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TWST: Harry, how have the retailers that you follow performed over the past six months, and what in your view has separated the winners from the losers?

Mr. Ikenson: Over the last six months these companies have definitely underperformed compared to the tech sector, because a lot of them are considered old economy. They performed pretty well going into Christmas, and then in early January, when the numbers came out, they underperformed drastically through probably the third week of February. The reasons I would point to are interest rates moving up, energy prices moving up, and the fact that both the tech sector and the biotech sector were very hot. So investors generally take the view that when interest rates are rising, they will stay away from consumer stocks and financial stocks. In this case it was interest rates and higher energy prices, so the thinking there was that this would lead to a slowdown in the economy with less disposable income and lower consumer spending.

TWST: We didn't talk about Steve Madden. Why does Steve Madden warrant a place here?

Mr. Ikenson: Steve Madden (Nasdaq:SHOO) operates differently from any other shoe vendor/retailer in the business. Steven Madden, the merchant who started the company, eats, sleeps and drinks shoes. When you talk to Steve, the first thing he does is look at your shoes, and he's looking at people's feet all the time. Take a walk with Steve on the street; he's very, very observant and picks up on trends that he's always testing. What I'm getting at is that, back in their corporate office, they actually have this little shoe-making operation. So Steve and his design team might come back with an idea, and they have their people make up a few samples, and then the samples go into a couple of locations nearby. If there's a good reaction, they will make some more samples and send them to a few other locations around the country. Then if those do well, if they have enough positive feedback on something, they'll go into production. Now, with that as a backdrop, what they also do that's different versus the competition is that most other shoe vendors/producers will fill orders pretty much before the season -- when everybody else does. But Steve fills in constantly. And when he goes to the shoe show and meets with his clients -- the department stores, the mass merchants, etc. -- he will be able to tell them which are the right shoes, which are the right styles, which are the right colors for the target customer for those stores. So it's become a very hot brand with the junior market, which is their main target. They've also developed another growth vehicle with David Aaron, which caters to a somewhat older customer. Their newest development is a new brand called Stevies, which is going after the 'tween market, a very underserved market. Limited Too is focusing on it with apparel, and Steve Madden is focusing on it with shoes. So we think their, I call it “circular approach” (the way they manage and test and develop all the time) will help them to be very successful in all their businesses, but particularly in this new business, the Stevies brand.