What We Can Learn From Sears’ Stock It may be hard to believe now, but for decades Sears was an absolute American institution. The everything-you-could-ever want catalogue king was revolutionary—and with its groundbreaking approach to retail came tremendous success. If you were to take a time machine to the 1960s and asked people what company would exist forever, $SHLDQ would be one of them. Even if you went back to 2007, when the stock was worth $131 a share at its peak, investors would have been confident in its continued success. But in the 15 years since 2007, $SHLDQ’s value has dropped an impressive 99%. What can we learn from Sears’ stock value? Nothing is forever. It’s easy to imagine that titans like $AAPL will be around until the end of time, but the stock market changes quickly, as do consumers’ whims. That’s not to say $AAPL is in trouble. It’s a lesson in keeping things in perspective.