SHLD is a languishing star and needs a good kick up the backside.  No yard sale can cure its ills. It has strong core assets – Lands End, Craftsman Tools and Kenmore Appliances are stalwarts.  The problem is lack of investment in people, property and merchandising.

Go into a Sears store and you will not find anyone to help you and those souls stuck at the till are forced to do nothing but ring up the sale.  No knowledge is being deployed on the floor or off. I tried to find infant clothes for a one year old child while shopping this Christmas.  Other than seasonal garments, I found the organisation of apparel appalling.  It was impossible to find light cotton clothing in an infant size 1.  What I wouldn’t have given for a properly organised display and some help on the floor.  The sales floor was completely empty.

Properly trained and motivated staff on the floor could go a long way to stem the bleeding.  Add a touch of merchandising and a little spit and polish and SHLD will sparkle brightly again.

Europe is hungry, hungry for cold hard cash.  MSFT has just the dope.  No, they haven’t committed a crime.  Is anyone forced to buy MSFT?  Have they hurt the consumer?  The last time I looked, prices for new PC’s had cratered to all time lows.  I walked into PC world to pick up a portable hard drive the other night and there were systems marked down in boxes stacked three deep by the till for £230.

The cash generated by MSFT is being used for Africa.  This charity bandwagon was clearly resented by the snubbed noses of the European Commission who said, ” We have poor fellows too.” Aid not trade has backfired.  Too much aid and not enough trade in Africa and now even the nouveau riche want aid.   

Where are those cigarettes with dollar signs?  Where is John Galt?  Certainly not in the bleeding EC.