Why Sears Holdings Corp Shares Jumped

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 Corp  were recovering today, jumping as much as 17% after a board member increased his stake in the company.

So what: Director Thomas J. Tisch today revealed that, during the last two days, he had purchased 475,000 shares in the aging retailer at an average price of $33.56, about 0.5% of shares outstanding, more than doubling his holdings, to 933,000. Sears shares have lost nearly half their value since last fall as the company has spun off key assets such as Lands' End, and a portion of Sears Canada, and put up continually declining sales and wide losses.

Now what: Tisch likely believed that shares were cheap after the recent slide as Sears, with its operating losses, has been viewed by analysts and investors as an asset play. As the retailer separates from more of its subsidiaries, however, the company is looking less appealing. The performance of Lands' End, whose shares have fallen more than 20% since its debut two weeks ago, indicates that future spinoffs may not be so eagerly awaited. Unless Tisch is privy to a piece of blockbuster information, today's jump seems like a decoy. I'd expect shares to continue falling during the long term.