This caught my eye in the 3Q2011 10Q form of Black Diamond Inc: Here´s the explanation: This means that the earlier accounts give a wrong image of the gross margins of the newly combined companies. It kind of makes you wonder if they did this on purpose. As this was not an IPO but a … Continue reading Black Diamond 3Q2011 Results
Profile: Liberty Media Corp & Liberty Interactive
Wikipedia entry: Liberty Media began in 1991 as a spin-off of TCI, an American cable-television group. Peter Barton, hired by TCI's Malone, served as president until retiring in April 1997 to start an investment firm and spend time with his family. The company took over TCI assets considered to have little value, but Barton completed … Continue reading Profile: Liberty Media Corp & Liberty Interactive
The Curious Case of Sears Holdings
The Case For Sears Holdings (SHLD) - Baker Street Capital (September 2013) Baker Street’s property-by-property real estate appraisal found that at least $7.3bn of value lies at the top 350 owned and 50 leased locations (p. 4) Real estate value is starting to be actively unlocked (p. 9) According to REITs and mall owners, demand … Continue reading The Curious Case of Sears Holdings
Amit Wadhwaney on Insurance Companies during Crises
Amit Wadhwaney is a former key portfolio manager of Third Avenue Funds, who currently operates his on value-oriented hedge fund under the name Moerus Capital. At Third Avenue, Amit Wadhwaney led the upstart of the international business at Third Avenue and was the founding manager of the Third Avenue Global Value Fund, LP, the Third … Continue reading Amit Wadhwaney on Insurance Companies during Crises
Fundamental Finance vs Value Investing
Most investors equate Fundamental Finance with Value Investing. Although all value investors are fundamentalists, not all practitioners of fundamental finance can be defined as value investors. Both approaches focus on Security Analysis and the discovery of Intrinsic Value but Fundamental Finance branches into areas such as control situations, distressed and credit investing, as well as … Continue reading Fundamental Finance vs Value Investing
Nugget: Valuation of Unfunded Pension Liabilities
Two companies that I have been following recently - Sears Holding and Post NL - have substantial unfunded pension liabilities. Here are a number of articles covering the subject: "The Value of Control: Implications for Control Premia, Minority Discounts and Voting Share Differentials" by Aswath Damodaran of Stern School of Business, June 2005 "An investment … Continue reading Nugget: Valuation of Unfunded Pension Liabilities
Nugget: Bruce Berkowitz interview on Wells Fargo from 1992
Bruce Berkowitz’s interview with Outstanding Investor Digest from November 1992: The complete interview (pdf)
Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable by Richard Zeckhauser
The following excerpt comes from the essay "Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable" by Richard Zeckhauser, an American economist who has built his academic career around the study of risk management, decision sciences, investment, and policy-making under uncertainty. An Alternative View on Risk "From David Ricardo making a fortune buying British government bonds on the … Continue reading Investing in the Unknown and Unknowable by Richard Zeckhauser
Nugget: Banco Santander on Corporate Sponsorship
From the 2010 Annual Review: "Corporate sponsorships continue to be the best platform for enhancing the renown of the brand and consolidating the Bank’s positioning at the international level. The five-year alliance with the Formula 1 Ferrari team has been a complete success. The return on the advertising in the first year covered the investment … Continue reading Nugget: Banco Santander on Corporate Sponsorship
Nugget: Taleb on Banking
An article by Nassim Taleb and Mark Spitznagel on the current state of banking and the issue of managment compensation: "Of course, before being bailed out by governments, banks had never made any return in their history, assuming that their assets are properly marked to market. Nor should they produce any return in the long … Continue reading Nugget: Taleb on Banking