Matson125

In its current state I agree apples and oranges. However there are signs that Sears is starting to unlock the value in their real estate. On the Seritage website there are a few more development projects that were listed "Seritage engages Mark Weiner Architecture to redesign a prominent intersection in Watchung, NJ" "Seritage hires Atlantic Retail as Landlord Representative for New England redevelopment projects." http://www.atlanticretail.com/ One clue to view how the real estate arm of Sears will look in the future is to look at their trademarks. In January they secured 2 trademarks related to their real estate. Seritage (website above) and Atrium Outlets (To view trademarks, a Google search of “Atrium outlets sears” will lead you in the right direction). Atrium Outlets does not have a live website at the moment, nor has there been any talk or discussion on the company. The only clue is there is an architecture firm that has posted the project online and based on the pictures this will be a mall base concept that will be leased to retail tenants. http://ark-itecture.com/ark-itecture-projects-r-atrium-outlets.html

How one RRSP became a gold mine http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2008/04/05/how_one_rrsp_became_a_gold_mine.html

http://money.cnn.com/2010/08/20/news/companies/inside_trader_joes_full_version.fortune/

Check out Cummins- CMI. They make engines for these types of trucks. http://www.hdma.org/Main-Menu/HDMA-Publications/Diesel-Download/March-5-2012/Cummins-Engine-Market-Share-Rises-to-391-Percent-in-2011.html

Great post AP. You mentioned Bobby LeBlanc as the successor. Reading his bio on the Onex site shows that he worked at Berkshire in the past and still sits on the board of an insurance sub. Robert M. Le Blanc Managing Director Joined Onex: 1999 Industry focus: Healthcare, Financial Services Since joining Onex, Bobby has led all of Onex’ acquisitions in the healthcare sector, which include the acquisitions of Carestream Health; Emergency Medical Services Corporation; Skilled Healthcare Group; Center for Diagnostic Imaging; Res-Care, Inc.; and Magellan Health Services, Inc. He also led of the acquisition of The Warranty Group. Bobby is a director of Magellan Health Services, Inc., Res-Care, Inc., Skilled Healthcare Group, Inc., The Warranty Group, Inc., Cypress Insurance, First Berkshire Hathaway Life and Connecticut Children's Medical Center. Prior to joining Onex, Bobby was with Berkshire Hathaway for seven years after starting his career at General Electric. Bobby holds an M.B.A. from New York University and a B.S. from Bucknell University.

I really hope they start buying back shares again!

But you can still read the threads to inspect the quality before you register for an account. If you can't figure out from the reading the board that its worth $10 for a lifetime membership to be able to participate in the discussions then you probably won't do well as a value focused investor IMO. +1

Rimm, What gives you the impression he will own more hometown? Is it because he is backstopping the rights offering? or is there something else I have missed.

It looks like Bill Gates is thinking along same same lines MVP. http://www.economist.com/node/21560990

Hi All, I have been investing for about 10 years and I have never sat down and actually calculated my return as a %. Throughout the years I have added and redeemed from my various accounts which makes things a little more difficult however I am looking for a tool or even perhaps a contact that I can take all my brokerage statements since inception and figure out a return as a %. Any thoughts or sources anyone can recommend? Thanks Michael

Coca Cola

Sears Holdings to Hold Fiscal 2011 Fourth Quarter and full Year Earnings Analyst and Investor Conference Call and Audio Webcast http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sears-Holdings-Hold-Fiscal-prnews-141953522.html?x=0

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1097643--sears-ceo-seeks-the-courage-to-change Michael

It's been a great few weeks!

http://bigthink.com/ideas/40727 The link is for the whole panel discussion. Michael

Just to add to the above point, those figures do not include any real estate owned in Canada.

This video was posted on this site previously. Bill Ackman on Bloomberg. Within the video he comments how JCP controls 110 million ft of real estate and values is at around 15B. Not surprisingly he was a shareholder of Sears at one point but sold his sahres as he doesn't want to deal with control investors. Sears current Marketcap 7.5B http://www.gurufocus.com/news/147306/bill-ackman-interview-with-bloomberg Cheers Michael

What a great speech! RIP

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don't jinx it! LoL ;D

Couldn't agree more JsArb. When you look at his stakes in AZO and AN the gains speak for themselves. Also in AN the 2nd largest Shareholder behind ESL is Bill Gates and his Foundation. I am interested to see how many shares Eddie is buying back at $52.00 a share, My guess is a whole lot! Cheers Michael

Hi All, Hat tip to NFI for posting this on the blog. The following in a piece from the Sears Proxy dated April 11, 2011. http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1310067/000119312511092836/ddef14a.htm "ESL provides consulting services to the Company pursuant to an agreement entered into as of January 30, 2011. The consulting services involve, among other things, strategic planning, financings and other financial matters, legal risk analysis and management, personnel, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, new business and business development and general corporate, operational, and organizational matters. The consulting agreement provides for a monthly fee of $41,666.67 plus reasonable out of pocket expenses. The Company has granted rights to indemnification and advancement of defense expenses to ESL and its directors, officers, controlling persons, agents, representatives and employees in connection with legal proceedings to which the indemnified person is made a party or is threatened to be made a party by reason of the services provided under the consulting agreement." Cheers Michael

http://www.biglariholdings.com/letters/2010.pdf Cheers Michael

Packer, Good topic! I'm from the Toronto area. If a tsx listed company has their meeting in Toronto I try to attend, not so much for the prepared remarks but the Q + A and the body language of the management. What I would be interested in, is which companies large or small have anyone heard had the best shareholder meetings. For example a few years back I heard Cineplex, which runs a chain of movie theatres had their annual and had the concession stands open and free. You could bascially get whatever you wanted. I'd have a pocket full of snickers bars!!!! Anyone else have or heard any similar stories? Cheers Michael

This is the best part: So now we know why Berkowitz never responded to Einhorn. "Why would I want to talk to him?" Berkowitz told Reuters. "If someone wants to lower the price of a product I'm buying, I'm okay with that. We're long-term investors here." Cheers Michael Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bruce-berkowitz-einhorns-shorting-it-i-would-buy-the-entire-company-if-i-could-2010-10#ixzz12SCZPxfq

Plan, Have you looked at the CCE transaction? It seems pretty interesting once the dust settles. Cheers Michael