Sears Holdings Shares Popped: What You Need to Know (SHLD)

Sears Holdings Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of ailing retailer Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD ) popped higher by as much as 15% earlier in the trading session after a rumor surfaced that Eddie Lampert and Bruce Berkowitz may take Sears private.

So what: Nearly 18% of Sears' float is currently held by short-sellers and rumors from CNBC regular Jon Najarian that Sears could be taken private are all the stock needs to create what can't be described as anything but a short-covering rally. As of now, Sears had denied to comment on any rumors, but it's worth noting that Lampert, who owns 59% of the company, purchased $159 million worth of stock from his ESL hedge fund and another $12 million on the open market last week.

Now what: A rumor is a rumor, and I don't think you can read very much into it. These rumors don't change the fact that Sears is losing money, it's burning cash, and CIT Group ended its financing relationship with Sears' suppliers last week. Sears is being forced to close 120 underperforming Sears and Kmart locations in order to curtail costs, and that is not the type of news I want to buy into just because of a rumor. Thanks, but no thanks, Sears!

Craving more input? Start by adding Sears Holdings to your free and personalized watchlist so you can keep up on the latest news with the company.

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Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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