Amazon is the largest online retailer of a variety of products from its ebook and now tablet, to electronics to appliances and even food. But now, Amazon is starting to show its cracks.The stock price has dropped considerably from its highs of $246 in September to now below $170, does this sound like doom for Amazon? Given retailing is a hard market to make huge margins on Amazon, like Walmart ($WMT) will have to increase volume to keep at its sales targets and maybe expand into new areas of the market.

We know Amazon is near break-even territory when it comes to the cost of the Kindle Fire, but can Amazon make inroads compared to it’s closest competitor, Apple ($AAPL)?

If we look at a 5 year chart of Amazon’s stock price, the outlook is bleak. It’s support levels of around $160 could be breached and then from there, it’s anyone’s guess as to where the stock will end up.

Don’t get me wrong, Amazon is a great company and all, but as an investment, I’d hold off on this stock until things look a little better.

Due to the following drop, Sears Holding Co, will shut between 100-120 stores. The common issue with KMart and Sears is a drop in consumer electronic sales and a decline in appliances at Sears.

Year to Date Sears stock has dropped 54.7% year to date, signaling tough times as with today’s loss it is nearing a 3 year low.

Here is a chart showing 1 year performance and with today’s loss, Sears’ market cap is valued just over $3.5B which is somewhat troubling. Sears is now worth less than half of discounter J.C. Penney ($JCP) and it’s current strategy competing with Walmart ($WMT) has to change.

What can Sears do to change things around? A cleanup in management would help revive this stock, and hopefully management will have a fresh focus on what to do with this company. Appliances have healthy profit margins and Sears should stay focused on that department while reducing exposure to the consumer electronics side. Higher end clothing and name brands should be a focus of Sears while Kmart should be stricter on food, clothing and toys and give Sears and Kmart its own entities.