Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Sep 11, 2009 05:56am | #1

   Is the guy who is putting out this information long or short the stock?  Betcha I could guess.  The value of opinions in free media is generally worth less than what you pay for it. 

   Stock is still above $60 per share.  That is not a common profile for any company close to liquidation or even bankruptcy. 

    

    

1. 
   Jgriff | Sep 11, 2009 06:32am | #4

   I don't know what will ultimately happen. I put it out there because some people rely on Sears for some of their tools. If Sears does go under, the availability of spare parts might become iffy. If they're contemplating buying anything from Sears in the near future, they might want to re-consider.Griff

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Sep 11, 2009 12:24pm | #7

   The issue is that being unhappy with a company and it's service isn't always an indication that it is anywhere close to financial collapse. The opinion of one or two hedgefund managers, who may or may not have a financial stake in trying to manipulate the stock price doesn't justify trying to scare potential customers.  Perhaps I am cynical, but when money managers go public with opinions about a company's securities it is almost always to try to influence the price to aid a position they already own.  This isn't the same reason that Wall Street brokerage firms issue opinions.  That research is to give their salemen reasons to call customers to get them to make trades. 

   This is particularly the case where the stock market gives little indication of seeing such financial distress.  That's why pointing to the current $60+ stock price is such a strong indicator.  I could do a more thorough analysis of the financial status--it is what I used to do for a living as an institutional research analyst, but if I were trying to pick companies heading for failure I wouldn't often waste my time looking at companies with such substantial market equity capitalization. 

   So my sense is that if you want to buy Sear's tools, look at the specifics of performance, and service.  Compare those attributes with the products from other sellers and make a choice based on the tools.  Lots of folks like particular Craftsman tools.  Another large group of folks has had negative experiences.  I'm not going to weigh in on that, one way or another.   

1. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 11, 2009 01:03pm | #8

   Could you put that in plain English?

   I do not hate Sears.. Just some folks I met at the local store..

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Sep 11, 2009 06:09pm | #9

   Plain English.  I'll try.  Stocks trading at $60 per share may go down a lot.  That's what the guys cited in the link are saying may happen.  That is a long way from saying that the company might fail in a way that would affect the consumer in the foreseeable future, as was suggested by the original poster.  Such market speculation isn't very useful as a guide to buying tools, especially since it appears to have very little support from the stock market.  Market prices are, in general, the best indicator of market sentiment, whether or not they are perfect indicators, and the stock price has not collapsed to levels indicating fear of bankruptcy, let alone fear of liquidation.  Mongering such fear isn't very sensible in the circumstance.   

   That's entirely different from grousing about particular stores or brands or products, which whether useful or not is a fairly common occurrence.  I've got no comment about that at all.  Opinions clearly differ about the shopping experience at Sears and about the products they offer.  As far as I'm concerned, within the bounds of civility, grouse away. 

    

2. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 11, 2009 06:01am | #2

   Because reclusive hedge fund impresario and Sears Holding Corp. Chairman Edward Lampert doesn't know to run a retail business...

   Long ago Sears was my first choice of where to go shopping. Not any more. I DO still love Craftsman mechanics tools... Forget the lectric' stuff..

   I have a old washer and drier that must be 30 years old and still works! Washing machine. Nothing 'fixed'. Drier.. I think a belt and a timer control.

   The timer I got last summer from my local Sears 'Outlet and Parts' store. The lady at the counter could have not been nicer to me... AND they had the part! Unlike some of the 'so called staff' at my local retail Sears store. They were to busy talking to each other than me for a simple question I needed answered. I went away without buying anything.

   I think it all started some years ago. I really do not know... I went back to the store to return a shirt I bought. Stupid me got the wrong sleeve length! I was treated like  the item was 'shoplifted'... I had the receipt but they were so nasty I did not bother to show it. I threw it on the counter and told them "you can have it".. It was a $50.00 or so shirt. Yes,I bought expensive shirts for work... A mechanic that worked on printing presses.. For the price the client was paying for my work I thought I could at least be 'presentable' when I arrived

1. 
   roc | Sep 11, 2009 06:25am | #3

   >so called staff' at my local retail Sears store<I know just what you mean. I walk in there with a hand full of hundred dollar bills to buy a TV and they won't answer the simplest question. I ask if they have a book I can look at to find the answers for myself. They did. Do you think they could take a minute from their important employee gossip to look it up for me . . . I bought that TV from them that day several years ago . . . the new digital TV we just bought we ordered . . .FROM A M A Z O NI don't feel a bit bad ordering from amazon these days. When some one says buy local and support my neighbor's jobs I feel like spiting on the ground. No wonder the sales tax base has gone south people are tired of battling idiots for basic attention to their purchases.Grumble, grumble, grumble . . .rocGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln ( 54° shaves )

   Edited 9/10/2009 11:39 pm by roc

1. 
   WillGeorge | Sep 11, 2009 08:04am | #6

   Grumble, grumble, grumble . . . I never spit inside the store... I spit outside.. And I still love Sears for some reason. Maybe I think of the old days?

2. 
   Jgriff | Sep 11, 2009 06:39am | #5

   That was certainly the Sears of old. The last time I was in there was, I think, when I needed a shop vac. Must have been in the 80s. Way before HD and Lowe's arrived.

   I was trying to compare the features of the various models to see if anything was suitable for my needs. I started asking the salesman who was hovering around me but he was useless for knowledge.

   When I asked him why he knew so little about the products he was selling, he told me that he didn't really receive any training in the porducts - he was there simply to ring up the cash register. The day before, he said, he had been in furniture and lamps.

   I walked out of the store and haven't been back. So, if the story is accurate, I won't miss Sears.Griff