A Couple of Cheap Retailers

Here are two cheap retailers that fill three requirements, they have large amount of cash, little or no debt and have sold off significantly the last year. Can they get cheaper? Sure, but as a former co worker of mine used to say, "you got to own something."

The first up is Charlotte Russe Holding, Inc. (CHIC) - it has $125 million in cash, or about $5.00 per share, as of 3/29/08. After the quarter ended, CHIC bought back 16% of its shares for $73.4 million. This reduced its cash balance to $52 million, still a nice nest egg, and no debt. The stock has lost about half its value over the last year, and is at $17.87.



The second stock is Christopher Banks (CBK). The company has $78.5 million as of March 1, 2008. Unfortunately for them, another $24.5 million is locked up in Auction Rate Securities. The share count is 35 million, so depending on what you use as your numerator, the company has either $2.00 or close to $3.00 per share in cash. The stock peaked at $30 and is now at $10. No debt either for them.



Disclosure - No position in either of these.