Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD), the retailer that runs stores such as Bath & Body Works, Pink, and the sexy Victoria's Secret, issued its Q1 numbers after the bell on Wednesday.

The bottom line didn't look bad. Not that it looked great, mind you. The company earned 1 cent per share. The fact that there was any profit at all was big news. According to analysts, a loss of 3 cents per share was more likely.

The revenue picture was not so pretty, however. Net sales dropped by 10%. And same-store sales decreased 7%. I guess buying lingerie isn't a top priority during a time when jobs are being cut and consumers look in terror upon their 401(k) balances.

If anything could be blamed for the just-announced shuttering of Blueprint magazine, it could be the current issue's cover, in which a pink (!!) tree is out-sparkled only by the sequined frothiness of the bleached blonde holding a gigantic bauble alongside. Inside we see 20-something editor-in-chief Sarah Humphreys, who writes, "... if Blueprint's taught me anything, it's that there's plenty of room for spiced sugar bomboloni at the Thanksgiving table."

Umm. OK, Sarah. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) strayed a little too far from the company's audience of blue-bloods and those who aspire to craft like them with Blueprint, a magazine unfortunately titled (evoking architecture of the blue-collar sort, not "where to find candles made of pink glitter"). It was meant to target the young single urbanite; but what newly-married aspirational New Englander wants a magazine full of recycled Martha Stewart Living projects, mixed with lipstick and gilded fashion advice? Evidently, not many.



The "brand" will be re-envisioned as a way to extend the audience of Martha Stewart Weddings past her nuptials, with occasional "special interest format" magazines (think Martha Stewart Baby), and the Bluelines blog will continue. The January/February 2008 magazine (probably already on the way to newsstands) will be the final standalone issue.

Want a pink Microsoft Zune? You just have to be lucky. Evidently Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) didn't just give them as gifts, as previously thought, but "seeded" the retail stores with exactly 100 hot pink Zunes in packages that made them look like white Zunes. Sneaky.

If you're not lucky? You can just have a lot of cash. There's at least one pink Zune on sale at eBay -- but you'll have to act fast and, it seems, pay a lot. With some 36 hours left to go on the auction, this pink Zune is already over $400, which puts its estimated market value (based on my sophisticated stab in the dark based on years of eBay buying & selling) somewhere around $800. There's another auction for No. 19 of 100, with a bit more time -- it's only at $300.

Smart Microsoft. The buzz created seems to be catching -- I saw the story on Engadget, but it's already been all over the web.

Just when I was getting ready to write a post proclaiming that, thanks to Microsoft's über-geeky-cool "suede"-colored Zune music player, brown is the new pink (a.k.a. is the new white, is the new silver, is the new black), it turns out that pink is the new pink.

Engadget has news that Microsoft has given pink and orange Zunes as gifts (to retailers perhaps?), although the particular shade seems to defy the understated, Northwest-comfort connotations of the other colors (white = "cotton", black = "flannel") with which Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has staked its claim. If you ask me this color says "poly-cotton blend knit," not, I don't know, "raw silk."

You know what? I'm sticking to my guns. Brown is the new pink and the new black. I'm predicting that retailers will be delivering a smattering of earth tones in their electronics product mix for 2007. Brown is beautiful, and the brown Zune is why I'm in love with Microsoft these days.