Dying Sears Is About to Reward Long-Suffering Shareholders With This Major Surprise

Department store chain Sears Holding Corp. (SHLD) has been Wall Street's punching bag in 2017, the manifestation of the bricks-and-mortar retail rout that's been taking place as e-tailers like Amazon.com (AMZN) replace the shopping mall for consumers. No doubt about it, Sears has been an awful stock to own in recent years - in the past five years, Sears has lost about 83% of its market value, plunging at the same time that the S&P 500 was undertaking a massive multiyear rally. 50 Reasons Dying Sears Had No Choice But to Strike a Deal With the Ruthless Amazon Sears Is Being Pummeled by Amazon and Walmart in This Key Business It Once Dominated But long-suffering shareholders could be in store for

GOLDMAN SACHS: There's an overlooked way to make a fortune this earnings season

A strategy of buying bullish options on stocks that have lagged the S&P 500 by 3% or more in the weeks leading up to earnings has returned a whopping 17% this earnings season, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs. To expand upon Goldman's strategy a bit more, it involves buying the closest out-of-the-money call contract on a stock, and then closing the trade one day after earnings. On a broader basis, it's getting increasingly important for traders to get earnings season right, with stock reactions coming in nearly quadruple the normal daily average, the most in the past 18 years.

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This Company Has More Than $450 Billion in Sales and Has a Shot to Take Down Amazon, Jim Cramer Says

Walmart (WMT) is loved right now on Wall Street. Jim Cramer noted that bricks-and-mortar sector is rallying today. Costco (COST) is doing well, and Cramer likes TJX Companies  (TJX) although it's not participating. People want to own the department stores like Walmart (WMT)  which is totally right -- Walmart could even be a competitor to Amazon (AMZN) because of the Jet.com acquisition. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on retail giant Walmart with an "outperform" rating and a price target of $90 on Wednesday morning. The firm believes Walmart is in a good position for sales growth as well as a recovery in profits. Walmart is preparing to release its second quarter financial results later