Sell Target, Walmart; Buy Whole Foods

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- For a while I looked forward to Target(TGT) and Walmart(WMT) earnings conference calls. On each call for quarters now, I sat and waited patiently for executives at either company to spend meaningful amounts of time on urban expansion plans. In both instances, they have said little.

While Target appears to have loftier urban ambitions, neither company seems all that excited about penetrating the relatively untapped market of affluent loft, condo and apartment dwellers. If they were, I would expect the strategy to receive more prominent billing on the conference calls and in quarterly reports. It's just not happening. Maybe it's a competitive thing.

Now here we are with Target reporting before the open Wednesday and Walmart reporting next week, Thursday, May 24. What do you think we're going to hear?

I would not call you crazy for holding on to shares of TGT and WMT. I have considered both stocks, primarily for their relative stability, solid dividends and aggressive international growth.

For example, expect Target to start reaping benefits from its January 2011 purchase of Canadian chain Zellers' leases. The company expects to open stores in full force north of the border in 2013 and 2014.

So, all is not lost, in a TGT or, for that matter, WMT investment. I am just not sure how much new money I am willing to pour into the names.

Whole Foods Is the Future

When I make a long-term investment, I want something I can sink my teeth into. While I love compelling dividend growth stories like Target and Walmart, I subscribe to the more aggressive narrative coming from Whole Foods(WFM) .

Whole Foods actively executes the growth strategy I would like to see Target and Walmart embrace with more vigor. In an article I wrote for TheStreet last week, I described Whole Foods' strategy to saturate prime metropolitan cores where the company's relatively upper-end customers reside.