$72.21
-1.40 (-1.90%)
Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD)
CAPS Rating:
The Company is a broadline retailer. It currently conducts its operations in three business segments: Kmart, Sears Domestic and Sears Canada.
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I'm late to the party on this one...I've hated it ever since Lampert stole my money.Why short? 1. Lampert- he doesn't care about selling, he cares about making money...mostly for himself.2. Lampert- he's not a retailer, he doesn't care about retail and it's tough enough in the retail business.3. Lampert- Sears Holddings is more akin to a hedge fund. Most every hedge fund is under duress.I have a 5 year CAPS underperform, but I think they'll be gone before then.
Speaking of management- the road to hell is littered with the bones of those who thought more of themselves than the gods would allow. The difference between Buffett and Lampert? Buffett is your grandmother, gentle and wise; Lampert is the kid who stole your lunch money. Buffett is wealthy, Lampert is rich. Buffett is patient, Lampert is leveraged. Buffet cares, and so does Lampert...but about what? Are any of you Lampert fans paying attention to what is happening to the smartest guys in the room?...say John Thain? They are cut of the cloth that lead sheep to slaughter (apologies for the mixed metaphor). I'll stop ranting now.
How did Lampert steal your money?
Hi Shine-He took over Kmart knowing full well he was going to declare bankruptcy, dump the garbage, pitch the baby with the bathwater and keep a pile of money. At the time, Kmart was a customer of mine and was making measurable progress. They had (and no doubt still have) some excellent capable people on the team. We can play olde-tyme (pronounced "tie-me") capitalism- admit that he is just a brilliant guy who could see value and knew how to draw it out. Great for him, and if you trust him and he continues to be "successful" perhaps it's great for you, too. I bought Kmart bonds as I did my best to support improvements at Kmart. It was in no way necessary to declare bankruptcy, unless you were like him...in a position to make a quick buck. The rest of us in the economic equation- the leaseholders, the stockholders, thousands of employees??...sorry, that's blood money. That is precisely the brand of capitalism that has got us where we are today. The true measure of Lampert's brilliance may be whether he escapes with the loot again. I'm rooting very hard against him.-Lotb
Did they offer you and other bondholders the option to convert your bond into new equity in the "new Kmart?"I don't know the details of it, but it sounds like you and some other bondholders may have got a poor deal out of the situation.
Nah, we got nuthin'. Well, actually I got a very valuable lesson; high yield bonds are high yield for a reason. There are bonds available for all sorts of companies that seem impervious to bankruptcy (which is the only circumstance under which the bonds become worthless), but I'm here to tell you, if the bond yields 12% when the T Rate is at 4%, you are buying wing and prayer. And by the way, the "new" Kmart (SHLD) could have been had for a couple of bucks a share. That would have made the pain go wayyyy away, but I just never trusted Lampert or his ilk. They are bad for America.
You can see how much he cares just by walking in the stores... The chain looks like it's stuck in time, somewhere around 1992-1995.
only without that high 1990's era product quality!I want to like Sears and Kmart...I really do. But I think they are going down due to misguided motivation (it's all about money...the customer means nothing). Plus that SOB stole from me.
Too much emotion guiding your thought process..SHLD is a good buy and hold!!!
Thanks for your reply. My pitch comes off as more emotional than it really is for me. My core contention is that Lampert is a poor leader for a retail company. Being in retail is not about
Lemme tell you about Sears' boys and girls. The dinosaurs are gone, the bottom line was cut to the bone at an expense of maybe 15% of the topline...in a down economy. Big commissions and salaries gone, pension fund and 401k company match gone, retiree benefits and deep employee discounts gone, gone gone. What will emerge is a younger, leaner Sears with a major web to store presence and the largest repair service organization in the country. It was $200 once, it will be again.
I hope you are right.
Lampert is the new Al Dunlap. He slashes and leverages companies then moves on. Leaving the gutted corpse to collapse. Does anyone really think Autozone will have the same value five years from now as it does currently? Sears is doomed. Yes, Lampert has slashed expenses... and service... and quality... and selection...
Sears is a joke. Walk around one if you don't believe me. Tell me if you see any costumers. It's already losing money. The massive land holdings are declining, make that collapsing, in value along with other commercial real estate.
Lampert didn't jump ship quickly enough this time. The gig is up.
You must be old, English ;) to remember Sunbeam Al. I couldn't agree more.
In the past, I perceived Sears to be one of those "old bloated mall rats"... the type of store you only visited if you happened to be at the mall. This perception of mine has begun to change over the past year or so. Sears actually has bargains and is competitive in areas I would not have thought possible just a couple of years ago. I recently bought a dishwasher from Sears, and also a Panasonic Blue-Ray disk player at unbelievably competitive prices. I find that when I peruse the Sunday newspaper circulars, I now take the time to check out what Sears has to offer... in the past I wouldn't have even opened their circular. I am not as impressed with K-Mart which seems now to be a skanky low-end department store.
For the record I'm long Sears and think that they are poised to do very well. Also, I like Mr. Lampert and think he is good for America.