SHLDQ - Sears Holdings Corp

[dyow]

http://blog.searsholdings.com/inside-shc/sears-holdings-recognizes-companys-sheroes/

 

Great news for the bulls.

[dyow]

SYW must be working, the bulls are building momentum.

 

http://blog.searsholdings.com/leena-munjal/from-a-loyal-member-what-sears-means-to-me/

 

 

 

Dear Ms. Munjal,

 

I’m writing to you after reading a piece on NPR about Sears’ struggles. An analogy in the article struck me: Sears was the Amazon of its day. So interesting! I just wanted you to know that there are people like me out there who are loyal Sears customers. I thought it might help you to know why.

 

First, let me tell you that I live in California and I shop at Sears. I’ve shopped there for at least 20 years. I can afford to shop anywhere, but I respect and appreciate value. That’s why I shop at Sears for many, many basics that my family uses.

 

All of the appliances in my home are from Sears. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, and two refrigerators. In my opinion, Sears is the best option in appliances for people like me who a.) like to see and touch an appliance before I buy it and b.) am not interested in spending a fortune on appliances even though I could afford to. I want a product I can count on with a good service organization behind it. In Los Angeles, the options aside from Sears either cater to a high end price point (Snyder Diamond, even Pacific Sales) or present very few mid-range options.

 

Sears is also where I go to buy clothing basics. Lands’ End clothing for me and my family, Levi’s jeans for my late husband and my teen son, cotton t-shirts and turtlenecks, bathing suits, pajamas, underwear, and on and on. The quality at Sears, when you are looking at workhorse brand names, is better than at Target (although I do shop at Target for contemporary home goods and seasonal items as well as specialty clothes). When my son was little, I ordered his first dress suit from Sears online (Dockers). I didn’t want to spend a fortune because I knew he’d grow out of it quickly. But I wanted nice quality and good choices. I got all of that from Sears online. You do this so well!

 

Sears feels honest and straightforward to me in an age of advertising burnout. For better or worse, there’s a nostalgia moment happening in America. Stepping out of the partisan divide, there are common values that I’m hearing. For example, people want the opportunity to “buy American” in order to put their purchasing power toward supporting American jobs. (FYI I’m a progressive Democrat living in liberal West Los Angeles; my entire family is conservative Republican living in Newport Beach and San Diego; the desire to buy products made in America is something we share). I don’t know the ratio of American made product that Sears sells, but my perception is that it’s high. I could be wildly wrong about that! But I’m certain that to emphasize Sears brands and corporate history that speak to this desire to “buy American” would be received well by consumers.

 

People also want to simplify and declutter their lives. The addiction to buying, hoarding, storing things you’ll never use (and usually made cheaply overseas) is being replaced by a desire to be organized and lean. Disposable fad clothing items may be less attractive these days. I have a teen son who is very discerning and knowledgeable about fashion and so are his friends. Quality classic jeans, t-shirts, hoodies provide the base for what he wears, and then he’ll add that (ridiculously) expensive designer accent piece. It’s all about authenticity.

 

Sears has authenticity in spades. Target may be the cool kid on the block, but Sears has an authentic history that, framed well, could make it a go-to place across a socio-economic spectrum. Look at the branding success of Shinola. That’s where Sears could live.

 

I cannot believe I wrote all this to you. Thank you for taking the time to read it (if you had the time to do so!) I hope it lets you know that there are consumers out there who appreciate Sears.

 

Wishing you success and fulfillment in all that you do!

 

Christine T.

 

[dyow]

http://www.fairholmefunds.com

 

Baaaaa

[dyow]

SYW must be working, the bulls are building momentum.

 

http://blog.searsholdings.com/leena-munjal/from-a-loyal-member-what-sears-means-to-me/

 

 

 

Dear Ms. Munjal,

 

I’m writing to you after reading a piece on NPR about Sears’ struggles. An analogy in the article struck me: Sears was the Amazon of its day. So interesting! I just wanted you to know that there are people like me out there who are loyal Sears customers. I thought it might help you to know why.

 

First, let me tell you that I live in California and I shop at Sears. I’ve shopped there for at least 20 years. I can afford to shop anywhere, but I respect and appreciate value. That’s why I shop at Sears for many, many basics that my family uses.

 

All of the appliances in my home are from Sears. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, and two refrigerators. In my opinion, Sears is the best option in appliances for people like me who a.) like to see and touch an appliance before I buy it and b.) am not interested in spending a fortune on appliances even though I could afford to. I want a product I can count on with a good service organization behind it. In Los Angeles, the options aside from Sears either cater to a high end price point (Snyder Diamond, even Pacific Sales) or present very few mid-range options.

 

Sears is also where I go to buy clothing basics. Lands’ End clothing for me and my family, Levi’s jeans for my late husband and my teen son, cotton t-shirts and turtlenecks, bathing suits, pajamas, underwear, and on and on. The quality at Sears, when you are looking at workhorse brand names, is better than at Target (although I do shop at Target for contemporary home goods and seasonal items as well as specialty clothes). When my son was little, I ordered his first dress suit from Sears online (Dockers). I didn’t want to spend a fortune because I knew he’d grow out of it quickly. But I wanted nice quality and good choices. I got all of that from Sears online. You do this so well!

 

Sears feels honest and straightforward to me in an age of advertising burnout. For better or worse, there’s a nostalgia moment happening in America. Stepping out of the partisan divide, there are common values that I’m hearing. For example, people want the opportunity to “buy American” in order to put their purchasing power toward supporting American jobs. (FYI I’m a progressive Democrat living in liberal West Los Angeles; my entire family is conservative Republican living in Newport Beach and San Diego; the desire to buy products made in America is something we share). I don’t know the ratio of American made product that Sears sells, but my perception is that it’s high. I could be wildly wrong about that! But I’m certain that to emphasize Sears brands and corporate history that speak to this desire to “buy American” would be received well by consumers.

 

People also want to simplify and declutter their lives. The addiction to buying, hoarding, storing things you’ll never use (and usually made cheaply overseas) is being replaced by a desire to be organized and lean. Disposable fad clothing items may be less attractive these days. I have a teen son who is very discerning and knowledgeable about fashion and so are his friends. Quality classic jeans, t-shirts, hoodies provide the base for what he wears, and then he’ll add that (ridiculously) expensive designer accent piece. It’s all about authenticity.

 

Sears has authenticity in spades. Target may be the cool kid on the block, but Sears has an authentic history that, framed well, could make it a go-to place across a socio-economic spectrum. Look at the branding success of Shinola. That’s where Sears could live.

 

I cannot believe I wrote all this to you. Thank you for taking the time to read it (if you had the time to do so!) I hope it lets you know that there are consumers out there who appreciate Sears.

 

Wishing you success and fulfillment in all that you do!

 

Christine T.

 

What is hilarious is that this lady, Christine T, made sure to say "she can afford to shop anywhere" before mentioning she shops at sears.  Implying she feels some shame.  They should have named shop your way, "you can afford to shop anywhere, but just shop here"......you earned 1000 YCATSABJSH points ma'am!!!! 

 

 

 

[rkbabang]

SYW must be working, the bulls are building momentum.

 

http://blog.searsholdings.com/leena-munjal/from-a-loyal-member-what-sears-means-to-me/

 

 

 

Dear Ms. Munjal,

 

I’m writing to you after reading a piece on NPR about Sears’ struggles. An analogy in the article struck me: Sears was the Amazon of its day. So interesting! I just wanted you to know that there are people like me out there who are loyal Sears customers. I thought it might help you to know why.

 

First, let me tell you that I live in California and I shop at Sears. I’ve shopped there for at least 20 years. I can afford to shop anywhere, but I respect and appreciate value. That’s why I shop at Sears for many, many basics that my family uses.

 

All of the appliances in my home are from Sears. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, and two refrigerators. In my opinion, Sears is the best option in appliances for people like me who a.) like to see and touch an appliance before I buy it and b.) am not interested in spending a fortune on appliances even though I could afford to. I want a product I can count on with a good service organization behind it. In Los Angeles, the options aside from Sears either cater to a high end price point (Snyder Diamond, even Pacific Sales) or present very few mid-range options.

 

Sears is also where I go to buy clothing basics. Lands’ End clothing for me and my family, Levi’s jeans for my late husband and my teen son, cotton t-shirts and turtlenecks, bathing suits, pajamas, underwear, and on and on. The quality at Sears, when you are looking at workhorse brand names, is better than at Target (although I do shop at Target for contemporary home goods and seasonal items as well as specialty clothes). When my son was little, I ordered his first dress suit from Sears online (Dockers). I didn’t want to spend a fortune because I knew he’d grow out of it quickly. But I wanted nice quality and good choices. I got all of that from Sears online. You do this so well!

 

Sears feels honest and straightforward to me in an age of advertising burnout. For better or worse, there’s a nostalgia moment happening in America. Stepping out of the partisan divide, there are common values that I’m hearing. For example, people want the opportunity to “buy American” in order to put their purchasing power toward supporting American jobs. (FYI I’m a progressive Democrat living in liberal West Los Angeles; my entire family is conservative Republican living in Newport Beach and San Diego; the desire to buy products made in America is something we share). I don’t know the ratio of American made product that Sears sells, but my perception is that it’s high. I could be wildly wrong about that! But I’m certain that to emphasize Sears brands and corporate history that speak to this desire to “buy American” would be received well by consumers.

 

People also want to simplify and declutter their lives. The addiction to buying, hoarding, storing things you’ll never use (and usually made cheaply overseas) is being replaced by a desire to be organized and lean. Disposable fad clothing items may be less attractive these days. I have a teen son who is very discerning and knowledgeable about fashion and so are his friends. Quality classic jeans, t-shirts, hoodies provide the base for what he wears, and then he’ll add that (ridiculously) expensive designer accent piece. It’s all about authenticity.

 

Sears has authenticity in spades. Target may be the cool kid on the block, but Sears has an authentic history that, framed well, could make it a go-to place across a socio-economic spectrum. Look at the branding success of Shinola. That’s where Sears could live.

 

I cannot believe I wrote all this to you. Thank you for taking the time to read it (if you had the time to do so!) I hope it lets you know that there are consumers out there who appreciate Sears.

 

Wishing you success and fulfillment in all that you do!

 

Christine T.

 

What is hilarious is that this lady, Christine T, made sure to say "she can afford to shop anywhere" before mentioning she shops at sears.  Implying she feels some shame.  They should have named shop your way, "you can afford to shop anywhere, but just shop here"......you earned 1000 YCATSABJSH points ma'am!!!! 

 

I get the impression that this is an elderly lady who still shops at Sears because she has been shopping there for many decades.  She buys "Levi’s jeans" for her "late husband" and her "teenage son".  I am thinking that she used to buy Levi's jeans for her husband when he was alive (at least that is what I hope she means) and that she used to shop for her son when he was a teenager.  I used to carpool with an over 65yr old coworker who would tell me he only buys Craftsman tools/yard equipment and Kenmore appliances.  Sears is living on nostalgia of the people who still shop there, the lady who wrote the above even mentions "buy American" as one of her reasons.  That can't last forever.  I doubt my kids even know what Sears is or have ever heard of the brand Kenmore.

And as dyow said, even the people who still shop there feel that they need to explain themselves.  That can't be a good sign. LOL.

 

[dyow]

SYW must be working, the bulls are building momentum.

 

http://blog.searsholdings.com/leena-munjal/from-a-loyal-member-what-sears-means-to-me/

 

 

 

Dear Ms. Munjal,

 

I’m writing to you after reading a piece on NPR about Sears’ struggles. An analogy in the article struck me: Sears was the Amazon of its day. So interesting! I just wanted you to know that there are people like me out there who are loyal Sears customers. I thought it might help you to know why.

 

First, let me tell you that I live in California and I shop at Sears. I’ve shopped there for at least 20 years. I can afford to shop anywhere, but I respect and appreciate value. That’s why I shop at Sears for many, many basics that my family uses.

 

All of the appliances in my home are from Sears. Washer, dryer, dishwasher, and two refrigerators. In my opinion, Sears is the best option in appliances for people like me who a.) like to see and touch an appliance before I buy it and b.) am not interested in spending a fortune on appliances even though I could afford to. I want a product I can count on with a good service organization behind it. In Los Angeles, the options aside from Sears either cater to a high end price point (Snyder Diamond, even Pacific Sales) or present very few mid-range options.

 

Sears is also where I go to buy clothing basics. Lands’ End clothing for me and my family, Levi’s jeans for my late husband and my teen son, cotton t-shirts and turtlenecks, bathing suits, pajamas, underwear, and on and on. The quality at Sears, when you are looking at workhorse brand names, is better than at Target (although I do shop at Target for contemporary home goods and seasonal items as well as specialty clothes). When my son was little, I ordered his first dress suit from Sears online (Dockers). I didn’t want to spend a fortune because I knew he’d grow out of it quickly. But I wanted nice quality and good choices. I got all of that from Sears online. You do this so well!

 

Sears feels honest and straightforward to me in an age of advertising burnout. For better or worse, there’s a nostalgia moment happening in America. Stepping out of the partisan divide, there are common values that I’m hearing. For example, people want the opportunity to “buy American” in order to put their purchasing power toward supporting American jobs. (FYI I’m a progressive Democrat living in liberal West Los Angeles; my entire family is conservative Republican living in Newport Beach and San Diego; the desire to buy products made in America is something we share). I don’t know the ratio of American made product that Sears sells, but my perception is that it’s high. I could be wildly wrong about that! But I’m certain that to emphasize Sears brands and corporate history that speak to this desire to “buy American” would be received well by consumers.

 

People also want to simplify and declutter their lives. The addiction to buying, hoarding, storing things you’ll never use (and usually made cheaply overseas) is being replaced by a desire to be organized and lean. Disposable fad clothing items may be less attractive these days. I have a teen son who is very discerning and knowledgeable about fashion and so are his friends. Quality classic jeans, t-shirts, hoodies provide the base for what he wears, and then he’ll add that (ridiculously) expensive designer accent piece. It’s all about authenticity.

 

Sears has authenticity in spades. Target may be the cool kid on the block, but Sears has an authentic history that, framed well, could make it a go-to place across a socio-economic spectrum. Look at the branding success of Shinola. That’s where Sears could live.

 

I cannot believe I wrote all this to you. Thank you for taking the time to read it (if you had the time to do so!) I hope it lets you know that there are consumers out there who appreciate Sears.

 

Wishing you success and fulfillment in all that you do!

 

Christine T.

 

What is hilarious is that this lady, Christine T, made sure to say "she can afford to shop anywhere" before mentioning she shops at sears.  Implying she feels some shame.  They should have named shop your way, "you can afford to shop anywhere, but just shop here"......you earned 1000 YCATSABJSH points ma'am!!!! 

 

I get the impression that this is an elderly lady who still shops at Sears because she has been shopping there for many decades.  She buys "Levi’s jeans" for her "late husband" and her "teenage son".  I am thinking that she used to buy Levi's jeans for her husband when he was alive (at least that is what I hope she means) and that she used to shop for her son when he was a teenager.  I used to carpool with an over 65yr old coworker who would tell me he only buys Craftsman tools/yard equipment and Kenmore appliances.  Sears is living on nostalgia of the people who still shop there, the lady who wrote the above even mentions "buy American" as one of her reasons.  That can't last forever.  I doubt my kids even know what Sears is or have ever heard of the brand Kenmore.

And as dyow said, even the people who still shop there feel that they need to explain themselves.  That can't be a good sign. LOL.

 

More bullish news.  With the increase in life expectancy from medical advancements Eddie can milk these shoppers for several more years. 

 

Unless the life expectancy is lower for sears shoppers compared to the general population? 

 

I can confirm the life expectancy of shareholders of sears is definitely lower than the general population......

[dyow]

OK I have been thinking about this a lot.

 

I have a 2 point plan to immediately extract value from the stock.  Maybe i can bring this plan to vote.

 

1) Immediately rebrand by changing the names to: 

Amasears

and K bart 

 

This gives both brands a fresh look and should confuse shoppers enough to gain sales momentum and stop the comp store sale declines.

 

The brands sears and k mart will never be mentioned again. They will only be referred to as "they who must not be named". 

 

2)

Put SYW up for sale on craigslist.  SYW makes $2B-4B in sales?? so at one time revenue we can post it for sale at "$3B OBO" make sure to highlight OBO.

 

If an acceptable price cannot be obtained then:

 

http://fortune.com/2017/02/17/target-stock-bomb-florida/

 

hire this man, give him a hammer (maybe bruce would join too??) and ski masks, and break into hoffman estates at 3am and smash the main motherboard CPU thingy for the SYW system.  Smash it into itty bitty pieces, without mercy.  Also the hammer used should be a craftsman hammer, and it should be bought with SYW points.....to send a message.  I would assume the stock price would jump 200% on the news.  We all know SYW is holding the real estate hostage.

 

That is all...for now

[dyow]

I would highly recommend reading this from beginning to end if you are new to value investing.  I think this thread should be a value investor course.  It touches everything:

 

- sum of the parts vs earnings

- accounting numbers vs economic reality

- retail

- technology

- spin offs, offerings, and financial engineering

- opportunity costs

- confirmation bias

- shareholder and management incentives

- cloning

- capital allocation

- not being able to explain concretely why you are long (in 900 pages/6+ years NO BULL has been able to say "my margin of safety is X and my fair value is Y).

 

These issues above apply to every company but sears takes it to another level.

 

Everybody is confused about Eddie Lampert's motives, maybe this was his ultimate goal. He already made his billions, he doesn't care about money, maybe this was his way to give back by making Sears a case study for all value investors??  To help us learn and become better value investors. 

 

We will probably never know, but if this is the case, I would like to send a big thank you to Mr. Lampert on behalf of all value investors.

 

[dyow]

PS the best posters in this thread were ERICOPOLY and wellmont.......they consistently hit the most important points...... too bad these guys don't post no more, we need more posters like this.

 

Also, another thing, I notice Lampert gets 99% of the anger directed at sears (which a lot i believe is deserving).

 

But if we step back and look at this from a big picture the only reason people ever entered this stock was bc bb gave it a liquidation value of $250.  If bb never said this, this thread would be maybe 20 pages.  If bb never said $150 i would have never even looked at this.  I think BB opening his mouth cost a lot of people money.

[BTShine]

Ackman also gave us RE value of $20 or $25 Billion. 

 

Marty Whitman might have had some comments early on, too.

[dyow]

Ackman also gave is a RE value of $20 or $25 Billion. 

 

Marty Whitman might have had some comments early on, too.

 

You are right, and if they didn't say anything someone probably would have.  But the most important player (Lampert) never gave a value for real estate.  In fact, he said he was burdened by the fact that other investors brought up the real estate value and liquidation when his goal from the beginning has been to do something with retail.   

 

Telling people to buy sears on liquidation value when sears had 300K employees, and 2500+ stores and was still operating was ludicrous.  An operating company has to be valued on earnings.  People on this board bought when the stock was at 40/50/60 bc that 250 was put in their head by guys like Berkowitz/Ackman/Whitman.

 

All i am saying is these guys should have some responsibility for what they say....if you say the liquidation value is X and the stock is cheap at least make sure the company is actually liquidating, otherwise you are misleading other investors on false hope.     

 

Note i am also guilty of using $150 as an anchor.  But my real life value is much much much lower.

 

Long and wrong.

 

[LongTermView]

Yeah, the anchor bias is a strong phenomenon.

[fareastwarriors]

 

The Long, Hard, Unprecedented Fall of Sears

 

An icon of 20th century American retailers laid low.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-08/the-long-hard-unprecedented-fall-of-sears

[Parsad]

I thought it was a pretty good article.  Cheers!

[DCG]

Eddie Lampert is such a joke.

 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-sears-says-nearly-bankrupt-154946232.html

 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-ceo-lampert-blames-companys-woes-irresponsible-media-195908478--finance.html

[Ballinvarosig Investors]

The latest from Crazy Eddie.

https://blog.searsholdings.com/eddie-lampert/shc-chairman-and-ceo-taking-a-stand-to-protect-our-company/

 

Last week, at our annual meeting of stockholders, I said that Sears Holdings needs the support of our members, vendors, lenders and the communities we serve to succeed. I also shared my view that while we are not asking to be spared from informed opinions about our business performance, the recent wave of dire predictions about our company’s future have done harm to our business.

 

I also discussed the hard work we are doing with our vendors to meet their concerns.  These efforts have resulted in a meaningful reduction in their counterparty risk with Sears Holdings – to the point where nearly all our vendors have a level of credit risk that is both affordable and appropriate given the relationships we have and our history of always meeting our obligations.

 

But, as I explained last week, there have been examples of parties we do business with trying to take advantage of negative rumors about Sears to make themselves a better deal – a deal that is unilaterally in their interest. In such a case, we will not simply roll over and be taken advantage of – we will do what’s right to protect the interests of our company and the millions of stakeholders we serve.

 

Today, we are taking a stand against one vendor that is trying to take unfair advantage of us: One World, a company with whom we have had over a nine-year business relationship, has threatened to refuse to perform under their Supply Agreement unless we agree to what we believe are unreasonable demands. One World has informed us of their intention to take the very aggressive step of filing a lawsuit against us as they seek to embarrass us in the media to force us to let them out of their contract.  But Sears has nothing to be embarrassed about — we have lived up to our word under our contract, and we will take the appropriate legal action to protect our rights and ensure that One World honors their contract.

 

Additional Background

 

One World is a subsidiary of Techtronic Industries, a conglomerate based in China with over $5 billion in revenues. One World makes various power tools and related accessories for Sears under the Craftsman brand. For over nine years, One World has enjoyed significant benefits from its relationship with Sears – we have paid One World more than $868 million since 2007 – a relationship that helped One World build a formidable presence in the tool industry. Sears has paid and continues to make all payments to One World as they come due, and we are fully capable of continuing to meet our obligations under the Supply Agreement.

 

There are important competitive reasons why we will fight hard to hold One World to honor our agreement. One World also manufactures power tools for other companies – by reducing its commitment to Sears, One World can do more business with those other companies by diverting resources now committed to Sears without incurring the cost of expanding its manufacturing or outsourced procurement capacity.

 

If we allowed One World to break their agreement, it would effectively reduce the flow of products they are required to deliver to Sears, harming our ability to sell tools, supply parts, and provide goods to Sears’ members and customers. We won’t allow that to happen. We are generally not a litigious company, but we will fight back to protect our legal rights, hold One World to its contractual agreements, and ensure that our customers are not affected by this business dispute.

 

As I have said, I believe Sears Holdings can continue to operate as a very significant member-centric integrated retailer with a large number of stores as long as we receive the support of our vendors and other stakeholders. It is important to note that we purchase more than $13 billion a year in goods and services to offer our members in Sears and Kmart in-store and online. Across our entire vendor base, we have always met our payment obligations and are confident that the steps we are taking to improve our financial strength and reduce our operating losses will ensure that we will continue to be a strong business partner for many years to come.

 

You can't help but laugh, this is from the man who handed out copies of Atlas Shrugged to investors.

 

Ayn Rand giveth, and Ayn Rand taketh away!

[muscleman]

Eddie Lampert is such a joke.

 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-sears-says-nearly-bankrupt-154946232.html

 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-ceo-lampert-blames-companys-woes-irresponsible-media-195908478--finance.html

 

"The company has not reported a profit for six years, which Lampert compared to Amazon.com Inc's <AMZN.O> early unprofitable growth. "

 

Are you kidding me? I think most people with an average IQ would be able to tell the difference between the current SHLD and early stage AMZN.

 

 

"Lampert said his reluctance to close more stores was not about denial, but about caring."

This statement is obviously denial. If he could give an answer like what he believed the RE values are and the values are increasing the longer he holds them, then I might think he knows more about it than us. But an investment is never about caring. It is about making money!  :o

 

[stahleyp]

If someone would have told me that Lampert would have been as committed to Sears as he has been over the past 13 years or so (and the actual story would have been unknown), I probably would have made it a large position. Just goes to show that even if you're right about certain things how wrong you can be overall.

[Picasso]

"Lampert said his reluctance to close more stores was not about denial, but about caring."

This statement is obviously denial. If he could give an answer like what he believed the RE values are and the values are increasing the longer he holds them, then I might think he knows more about it than us. But an investment is never about caring. It is about making money!  :o

 

Probably something to be said for this.  Most guys in the hedge fund/private equity world have the ability to cut jobs without losing any sleep.  I've generally heard positive anecdotes about Lampert (as a person) even if he has other personal flaws that probably hurt his returns. 

 

A lot of these successful people we like to admire have severe personality flaws that show up in weird ways.  Just one or two different choices and Lampert would have done well from his SHLD investment, especially considering the upside he lost on feeding redemptions with AZO stock.  It feels like he underestimated the extent of SHLD's problems and thought he could both save jobs and the investment.  But that same weird thought process probably led to a lot of his earlier successes.  It just failed on a secularly challenged retailer.

 

Then again he sounds like a dick when you read some of the BI stories.  Elon Musk is sort of the same where he's empathetic to the human race but not so much to individual staff.  Not that they're similar but again unbalanced successful people who are just naturally going to do things that are really bizarre.  I feel like the intentions are generally well meaning even if the experiment doesn't quite work out. 

 

I sort of wonder how he would do if he could get out of the SHLD crapper and get back to the fun stuff.  Would he be able to compound 20%/year again or has he lost the skillset?  Kind of interesting to ponder.  I hate to say it but I feel like he's lost it.  Investing is kind of like retail, if you aren't getting better than the competition (which is constantly improving) then you're just getting worse.  But it'd be cool if he could make some kind of epic comeback once SHLD is finished.

 

Like dyow said maybe moving to Miami messed up their vitamin D levels and they lost their edge.  Remind me to never move to Miami.

[Spekulatius]

I think it is clear from the latest news article SHLD (Eddies not needing more customers, the supplier woes) that the pressure ion SHLD is mounting tremendously. It is a very bad sign, if you suppliers want to fire you to for greener pastures. Usually it is the other way around - think about this for a while.... The clock is ticking - I don't think they will make it more than 12 month from here - my best guess is that they file before or after Xmas season.

[sampr01]

+1 Picasso sharing thoughts and lot more informative than predicting BK.. I want sears to have successful because of they employee lot of people NOT as an sears shareholder!

 

P.S: I own 2017 bonds NOT commons

 

(

"Lampert said his reluctance to close more stores was not about denial, but about caring."

This statement is obviously denial. If he could give an answer like what he believed the RE values are and the values are increasing the longer he holds them, then I might think he knows more about it than us. But an investment is never about caring. It is about making money!  :o

 

Probably something to be said for this.  Most guys in the hedge fund/private equity world have the ability to cut jobs without losing any sleep.  I've generally heard positive anecdotes about Lampert (as a person) even if he has other personal flaws that probably hurt his returns. 

 

A lot of these successful people we like to admire have severe personality flaws that show up in weird ways.  Just one or two different choices and Lampert would have done well from his SHLD investment, especially considering the upside he lost on feeding redemptions with AZO stock.  It feels like he underestimated the extent of SHLD's problems and thought he could both save jobs and the investment.  But that same weird thought process probably led to a lot of his earlier successes.  It just failed on a secularly challenged retailer.

 

Then again he sounds like a dick when you read some of the BI stories.  Elon Musk is sort of the same where he's empathetic to the human race but not so much to individual staff.  Not that they're similar but again unbalanced successful people who are just naturally going to do things that are really bizarre.  I feel like the intentions are generally well meaning even if the experiment doesn't quite work out. 

 

I sort of wonder how he would do if he could get out of the SHLD crapper and get back to the fun stuff.  Would he be able to compound 20%/year again or has he lost the skillset?  Kind of interesting to ponder.  I hate to say it but I feel like he's lost it.  Investing is kind of like retail, if you aren't getting better than the competition (which is constantly improving) then you're just getting worse.  But it'd be cool if he could make some kind of epic comeback once SHLD is finished.

 

Like dyow said maybe moving to Miami messed up their vitamin D levels and they lost their edge.  Remind me to never move to Miami.

[Guest roark33]

 

 

 

A lot of these successful people we like to admire have severe personality flaws that show up in weird ways. 

 

 

 

 

 

This does not bode well for Picasso's future success as I have generally found him to be a nice and upstanding guy...no clear personality flaws that would lead to mind-blowing success.  Is my logic sound here? 

[Jurgis]

 

A lot of these successful people we like to admire have severe personality flaws that show up in weird ways. 

 

This does not bode well for Picasso's future success as I have generally found him to be a nice and upstanding guy...no clear personality flaws that would lead to mind-blowing success.  Is my logic sound here?

 

Picasso has brass balls.

 

...

 

...

 

I thought you knew.

 

8)

[rkbabang]

 

A lot of these successful people we like to admire have severe personality flaws that show up in weird ways. 

 

This does not bode well for Picasso's future success as I have generally found him to be a nice and upstanding guy...no clear personality flaws that would lead to mind-blowing success.  Is my logic sound here?

 

Picasso has brass balls.

 

...

 

...

 

I thought you knew.

 

8)

 

So does Sears. http://m.sears.com/b-p-lamp-b-p-lamp-3-4-diameter-brass-ball/p-SPM15076770524

[Partner24]

Eddie Lampert was the "next Warren Buffett" a decade ago. Now people are having fun at him. Opinions about people are such a volatile thing...