Since listing five reasons to sell Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) back in August the retail stock has risen another 32%. Year to date the stock is up over 75%. And what really takes the cake is Goldman Sachs (GS) and Credit Suisse (CS) both upgraded Abercrombie earlier this month. I’m far from ashamed of my recommendation. Abercrombie is a teeny-bopping train wreck. Posting third-quarter results that were once again much worse than its peers Abercrombie has problems unrelated to the recession. The downturn has just exasperated it. And I want to reiterate my extreme bearishness toward the retailer. Abercrombie ...

Abercrombie's sales have fallen, but the company might just benefit from this recession in the long term.

1. The Economic Crisis Takes a Virulent TurnThe word credit comes from the Latin "credere" which means "to believe or to trust." That's really all you need to know about the modern financial system. When the "credere" is gone the whole thing unravels  and it works both ways from lender to borrower and from borrower to lender. Now we've arrived at the point where that belief "credere" -- stretched to its limits by policies of endless credit expansion over the past two decades -- has been weakened to such an extent that it has developed what may be likened ...

Minus the rain and the massive pile of leaves I had to deal with in my backyard it was a terrific weekend. But as usual it seemed just a little too short.Asian stocks rose overnight. The Hang Seng and the Nikkei were up 1.73% and 0.21% respectively. European stocks were in positive territory early this morning too. And here in the US we’re currently trading higher.Here’s what I’m focused on during this fine Monday morning:Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF):Excluding items this company put up $0.30 per share in the third quarter. That’s not bad as the estimate was $0.20. It ...

Retails stocks are mixed, after results from retailers suggest a still unclear outlook heading into the industry’s crucial holiday selling season.