sharksandwich

Sears: Going Private? Not So Fast

Corrupt? What evidence do u have of this John? Bloated? Inventory you mean? Yes, agreed however that is temporary. Cramer is a non event. Lampert, Ackman, DEShaw, Pabrai, Tisch, Miller etc... These are serious value investors with patience. You can't compare Sears to a Target or a Wal Mart. It's not that kind of retailer. It is, unlike a Wal Mart, a brand rich co. And, unlike TGT or WMT, they can and will sell their real estate and be gone with the stores after they are sold. No sale lease backs in store here. That is one of the myths about WMT or TGT. Selling their real estate to generate cash to pay a large dividend doesn't make sense when you plan to run those stores and lease it back from the buyer. Margins go down and you become less profitable. Period. Sears is an asset rich co., not a traditional retailer anymore, despite what Lampert claims to be telling us. If we didn't own brands or the services that they do, this co would be in trouble. That just simply isnt the case. I love reading all the chest-pounding "I told u so" bearish posts. It's a shame that stock prices still dictate the reactions. When it was at $170 everyone loved the co. Now at $78 everyone hates it. In the long run, the co. is in the exact same shape it was at both stock prices. Investing is a great business because it's a zero sum game. There will be one winner and one loser. I might conclude that being short the last 9 months has been the easiest thing to do. At some point, it'll rip your lungs out