All Not Right in Sears’ REIT Plan

Sears Holdings investors are too giddy about the money-losing retailer's slow-motion breakup. Shares of Edward S. Lampert's struggling store chain jumped 35 percent by early Friday afternoon on the news that it may create a real estate investment trust for many of its stores and lease them back. The move would raise significant cash, but shareholders, Mr. Lampert included, would finance the deal. And the prospects for the rump retailer remain pretty dim. The hedge fund billionaire's REIT proposal is the latest twist in what's starting to look like a gradual divvying up of the company's most attractive assets.