Sears Holdings up 28% in Last 5 Trading Sessions

Shares of Sears Holdings Corporation

have been rising over the last five trading sessions, gaining roughly 28%. The stock is still down better than 6% over the last month, however, as shares plunged on December 27th after the company announced store closures and issued disappointing guidance. Over the last 52-weeks, SHLD has lost more than 41% and during the past 5 years the stock is down more than 76%. The company has been struggling for years, despite turnaround efforts from billionaire and Chairman Edward Lampert. The recent rally in the name may be related to short covering. As of the beginning of January, SHLD had a short interest of around 14%. In the wake of the December 27th plunge in the share price, it would make some sense that these shorts would pare their positions. Also, on January 9th, Lampert purchased around $136 million in SHLD shares from his investment fund ESL Investments, which is the majority shareholder in SHLD. While this may indicate that his investors are displeased with ESL's outsized Sears position, it does indicate that Lampert himself is not giving up his ambitions of turning the company around.