As the Sears ship continues to sink into the depths of devalued stock prices, irrelevancy and non-existent sales, the rats scurrying for dry ground have expanded from executive talent to activist investors. Noted activist investor Bill Ackman has reduced his SHLD holdings by 92.5 percent. When an activist like Ackman dumps like that, he has probably decided that nothing he says or does will make a difference.
So why did Ackerman bail? In fairness to Sears, he may have simply decided that the the current state of the retail sector merited a pull out. He however does not appear to have reduced his Target holdings. It is more likely that he finally came to the conclusion that there is nothing he could offer that was going to stop the SHLD free-fall or turn company fundamentals around for the long term. He realizes that changes such as the return of layaway are simply desperation gimmicks and not fundamntal changes. It is also more evidence of the either unwillingness or personality inability of Sears chairman Eddie Lampert to listen to anyone with real world experience. If you do not have a Ivy League MBA you have nothing meaningful to say to him. Maybe all the Harvard, Yale and other big time MBA types at Sears can waterproof their degrees to use as as rafts when Sears finally goes under.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Reminds me of a great saying from the great businessman Robert Townsend: “Never hire a Harvard business graduate, the only thing they’ve been trained for is to be a CEO. “
November 17th, 2008 at 7:24 am
But what about returning my Stanly hammer in about 75 years?
December 27th, 2008 at 2:51 am
People in America need to realize jus what got America in this shape…”cheap” yes so-call cheap items from a foreign land.
quote*Wal-Mart firmly believes in local procurement. We recognize that by purchasing quality products, we can generate more job opportunities, support local manufacturing and boost economic development. Over 95% of the merchandise in our stores in China is sourced locally. We have established partnerships with nearly 20,000 suppliers in China. *end quote!
Now! if there be 182 country’s making items for the world to buy and they have only 5% of the pie in China…duh! This company makes the nice people of China support their currency(yuan) by keeping it in their country working for the people there…. but with the “yuan” going up in value and the US dollar going down…all the foreign items that the American consumer buys thinking it is cheap has went up in price.
People…its all about the currency and to keep a currency strong you got to keep it floating around the country you live in so it can work for you. For the past 12 years all them US dollars are being shipped overseas to a foreign bank and with the American worker not making anything for the foreigner to buy the “we the people” have to turn to the “second” largest employer in America(Uncle Sam) to sell “we the people” debt in order to get all them dollars back!
50 years ago a foreigner would had given their left nut for a US dollar or a Hershey’s chocolate bar and today the same foreigner has got Uncle Sam and the American consumer by both all the while Hershey is moving the chocolate factory to Mexico. Wake up! America and think “MADE IN AMERICA.”