Why Every Investor Needs to Own the Most Dangerous Stock on Wall Street At Least Once
My editor couldn’t believe it…
“But Keith, you consider it one of the most dangerous stocks on Wall Street!”
“Not one of…” I replied. “The most dangerous stock on Wall Street.”
And every investor needs to own it at least once in their investing lifetime.
The reason why may surprise you.
The True Value of a Meltdown
I know, I know.
I can hear the wheels spinning right through the Internet!
…I need to own Sears Holding Corp. (NasdaqGS:SHLD) like I need another hole in my head!
The retailer has lost a staggering $152 per share and 93% of its value since peaking in 2006 at $158/share. It’s dropped 83% in just the last two years alone.
Calling the company a bug in search of a windshield is an understatement.
All true.
Yet, Sears can teach every investor a surprising lesson when it comes to bigger profits.
Let me explain.
Sears is a retailer trapped by three things: its own legacy, chronic underperformance in the face of Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqGS:AMZN), and executives who are systematically stripping it of anything remotely resembling value.
The store has tried and failed to be everything to everybody without realizing shoppers marginalized it years ago. E-commerce is killing it and my back of the envelope calculations tell me the company needs between $1.5 and $2.0 billion dollars in funding just to service the staggering debt load it carries this year alone.
Put succinctly, it’s a company that’s long on hope and not much else.
That’s why I singled out the once-proud retailer in January 2015 as one of the five most dangerous stocks on Wall Street, and have again several times since. Anybody following along has had the opportunity to bank at least 83%, or avoid losses of the same magnitude.
Some have ridden it all the way down from $32 a share to $6.10 where it’s trading today, all the while suffering a catastrophic loss. “It’ll be back,” goes the rally cry.
Others are diving in because it’s “a turnaround play” or “ripe for a rebound.” Good luck. People said the same thing about Eastern Airlines, People Express, Kodak, and Palm. They’re all gone.
So why on earth would I say every investor needs Sears?
Because the true “value” of owning it (or any stock like it) is what you learn from the experience.
Successful Investing is About Being Profitable, not Right
The critical lesson is that there comes a point at which you’ve got to stop viewing Sears – or any stock like it – for what it’s been and view your money for what it could be.
There are a lot of ways to do this, but the ultimate litmus test is very simple: ask yourself if you want to own a stinker to prove that you’re “right” about its potential, or because you want to be profitable for having taken the plunge.
That sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many investors can’t sort out the difference.
I know.
There was a time when I couldn’t either.
In the 1980s I owned stock in a small educational software provider named Worlds of Wonder that I was convinced would change the world. Only the world didn’t think so.
I didn’t quite ride the company into the ground like a lot of people are doing with Sears today, but I did take a 50% buzz cut before I came to my senses.
Then, I learned from the experience.
It wasn’t easy.
Deciding to take a loss never is, even though sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed.
I had to ask myself the very same question I’ve just shared with you and brace myself for what I “knew” would be the answer when I looked in the mirror – that there was simply no way to justify holding the company’s stock when there were far better alternatives available that were growing faster and more profitably.
So I took a deep breath.
And moved on to Microsoft Inc. (NasdaqGS:MSFT), a far stronger company driven by Unstoppable Trends that more than made up for my losses even as Worlds of Wonder lurched unceremoniously into bankruptcy.
The Best Company to Make Up Lost Ground (and Profits)
Today I’d move on to Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqGS:AMZN)
Sears executives claim they’re closing another 200 stores since 2015 to weed out the underperformers while also selling off valuable brands like the Craftsman tool line to help turn things around. The company has closed more than 2,000 stores since 2011, or a decline of 60% in their retail footprint.
The fact that there are still more “underperformers” at this point stretches credibility and tells me the chain has far deeper and more serious problems that closures cannot fix. Chief among which is they can’t attract even a few thousand paying customers a day.
Amazon, on the other hand, is company that’s changed the face of retailing.
It’s Team Bezos versus everybody else. Any retailer without an “Amazon strategy” is on borrowed time.
The Seattle-based behemoth is growing earnings at 55.4% a year and handled a staggering 101.6 million more online visits from holiday shoppers this year than last. There are now 40 million Prime members in the U.S. alone who are paying $99 a year for the privilege of getting better, faster service and cheaper prices.
Amazon’s cloud services now handle an almost surreal 45-60% of all data traffic through infrastructure as service providers – “IaaS” for short. That’s more bits and bytes than the next three players combined – Microsoft Inc. (NasdaqGS:MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (NasdaqGS:GOOG), and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) – according to a 2016 Synergy Research report.
The choice is pretty clear.
You can place your bets with a dying retailer or hitch your wagon to a player driven by billions.
Kicking yourself in the rear is optional.
Until next time,
Keith
got my eyes on sears. Looks like its getting ripe fpr a pop higher. (probably when its gets to about$5) . Its a trade. They wont be going to 0 this year.
Hello Randy.
An interesting observation and one many traders I am talking to share. As always when it comes to a speculative trade like his (or any other), make sure you have both profit targets and stops in place. No need to play with fire if you don’t have to.
Best regards and thanks for being a member of the Total Wealth Family, Keith š
Thank you for giving such insight into investing to the average investor. I feel as though I can stand a change investing in an ever changing market.
Good morning and thank you for the kind words, Audrey.
I will do my best to make Wall Street understandable, actionable and, most importantly, profitable for you. let me know if there’s something we can do better or something that would help you learn more about investing – specific articles, stocks, etc.
I started Total Wealth so that we can ALL learn together and you’re a big part of that!
Best regards and thanks for being a part of the Total Wealth Family, Keith š
If SHLD is headed for bankruptcy why are we not riding it down with Put options?
Hello Lee.
That’s an excellent question. The reason is that most of the “juice” – to use a professional trader’s slang meaning profit potential – is already gone now that the stock has fallen so far. At the same time, the stock is now cheap enough that it’s attracting the punters so volatility goes up as do the number of people trading it for pennies. In both cases, that means your odds of success go down. Capturing another $5 in profit just isn’t “worth it” under the circumstances except to the most speculative of traders.
Best regards and thanks for being part of the Total Wealth Family, Keith š
Keith,
The MOST dangerous stick on Wall Street? Why not DRYS?
Great question Thomas.
Similar situation to Sears…most of the “juice” is already gone which means the risks of taking a position outweigh the potential returns.
Best regards and thanks for being part of the Total Wealth Family, Keith š
Hi Keith, feels like youāre looking at my portfolio! Iām full of good intentions, when an option or stockās down 45 – 50% sell it, no matter what. BUT, when itās time to do that my āhope springs eternalā inner voice tells me all the things you mentioned, and I hold on ātil either options expiration or āthe bitter endā of a stock. At a time when the Dow is at all time highs it is surprising to me how many of āmineā never budge, except downwards. So thanks for the talking to, aka GOOD advice – I motivates me to try harder to turn a new leaf.
BTW, I like your clear easy to read writing. Like āKicking yourself in the rear is optional.ā
I AM A 92 YEAR OLD NEW MEMBER TO STOCK.. I SPENT MANY YEARS TRADING WITH SEARS. SO I AM GOING WITH THEM ONE MORE TIME.. I APPRECIATE THE WAY THEY ALWAY TREATED ME.