Out Fox The $treet

Sears Holdings continues moving forward with unlocking value via the sell and leaseback of real estate assets. The stock continues trading substantially below the value of the real estate. The stock is attractively priced at $40, but the company needs to show more progress towards reducing cash burn with the Q1 earnings report on June 8. Back in April, Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD ) announced several agreements regarding selling real estate assets to a REIT and several joint venture partners. The recent S-11 filing for Seritage Growth Properties provided key details, including the stores involved and the percentage of the locations that already have non-Sears leases. Some of the details including the involvement of General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP ) and Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG ) in the JVs and the real estate valuations were encouraging. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please review the disclaim...

When Sears Holdings ( NASDAQ: SHLD     ) announced weak earnings after the market closed on Jan. 9, investors panicked again ignoring the facts of the company. Investors need to understand that Sears only reported the income statement numbers. If one remembers Accounting 101, the actual valuation of a company is based on the balance sheet or the assets minus the liabilities. The income level each quarter adds or subtracts from the equity on the balance sheet, but a large loss doesn't necessarily destroy assets forever. In the case of Sears, the balance sheet is littered with hidden assets that are overshadowed by these weak retail results. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Though Sears Holdings ( NASDAQ: SHLD     ) soared nearly 12% during the trading session last Tuesday on news of further transformational transactions to unlock value, investors shouldn't be surprised by the announcement. Sears is one of the largest retailers in the U.S., but most investors don't realize the numerous business units that are hidden under the surface. The media has mostly spun the plans for Lands End and Sears Auto Centers, or SAC, as "liquidation moves", but investors should note the proposals don't involve raising cash from these units. Read the article here . Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Anybody following Sears Holdings ( NASDAQ: SHLD     ) over the last few years knows that several major investors have proclaimed that the value of the real estate holdings vastly exceed the current stock valuation. The rub with Sears remains that the retail operations are difficult for the average investor to separate from the valuation of the assets that go far beyond the real estate holdings. Investor after investor proclaims the company worthless due to a lack of profits from the retail operation, but the company has a vast array of assets worth billions upon billions that are hidden. Read the full article here . Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Next week, Two Harbors Investment Corp ( TWO ) is expected to distribute its remaining shares of Silver Bay Realty Trust ( SBY ) to shareholders via a special dividend. Two Harbors holds 17,824,647 shares or around 45% of the outstanding shares of Silver Bay Realty. While this move was expected after the IPO back in December, the doubling of the public float is the next step making Silver Bay Realty an investable REIT. The company plans to acquire, renovate, lease, and maintain a portfolio of single-family homes in select attractive markets in the U.S. It plans to operate under a REIT where substantially all of future income is returned to shareholders. While Silver Bay still sees favorable trends for purchasing single-family rental houses, some news suggests that the onslaught of private equity money in major markets might be placing pressure on rental rates. As the company moves to invest and stabilize the purchased homes, the abundance of competition to an unprov...

Hardly a week goes by these days without a company going public with a decent yield. A couple of weeks ago CyrusOne (NASDAQ: CONE ) joined the party with a highly successful IPO pricing above the expected range and trading higher for the week. The REIT though has a meager expected dividend yield of only 2.9%. The company is a spin-off data center operator from majority owner Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB more » ) Disclosure: No positions mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Today Sears Holdings (SHLD) provided a Q4 update that was very disappointing to the markets. Exactly why it was that disappointing or surprising goes to show how few investors exist these days. Too many traders jump on the headlines as perceived grossly negative and begin pounding the stock down. At the end of the day, the stock was down an amazing 27%. What was so devastating about today's news that sunk the stock? Well, honestly we're still not that sure. Comp sales are down 5% QTD and EBITDA will be roughly half of last year. Anybody paying attention should've known the numbers wouldn't be that great. The other news was that up to 120 stores would be closed. While sounding negative, that has been the plan at SHLD for a very long time. The weak stores are closed so that the inventory can be turned into cash and the stores can be sold or leased. The biggest question one has to answer is why do investors even care that much about retail sales. Isn't the stock...

According to this news last week, Sears Holdings (SHLD) has apparently made a major move on the long hoped for leasing of their under utilized real estate assets. According to the real estate website, it now has numerous leasing options available for retailers at 3,768 locations. Or nearly all existing stores. The real estate options include the following: Store-in-Store Leasing: Establish presence within Sears Holdings Corporation (SHC) store. Outlots: Outlots to build new retail locations. Demised space: Establish an independent presence adjacent to an SHC store In-Line Leasing: Establish an independent presence adjacent to an SHC store License business: Provide specialized product/service from a location inside an SHC store, fully integrated into operating platform Specialty Marketing Opportunities: Strategic partnership to creatively reuse non-traditional space Please read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long SHLD. Please review the disclaimer page fore more d...