Sears Holdings Corp. (fka SHLDQ)

[Robcula]

You are confusing Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 commons are definitely wiped out. Chapter 11 they may be wiped if after all is said and done the company liquidates. But that is exactly what Lampert's offer precludes...the liquidation. This is coming OUT of Chapter 11, not liquidating. The whole deal involves Lampert and ESL, Sears, and the debt holders. After 3 attempts Sears accepted Lampert's offer. Enough debt holders have also expressed a willingness to go with the deal, IOW not demand what is owed to them immediately (in many cases this may eventually take the form of stock, which will dilute the share structure here, but not wipe it out). Not to mention the big banks that have basically said they would support this enterprise with further credit. There are very few hold outs. And their debt can be bought out immediately. The judge will go along with this because of the employees that would immediately lose their job otherwise, and also because...hey man, this is Sears, a huge Americana icon. What the long term holds for Sears who knows (maybe Lampert can change things around, perhaps with the help of Amazon or other partnerships...or it may ultimately fail...but that is years down the road, not now). Right now this is good. Commons will be diluted but remain.