Buy AMZN on Weakness, Sell JCP on Strength

As a brick-and-mortar and online retailer, Apple scores high on all three counts. On exclusivity it lacks just a little, but it compensates for this elsewhere. You can buy Apple products from various sources; however, for most of us, picking up an iPad at Target is little more than an impulse buy. That's why they're there. To drive unplanned purchases and serve those not in close proximity to an Apple retail store.

When we set out to buy an Apple product, we do it at the Apple Store. Why? Because it's the cool thing to do, plus we desire the experience Steve Jobs and Ron Johnson created.

J. C. Penney does not score high on any of these three points. And there's really no chance it ever will. A flea market has a better chance at survival than a department store not located in the heart of world-class cities such as New York and London.

If you're not Apple, a luxury retailer like Coach(COH) or a high-end outpost with some sustainable level of social cachet such as Nordstrom(JWN) or Lululemon(LULU) , you will need to disrupt retail like Pandora(P) disrupted radio or die a slow and painful death. Or, you'll need to disrupt e-commerce and pervade people's lives like Amazon(AMZN) has.

The Amazon Lifestyle

Rumor has it Jeff Bezos will follow up Kindle Fire with an Amazon-branded smartphone. Talk about an ecosystem.

It's great being Amazon. It's not like you're trying to make life hard for other tablet makers; it's just an unintended consequence. Amazon triggers a massive reorganization of Android tablet market share and it's merely collateral damage.

Expect the same dynamic to take shape in the smartphone market.

Amazon has an ecosystem that, while different, is every bit as powerful as Apple's. And it provides a high-quality experience to make up for the fact it does not sell anything that's exclusive and little that's high-end.

Amazon found and continues to find myriad ways to invade your life.