Another One Bites The Dust... time to invest...

Back in December 08 I gave one of my very rare stock marketing tips on this Blog...http://timbanks.ca/2008/12/oil-that-is-black-gold-texas-tea.html and had you bought Petro-Canada then in the low $20 area you would have easily doubled your money as it was as high as $49.70 in the last week... so here's my next tip "Gap" Inc. the clothing company trading on the NYSE as GPS at around $16 and why GAP do you say.... especially when retailers like Eddie Bauer are going broke and the US retail industry is in the toilet... well it's like this... Glenn Murphy who I worked with when he was the Atlantic Regional VP for Loblaws before he went back to Toronto to be VP Operations for Loblaws is now at the helm of the Gap... after leaving Loblaws he went to Chapters for a small stint until Indigo bought them out.... then he headed to Shoppers Drug Mart where he performed a miracle turning them around and freshening up their stores... Glenn is a retailer's retailer and he made a lot of people money on the upswing of Shoppers including himself taking away about $22 million personally when he exited Shoppers as Chairman nearly two years ago... after a little time off GAP came after him and appointed him Chairman and CEO of GAP Worldwide... he has been there a little over a year doing the things he does best which is getting the Company ready to Rock and Roll... he's been closing stores, playing with the brand, remerchandising, setting up new teams, etc...he's also hired some of his familiar "marketing" talent to boost the brands... getting the company ready to assault the market... and with $1,400,000,000.00 cash in the bank and no debt GAP is soon going to cut loose... CASH IS KING and Glenn has it on his side and he's going to squeeze his suppliers, hammer his landlords, hire the marketing talent and in a tough economy he's going to offer style at a competitive price... now don't go out and trade the farm for GAP shares but my guess is they could be a good long term buy and sometime in the near future Glenn will "hit the ball out of the park"...(remember, I'm not your broker and you don't get to sue me if I'm not right)... "Youie, order me up another 1,000" as I like Glenn's style....
Clothing retailer Eddie Bauer files for bankruptcy protection
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Clothing retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, the latest retail casualty of the recession. The New York-based retailer said CCMP Capital Advisors LLC has bid for its assets. Other buyers may also make bids while the company is under court protection. The company said in its filing that it is seeking court protection because its financial position was creating uncertainty among vendors that supply its inventory and because its cash flow problems “could severely impede” its operations. Eddie Bauer said it might not be able to comply with some covenants in its US$225 million senior debt or have the cash under its line of credit to make vendor payments in the future. Eddie Bauer considered refinancing of all or some of its debt, and it considered a reorganization, sale or liquidation through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as well as continued operation on a modified business plan. It now hopes to be sold. “All of the company’s operations are open and conducting business as usual, including in Canada,” said Wendi Kopsick, a spokeswoman for Eddie Bauer.However, the company does not have a domestic subsidiary, and operates out of Seattle, she added. The outdoorsy clothing retailer had $476.1 million in assets and $426.7 million in debt at the time of the filing Wednesday with the United States Bankruptcy Court of the District of Delaware.Bankruptcy rumours had been swirling as Bellevue, Wash.-based Eddie Bauer struggled with slumping sales amid the recession. It reported a loss for the first quarter of $44.5 million.Eddie Bauer joins Circuit City, Linens ’N Things, Mervyns and other U.S.-based retail chains that have filed for bankruptcy court protection as consumer spending fell and the recession continued. Peter J. Solomon Co. has been named financial adviser for the company and Alvarez & Marsal was named restructuring adviser. Eddie Bauer and CCMP did not immediately return calls for comment.The company (Nasdaq:EBHI), which trades on the Nasdaq stock market, fell 6.6 cents to US16.4 cents, a drop of nearly 29 per cent. Eddie Bauer has about 1,100 employees and operates about 370 stores in the United States and Canada. In Canada, the company operates 36 retail stores, 14 of them in Ontario. The company also has a distribution centre north of Toronto that employs 23 people and a call centre in Saint John, N.B.For the last three years, Eddie Bauer’s Canadian retail operations generated annual revenues of US$91.9 million in fiscal 2008, $94.2 million in fiscal 2007 and $80.6 million in fiscal 2006, respectively.