Out Fox The $treet

Anybody following Fifth & Pacific ( NYSE: FNP     ) knows the stock trades based on the prospects of the fast-growing Kate Spade brand. Not surprisingly, the company recently unloaded the Juicy Couture brand to focus on further growing Kate Spade. The deal was for what appears to be a sizable discount, and Lucky Brands could be next. Will this streamlining of Fifth & Pacific into solely Kate Spade provide more value, or did management sell Juicy at a pittance to the detriment of long-term shareholders? Back in 2012, the three brands had roughly equal sales, but the success of Kate Spade offered greater potential. Also, the recent success and valuation of Michael Kors ( NYSE: KORS     ) and the past success of Coach ( NYSE: COH     ) encouraged a focus on Kate Spade. At the same time, though, both Juicy Couture and Lucky Brands provided the potential for major turnarounds. Unfortunately, as 2013 has progressed, the secondary br...

After previously writing about Fifth & Pacific Companies (NYSE: FNP ) when the stock was trading around $14, the recent jump to the $19 level is worth reviewing. The stock has been on a steady rise as brand kate spade registered 27% comp sales growth in Q4 and rumors spread that the company was looking to sell positions in the lagging brands. The former Liz Claiborne is probably even less known having more » Disclosure: Long FNP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

With disappointing results from other high-end retail brands, Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) investors face a scary earnings report on January 31. A leading developer and marketer of athletic apparel and footwear has already seen a significant decline providing some solace that any weak results might already be priced into the stock. The main concerns come from retail peers such as Coach (NYSE: COH ) and Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU ) that have more » Disclaimer: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Editors Choice Most investors probably haven’t noticed the strong growth of the kate spade brand since it’s been wrapped up as a small component in Fifth & Pacific  (NYSE: FNP ) . As the brand continues to grow at dizzying comps, it has quickly become a bigger catalyst for the company as a whole. The former Liz Claiborne is probably even less known having changed names to Fifth & Pacific back in 2012. After more » Disclosure: Long FNP. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Most investors know that one of the best investments can be a retail store that goes from a regional concept to a national powerhouse. Investors reading the local papers and frequenting a regional concept can have an advantage over the major investment funds stuck in New York. Michael Kors Holdings Limited (KORS) is such a company that has gone through a rapid expansion plan going from 177 stores to 253 over the last 12 months as of June 2012. The company is a global luxury lifestyle brand with a multi-channel strategy established in 1981. The flip side of a buying a regional to national play is identifying a company that has maxed out the expansion possibilities by reaching a majority of states. Typically, this occurs when over 40 states have been reached while already populating California, Florida, New York and Texas with a large amount of stores. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details....

The WSJ reported around noon on Friday that Liz Claiborne (LIZ) has been in talks with private equity firms over a potential deal around $20 a share. Currently, it doesn't appear that any of the firms, such as KKR & Co (KKR) , Permira or Warburg Pincus LLC, find that price appealing. Not to mention that the Liz management has denied any interest in selling the company. The news was enough to send the stock soaring. It closed at $13.36, up nearly 13% at a new 52-week high. At $20, Liz would have a value around $2B. Is that an appealing price for long investors? First, lets look back to the recent transformation of the company. Back in October, I wrote an article about the transformation of the company. Just prior to that article, an investor could've bought Liz's stock in the $4s. Now the stock has tripled and a deal around $20 would've given an investor a 300% gain in less than six months. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long LIZ. Please r...

Had sold a portion of Liz Claiborne (LIZ) back in early March as the stock got overheated. With it continuing to hold above the 20EMA, we used the early morning selloff to purchase our positions back in the Growth and Opportunistic portfolios. Unfortunately we missed the early drop and had to settle for $7.01. With support it will hopefully breakout of the double top around $7.5 on its next run. After all it traded around $20 pre-Lehman and the retail sector is heating up. Its time for the CEO to show some results. Saks (SKS) is approaching those levels and Coach (COH) has already zoomed past the pre-Lehman disaster.