Reading this article really hits home because this is the type of stuff that gives my profession a bad reputation at times.  So many unscrupulous salesmen are using phrases like “your principal is guaranteed” to mask the risks and drawbacks of certain products.  In this example an insurance broker is peddling an annuity product to...Read More

The following article puts some historical perspective to the current issues in Europe.  The premise is that the best way for the weaker economies such as Greece, Portugal, and Ireland to be able to recover is through deflating their own currency.  The parallel is that countries that left the gold standard after World War 1...Read More

This was a timely article after our recent analysis on CSX.  We believe that coal demand is likely to continue its decline as the glut of natural gas will cause utilities to take advantage of the cleaner, and less costly fossil fuel.  Also the once in a lifetime construction boom seen in China seems to...Read More

Transocean RIG has had a terrible couple of years ever since the Macondo oil spill.  Fears about liability exposure, and substantial operating difficulties due to regulatory changes resulting from the spill, have forced RIG to remove many of their most profitable offshore rigs while they are under repair. Our investment thesis has been that the...Read More

Cisco is using some of their foreign cash to acquire the Digital TV software maker NDS for $5 Billion.  They are using the foreign cash to avoid paying taxes on repatriating that money back to the U.S.. I sure hope that this is a business that Cisco is committed to operating in.  I’ve long been...Read More

Australia’s housing market has been a huge beneficiary of China’s natural resource thirst.  Extremely low unemployment and rising incomes have helped to boost prices dramatically, while most of the developed economies were seeing huge housing deflation.  Debt to income in Australia is around 150% so any slow down in China (which we already see happening)...Read More

The United Kingdom is looking at taking advantage of the current low interest rate environment by issuing 100 year bonds.  I think this is a very intelligent thing for them to do, but I think anyone that buys them would be absolutely insane.  With the U.S. debt load being what it is, locking in today’s...Read More

In the most recent shareholder letter Daniel Loeb talks about interesting investments in Unicredit and Yahoo.  Loeb’s involvement is certainly a positive for Yahoo as we have long argued that the sum of the parts is worth far greater than the current price.  Scott Thompson seems to be the man for the job and I...Read More

He is exactly right.  Goldman turned into a trading firm where the focus is far too short term in nature.  They have really talented people but the model is more hedge fund oriented, as opposed to client focused.  John Pierpont Morgan is probably rolling in his grave at how things have changed. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/goldman-s-change-in-culture-hurts-clients-greenberg-says.html INVESTING IN...Read More

Here is an article providing more evidence of the resources that Edward Lampert the Chairman of Sears Holdings, is putting towards protecting the company.  The late December stock crash and poor financial results caused large factoring suppliers such at CIT to reassess their ongoing relationship with the company.  These institutions that provide financing on account...Read More