Lampert, whose personal wealth was ranked by Forbes magazine this month at $2.5 billion, could use his ESL Investments, based in Greenwich, Conn., to fund acquisitions as he did with Kmart. So far, little of the money being saved through margin management and cost controls is being plowed back into the stores.

Sears Holdings had $4.4 billion in cash as of Jan. 28 when its fiscal year ended, $1 billion more than a year earlier.

"The cash arsenal is starting to build up again, just like it did at Kmart in 2003 and 2004," said Richard Hastings, retail analyst for Bernard Sands LLC.

That cash was used in the Sears deal, which caught everyone by surprise when it was announced in November 2004.

Lampert isn't likely to tip his hand about the next acquisition. But shareholders may hear more about his thinking at Sears' April 12 annual meeting in Hoffman Estates.

Regardless, Wall Street couldn't be more curious about Lampert's next move after watching his unorthodox strategy in retailing over the last three years.

"This remains one of the most interesting major retailing case studies in the past 20 years," said Richard Hastings, retail analyst for Bernard Sands LLC.