Retail Stocks: What to Watch in 2017

Assailed by the relentless and merciless rise of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling to adapt to an increasingly online world. Will this retail destruction continue in the year ahead? And what are the major retail trends that investors should watch? Read on to find out.

Sears Says to Cut $1B in Costs, Shares Surge

Beleaguered retailer Sears Holdings Corp said on Friday it would cut costs by $1 billion and reduce debt and pension obligations by at least $1.5 billion this year, sending its shares soaring as much as 40 percent. The company also said it had sold five Sears full-line stores and two Auto Centers for $72.5 million in January, and had engaged Eastdil Secured to raise at least $1 billion from the sale of its real estate.

Warning Signs Mount on Sears’s Path

The struggling retailer bought some breathing room through moves to raise more than $1.5 billion in recent weeks, but investors are growing increasingly doubtful that Sears will ever get back on track. The cost of insuring the retailer’s bonds hit new highs and its stock price continues to tumble falling 5% Monday to close at $6.52, an all-time low, signaling fresh concerns about the retailer’s future Sparking the latest bout of investor anxiety were downgrades of Sears’s debt last month by Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service that were prompted by the retailer’s dismal holiday sales and continued losses.

Sears’ sorrows

The 130-year-old company operates one of America’s best-known department store brands, Sears, Roebuck & Company, along with the ubiquitous Kmart chain, and was America’s largest retail company until 1989. But the firm has recently found itself in a crisis as it struggles to turn a profit as Americans increasingly shop online rather than in shopping centres.

My ’15 Surprises for 2017′ List

It should come as no surprise that after pulling off U.S. political history’s greatest surprise ever, Donald Trump is the subject of — and catalyst for — the principal events that I’m putting on my annual “15 Surprises for the Coming Year” list. For those of you unfamiliar with this list, it’s my annual rundown of “possible improbables” that smart traders and investors should watch out for.