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I am recommending the sell of the retailing sector. Why? The reason is simple, no one is buying anything right now. When was the last time you heard of a friend, neighbor, or colleague bought a new car? I tell you that it is obvious all over America (if not the world) put discretionary spending on perma hold a couple of weeks ago. You can rest assured that there isn't a retailer in America (even Walmart) that will have a great quarter.

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

An extensive article in the Wall Street Journal Online today, points out some of the challenges that Tiffany & Co. (TIF) is facing as the company struggles to remain competitive in the current global economy.  The company has increasingly turned to integrating a larger portion of its supply chain by taking interests in overseas miners and opening factories for cutting and polishing its diamonds.  The strategic decisions over the past few years have led to difficulty as the global demand begins to dry up at the same time that Tiffany has built a costly supply structure.

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Tiffany and Co (TIF), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Corning Inc (GLW), Research in Motion (RIMM), General Mills (GIS), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Marriott Intl'A' (MAR), Analyst initiations

Analyst upgrades:

A Moody’s report on Wednesday raised new concerns for the vulnerable economic recovery.  Credit card defaults for August rose to a new record at 11.49% underscoring the difficulty consumers are facing in today’s market.  Credit card defaults are typically highly correlated with unemployment which remains stubbornly high despite the recent strength in equity markets.  The credit card news is likely to weigh on retail stocks as investors had been counting on consumers to increase spending as we approach the holiday season.