As many of you might be aware, the investment themes that worked best this year were high dividend paying stocks and treasuries.  Many market prognosticators expect the same trends to continue.  It is very important to look at what the dividend payout ratio is which can be calculated by dividing the dividend payout by net...Read More

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas.  Today Sears Holdings announced that they are closing 100-120 stores and that they will be selling the inventory and real estate to raise cash.  While the market has reacted unfavorably to this announcement, we see it as a huge positive from an investor’s point of view.  When...Read More

One position that has been prominent in many portfolios this year is (NLY) or Annaly Capital.  The investment has worked out quite nicely but recently we decided to lock in profits on this high yielding mortgage REIT.  The reason that we exited was because of the expectation that more borrowers will refinance at lower rates,...Read More

Today (JEF) Jefferies released their earnings which drastically beat low expectations, and as a result the stock is up about 20%.  This is an extremely well run investment bank, and the largest shareholder’s are Leucadia, and the CEO Richard Handler.  Both Handler and Leucadia have proven to be extremely astute managers and investors in the...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