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Fairholme Allocation FAAFX M* Rating Debut

edited January 2014 in Fund Discussions
Just past 3 year mark...

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Comments

  • edited January 2014
    Ha! Slammed today between AA and SHLD...and yesterday with SCHN. But a little hard to complain about after recent run-ups. Good to see SIGIX finally advance, if only on hope of continued stimulus. History may well call this the anti-rally.
  • edited January 2014
    BTW...

    As WaltJ recently noticed, though the single star is disappointing, FAAFX finally had a good year in 2013:

    image

    As for SHLD, just hard to get my head around it.

    I know, real estate.

    Bulls point out that we are no longer building malls and all the Sears stores will be bought up by mall owners...Best Buy...Whole Foods. And, Kenmore/Craftsman brand will be spun off.

    But then the bears says: Who goes to malls anymore? And, Kenmore/Craftsman has been eclipsed by other brands, perhaps even by the OEMs behind the Sears labels...with their own brands!

    On a side note, amazing to hear the praise Macy's is receiving lately. Talk about turn-arounds.

    Did you see bonds had best day in months...again, hope of continued stimulus. (Agh!)

    RSH almost back down to $2. Not sure there is any hope there...even with the revamp ("sexy" new stores). But, they still continue to get financing.

    DAL is over $30. Can you believe? What a difference a decade makes=).
  • Reply to @Charles:

    Hedge fundie Lampert has decimated Sears. Investors should refuse to touch the stock and hopefully someone else will take over. RSH has been spiraling down for 15 years. New concept store seems like a good idea, but they need to differentiate themselves from BB with unique products such as remote control (RC) toy exploration center, etc.
  • edited January 2014
    Reply to @equalizer: "Hedge fundie Lampert has decimated Sears. "

    This.

    "But then the bears says: Who goes to malls anymore? And, Kenmore/Craftsman has been eclipsed by other brands, perhaps even by the OEMs behind the Sears labels...with their own brands!"

    It's not necessarily that no one goes to malls anymore (although mobile and online traffic keeps increasing), it's that malls are overbuilt in this country. Sears is trying to turn stores into data centers (http://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2013/05/31/sears-replaces-retail-stores-with-data-centers/.)

    I do think you're going to have a good deal of mid-to-high end malls that evolve and survive because they keep up with changing trends, tastes and tech. Westfield Malls has a lab that is working on tech to enhance the shopping experience. Ebay has "virtual storefronts" that can take up spaces (http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/05/ebay-to-make-true-window-shopping-a-reality-with-new-nyc-virtual-retail-stores/) Ebay has Ebay Now, which is providing delivery of items from local stores (such as Best Buy) in a number of cities within an hour. Some stores - such as Finish Line - are shipping online orders from local stores.

    It's the dime-a-dozen strip malls I think are going to be in trouble.

    I don't own it anymore - I did for a couple of weeks recently off the recent low - but I think where Ebay is going (with things like Ebay Now) is rather interesting.
  • Reply to @equalizer:

    I'll chime here and also suggest RSH align themselves with 3D printers for Kids, Lego Robotics, maybe even Drones for kids. If I only had a drone to help deliver my papers or keep an eye on the bully in the neighborhood when I was a kid.
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