Consumer stocks are now as risky as they've ever been. Unemployment's historically high, consumers are spooked, and subpar earnings abound, as companies pay the price for lost competitive advantage or fiscal irresponsibility. But tough times can offer investors the best chance to buy stocks.

Even if stock prices are low, investors still need to be careful. Many companies simply won't survive the recession. Last week, I outlined two big reasonsto love The Buckle (NYSE: BKE). But even if you love an investment, it's always Foolish to play devil's advocate, probing for its potential weak spots. To keep you and your portfolio ready for anything, I've highlighted two reasons to loathe The Buckle.

Short interest!
I knew it would be tough to figure out something to loathe about The Buckle; it's one of my brightest stock ideas lately. Still, reader ilmostrorosso pointed out in the comment box on last week's article that The Buckle has extremely high short interest. Indeed, as of last week, 37.5% of its float was short.

In fact, according to a Wall Street Journalarticle, Buckle has one of the highest short interest ratios among NYSE stocks. Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) (NYSE: CMG-B) ranked higher, with 41.7% of its float sold short; another retailer, Talbots (NYSE: TLB), is up there, too, with 31.2% short.

There are plenty of retail stocks I'm far less enthusiastic about, but oddly enough, their short interest pales in comparison. Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), a poor operator, had only 18.1% of its float short as of early August. For another lackluster performer, American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), the figure was only 5.8%!

That's a heck of a lot of negativity dogging The Buckle. Clearly, some people think it's heading for a fall, which should give you pause when contemplating the stock.

The what, now?
Despite The Buckle's great business performance, I've never actually seen one of its stores. There's a reason for this: There just aren't that many stores out there.

The Buckle had a total of 387 stores as of January; it has operated under its current name since 1991. Obviously, this company has been slow and conservative when it comes to growth. That's arguably a good thing, but it certainly implies that there are plenty of consumers who haven't ever even heard of this retailer. (Or the stock, for that matter!)

This is certainly no Gap (NYSE: GPS), one of the all-time classic examples of retail overexpansion. As of January, Gap had a whopping 3,149 stores spanning its different concepts, including Old Navy and Banana Republic. Continued...