Mega-trendy retailer Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD) announced the sale today of its Express Stores unit to private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, and in the same breath said it was evaluating the options for its Limited Stores segment -- the brand the company derives its name from. Despite the surface inscrutability of this decision (why sell the company's titular brands, the ones that are growing in gross profit while the company's other units are slipping bigtime?), it's one that analysts have been predicting for a while given that CEO Leslie Wexner has been hyping his Victoria's Secret unit as a "megabrand" upon which Limited's future prospects would hinge. Both Victoria's Secret and soap-and-lotion retailer Bath & Body Works, he insists, depend on products whose sales are more predictable than those of clothing.

While that's certainly true, it's also true that the profit margins for the cheap, trendy clothing sold by the company's Express and Limited stores are growing while the rest of the company's brands are falling. Today the company announced that it is revising its outlook for Q1 2007 downward significantly due to poorer-than-expected sales and merchandise margins at Victoria's Secret. After slashing the outlook from 25-28 cents a share to 12-14 cents a share, the stock was down significantly, $1.23 or 4.5% to $26.18, although after-market trading shows some nice recovery.

Perhaps the prediction isn't so easy, but the fact remains that the profit margins and same-store sales growth is a lot better on lemongrass- and magnolia-scented lotion than tank tops and skinny jeans. While Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works regularly record operating profit in the 20-30% range, a good quarter for Express and Limited stores hovers between 5% and 6%. Lingerie is sexy, and soap is way, way sexier -- and Limited Brands has picked this clean, sweet-smelling horse to ride for now.

As of February 3, 2007, Limited had 658 Express stores and 260 Limited stores; 1,326 stores in the Victoria's Secret unit (which includes the La Senza brand); and 1,546 Bath & Body Works stores.

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. To crown Joya as one of the laughingstocks of the corporate world this year or to see other dumbest moments in business, go here.

It's a really tough year for mediocre corporate scandals, you know the ones: options backdating, restated earnings. Yawn. No other year in memory has been so excellent as fodder for the BloggingStocks-sponsored musical (you know we're going to win a dozen Tonys): The Really Stupid Corporate Spy Who Loved Me. It's kind of a mouthful, but just wait until you hear it set to music.

And wait until you get to the opening scene, Amey Stone has already written some of the dialogue. It's set in a park somewhere in the city of Atlanta (envision: 1996 Olympics logo still visible in the background). There are some people in dark trench coats and red polo shirts, handing off a box of Girl Scout cookies to some people in dark trench coats and bright blue polo shirts. Inside? The secret recipe to Coca-Cola.

The real story is nearly just as much fun. Joya Williams, an administrative assistant, called someone at PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) claiming to be a Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) executive. Named "Dirk." [Shivers of love over how adorably stupid this all is!] She offered to sell a number of trade secrets, including a sample of a new Coca-Cola beverage, to the company's rivals. The FBI then got involved and stuffed cash in a box of Girl Scout cookies to do the handoff. Now? The poor woman's going on trial for stealing trade secrets and confidential documents in January.