Cramer: Why Is Sears So Hated?

Fifth, wasn't ESL Investments, the Lampert hedge fund, supposed to kill the stock of Sears with big redemptions? Wasn't Lampert on the ropes? Wasn't he supposed to be like Fortress (FIG Quote) or Blackstone (BX Quote), or, for heaven's sake, Citadel or Cerberus? Was he saving his hedge fund by "suspending redemptions," as the other guys -- the jokers -- did? No: he's fine. Long-term lockups. I would give him money if I were allowed. That's the highest compliment I can pay, as his long-term record is fantastic, and, excuse me, I still care about long-term records of hedge funds.

Finally, the balance sheet. Let's think about this. One-quarter of the market cap here is cash. ONE-QUARTER. The balance sheet is terrific. The buys of common stock this quarter were at $40 and change. There are only 120 million shares outstanding.

There is ample liquidity to continue to buy stock. You could argue that given how bad the consumer is, Lampert might be better off buying stock than putting more money in stores, which isn't working if you look at the other major retailers like JC Penney (JCP Quote) and Home Depot (HD Quote) and Target (TGT Quote).

Sears also expects to make between $143 million and $243 million for the full year when we see the numbers reported for the quarter ending Jan. 31. Make, not lose. If you listen to the endless parade of Sears-knockers, you would think it is losing money like so many of the retailers I follow. Now, Sears has the flexibility to close stores that are truly underperforming and the comp stores will go up vs. last year.

Now, what the heck happens if housing bottoms in 2009? What happens if things actually get better?

But let's leave that bullish scenario on the economy alone.

You have a company that could literally buy another 10 million shares here before this current buyback is completed. You can easily see this profitable company being worth $4 billion in market cap at some point.

I ask you, does that make sense?