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 Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD) were swooning today, falling as much as 11% in intraday trading after the company updated investors on the company's first quarter.

So what: There's no need to mince words here -- the results look downright ugly. Wall Street was hoping for earnings per share of $0.03 for the quarter, but the company will likely report a loss per share of between $1.35 and $1.81. This was driven by same-store-sales declines of 3.6%, which management attributed in large part to weakness in appliances, clothing, and consumer electronics. The appliance bit has to be particularly frustrating for investors as durable goods activity has been strong lately, and appliances are supposed to be a core competency for Sears.

Now what: Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert put the blame for the lousy results on the company rather than tough economic conditions. The hope looking ahead is that Sears will be able to make better use of its real estate and brands, and that its new CEO, Lou D'Ambrosio, will be able to help bring about a turnaround.

There was a heck of a lot of excitement around Sears Holdings when Lampert first took control of it, and it drew comparisons to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B). To date, though, the only thing that Lampert's gambit seems to have in common with Berkshire is that, just like the original textile company that Buffett bought, Sears and Kmart appear to be some pretty poor assets.

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