Final Kiss (For Now)

I mentioned back in August (Last Kiss?) that I was disappointed with the direction of Kohl's (KSS).  I decided to own them for another quarter, as I wanted the diversity of a retail stock in my dividend portfolio.  While that was not a horrible decision (the stock has been flattish since then); I lost patience today and sold my shares around noon after they gave so-so guidance (Kohl's (KSS) 3Q Earnings Rise 1.9 Pct, Guides 4Q Below Street).

I am actually nervous about retail right now.  Besides an economy that still seems on life support, I think Hurricane Sandy may end up being a real Christmas spoiler.  Think about the 8 million who lost power.  Probably a lot of them have ended up incurring expenses they did not expect due to Sandy.  A lot of those will not be insurable and will come out of people's pocketbooks.  I think that will cut back on Christmas spending.

I did hear Carl Ichan on CNBC today.  He said he is "more than fully hedged" for a stock market drop. There is a lot of  Doom And Gloom (great new song by the Rolling Stones as well).