Cramer: Media Wrong on Eddie Lampert

Time for some truth about Sears Holdings (SHLD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). I am sick and tired of reading the misstatements and endless criticism of what Eddie Lampert -- who is my friend -- has done with Sears and Kmart.

First, Lampert's firing of Aylwin Lewis was necessary, as someone has to take the heat for some of the decline (more on why "some" in a moment). For some reason, Eddie Lampert is credited -- denigrated -- for everything from merchandising to the look and feel of the stores. That was Lewis' job; he didn't do it. Good that he is gone. Let's call Lampert's alleged micromanagement of Sears lie No. 1.

Next, Lampert's prices have NOT been jacked up since he got in to the job. He has cut prices, not as low as Wal-Mart's (WMT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), but certainly lower than the CVS (CVS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Rite Aid (RAD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Target (TGT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) level. Let's call that lie No. 2.

Third, while Lampert did pay too much at one point for stock, he also bought stock at great levels before. The articles make it sound like Lampert is the only one who has bought back stock "badly." The list of companies that bought back much higher is jammed with hundreds of names, but only Lampert gets hit by it. Macy's (M - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) has done a reckless buyback, levering up its balance sheet to do so, at much higher levels. However, I never read a bad work about Terry Lundgren and his cash management as CEO. I think his stores look terrible, but nobody writes that, either. Or how about Home Depot (HD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)? Disastrous buyback at much higher levels with some real increases in debt to fund it. Lampert hasn't added one bit of debt to the balance sheet to buy, has tons of cash and has a $4 billion line of credit.