L Brands Inc. (LB)

It is still in a downtrend and has been for several years. There is no let up in the lower lows and lower highs. So is still in a down trend and would avoid it.

They hold such brands as Victoria’s Secret, which is facing greater online competition. He would be concerned about some of their markets. It remains a high-quality brand. He needs to do more analysis before jumping in.

His interest in owning any company like this, starts at zero and goes down from there. This company has a few retail brands, but they are basically in the middle of the market. If you want to be in retail, and he doesn’t, you want to be either at the high end or the low end. If you are in the middle, you just get squeezed.

This follows the same seasonal pattern as the retail sector. Retail has 2 periods of seasonal strength, October to November with a run up to the Christmas season, and January all the way through to April. This one looks like it is rolling over early and is underperforming the retail industry. There is not much reason to be here.

They are in great areas and saw great growth in execution. Better economic numbers and wage growth in the US is positive. LB-N has been one of the better performers over the last year or so. There is a concern about how long they can keep up the growth.