Why Is Sears So Hated? By Jim Cramer RealMoney Columnist 1/8/2009 11:14 AM EST Click here for more stories by Jim Cramer Try Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS CLICK HERE NOW It is time to speak the truth about Sears Holdings (SHLD - commentary - Cramer's Take). All of the disaster scenarios did not come true. All of the stuff on TV and in the press about what was supposed to happen -- a true debacle -- didn't happen. In fact, the opposite. Now, I want you to put aside a couple of negatives: Eddie Lampert, a friend, who runs the company, should not have bought stock all the way up. That was a mistake. He admits it. Put aside the fact that the stores may not be what you want to shop at. I have a nice one, but it is often empty. Forget for a moment that Lampert "missed the window" of selling lots of real estate at higher prices. But let's look at what is happening here. Sears made money in the fourth quarter. In fact, it made pretty much what it made last year. HOW MANY RETAILERS CAN CLAIM THAT? Second, the debt that everyone was so worried about? Read the release: "We repaid all borrowings under our revolving credit facility as working capital needs declined as expected." That's what Eddie expected. It is not what the bears expected. Third, sure the comps are down. But so are everyone else's. Yes, sales were boosted by "layaway" plans. But that's like a credit card, for heaven's sake. We accept the notion of credit cards, don't we? Comps may be down, but so is inventory. Impressively, actually. Fourth, all of this was done before the rationalization of the store base. It took a while -- longer than I would like -- but Lampert is now ready to start closing underperforming stores. What would the comp stores look like without the bad ones? I bet substantially higher. Same with the overlap between Kmart and Sears. for more detail, please visit realmoney.com I put 20% of my money on SHLD, what a great success for me? You lose if you bet agaist cramer and mr. lampert. Thanks for sticking with lampert, cramer
I agree with Crames on this and this is all I need to know to be confident that Sears is a loser. It undermines everything else he or Lampert can claim. Until Sears becomes a place where people continually want to shop at, and purchase profitable items, nothing will change, but rather, will get worse.
We have a Sears in Denver in the high-end shopping district of Cherry Creek. I'm amazed it's still open. I've NEVER seen it busy... almost always nearly empty... in the last 5 years.
the magic of sears is that it is not about retail it is about financial engineering, i think shld will be the best growth stock once market recovers,
I like SHLD long here 50-Day Alert -- Sears Hldg gaps higher to challenge its 50-day ema near 45.73 (45.73 +5.27) -Update : Would note that this is the first time price has come in contact with this specific moving average since the beginning of Oct.
2007 returns: give money to bernie madoff, lose 100%. follow cramer's advice in his action alerts portfolio, lose about 40%. take your money, put it under your mattress and lock your door - 0%. bet AGAINST cramer in his action alerts portfolio + about 40% bet AGAINST cramer in his action alerts portfolio the past 6 years: +10%. as a side note, i sure wouldn't bet against SHLD the stock now ; acting tremendously bullishly.