|
| |
| |
| |
|
Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Visitors Out: 3249 |
| Total Visitors Out: 5591 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Links |
| 2008-05-03 21:11:00 |
Buffett Says Credit Crisis Ebbs for Wall Street Firms Buffett sees euro, sterling strong against dollarBuffett Warns of Smaller Returns for Berkshire HathawayDerivatives Hurt Profit at Berkshire HathawayBerkshire's Moody's Stake No Conflict, Buffett Says Buffett and Munger reassure shareholders about successionBerkshire Hathaway Holds $4 Billion of Auction-Rate Securities Buffett says Fed avoided chaos in Bear bailout
...
|
| |
|
| Bruce Berkowitz Discusses Sears Holdings |
| 2008-03-02 12:43:00 |
Bruce Berkowitz of the Fairholme fund discusses his rational for owning Sears Holdings in a recent U.S. News and World Report article title 'A Portfolio Warren Buffett Would Love'. Although I'm focusing on the Sears part of the article, I recommend clicking the link to read the full article.One of your largest holdings, Sears, has seen its stock price fall by about half over the past year. Do you think Chairman Edward Lampert can turn things around? I think that he's going to do it. And it's very reminiscent of what happened with Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway in the early days. If you play back the tape, Warren Buffett bought into Berkshire Hathaway, a textile mill, and he took many years to try and turn it aroun...
|
| |
|
|
| Links |
| 2008-02-13 18:54:00 |
Lampert raises stake in AutoNation to 33 percentAckman criticizes bank bailouts for bond insurersComcast Investors Seek Buyback, Payout as Shares DropJim Rogers Interview: Where to Put Your Money Graham’s investing philosophyBerkshire's offer to MBIAIs Borders Group a Buy?
...
|
| |
|
| Fairholme Discusses Sears Holdings |
| 2008-02-01 21:50:00 |
The Fairholme Fund discusses Sears Holdings and Lampert in the current annual report."Sears Holdings is a relatively new, core position that continues to cost the Fund. Store traffic has been weak given stressed consumers and the company’s greaterexposure to depressed housing markets than most. Many despair that Sears seems unable to regain past retail glory, despite a conservative balance sheet and many valuable assets. In searching for instant gratification, most are missing key points. As with Warren Buffett in the late 1990s, many believe Eddie Lampert’s investment skills have faded — but it is just as unlikely that this leopard has lost his spots."The whole report is worth reading if you want a sense of Bruce Berkowitz's investing style.
...
|
| |
|
| The testing of long-term Eddie |
| 2008-02-01 19:55:00 |
EDDIE LAMPERT has endured worse days than these. After all, it is only five years since the billionaire investor was kidnapped in the garage of his office in leafy Greenwich, Connecticut, and spent a weekend tied up in a motel bath-tub before somehow talking his way to freedom. But as far as his investments are concerned, things have never been tougher for a man who has taken home $1 billion a year on two occasions, become the richest man in Connecticut and prompted comparisons to no less an investor than the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett.For months there has been talk of deepening problems at Sears, a giant retailer of which Mr Lampert is the chairman and largest shareholder. Several hedge funds, once seen as Mr Lampert's acolytes, have sold their shares. Another of his big investments, i...
|
| |
|
| Ackman Devoured 140,000 Pages Challenging MBIA Rating |
| 2008-01-31 18:42:00 |
It was the $109,000 photocopying bill that hedge fund manager William Ackman says made him realize how much he'd read and underlined before betting against bond insurer MBIA Inc. in 2002.His law firm charged him for copying 725,000 pages of financial statements and other documents, 140,000 of them about MBIA, to comply with a subpoena. Following New York and U.S. probes of his trading and reports, Ackman persisted in challenging MBIA's AAA credit rating for more than five years, based on his own research.Full Article: Bloomberg.com
...
|
| |
|
| Letter from Edward Lampert to Associates on Aylwin Lewis departure as CEO |
| 2008-01-28 20:43:00 |
To: All Sears Holdings AssociatesFrom: Edward S. Lampert, Chairman of the BoardToday we announced that Bruce Johnson, currently our executive vice president for supply chain and operations, will serve as Sears Holdings' interim chief executive officer and president, replacing Aylwin Lewis, who will step down in February.I want to thank Aylwin for his dedication and leadership since joining as the chief executive officer of Kmart beginning in October 2004. He led the integration of Kmart and Sears and helped meld these two cultures. He has exemplified the qualities that are core to our company and its principles: hard work and ethical leadership. I have enjoyed working with Aylwin over the last three years and I appreciate his contributions to the company and the support he has provided me ...
|
| |
|
| Whitney Tilson: Concentrate that portfolio |
| 2008-01-21 21:15:00 |
As in most subjects relating to money management, there's a wide diversity of opinion on portfolio concentration versus diversification. Few, of course, would argue for the extremes: owning only one or two stocks invites potential disaster (ask those whose entire retirement portfolio consisted of Lucent or Enron stock), while owning hundreds makes it very difficult to outperform the market.Between the extremes, however, those advocating both more or less portfolio concentration have defensible arguments.Full Article: FT.com
...
|
| |
|
| Sears Set To Change Business Structure |
| 2008-01-19 22:41:00 |
Sears Holdings reported late Friday that it will create a new business structure which will will provide operating businesses with "greater control, authority and autonomy."According to The Wall Street Journal: "The contemplated restructuring would create separate units to manage Sears's real-estate holdings and brands such as Kenmore, Diehard, and Craftsman." The separate units would be overseen by a group of executive advisers. Based on this announcement, Lampert next step appears to be tapping into the value of the brands which sooner or later will include the real estate.Lampert has described Sears Holdings as a "start-up, and like all start-ups we should expect to experience rapid...
|
| |
|
|
| Video: American Eagle CEO James O'Donnell |
| 2008-01-17 18:34:00 |
CNBC conducted a great in-depth interview with American Eagle CEO James O'Donnell. He discusses a lot of key factors to the future of AE including the new children's brand 77kids, Martin + Osa, aerie, and the overall growth, turnaround plan of the company.Video- part IVideo- part II
...
|
| |
|
| Bill Ackman, Up 22% in 2007, Boosts Bet Against MBIA |
| 2008-01-12 18:20:00 |
William Ackman, whose Pershing Square Capital Management LP hedge fund returned 22 percent last year, increased his bet against MBIA Inc. and said the bond insurer may need to raise $10 billion in capital to protect its policyholders.Pershing Square increased its short positions in stock of MBIA, the biggest U.S. guarantor of bonds, and Ambac Financial Group Inc., Ackman said in an interview on Bloomberg Television today. His New York-based fund is buying more credit-default swaps of MBIA's holding company, which are used to bet on a company's ability to repay debt, he said.Full Article: Boomberg
...
|
| |
|
|
| American Eagle Repurchases $150.7 million in Stock |
| 2008-01-09 21:02:00 |
American Eagle (AEO) announced today same store sales decrease of 2% which was in line with expectations. That was comforting news considering how difficult retail is in this sluggish retail environment. To add to the comfort, the company repurchased a total of 7.5 million shares or approximately $150.7 million. According to marketwatch.com: "This brings the year-to-date total repurchases to 16.4 million shares for approximately $393.9 million, leaving 13.6 million shares available for repurchase".I'm willing to wait out the short term sales declines and will be buying further below my most recent purchase price of $18.55 if/when the opportunity presents itself, considering: zero debt, $3 per share in cash, chairman Jay Schottenstein's $20 million purchase
...
|
| |
|
| Daily Links |
| 2008-01-09 20:11:00 |
Eddie Lampert: Back in the day...Value Investor Jean-Marie Eveillard considering financialsRestoration Hardware down 36% todayWarren Buffett's Berkshire May Invest in Bond Insurer Jean-Marie Eveillard Buys ComcastAckman Enters Another Total Return Swap in BordersGoldman: Recession Possibly HereVF Corp: A Gem in Slumping Retail
...
|
| |
|
| Arne Alsin: Investor caution leaves undervalued stocks to be discovered |
| 2008-01-08 20:15:00 |
Lots of investors are hiding out, choosing to sidestep the stock market. Can you blame them? The backdrop is scary and it could get a lot scarier. The economy has probably slipped into recession. The dollar could plunge to depths that are hard to imagine. The credit market crunch could morph overnight from a crisis into a catastrophe.Considering this scenario, what is the smartest course of action? Should investors take cover and hide? In a word, no. A rare opportunity to score huge gains in the stock market exists right now. Scores of high-quality companies have been discarded by panicky investors at fire-sale prices. The gap between price and value has widened to extraordinary levels.Full Article: FT.com
...
|
| |
|
|
| Warren Buffett Watch's 8 Predictions for '08 - And Beyond |
| 2007-12-17 19:15:00 |
1. Recessions can't be avoided forever. In the last few days, Buffett told our Becky Quick that if unemployment picks up significantly, the "dominoes" will fall and the U.S. economy will fall into recession in 2008. He's not sure, however, that unemployment will go up next year. In fact, he's surprised that all the weakness we're seeing in housing hasn't affected the jobs market ... yet. Here's what he is sure about: "It is the nature of capitalism to periodically have recessions. People overshoot." (He told Becky she's young enough to expect to see 6 or 7 or them.)2. We'll survive future recessions just as we've survived past problems. As Buffett told us in August, "We've got a wonderful economy... There's never been anything like that in the
...
|
| |
|
| Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway overvalued: Barron's |
| 2007-12-16 21:45:00 |
Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), the conglomerate built by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, could be overvalued, Barron's reported on Sunday. Barron's estimates that Berkshire is worth about $130,000 a share, about 10 percent below the current level.Because of its high price relative to its book value and earnings, Berkshire shares could be "dead money for at least a year," the investor weekly said.Full Article: Yahoo! News
...
|
| |
|
|
| O’Shaughnessy: Financials Looking Attractive |
| 2007-12-12 20:21:00 |
Jim O'Shaughnessy believes the bad news is near out of the bank stock and finanical companies but homebuilders may have a rough time to come.From Reuters: "I think that financials are now looking attractive again," O'Shaughnessy, who uses a value-tilted quantitative strategy, said at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit in New York.He said that with the huge write-offs some banks and other financial companies have taken because of losses in mortgage-related securities, it is now near a point where the bad news is out.O'Shaughnessy said he has been buying banking stocks in Australia, one of three countries that have the largest allocation outside of the United States in his global strategy.
...
|
| |
|
| Ackman's Pershing Square Fund Listing? |
| 2007-12-05 21:40:00 |
Pershing Square Capital Management, the $6 billion hedge fund group, is likely to seek a public listing for one of its funds in coming years, founder and partner William Ackman said on Wednesday.Ackman, who recently raised a $2 billion fund to exclusively invest in Target Corp said tapping public markets for funds would give it capacity to make larger investments and have more influence in its activist stockholder campaigns."The natural evolution at some point is that I believe our fund will be publicly traded," said Ackman, speaking at a New York conference on Wednesday. "It would give us more staying power and credibility with management. If we had permanent capital I think it would be good for investors and good for us."Read Full Article: Reuthers: Pershi
...
|
| |
|
| AutoZone Beats Estimates |
| 2007-12-04 22:25:00 |
This earnings report should quiet down some of the Lampert's critics."AutoZone said before the market opened that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 7 percent on an increase in sales, particularly of parts with high profit margins.""The company posted a profit of $2.02 per share on $1.46 billion in revenue, beating average analyst estimates of a profit of $1.91 per share and $1.44 billion in revenue."Read Full Article: MSN
...
|
| |
|
| Lampert's Letter to Associates |
| 2007-11-30 16:51:00 |
Eddie Lampert sent the following letter to Sears employees today which is a response to the massive criticism Sears and Lampert have received for the less than stellar quarterly performance. In particular, CNBC had a field day with the results as Value Plays mentions. November 30, 2007 To our Associates: Yesterday, Sears Holdings announced our results for the third quarter of 2007. While we were not pleased with these results, much of the commentary in the media and on Wall Street following the results ignores the strength of our company and the progress that we have made. In fact, over the past several years, we are one of the few retail companies that have actually reduced our overall debt levels, while at the same time investing over $1 billion on ca...
|
| |
|
| Major Insider Buying At Limited Brands |
| 2007-11-29 21:39:00 |
It looks like many retailers are buying up tons of shares of company stock which may be a signal of value in the sector. Most notable is Limited (LTD) where insiders are buying up $20.6 million in company stock.From Fortune: Nine insiders, including Chief Executive Les Wexner, purchased $7.6 million of stock in the last three trading days, and plan to buy a further $13 million over the next week, according to federal filings.The insider buying is the first time in five years that executives and directors have made significant purchases of the company's stock. Several analysts said the buying is a bullish sign despite a 44 percent drop in Limited's share price over the past year. Shares soared $1.30, or 7.25 percent, to $19.23 yesterday on the news.Limited insiders are not alone. Insider bu
...
|
| |
|
| Lampert Increases AutoNation Stake Once Again |
| 2007-11-27 20:45:00 |
Edward Lampert has bought 598,300 shares of AutoNation (AN), increasing his stake to 29.3 percent. Lampert has been on a buying spree of AutoNation shares as of late. View the buys here.
...
|
| |
|
| Sears Holdings Offers $6.75/share for Restoration Hardware |
| 2007-11-26 20:47:00 |
Sears Holdings (SHLD) has offered $6.75/share for Restoration Hardware (RSTO) which has topped an earlier bid of $6.70/share made by a Catterton Partners affiliate. Restoration Hardware's Chairman, President and CEO, Gary Friedman is tied to the transaction through Catterton which may be the reason Restoration is reluctant to hand over confidential information regarding the company. Sears sent the following letter to Restoration Hardware on November 23:Dear Mr. Hemmig:We are disappointed that our numerous requests to receive confidential information have not yet been granted by the Special Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Special Committee”) of Restoration Hardware, Inc...
|
| |
|
| Sears tests 'vignettes' in Cincinnati |
| 2007-11-25 21:40:00 |
This article from 'The Cincinnati Enquirer' shows another example of Lampert's commitment to revamping stores and trying new concepts to create a turnaround rather than the anticipated diversification of assets. This isn't to say to that diversification away from retail will never happen but recent events such as the Restoration Hardware stake and the transformation of Kmart to Sears indicates the focus is on store operations. From the article:Three Sears stores here - Eastgate, Florence and Tri-County - have a new look and mission and just in time for the holidays. Elements of the approach, called Solutions Centers, may one day be rolled out to the retailer's hundreds of other full-line stores in North America. Officials plan to track sales trends thr
...
|
| |
|
| Buffett joins the batting for Northern Rock |
| 2007-11-25 12:10:00 |
"The Sunday Telegraph has learned that Buffett, known as "The Sage of Omaha" for his successful record as an investor, has held talks with three of the bidders for the bank with a view to joining one of the consortia." "JC Flowers, Cerberus and the new consortium involving Olympus Partners and Five Mile Capital, the US private equity firms, are all understood to have discussed a deal with Buffett's advisers. Buffett could sign up as a backer to one of the bidding teams within the next few days."Read the Full Article: Telegraph.co.us
...
|
| |
|
| Strong Start for Retailers |
| 2007-11-25 10:25:00 |
"The nation's retailers had a robust start to the holiday shopping season, according to results announced Saturday by a national research group that tracks sales at retail outlets across the country.""According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent."Read Full Article
...
|
| |
|
| Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway |
| 2007-11-22 10:36:00 |
"We analyze the performance of Berkshire Hathaway's equity portfolio and explore potential explanations for its superior performance. Contrary to popular belief we show Berkshire's investment style is best characterized as a large-cap growth. We examine whether Berkshire's investment performance is due to luck and find that beating the market in 28 out of 31 years places it in the 99.99 percentile; however, incorporating the magnitude by which Berkshire beats the market makes the “luck” explanation unlikely even after taking into account ex-post selection bias. After adjusting for risk we find that Berkshire's performance cannot be explained by assuming high risk. From 1976 to 2006 Berkshire's stock portfolio beats th
...
|
| |
|
| Lampert Ups Stake In AutoNation |
| 2007-11-20 21:38:00 |
From Yahoo.com: "Investor Edward Lampert has bought 598,300 shares of AutoNation, increasing his stake in the automotive retailer to 29.3 percent, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed.""In an SEC Form 4 filed Monday, Lampert said he bought the shares on Thursday for between $16.80 and $17.10 each -- about $10.1 million total."
...
|
| |
|
| Sears Buys 13.9% Stake in Restoration Hardware |
| 2007-11-19 19:58:00 |
Sears Holdings (SHLD) has bought a 13.9% stake in Restoration Hardware (RSTO) and may takeover the company after it evaluates "the desirability of proposing an acquisition". Read the full SEC filing released on Monday.According to Yahoo.com: “Restoration Hardware, a specialty retailer, agreed to a $267 million buyout on Nov. 8 in a deal involving its chief executive and private equity firm Catterton Partners.”
...
|
| |
|
|
| Buying What Buffett Buys on Filings Doubles S&P 500 |
| 2007-11-16 22:07:00 |
Mimicking Warren Buffett after regulatory filing would have been an excellent strategy over the past three decade. Bloomberg reports: "Buying whatever billionaire Warren Buffett bought, often months after his share purchases, delivered twice the return of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index during the past three decades.""Investors would have earned an annual return of 24.6 percent by buying the same stocks as Buffett after he disclosed his holdings in regulatory filings, sometimes four months later, according to a soon-to-be-released study by Gerald Martin of American University in Washington and John Puthenpurackal of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The S&P 500 rose 12.8 percent a year in the same period."
...
|
| |
|
| Berkshire Hathaway Buys Carmax Shares |
| 2007-11-14 22:37:00 |
"Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire-Hathaway">Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has bought nearly 14 million shares of Carmax Inc (KMX)., the nation's largest specialty used-car retailer, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday."Read Full Article
...
|
| |
|
| Lampert Buys Home Depot Shares |
| 2007-11-14 21:34:00 |
Eddie Lampert has bought 16,685,679 shares of Home Depot (HD) as per a recent filing for ESL Investments/RBS Partners. His reported stake is $541,283,000. See the filing here.
...
|
| |
|
| Bet on Citigroup Hurts Lampert |
| 2007-11-11 12:14:00 |
In the last year, RBS Partners, an affiliate of Mr. Lampert’s ESL Investments, has steadily poured money into Citigroup (C) shares. As of March 31, it valued its stake, then about 15.24 million shares, at $782.6 million. It increased that stake to 24.8 million shares by June 30, giving its Citigroup holdings a value of about $1.3 billion, regulatory filings show.Citigroup shares closed at $33.41 yesterday. That would value RBS’s stake at $828.6 million, a paper loss of about $471 million from late June. These days, however, Mr. Lampert’s investment looks a little premature — and worth considerably less. Read Full Article: New York Times
...
|
| |
|
| Analyst puts cash value on Sears holdings |
| 2007-11-07 19:10:00 |
From Sun-Times: "Analyst Seth Sigman of Credit Suisse calculated for the first time values on Sears Holdings Corp.'s property, a treasure trove that is keeping its stock price high. In a report issued Tuesday he estimated values as follows: real estate, $9.5 billion to $11.5 billion; leased stores, $1 billion to $2 billion; distribution centers, $700 million to $1.1 billion; Hoffman Estates headquarters, $200 million to $400 million; private brands, such as Craftsman, Kenmore and DieHard, $3 billion to $5 billion; Lands' End, $2.2 billion to $2.8 billion; and home services business, $2.8 billion to $3.5 billion."
...
|
| |
|
| |
 |
