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Want to invest in a hedge fund? Buy Sears. January 22, 2007

Posted by The Tryon Street Journal in Business, Real Estate.
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Jennifer Waters at MarketWatch wrote a great piece about Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert, who many see as the next Warren Buffet.  His fame began when he used his hedge fund ESL Investments to takeover Kmart and Sears, which was based on real estate.  He realized that the companies’ stores and the ground they sat on were worth more than Wall Street was valuing the companies in the market.  He also understood their entrenched brands to be cash cows – IF he could turn them around from their current downhill course.  By many accounts he has already accomplished the latter.  Sears Holdings is reporting improving same-store sales, all while stopping the bleeding by closing unprofitable stores. 

Now many believe Mr. Lampert will use the cash flow generated by Sears Holdings to make more acquisitions, similar to the way Mr. Buffet built the Berkshire Hathaway empire from a single textile company. 

So at about $117 a share, you too can be a part of one of the top hedge fund manager’s success, and quite possibly the next Berkshire Hathaway multi-decade run. 

(Disclaimer:  I do not currently own shares of SHLD.)

Wallstrip: Mad Money meets YouTube January 20, 2007

Posted by The Tryon Street Journal in Business.
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Aaron Pressman at BusinessWeek wrote a great story about Wallstrip, a daily web-only show combining Jim Cramer-type entertainment with Jim Cramer-type stock picking. 

My only question is, where is Cramer’s show on the web?  He needs to strike a deal with CNBC or somebody to offer his show online.  I mean, you can search YouTube and find his stuff, but it’s not organized like TheStreet.com does with putting his shows in text format. 

But back to Wallstrip… what I like about this site is they bring in the blogs and videos of other people on the net, similar to the way SeekingAlpha does.  So check it out.  (Now, if their sidebar widget would just cooperate with WordPress, we could preview the videos right here…)

Search Engine Skunkworks January 20, 2007

Posted by The Tryon Street Journal in Tech.
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Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and others are using secondary sites to test their new search technologies, so as not to disrupt their primary sites with features that may not pan out.  They include:

My favorite is searchmash’s blog search feature, which I tested searching for tryon street journal to find all my posts.  Jessica E. Vascellaro at The Wall Street Journal can give you the full scoop. 

NewDominion signed on as anchor tenant in Metropolitan January 17, 2007

Posted by The Tryon Street Journal in Charlotte, Real Estate.
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NewDominion Bank, one of Charlotte’s bank startups, will be taking 32,000 square feet of space – and their name on the building – in the new Metropolitan mixed-use development.  The site is the former location of Midtown Mall, between uptown and the aging Cherry neighborhood.  This looks like an ideal location for a bank that is trying to convey the image of banking for business owners and entrepreneurs.  Read the full scoop. 

IKEA is coming! January 17, 2007

Posted by The Tryon Street Journal in Business, Charlotte, Real Estate.
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If you haven’t heard, IKEA, the Swedish stylish furniture store (not to mention cheap), is coming to Charlotte.  They’re going to build a 345,000 square feet store in the University area off I-85 at City Boulevard.  The store is HUGE, I mean, you can spend a day in there (like I was forced to do once).  It’s laid out like a maze, and they even have an in-store cafe.  This, combined with the recent opening of REI (with a second location coming to Northlake Mall soon), is good news for those, like myself, that have only been able to patronize these retailers in cities like Seattle. 

From a real estate perspective, IKEA’s landing in town should boost the local retail market immediately surrounding the store.  Check out the Charlotte Observer’s take on it.