The good news for investors in Coldwater Creek, it has to get better.

We spotted this chart in the Sandpoint-based women's clothing retailer's annual report for the fiscal year ending Feb. 2. The chart came with the company-written explanation below.

 If you can't read the graphic, here's the summary of what the FOUR key lines represent: (Also, click the chart to enlarge it.)

SOLID line with rectangle is Coldwater's stock valuation measured as an index starting in Feb. 2008 at 100. All four indices started at the same 100 point five years ago.

DASH line: NASDAQ composite.

DOT dash line: S&P apparel retail group.

SOLID line with circle: Apparel peer group.

The following graph compares the cumulative five-year total return to stockholders on Coldwater Creek Inc.'s common stock to the cumulative total returns of the NASDAQ Composite Index, the S&P Apparel Retail Index, and a customized peer group of Chico's, Christopher & Banks, and ANN INC (referred to as the “Peer Group”). Due to Talbots, one of the companies that was included in the Peer Group for fiscal 2011, becoming a privately held company, and in an effort to include a broader range of companies that includes industry sectors in which we operate, instead of comparing our stock performance to an individually selected group of peer companies, we have used a published industry index. Accordingly, for fiscal 2012, we are including the S&P Apparel Retail Index and we do not intend to present the Peer Group in future fiscal years. The stock performance shown below is not necessarily indicative of future performance.

Just in time for the holidays, we spotted a nice Friday afternoon pop for Coldwater Creek's stock price, on the Nasdaq.

A few months ago the company had to do a reverse-split to keep the price per share above $1. When it did that, its recalculated price came to about $3.89 or so.

Today it rose to $5.72, up 17 percent from Thursday's closing price.

Recent announcements that might have helped the Sandpoint women's fashion retailer is a third quarter report that showed it's trimmed losses, and the announcement this week that a new CEO will take over in January for co-founder Dennis Pence.

Things are picking up stock-wise. Friday's trade volume was 412,519 shares, compared with a recent average volume of  211,332 shares.

Sandpoint women's clothing retailer Coldwater Creek did an interesting thing on Wednesday. It appointed a woman as the next CEO.

The women's apparel retailer said its co-founder and CEO Dennis Pence will retire at the end of 2012.

Jill Brown Dean, the current president and chief merchandise buyer,  will take over as CEO on Jan. 1.

The company reported a smaller-than-expected third quarter loss, helped by higher comparable premium retail store sales and improved margins. In after hour trading Wednesday, the stock moved upward, approaching the $5 mark for the first time in a long while.

Normal Wednesday trading closed at $4.87 on the Nasdaq.

Coldwater Creek has been posting losses for more than two years. It has been losing out to larger rivals such as Chico's FAS  and Ann Taylor Stores Corp.

Catching up after some time away:  Sandpoint women's apparel retailer Coldwater Creek is faring better, stock-price-wise, since it went through a recent four-to-one reverse split.

The change took effect last Monday on the NASDAQ exchange where CTWR trades. A number of analysts have taken note and are moving their ratings from neutral to hold. They're citing improved apparel choices and a strong push to attract more purchases through customer loyalty programs.

The company's CEO and President Dennis Pence said, in a release, the split “was necessary for us to maintain our listing position on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, attract high quality investors and more effectively capitalize on the positive changes we have made to our brand which we believe will result in sustained long-term profitability and shareholder value.”

The stock price this week is above $4.

The charts above and below show the stock's climb. The top one adjusts stock prices to agree with the new split price. The one below doesn't.

Also notable: daily volume is very small and is shown in the lines at the lower half of the chart below.

Coldwater Creek, looking to keep its stock listed on the Nasdaq, is preparing a special election for stockholders to approve a reverse stock split.

The election is now set for Friday,  Sept 21 at 9:30 a.m. at the women's fashion retailer's Sandpoint office. 

Our earlier story last week didn't have the date. It also then didn't have the reverse split.

The proposal is a reverse split no less than 1-for-3 and not more than 1-for-6. The vote gives the company board the option to choose the level of split.

If you're a stockholder and want to get a ballot, this link gets you what you need.

To read the full proxy proposal, it's linked just below this text box.

Documents:

Sandpoint women’s apparel retailer Coldwater Creek is proposing a reverse stock split to keep the company trading on the Nasdaq market.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission proposes a vote by Coldwater shareholders to approve the split. Neither the date for the election or the split ratio has been decided, said company spokeswoman Bobbi Earle.

The Nasdaq rules state a company’s stock will be delisted if it remains below $1 a share for 90 days following a notice of possible delisting.

Nasdaq sent that notice to Coldwater Creek in mid-June. Its share price was last above $1 on May 10. Since then its price has fallen to 45 cents and as high as 80 cents.

It closed Monday at 63 cents.

While struggling to revive its stock price, the company has earned some market support because of a recent infusion of cash from equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Last month the San Francisco-based fund announced it’s lending Coldwater Creek $65 million.

In exchange, Golden Gate Capital gets to choose two directors to Coldwater Creek’s board.

This past week Coldwater Creek got a dose of cash from a major investor. The announcement that Bay Area private equity firm Golden Gate Capital was lending $65 million helped boost the company's public stock to above 80 cents per share.

That's the highest it's been in since May.

Since Tuesday, the stock has drifted a bit lower, as can be expected. The good news: It's closing higher than it was last week.

The charts below, from Yahoo Finance, show the stock price over the past week. 

On Friday Coldwater Creek filed an amended report summarizing the investment from Golden Gate. Here's the explanation for where the $65 million will go: 
“The proceeds of the Term Loan Agreement will be used for debt repayment, to finance the acquisition of working capital assets, and for other general corporate purposes.  On July 9, 2012, the Company used $14.8 million of the proceeds to repay its term loan with Wells Fargo Bank.”

Recently we took a look at the slow and painful progress Coldwater Creek has made in recovering from a difficult retail-apparel market.

One thing we couldn't get, in time for the story, was the change in headcount for the Sandpoint publicly traded company (CWTR is the Nasdaq symbol).

Cost cutting certainly has occurred. In 2010 the firm had 9,680 total workers, with 738 in Idaho.

As of June 2012 the numbers are 6,912 total employees and 589 in Idaho.

The folks at Sandpoint Forward who are sponsoring a Chairlift Pitch contest next week have a pretty solid idea. We summarized that idea in a story earlier this week.

The guy whose head hatched the Chairlift Pitch contest is Mark Rivers, who lives in Boise most of the time but also works as a consultant for Sandpoint's economic development folks.

One detail we were not able to add to the story is Rivers' other idea: he plans to have a helmet cam attached to some of the judges who accompany the seven contestants up the chair lift. 

Later, Rivers said they'll add some of the videos to a YouTube channel, so folks can hear the pitches from the seven company owners.

The prize of the contest is $1,000 plus six free months of office space in downtown Sandpoint.

Sandpoint's Coldwater Creek released earnings numbers on Wednesday for the fourth quarter and fiscal year.

The basics:  Fourth quarter produced a loss of $12.8 million, compared to a loss one year ago of $34.7 million.

For the 12 months ending Jan. 28, the loss was $99 million, versus $44.1 million for the previous fiscal year.

See a more detailed summary of the numbers in Thursday's Spokesman-Review at at Spokesman.com.

Sandpoint clothing retailer Coldwater Creek lowered its earlier estimate of losing 13 to 21 cents per share for the fourth quarter. It now expects losses in the 18 to 24 cents per share range.

A few weeks ago Sandpoint-based clothing retailer Coldwater Creek (CWTR) was facing possibly delisting from the Nasdaq Exchange as its stock price dipped below $1.

Since then the stock has held steady and got to $1.13 last week.

As of market close on Wednesday, Coldwater was trading at $1.14 per share, a slight drop from the day's high of $1.20.

The company is reporting quarterly earnings in two weeks, and will likely discuss marketing and inventory options going into this year's important holiday season.

We have only three words for Coldwater Creek:  hang in there.

The CEO of Sandpoint airplane manufacturer Quest Aircraft Company is stepping aside, at the same time the company has said it’s boosting production of its highly regarded Kodiak.

Paul Schaller, who’s been in the CEO seat at the privately held firm since 2004, has become a consultant to the company. No reason was offered for his change of job.

Ron Wright, director of operations, is taking over as acting general manager at the Sandpoint manufacturing facility. The board will begin a search for a new CEO, said spokeswoman Julie Stone.

Orders for Kodiaks, which sell for roughly $1.6 million, have increased as the general aviation industry starts to recover. The company is gearing up to produce three aircraft per month, an increase from two per month earlier this year.

The company produced 14 Kodiaks during 2010. The single-turboprop aircraft is popular for flying into rugged terrain and for using jet fuel.