Home Depot Stock in Surge Amid Lampert Rumor

Date: Thursday, September 14, 2006
Author: Hedgefund.net

Stock in Home Depot Inc. climbed amid a rumor Edward Lampert wanted to build a stake in the Atlanta-headquartered company.

Stock in Home Depot, the largest home-improvement retailer worldwide, rose 3.94%, or $1.38, to $36.44 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Lampert brought Kmart out of bankruptcy in 2003 and engineered its takeover of Sears, Roebuck. His Connecticut hedge fund, ESL, had owned a controlling piece of both Kmart and Sears. He became chairman of Sears Holding, the retailer-chain created in the merger.

Lampert, often cited as the next great investor of his generation, is a proven basis of market-moving speculation. In July, stock in RadioShack jumped 16% following its appointment of Lampert compatriot Julian Day as chief executive officer. The hiring of Day, who worked with Lampert to push for a merger as Kmart CEO and who Lampert has praised as a hardworking businessman, fueled talk Sears might want to buy RadioShack. Lampert, who earned $425 million in 2005, is also a big owner of AutoNation and AutoZone.