Jamie Dimon the CEO of JP Morgan Chase came out with his shareholder letter today.  I always enjoy reading it as Dimon is honest, insightful, and outspoken.  He touches on a variety of subjects but I found most interesting his belief in buying his stock, and his rationale for doing so which I completely agree...Read More

Here is the most recent research report written by Tim Travis of TTCM:  http://seekingalpha.com/article/476071-assured-guaranty-an-undervalued-diamond-in-the-rough?source=email_rt_article&ifp=0 INVESTING IN THE FINANCIAL MARKETS INVOLVES RISKS. OPTIONS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL INVESTORS.Read More

Bond insurer MBIA is the subject of this research report.  The premise is that MBIA is likely to win their lawsuit allowing the company to split its public finance and structured finance units.  I think it is highly likely that they will win this lawsuit and that should benefit MBIA’s stock price.  I also believe...Read More

It appears that the ratings agencies are back at it with a possible downgrade to AGO announced by Moody’s.  This makes absolutely no sense when you look at the earnings, capital, and the moves the company has made to reduce risk in the portfolio.  If you don’t like volatility AGO is not a good stock...Read More

On December 19th I sent out an email discussing the unbelievably cheap valuations that we were seeing, which you can see from the forwarded email below.  This is just a quick update on how they are faring.  The point is not to get overly excited, just as we don’t want to get overly pessimistic when...Read More

Assured Guaranty (AGO) came out with earnings after the close today that were phenomenal.  Please keep in mind that operating earnings are far more relevant than net income due to very obscure and illogical accounting rules for the financial guaranty industry.  For the year AGO posted operating earnings of $3.26, and less importantly net income...Read More

One of our favorite stocks (AGO) today announced the doubling of their quarterly dividend.  Their earnings come out on the 28th and I also expect them to have also bought back stock at attractive prices.  At the end of 2011 all we heard about in the news was that investors should buy high yield defensive...Read More

While the market has been performing adequately over the last couple of months we are seeing really impressive performance out of our more contrarian investments such as Assured Guaranty (AGO).  Even after a 54% gain it still trades at only about 70% of book value, and its adjusted book value is actually around $50 per...Read More

There was a significant court ruling that will be a big help to what has been one of our largest positions AGO.  MBIA which is a competitor to AGO in the same line of business one a ruling versus Bank of America about what they need to prove to show losses from fraudulent reps and...Read More

Today we had our Monday Morning Investment Meeting, and as a firm we are amazed at the valuations that we are finding.  Below you’ll find a sampling of some of our largest positions moving into 2012.  Never before has it been so easy to find profitable companies, where earnings are likely to grow, at a...Read More