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prevalou

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Posts posted by prevalou

  1. I agree with you a Tarp would be better. Spain maybe will need a bail out but its economy is a lot more fragile and less diversified than french economy. In France the problem is the weight of the public sector which prevent private initiatives and slow growth (public spending = 56% Gdp ). This situation goes from bad to worse and nobody wants to change the system. Hopefully this crisis will help to open eyes about the virtues of the private sector.

  2. Europe is now inflating via the banking system (3 years facility) . Is it so different from the US? BCE lends to the banks who lend to the states. The problem is undercapitalization of the banking system according to Basel 3. The banks have to raise capital or sell assets.

  3. yes, it is reasonnable to think a better economy will decrease the liability. On the asset side, will the increase in the stock market (30%of the pension plan assets) compensate the decrease in the bond market (70% of the pension plan liabilities) ? It is a tough question.

  4. Sears short term debt was seasonal last year, not this year. That is the problem.

    I'm not sure the pension gap will vanish with a better economy. The pension fund is invested at 70% in bonds, so an increase in interest rates would be à negative even if the liability side would be positively impacted.

     

  5. Sears versus Office Depot : why not a comparaison with Staples? The secular decline is less certain here...

    Sears versus european iceberg: sometimes it is better not to hurry . In the european case, there is a complex political process where population has to agree with. If not the consequences of a quick action could be bad. Concerning Sears,  it is difficult from the outside to know if 500 or 700 or 1000 stores should be closed. What are the long term IRR of these stores ? Nobody knows except Lampert and his team.

  6. Why would Sears borrow money now ? Sears has a credit line,  borrowed long term last year 1 B$+ and cuts its inventory through stores closures.

    What the market tells is interesting but don't forget it's Mr Market.

  7. The case of Teledyne shares repurchases is interesting:

     

    -first purchase at 16.38$ on 9/14/72

    -second purchase at 10.88$ on 12/13/73

    -third purchase at 10.75$ on 5/31/74

    -fourth purchase at 7.88$ on 12/4/74

     

    ... I imagine people reaction when he purchased for the 4th time!! Patience is sometimes required...

  8. I don't see the point In closing the performing business (Kmart) to concentrate on the less profitable (Sears). Lampert seems to do inverse: close marginally profitable or no profitable stores, be it Kmart or Sears, and concentrate on the more profitable.

    The 100 to 120 closes stores are about In the same proportion Kmart and Sears.

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