I was fortunate enough to attend the first annual Wharton Hedge Fund Conference in Philadelphia last week thanks to the generosity of my friends at Seeking Alpha dot com.

It was a terrific conference with great speakers and I was able to -- for at least one day -- imagine what it might be like to be a wicked-smart MBA candidate at the Wharton Business School. Alas, but for my age and IQ, it could have been me. But I digress.

The Tractor Supply Company Has the Right Stuff

The Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ: TSCO) is a retail company that lives up to their motto: "The Stuff You Need Out Here."

This is a year where the threat of a lost weekend due to an ill-timed snowstorm could be a disaster for a struggling retailer.

With only a week left until the Christmas holiday, every day (every hour) is critical for retailers hoping to hit their sales numbers. And this year they’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to overcome the depressed consumer spending environment to lure shoppers into their stores. Time and traffic is now the final key to successfully – or as successfully as possible given the environment -- close out the year.

“Ice storm leaves one million without power in US northeast” - AFP, December 14, 2008.

For retailers, the thought of one million potential shoppers iced in with no power over a weekend in December is the worst form of nightmare. And that’s in normal times. For Briggs & Stratton (BGG) however, ice storms create power outages, and power outages create opportunity.

Times are tough for upscale department stores and Nordstrom (JWN) is no exception.

Despite these tough times, JWN -- like JC Penney (JCP) and Gap (GPS) -- posted less terrible than expected sales in November and this led to a short-lived rally in the sector. As I noted last week, the less miserable than expected sales in the apparel sector was largely driven by favorable external tailwinds – specifically, sustained cold weather across most of the eastern US and the impact of the precipitous drop in gas prices. It was great … while it lasted.