Why not? As long as Herb Greenberg is going to name him the “worst CEO”, a job he does not hold, how about that too? Come on Herb, this is lousy even for you….
I have a policy of not going after fellow bloggers but when the column written is just so outrageous and fundamentally flawed, well, if you open the door…
Other who made the cut were:
Chuck Prince, formerly of Citigroup (C)
Ed Zander (MOT) of Motorola
Peter van Stolk of Jones Soda (JSDA)
Angelo Mozilo of Country Financial (CFC)
Kerry Killinger of Washington Mutual (WM)
Jimmy Cayne of Bear Stearns (BSC)
Scott Hartman, of subprime lender NovaStar (NFI)
Mesa Air’s (MESA) Jonathan Ornstein
Phil Schoonover of Circuit City (CC)
Every one of the institutions is currently near crippled and more than two will be bankrupt soon. Three of the CEO’s are gone with at least another 3 on the brink. Yet, somehow Lampert is worse?
Here is what this is. Those guys will make everyone’s list this year BECAUSE THEY DESERVE IT. Herb, being the smart guy he is realized that he need to pick someone NOBODY else else would lest his pick just get caught up in the wash of the blogsphere and become irrelevant.
Enter Lampert, a guy who does not even hold the title Herbie gives to him. What is really ironic here is that Greenberg eliminates Zander, Prince and von Stolk who were so bad, they either are no longer employed or soon will be “because they are no longer CEO”. Oh, so lets pick a guy who “never was CEO”? Herb, don’t you think this is just a bit hypocritical, even for you?
What you have in Sears Holdings (SHLD) is the combination of two retailers that prior to Lampert’s purchase we on the trash heap. Kmart was bankrupt was Sears was racing there as fast as it could get there. Now the combination throws off about a billion dollars a year for Lampert and unlike most of the above companies, is still very profitable. Not bad in only two and a half years, huh Herb?
Recently Sears has been caught in the retail environment like Macy’s (M), Home Depot (HD), Lowe’s (LOW) and JC Penny (JCP). If we look at the following 1 year chart, see anything familiar Herb? 
The largest one year loser? The very JC Penny that Herb trumpets in his column…
You see Herb, Sears get 40% of revenues from appliances. Those are those big expensive things in you house that if people are not buying and remodeling homes these things go unsold. Since Sears is the #1 retailer with about 20% market share for them, logic would tell you the hit here would be far worse than the others. Right?
If folks are not going there for these things, they also do not pick up the ancillary item they buy when in the store. In a nutshell Herb, this is Sears problem. So, while we wait this out, Lampert is busy buying up shares by the truckload so that when housing turn around and yes it will Herb, Sears EPS will jump as people will resume buying these items again.
I am sure Lampert is somehow responsible for the housing crisis, after all if he isn’t your entire article is, well, just bad journalism… Let’s not make things up Herb.
To say Lampert is “the worst” at a job he does not even have and is worse than the list above justs show desperation on your part. Desperation for relevance in an arena once dominated by folks such as yourself, now owned by us all.
9 replies on “Eddie Lampert: Worst Third World Dictator, Come On Herb..”
Good article.
Remember Graham’s Mr. Market allegory.
Mr. Market is there
to serve you, not to guide you. It is his
pocketbook, not his wisdom, that you will find useful. If
he shows up some day in a particularly foolish mood,
you are free to either ignore him or to take
advantage of him, but it will be disastrous if you fall
under his influence.
In theory, clowns like Greenberg, promote irrational fear, which translates to buying opportunities.
As a value investor, we should look forward to downturns in the market as buying opportunities.
My only lament was that Mr. Greenberg didn’t bash HD & USG as well – I’d love to backup the truck to those 🙂
I appreciate your accurate defense of rational thinking as a true Value Investing Evangelist.
C’mon, isn’t it obvious? Greenberg is just trying to score points with Burnett.
in all of your posts about SHLD and its chairman you talk about the chairman more than the company. so is this a bet on a good investor or on a value stock?
I understand the role of good management but I yet to understand from you the value of the organization?
anon,
check this post
http://valueplays.blogspot.com/2007/11/sears-holdings-brand-and-land-values.html
that being said, a large portion of the “value” in sears in actually in its chairmans ability to do his thing.
act 1 was fixing the sinking ship- done
act 2- consolidate ownership- in process
act 3- deploy capital- will happen once housing and retail turn, thus spurring sales.
vlado,
great comment
I am not sure why Eddie gets this flack. must because he does not talk to the media
Re SHLD value (real estate+brands)
you must know that Sears in the process of selling the brand names last time its checked its filing. it may have done it already
Sami,
have not seen , the selling of the brands….
where did you see it?
they have put the ownership brands in a seperate entity and issued bonds against it. SHLD still hold the bonds so they still own it. i assumed the transaction is prelude to selling it. i have not kept pace with SHLD since then.
I looked up a story for you about the subject: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_16/b4030071.htm?chan=search
gotcha…
they did that a while,back. they could sell the bonds, keep them, or use them as collateral.