On May 4th, Assured Guaranty reported another phenomenal quarter of financial performance. Operating income was $273MM, or $2.14 per share in the quarter. These figures were up from $123MM, or $.89 per share in the prior year’s quarter. These returns were achieved despite the company adding an extra roughly $100MM in reserves for Puerto Rico,...Read More

As I write this, the Dow has experienced its longest losing streak since 2011. Nearly 1/4th of the way into 2017, we are finally seeing some real volatility and more attractive investment opportunities are popping up each day.Read More

As a firm, our biggest position has been Assured Guaranty (AGO) for quite some time. We have written about it extensively and covered the attractiveness of the opportunity in great detail. Today was a great day, as we really got confirmation of the incredible progress that this company is making.Read More

I’ve been writing extensively about the incredible undervaluation of the big banks relative to intrinsic value. Financials in general are by far and away the cheapest and most attractive area of the stock market.  Remember banks have been around for many centuries, and the reason for that is it’s a pretty good business to be...Read More

Yesterday, Assured Guaranty reported very strong 1st quarter earnings and once again saw an increase in both operating and adjusted book value. Over the last year, the company has grown both metrics by roughly 15%, despite adding material reserves for its Puerto Rico exposures and paying a respectable 2% dividend. The stock still trades at...Read More

There have been a few good articles lately on market valuations. We are in an extremely odd investment environment with hundreds of billions dollars’ worth of government bonds across the globe trading at negative interest rates. Basically, they are guaranteeing themselves a loss unless they can pick up a few pennies before a bigger sucker...Read More

AIG came out with exceptional earnings after the close today.  The company earned $3.2 billion in the quarter and had operating income of $1.65 a share versus expectations of $1.13 per share.  The company increased book value to $57.68 reflecting 69% upside from the current price.  Recent sales of the Maiden Lane portfolios and AIA...Read More

Sears seems to be doing a better job at managing their inventory and halting the decline in same store sales.  These are definitely positive trends but it doesn’t change my agnostic outlook towards the viability of their retail operations.  I think Sears is an asset play and the key thing for investors is to understand...Read More

Earnings are getting a lot stronger in the home builder industry as increased traffic and closings is certainly helping financial performance.  Profits are still lagging due to the lack of pricing power and lower volumes, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see volume pick up quite dramatically over the next two years.  The large...Read More

Wellpoint’s (WLP) earnings decreased but beat expectations this morning.  The company raised its full-year earnings estimate to at least $7.65 meaning that at $71.77 the stock is trading at just over 9 times earnings.  Wellpoint is a cash flow machine and management consistently buys back stock, and because the valuation is reasonable, the buybacks are...Read More