Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD) is having a sale today. On its stock. Question is, do you think it's cheap enough to be a value?

I have reservations about buying the current dip. At the time of this writing, shares of the retailer were off by 5.8% to $82.19. Active volume backed the move. Granted, it's not like the stock is at the 52-week low of $59.21. Things aren't that dire. But the company isn't close to the 52-week high of of $125.42, either. And as for the one-year chart, well, I'm not sure the image is one to praise.

Continue reading Sears Holdings Drops After Earnings Report

Sears Holdings Drops After Earnings Report originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With about two hours to go before the end of the trading day, Sears Holdings (SHLD) was up over 6% to $74.38. The company cannot be called a shining star in the retail sector. Connie Madon wrote about the business last month, placing it in the laggard category.

But there has been interesting activity today in terms of call options associated with the equity, as noted by TheFly. Here's another point to ponder: Benzinga has highlighted the big volume driving the trade of the common stock. There seems to be some confusion over why this is happening. It can't be the news about the movie-download initiative, right?

Continue reading Sears Holdings: Buy or Sell?

Sears Holdings: Buy or Sell? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings (SHLD - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company reported Q3 earnings this morning, posting a loss of $218 million, or $1.98 per share, on revenue of $9.68 billion. Analysts had forecast a loss of $1.07 per share on revenue of $9.95 billion. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on SHLD.

This morning, SHLD opened at $63.00. So far today the stock has hit a high of $64.44 and a low of $62.02. As of 12:10, SHLD is trading at $62.44, down $3.76 (-5.7%). The chart for SHLD looks bearish and S&P gives SHLD a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

Continue reading Sears Posts Huge Q3 Loss

Sears Posts Huge Q3 Loss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sears Q2 Loss Bigger than Expected

Sears Q2 Loss Bigger than Expected originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Walmart (WMT) is a big-cap, blue-chip business in retail, one that competes with Sears Holdings (SHLD) and Target (TGT), among others. It's generally considered one of the safer, although considerably more boring, names in the universe of equities. However, could it be a defensive play in this economy?

Difficult to say for certain. As I've said before, I don't care what stock you hold in your portfolio, it'll go down if the markets become very choppy, defensive reputation or not. And Walmart isn't necessarily the first idea you think of when you think defensive. Usually, you might come up with a Coca-Cola (KO) or a Kraft (KFT) ... something with food involved, something that sells products consumers use and need every single day and can buy at multiple locations, not just at one single shopping source.

Continue reading Could Walmart Be a Defensive Play?

Could Walmart Be a Defensive Play? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In very contrarian fashion, Bernie Schaeffer has used the market pullback to initiate two positions in retail stocks.

The editor of Schaeffer's Research -- who uses a combination of technical, fundamental and sentiment-based metrics to select his trading positions -- has bought shares of Sears Holdings (SHLD) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM).

Schaeffer explains, "I initiated a long position in Sears Holdings. Price action for SHLD has been strong, with the equity up 13 percent year-to-date and 75 percent in the past 52 weeks.

Continue reading Contrarian Trader Shops for Sears, Williams-Sonoma

Contrarian Trader Shops for Sears, Williams-Sonoma originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 May 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Wal-Mart's Q1: Comps Aren't So Cool

Wal-Mart's Q1: Comps Aren't So Cool originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 May 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings Coproation (SHLD) is a fascinating stock. It's done very well over the last year. Yet, who out there can claim that they'd be willing to buy the story without any trepidation whatsoever? Well, there are obviously many who would make such a claim, I suppose. I know I'm not one of them.

Our summary of retail quarterly reports tells us that Sears Holdings, which competes with Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY), Target Corporation (TGT), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), delivered an earnings-beating performance. Adjusted profit of $3.69 per share in Q4 represented a solid increase over the $2.94 per share booked in the comparable period.

Continue reading Sears Holdings: Time to Be Bullish or Not?

Sears Holdings: Time to Be Bullish or Not? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings (SHLD) was selling off close to 5% at the time of this writing in reaction to the company's Q3 report. On an adjusted basis, the retailer lost 81 cents per share. That was better than the 90 cents lost in the comparable period, and it did beat the forecast as highlighted in our earnings preview.

I'm sort of shocked that the market didn't bid Sears higher. Going into the earnings news, the stock was hanging out near a 52-week high. Let's see, Wall Street sends the stock to the high point of the range, the release comes out, the loss isn't as bad as analysts expected it to be, and everyone sells. The market sure is strange sometimes, isn't it?

Continue reading Sears Holdings beats estimates, but still has a bad trading day

Sears Holdings beats estimates, but still has a bad trading day originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, last night I was checking out some articles at Brandweek.com, and lo and behold, I came across this one discussing the holiday card. You know how Christmas Clubs work at banks, correct? Same principle applies here. In a simple nutshell, you get the plastic, you store funds on it, and then you can access those funds later on in the season to acquire presents. It's basically like a gift card that you use for budgeting purposes. Not only is Sears involved in this, but so is Kmart. And there's a promotion going on that's mentioned in the article where you can earn a nominal amount of bonus money on it. I don't know the details; I would suggest checking with Sears/Kmart for further information.

Continue reading Interesting holiday campaign from Sears Holdings

Interesting holiday campaign from Sears Holdings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What would happen if a brilliant hedge fund manager took over a retailer and ran it with a rigid focus on financial metrics, putting aside all that soft stuff about branding and marketing?

Take a look at Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD), and you have your answer. While macroeconomic trends haven't exactly been the company's friend, the stock has plunged from close to $200 per share in early 2007 to its current price of $66 per share. Just a few months ago it was trading in he mid-$20s.

Continue reading Eddie Lampert's Sears experiment looking like a failure

Eddie Lampert's Sears experiment looking like a failure originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Sears reports a surprise loss; could be in for a long day

Sears reports a surprise loss; could be in for a long day originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

JCPenney (NYSE: JCP), a mall retailer that competes with Macy's (NYSE: M), Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD), and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), reported Q2 earnings on Friday. How were they? They were exactly how you'd expect them to be in this environment: not so good.

Net income did beat expectations, though. According to Bloomberg, the company made 0 cents per share, but that was enough to win the analyst game since the call was for a loss of a penny per share. Total sales, however, decreased almost 8%, and same-store sales plunged well over 9%.

Continue reading JCPenney beats in Q2, but should investors remain cautious?

JCPenney beats in Q2, but should investors remain cautious? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Facebook is making the biggest ad splash since Google, according to an article in the Financial Times.

More than four-fifths of the largest advertisers in the United States have turned to the social networking platform to promote their wares -- after several years of fearing these types of communities. The lure of Facebook must have been too much to resist, with 340 million monthly unique visitors. Now, it's not unusual to see the likes of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Nike (NYSE: NKE), and AT&T (NYSE: ATT) advertising in this world.

Continue reading Major brands buying up Facebook ads

Major brands buying up Facebook ads originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings Corporation's (NASDAQ: SHLD) storied and failed strategy in the last few years under the auspices of investor Eddie Lampert just keeps chugging along. Lampert thought he could turn Sears Holdings into an investment company that happened to have a retail operation attached. Didn't happen.

But, that does not mean Sears is giving up the ghost. The retailer everyone loves to dog as stodgy and out of touch is getting back into one business where it was decades ago: toys. That's right -- and just in time for the 2009 holiday season. Question: will anyone go out of their way to shop at Sears for toys? Is there a compelling reason with so many other quality choices?

Continue reading Sears set to return to the toy market after decades of not being in it

Sears set to return to the toy market after decades of not being in it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD), a retailer whose competitive colleagues include Target (NYSE: TGT), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), wants to improve its brand equity and find a new path to growth. As such, it's willing to employ all kinds of initiatives, especially ones that will form a nice image with the consumer during this dreadful economic contraction.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Sears is trying out a program that offers protection against the risk of investing in an expensive appliance during a time when job security is not as secure as it used to be.

The program will run for a specified time period beginning next week, and the basic gist is this: buy an appliance priced $399 or higher on a Sears credit card and, and if you lose your job, Sears will credit one twelfth of the cost every month. Still no job after one year? Keep the appliance, your debt will be forgiven.

Continue reading Sears offering hedge for consumers who lose their job -- good idea?

Sears offering hedge for consumers who lose their job -- good idea? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that short-sellers are having an impossible time locating shares of Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) to borrow. Chairman Eddie Lampert controls about half of the company's stock through his hedge fund, making the shares difficult to borrow. For investors who are able to locate the stock, borrowing costs are running somewhere between 30% and 40% per year.

Given the difficulty short sellers are having, it seems likely that shares of the company are trading at a higher price than they would were the stock more liquid.

On the other hand, 29% of the company's float is currently sold short at those steep interest rates, indicating that a big chunk of investors are incredibly confident that Sears shares have a lot farther to fall.

Sears is an impossible short originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings Corp.

Sears lays off 300 corporate workers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 01 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst in Money 2008 feature.

As we undertake a hasty exit from the tumult of 2008 and plunge headlong into the mysteries of 2009, we might find it interesting to consider some business entities that could benefit from a little "freshening up." Four familiar names; Kmart, Playboy, Starbucks, and Wall Street, are each in need of a timely makeover, to varying degrees. But if you could chose just one of these big name operations to fix up for 2009, which one would it be, and how would you fix it?

First let's consider Kmart, the adopted son of Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD). What are the changes that Kmart might need to remain competitive going into 2009? Should the company try playing the boutique angle, which failed to work for Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT)? Should the company tighten up and consolidate, while pursuing a deeper product value play, or should it attempt to spread out its market coverage and work over its wholesale vendors, while engaging Wal-Mart in a game of cut-throat retail price points? If you were CEO of Kmart, what would you change?

Continue reading Best & Worst in Money 2008: Most in need of a makeover

Best & Worst in Money 2008: Most in need of a makeover originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD - option chain) shares have jumped higher today even after the company announced a Q3 loss that included slowing sales and falling margins. Earnings and revenues fell, but an extension of the company' s buyback plan is boosting the shares today, along with a positive outlook for the company's holiday layaway promotion. It might just be that investors expected even worse results from the beleaguered retailer. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SHLD.

SHLD opened this morning at $33.98. So far today the stock has hit a low of $31.55 and a high of $38.47. As of 12:20, SHLD is trading at $36.67, up $4.83 (15.2%). The chart for SHLD looks bearish and S&P gives SHLD a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bull-put credit spread below the $22.50 range.

Continue reading Sears Holdings (SHLD) soars despite weak earnings

Sears Holdings (SHLD) soars despite weak earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.