thesis  on  Amazon  ( AMZN ) is a lack of focus on running a profitable businesses. The thesis isn't exactly unique, but one area that provides an opportunity to change the equation is digital advertising leading Citibank to upgrade the stock with an incredible price target of $1,600. The numbers though aren't adding up to buying the stock for this reason. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Amazon released strong metrics for the holiday season. The online retail giant again highlighted reasons that strong sales are likely to hit the bottom line. The stock likely continues rallying with sales growth, but the company is in a precarious financial position. To start the trading week,  Amazon  ( AMZN ) released  robust holiday shopping numbers . From strong device sales to impressive membership trials, the e-commerce giant saw a not so surprising big boost in sales. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position. Please read the disclaimer page for more details. 

Amazon (AMZN) released the following video of the first drone delivery in the UK. The PrimeAir customer delivery is part of an initial test with some apparent limitations. Packages have to be less than 5.75 lbs and the test includes an area with large fields and limited homes. The package landed on a spot laid out in the yard far from the house. Very few homes in the US would offer such a landing spot. The drone test is an interesting step. The question still remains at how viable drone deliveries are in congested towns were the majority of the population in the world lives. Disclosure: No position. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Kohl's hits new multi-year lows on weak Q1 results. The retailer continues to generate strong cash flows that provide an exceptionally high dividend yield for shareholders. The stock faces peak Amazon.com fears with the recent collapse providing opportunity for investors. In the process of falling into retail purgatory,  Kohl's (NYSE: KSS )  has become an accidental high yielder. The company never set out to offer a market leading type of dividend, yet the multi-year stock lows leave the yield at an incredible 5.8% now.  Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: Long KSS. Please read the disclaimer page for ore details.

FedEx smashed FQ3 estimates on solid volumes and higher margins. The stock sold off on unwarranted expectations that Amazon could somehow disrupt the delivery sector so quickly. The stock is a bargain at the current valuation based on historical prices. Despite ongoing worries about a future entrant into the delivery sector,  FedEx (NYSE: FDX )  continues to produce solid results that aren't impacted by competitive threats. The stock price though suggests a big impact is on the way from  Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) . Read the full article on Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Summary Amazon reported Q4 '14 earnings that smashed reduced analyst estimates. The online retail giant surged 13% based on those numbers, but the gains will only encourage further competition for a low-margin business. Investors should sell shares into the rally. After beating analyst estimates for Q4 and surging nearly $43 the next trading day, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN ) is probably further away from a lasting profit profile. A previous article - Why Amazon Is Likely To Never Make A Profit - highlighted how competition was joining the fray, yet Amazon doesn't produce meaningful profits. The prime reason being the astonishing market valuation of Amazon in general, and the huge $20.6 billion gain due to a small profit sure help embolden the competition into the sector. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

With Amazon.com ( NASDAQ: AMZN     ) expected to enter the local services space this year, it suggests taking the time to recheck the prospects of Angie's List ( NASDAQ: ANGI     ) if Amazon.com sees the space as valuable. Angie's List went public back around the same time as Yelp ( NYSE: YELP ) , but the results have been dramatically different for the related local service stocks. From the beginning, the free-to-join platform of Yelp scaled quicker and attracted more users, but in the end, Angie's List had the higher-quality paid and verified members. In that way, it's the ultimate tortoise versus the hare scenario. Yelp has quickly amassed 132 million monthly users, and Angie's List is stuck with only 2.6 million paid members. Will the paid members eventually have more value? Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long AAPL and YELP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

The recent news that Amazon.com ( NASDAQ: AMZN     ) wants to pursue delivering packages via drones and the decision of  Google ( NASDAQ: GOOG     )  to purchase several robotic companies have pushed investors into iRobot ( NASDAQ: IRBT     ) . The company most famous for the robotic vacuum has yet to move significantly beyond home robots after several cutbacks in spending on military robots. Investors might want to be careful about rushing into the stock based on the robotic theme. The excitement over the recent news from Amazon.com and Google sent iRobot spiking higher, but the initial enthusiasm will fade until the company can show a revolutionary product beyond the vacuum series. A few recently released robots which include an update to the popular Roomba vacuum line offer some promises, but the robots might not provide the revolutionary technology envisioned by investors. Read the full article here . Disclosure: No posit...

When Sears Holdings ( NASDAQ: SHLD     ) announced weak earnings after the market closed on Jan. 9, investors panicked again ignoring the facts of the company. Investors need to understand that Sears only reported the income statement numbers. If one remembers Accounting 101, the actual valuation of a company is based on the balance sheet or the assets minus the liabilities. The income level each quarter adds or subtracts from the equity on the balance sheet, but a large loss doesn't necessarily destroy assets forever. In the case of Sears, the balance sheet is littered with hidden assets that are overshadowed by these weak retail results. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Is it possible that this down and out retailer has a game plan to take on Amazon.com ( NASDAQ: AMZN     ) ? Amazon is by far the leading online retailer, but it might surprise most investors that Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) is considerably along the path toward being a leading online retailer. No matter what investors think of the plans that CEO Eddie Lampert has undertaken by limiting spending on sprucing up stores, the company has made plans to become a leading online retailer. Sears has even recently advanced fulfillment services to include same-day delivery or in-store pickup that might offer a compelling advantage over Amazon. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please read the disclaimer page.

E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE: DANG ) might be a stock with a funny name to U.S. investors, but the company has been extremely hot recently. The provider of a business-to-consumer e-commerce platform in China has surged around 100% since opening at the beginning of May at around $3.80. In general, Chinese internet stocks have struggled over the last year or so. The sector was hot during 2010 when more » Disclosure: No positions listed. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Not only were materials weak, but anything to do with global growth such as infrastructure hit a wall today even with the market up .5%. Oddly utilities and consumer discretionary had a strong day. FirstEnergy (FE) in the Net Payout Yields (NPY) model closed right at the 52 week highs hit in mid May. Amazon (AMZN) soared 5.5% after closing at a new 52 week high yesterday. It has now bounced from below $180 in mid August to nearly $240 now. Global growth stocks such as materials, infrastructure, and emerging market stocks were very weak today.  Coal, copper, and crane stocks were smashed even with global markets up. What is this telling us? Maybe that global destruction is off the table, but global growth is still a concern. Investors appear headed for high dividend paying stocks as the NPY model was up nearly 1% while the Opportunistic model stocks were relatively flat. Have treasuries finally hit bottom now that a Lehman type collapse for Greece appears off the table? Sure b...