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SEARS HOLDINGS CORPORATION
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements—(Continued)
accounting pronouncements that fair value is the relevant measurement attribute. Accordingly, this Statement
does not require any new fair value measurements. SFAS No. 157 is effective for fiscal years beginning after
November 15, 2007 for financial assets and liabilities, as well as nonfinancial assets and liabilities that are
recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on an annual or more frequently recurring basis.
In November 2007, the FASB provided a one year deferral for the implementation of SFAS No. 157 for
nonfinancial assets and liabilities recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a
nonrecurring basis. We plan to adopt SFAS No. 157 beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2008. Although we
continue to evaluate the impact the adoption of SFAS No. 157 will have on our financial statements, we do not
currently believe adoption will have a material impact on our financial condition or operating results.
In September 2006, the FASB issued SFAS No. 158, “Employer’s Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension
and Other Postretirement Plans,” which changes the recognition and disclosure provisions and measurement date
requirements for an employer’s accounting for defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans. The
recognition and disclosure provisions require an employer to (1) recognize the funded status of a benefit plan—
measured as the difference between plan assets at fair value and the benefit obligation—in its statement of
financial position, (2) recognize as a component of other comprehensive income (“OCI”), net of tax, the gains or
losses and prior service costs or credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net
periodic benefit cost, and (3) disclose in the notes to financial statements certain additional information. SFAS
No. 158 does not change the amounts recognized in the income statement as net periodic benefit cost. As
required by SFAS No. 158, we adopted the recognition and disclosure provisions of the Statement as of
February 3, 2007, and accordingly recognized the funded status of our defined benefit pension and other
postretirement plans and provided the required additional disclosures. The adoption of these provisions of SFAS
No. 158 did not have any material impact on our consolidated results of operations or cash flows. See Note 10 for
further information regarding the impact of adopting SFAS 158.
As required under the Statement, we will adopt the measurement-date requirements of SFAS No. 158
effective fiscal 2008. Under the measurement-date requirements, an employer is required to measure defined
benefit plan assets and obligations as of the date of the employer’s fiscal year end. We currently measure our
plan assets and obligations as of December 31. We will adopt the change in measurement date by re-measuring
plan assets and benefit obligations as of our fiscal year end in fiscal 2008, pursuant to the transition requirements
of SFAS No. 158. We are currently evaluating the impact, if any, the adoption of the measurement-date
requirements of SFAS No. 158 will have on our financial statements.
In February 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and
Financial Liabilities.” SFAS No. 159 gives companies the option of applying at specified election dates fair value
accounting to certain financial instruments and other items that are not currently required to be measured at fair
value. If a company chooses to record eligible items at fair value, the company must report unrealized gains and
losses on those items in earnings at each subsequent reporting date. SFAS No. 159 is effective for fiscal years
beginning after November 15, 2007. Although we continue to evaluate the impact the adoption of SFAS No. 159
will have on our financial statements, we do not currently believe adoption will have a material impact on our
financial condition or operating results.
In December 2007, the FASB issued SFAS No. 160, “Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial
Statements, an amendment of Accounting Research Bulletin (“ARB”) No. 51.” SFAS No. 160 is effective for
fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008, with early adoption prohibited. Before SFAS No. 160 was
issued, limited guidance existed for reporting noncontrolling interests and many companies reported such interest
as a liability in its balance sheet under the heading “Minority Interest.” SFAS No. 160 requires companies to
report noncontrolling interests of consolidated subsidiaries as a component of equity in the consolidated
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