Saturday, November 17, 2012

The Softer Side of Sears (Musical Tribute)


Click to enlarge.



February 23, 2012
Sears Holding Corporation: Chairman's Letter

Our poor financial results in 2011, culminating in a very poor fourth quarter, underscore the need to accelerate the transformation of Sears Holdings. While some may claim that these results are a continuation of a trend...

I agree. Some might claim that.

See Also:
Our Pillars of Retail Strength
Dwindling Retail Sales

Source Data:
Sears Holdings Corporation: Annual Reports

11 comments:

Stagflationary Mark said...

I think there should be a new rule on my blog. I should post a Sears chart each month someone mentions the company in the comments.

This time it was Rob Dawg's turn, lol. Sigh.

Stagflationary Mark said...

In all seriousness, Sears was once my favorite store. I lived in a small farming community. What kid couldn't love flipping through that giant Wish Book?

Where are we now? I have no doubt that Eddie Lampert can accelerate the transformation. Sigh.

Rob Dawg said...

Did I mention that the local old Home Depot that has been shuttered for a decade sold and will be an ethnic grocery? Because it was owned and not on market it was never vacant property. HD kept it to keep Lowes et al from using the space which is why it is a grocery and not something more building suited.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Rob Dawg,

One wonders how much of this is going on.

HD kept it to keep Lowes et al from using the space which is why it is a grocery and not something more building suited.

I wouldn't take much convincing.

mab said...

Sears is the gift that keeps on giving. Have you seen their latest quarterly results? Behold the "genius" of Eddie Lampert:

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/sears-holdings-earnings-loss-widens-on-falling-revenue.html/

Results: Loss widened to $498 million ($4.70 per diluted share) from $421 million (loss of $3.95 per share) in the same quarter a year earlier.

Widening losses, nice!

Revenue: Fell 5.8% to $8.86 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Declining revenue, schweet! Buy, buy, buy!

The shares got hammered.....down ~ 19%! Exactly what were our "forward looking" and "efficient" markets expecting?

SHLD is circling the drain. If Christmas came twice a year it wouldn't save Sears. As a retailer, Sears has negative value. It's a real estate play in a world with too much retail already.

Stagflationary Mark said...

mab,

SHLD is circling the drain.

What you say makes no sense. I specifically remember Anonymous setting us both straight on May 9, 2008.

I can't believe the previous comments are supposed to be taken seriously. First off, Eddie Lampert was recognized as a whiz a decade before buying Kmart. Second of Lampert is still a whiz his return on Kmart and on Sears even with the recent decline beats the market hand over fist.

Either you guys are joking or you like to buy high and sell low. Not my style. Lampert and Sears will prove to be fantastic investments over the next 10 years. Over the next 10 minutes? who knows and who cares?


May 9, 2016! It's marked on my calendar for God's sake! We just need to be incredibly patient.

Too much sarcasm? I never really know for sure. Seems pretty excessive this time.

Stagflationary Mark said...

Oops. May 9, 2018! I've got so many Sears dates on my calendar that I can't even keep them all straight, lol.

Stagflationary Mark said...

For those interested, SHLD's stock price was $93.19 on May 9, 2008.

It's now $47.49.

That's a 51% loss.

Of course, to be fair I should probably add in the dividends of $0.00 over the period. Done!

How about inflation? Yeah, let's do that too.

May 2008 CPI: 215.206
Oct 2012 CPI: 231.751

Oh look. There's another 7% loss in purchasing power! Woohoo!

Forehead. Desk. Whack. Whack. Whack.

Stagflationary Mark said...

It might not be completely hopeless.

If JC Penney flops first then more traffic might move to Sears.

SHLD vs. JCP

I'm speaking as a permabear of course (as of 2004). Perhaps I'm missing something.

mab said...

After viewing your SHLD vs. JCP chart it struck me that the JCP CEO must be a whiz too, just Lampert.

Fooled by randomness? How about duped by hype!

Stagflationary Mark said...

mab,

Perhaps the CEO intelligence has been departmentalized for safety. Think watertight doors on a sinking ship.

One has a keen understanding of how to be profitable when consumers flood to department stores.

The other has a keen understanding of what happens when consumers flood to departments stores. Profits!

Spread that risk around. Their difference in mindsets will ensure that at least one of them survives (longer than the other), lol. Sigh.

Gallows humor.