There are a handful of investors that ought to be listened to whenever they speak. Seth Klarman from Baupost Group is one of them. 
In a recent article Klarman said:
Time for some sanity. Just like today we read about people who made billion shorting housing in 2006 -2007, in a couple years we will read the same of those who started buying in today’s market.
FULL ARTICLE
Disclosure (“none” means no position):None
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
I thought the same thing…..who the hell is RHI Entertainment?
Klarman’s Bauposat Group filed a 13D sayigng is now has 3.4million of 25% of the shares in the company.
RHI Entertainment, Inc. develops, produces and distributes new made-for-television movies, mini-series and other television programming worldwide. The Company also selectively produces new episodic series programming for television. In addition to its development, production and distribution of new content, RHI Payment systems Ltd owns a library of existing long-form television content, which it licenses primarily to broadcast and cable networks worldwide.RHI owns rights to approximately 1,000 titles, or over 3,500 broadcast hours, of long-form television programming, the majority of which has been developed and produced by it. The Company’s customers include a variety of domestic broadcast and cable networks, such as ABC, CBS, the Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, NBC, SCI-FI Network, Spike TV and USA Network, as well as international broadcasters, including Antena-3, M6, PROSIEBEN-SAT1, TF1, Seven Network and Sky.
FULL FILING
Disclosure (“none” means no position):none
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Like Seth Klarman from a previous post, Fairholme’s (FAIRX) Bruce Berkowitz is using the market weakness to add shares.
Berkowitz added over 7 million share of AmeriCredit (ACF) brining his total to over 21 million shares. From the filing:
21,049,200 shares of Americredit Corp. are owned, in the aggregate, by various
investment vehicles managed by Fairholme Capital Management, L.L.C. (“FCM”)of
which 15,588,200 shares are owned by Fairholme Funds, Inc. Because Mr.
Berkowitz, in his capacity as the Managing Member of FCM or as President of
Fairholme Funds, Inc., has voting or dispositive power over all shares
beneficially owned by FCM, he is deemed to have beneficial ownership of all such
shares so reported herein.While the advisory relationship causes attribution to Bruce Berkowitz, Fairholme
Funds, Inc. or FCM of certain indicia of beneficial ownership for the limited
purpose of this Schedule 13G Amendment, Bruce Berkowitz, Fairholme Funds, Inc.
and FCM hereby disclaim ownership of these shares for purposes of
interpretations under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or for any
other purpose, except to the extent of their pecuniary interest.
Berkowitz now owns 18% of ACF and between Fairhome and Leucadia (LUK) combined, own over 50%. Leucadia, is Berkowitz’s 7th largest holding.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):none
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Not everyone was dumping shares this week…
Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group has acquired 6.1 million or 11.7% of Breitburn Energy Partners LP (BBEP).
BreitBurn Energy Partners L.P. is an independent oil and gas partnership focused on the acquisition, exploitation and development of oil and gas properties in the United States. The Company’s assets consist of producing and non-producing crude oil and natural gas reserves located in the Los Angeles Basin in California, the Wind River and Big Horn Basins in central Wyoming, the Permian Basin in West Texas, the Sunniland Trend in Florida, the Antrim Shale in Northern Michigan and the New Albany Shale in Indiana and Kentucky. The Company conducts its operations through a wholly owned subsidiary, BreitBurn Operating L.P. (OLP) and OLP’s general partner BreitBurn Operating GP, LLC. On June 17, 2008, the Partnership announced the acquisition of all of the limited and general partnership interests of the Partnership previously owned by Provident Energy Trust. As part of the transaction, the Partnership acquired a 100% interest in BreitBurn GP, LLC, the general partner of the Partnership.
A theme at the Value Investing Congress this week was oil and gas parnership both for valuation and yield…. Breitburn’s current yield? 17%.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):None
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
A video from May 1st, 2006. Seth Klarman guest lecture at Harvard’s Psychology of Leadership course. It is a 48 minute video but worth the time.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
In a just filed 13D/A, Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group disclosed in now holds 13.5% of Horizon Lines (HRZ)
Who is Horizon?
Horizon Lines, Inc., formerly known as H-Lines Holding Corp., is a container shipping and integrated logistics company. The Company’s subsidiaries include Horizon Lines, LLC (HL), Horizon Logistics Holdings, LLC (Horizon Logistics) and Horizon Lines of Puerto Rico, Inc. (HLPR). With 21 vessels, 16 of which are fully qualified Jones Act vessels, and approximately 22,000 cargo containers the Company provides shipping and logistics services in its markets. The Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Horizon Logistics, offers inland transportation through its own trucking operations on the United States west coast and Alaska, and its integrated logistics services including relationships with third-party truckers, railroads, and barge operators in its markets. The Company ships a spectrum of consumer and industrial items ranging from foodstuffs (refrigerated and non-refrigerated) to household goods and auto parts to building materials and various materials used in manufacturing.
FULL FILING
Disclosure (“none” means no position):NONE
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
A recent article said, “More than a few cynics have proclaimed value investing to be dead. Its plight hasn’t been this dire since the height of the technology bubble.” That bubble also lead to a near decade of outsized return for value investors.
Remember that tech bubble? It was the one before the recent housing bubble? Remember? Berkshire’s (BRK.a) Warren Buffett was mocked and called “out of touch”?
Yahoo (YHOO) traded at 144 times earnings? There were scores of $100 stocks that actually had NO earnings. Good times…..until it all came crashing down.
What survived? Yup, “Out of touch” Warren’s stock went on to almost triple over the next 7 years (“b” share climbed from $1790 to $4900 a share).
Meanwhile, shares of Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo, Dell (DELL) fell and have never regained anything near their prior levels. There are countless other ones but most of those businesses no longer exist.
Value investing seems to be at its most valuable right when people proclaim its “death”. It is ironic because that is often when we start getting interested in the stock of a company, when the masses hate it.
In Seth Klarman’s “Margin of Safety“, he says “Security prices sometimes fluctuate, not based on any apparent changes in reality, but on changes in investor perception.”
He concludes his first chapter with this:
“The financial markets offer many temptations to vulnerable investors. It is easy to do the wrong thing, to speculate rather than invest. Emotion lies dangerously close to the surface for most investors and can be particularly intense when market prices move dramatically in either direction. It is crucial that investors understand the difference between speculating and investing and learn to take advantage of the opportunities presented
by Mr. Market.”
When people begin to speculate about the demise of histories most successful investing strategy, emotions are running the days an great opportunities will arise.
Disclosure (“none” means no position):none
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Somehow I missed this when it was released…..sorry
Baupost Group head and value investor extraordinaire (by that I mean 20% plus annual returns) Seth Klarman has increased his stake in Borders Group (BGP).
Baupost now holds 5.72 million shares, up from 4.9 million held in the May filing.
What is really odd about the filing is the number of “blank check coporations” or SPAC’s Klarman owns shares in.
There is :
Capitol Acquisition Corp. (CLA)- 2.1m shares
BPW Acquisition Corp. (BPW)- 1.1 m shares (including warrants)
China Holdings Acquisition Corp. (HOL)- 1.05m shares
Columbus Acquisition Corp.- (BUS.U)- 750k shares
GHL Acquisition Corp (GHQ)- 3.5m shares (including warrants)
Global Consumer Acquisition Corp. (GHC)- 5.9m shares (including warrants)
GSC ACquisition Corp. (GGA)- 850k shares
Hicks Acquisition Corp. (TOH)- 1.9m shares
Highlands Acquisition Corp. (HIA)- 525k shares
Prospect Acquisition Corp. (PAX)- 3.4m shares (including warrants)
There are a total of 22 SPAC’s listed in the filing. I could not find any relationship to them other than the investment by Klarman and Baupost. It is odd and warrants more looking into. It does seem a bit odd that the SPAC’s are alleged to be “gambling” for ordinary investors but here we have a true value investor, and a very good one going headfirst into these things..
Disclosure (“none” means no position):
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Here are the week’s top stories at Value Investing News
During the great bear market of 1974, Warren Buffett was asked by a rather staid fellow how he felt. ‘Like an over-sexed guy in a whorehouse,’ he replied. ‘Now is the time to invest and get rich.’
I’ve had the good fortune of a friend loaning to me Seth Klarman’s Margin of Safety. The following are my notes on the chapter entitled “At the Root of a Value-Investment Philosophy” where Klarman writes about the three central elements to a value-investment philosophy.
Sir John M. Templeton, a Tennessee-born investor and philanthropist who amassed a fortune in global stocks and gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to foster understanding in what he called “spiritual realities,” died on Tuesday in Nassau, the Bahamas, where he had lived for decades. He was 95.
By the end of the year, Time Warner Cable (TWC), will be a stand alone entity after being spun off from Time Warner Inc. (TWX). TWC is a publicly traded company as it currently stands, 84% owned by its parent, Time Warner Inc. The carve-out occured early in 2007, trading between $36-43, but has plummeted down into the $20’s since.
My posts the next few weeks will focus on what I consider to be attractive names in the Financial Sector.
Some may have wondered what is the connection between Dividend and Value Investing. The connection does not necessarily exist in all cases. For example, an investor selecting investments based solely on dividend yield, is not considering the value aspect of the equation.
New way of research. Analysis from an independent side. Both bullish and bearish points reviewed + valuation.
Todd at ValuePlays notifies us that Bruce Berkowitz just filed a 13G/A for his 10.6% stake in Mohawk Industries (MHK).
A look at Templeton’s 10 maxims and how they fit into today’s markets.
This short post by Todd Sullivan includes a video of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates being interviewed on Fox Business. The topic is missed acquisition opportunities.
Fortune lists 40 stocks on which a person can retire. The list includes eight stocks they label as “deep value.”
recently stumbled upon this article from William P. Bengen “DETERMINING WITHDRAWAL RATES USING HISTORICAL DATA”. The basic idea behind this research is that year over year fluctuations in annual returns could drastically change the standard of living of retired individuals, who rely on their investments for income.
Stock Analysis of Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY). The analysis includes a detailed PDF.
Canadian food retailing stocks have gone on sale, says star value manager Gaelen Morphet, first vice-president of Canadian equities at CIBC Global Asset Management.
Detailed Stock Analysis of the Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
Now will people look at Dow?
Barely one day in, the Sun Valley conference has already helped to produce a multibillion-dollar merger deal — but not the kind you might expect. Dow Chemical has agreed to buy Rohm & Haas for $18.8 billion, with a big slug of financing from Warren Buffett, the legendary value investor who recently arrived in Sun Valley.
Investor Shelby Davis of the Clipper Fund used to say that the four most expensive words in investing are: “This time it’s different.”
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Here are the week’s top stories at Value Investing News
During the great bear market of 1974, Warren Buffett was asked by a rather staid fellow how he felt. ‘Like an over-sexed guy in a whorehouse,’ he replied. ‘Now is the time to invest and get rich.’
I’ve had the good fortune of a friend loaning to me Seth Klarman’s Margin of Safety. The following are my notes on the chapter entitled “At the Root of a Value-Investment Philosophy” where Klarman writes about the three central elements to a value-investment philosophy.
Sir John M. Templeton, a Tennessee-born investor and philanthropist who amassed a fortune in global stocks and gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to foster understanding in what he called “spiritual realities,” died on Tuesday in Nassau, the Bahamas, where he had lived for decades. He was 95.
By the end of the year, Time Warner Cable (TWC), will be a stand alone entity after being spun off from Time Warner Inc. (TWX). TWC is a publicly traded company as it currently stands, 84% owned by its parent, Time Warner Inc. The carve-out occured early in 2007, trading between $36-43, but has plummeted down into the $20’s since.
My posts the next few weeks will focus on what I consider to be attractive names in the Financial Sector.
Some may have wondered what is the connection between Dividend and Value Investing. The connection does not necessarily exist in all cases. For example, an investor selecting investments based solely on dividend yield, is not considering the value aspect of the equation.
New way of research. Analysis from an independent side. Both bullish and bearish points reviewed + valuation.
Todd at ValuePlays notifies us that Bruce Berkowitz just filed a 13G/A for his 10.6% stake in Mohawk Industries (MHK).
A look at Templeton’s 10 maxims and how they fit into today’s markets.
This short post by Todd Sullivan includes a video of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates being interviewed on Fox Business. The topic is missed acquisition opportunities.
Fortune lists 40 stocks on which a person can retire. The list includes eight stocks they label as “deep value.”
recently stumbled upon this article from William P. Bengen “DETERMINING WITHDRAWAL RATES USING HISTORICAL DATA”. The basic idea behind this research is that year over year fluctuations in annual returns could drastically change the standard of living of retired individuals, who rely on their investments for income.
Stock Analysis of Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY). The analysis includes a detailed PDF.
Canadian food retailing stocks have gone on sale, says star value manager Gaelen Morphet, first vice-president of Canadian equities at CIBC Global Asset Management.
Detailed Stock Analysis of the Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
Now will people look at Dow?
Barely one day in, the Sun Valley conference has already helped to produce a multibillion-dollar merger deal — but not the kind you might expect. Dow Chemical has agreed to buy Rohm & Haas for $18.8 billion, with a big slug of financing from Warren Buffett, the legendary value investor who recently arrived in Sun Valley.
Investor Shelby Davis of the Clipper Fund used to say that the four most expensive words in investing are: “This time it’s different.”
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Klarman, Jessie, Movies, Yang
– I wish his book was not $1000
– To quote Rodney Dangerfield, “Now I know why tigers eat their young“
– This is the only thing that makes flights tolerable…
– Jerry, just go away
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Klarman, Jessie, Movies, Yang
– I wish his book was not $1000
– To quote Rodney Dangerfield, “Now I know why tigers eat their young“
– This is the only thing that makes flights tolerable…
– Jerry, just go away
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Here are the week’s best at Value Investing News
In a speech in 2007, Seth Klarman summed up, in one paragraph, why value investing works, and why that will never go away.
I take a look at Western Sizzlin’ Corporation, a holding company in the mold of Berkshire Hathaway, and its merits as a long term investment.
First of all, before I received this book I knew it would have to be really special in order for the book to receive a 10 out of 10. Value Investing is a subject that is constantly written about and any new book would really have to be unique in some sort of way to really make an impact on someone who is constantly reading about it.
This week saw Lehman Brothers replace two of its top executives: CFO Erin Callan and COO Joseph Gregor. The two will remain at the bank in lesser roles.
“As recently as a month ago,” says Justice Litle in Taipan Daily, “Erin Callan was on top of the world.”
Warren Buffett knows great businesses, and he’s generous enough to share his wisdom through his letters to shareholders. By using the Magic Formula, we automatically find the good businesses from the poor ones.
Looks like the great American investor will have something to say about the future of the Great American Lager, with Warren Buffett reportedly involved in the hostile takeover battle between Anheuser-Busch and European brewing giant InBev.
Can you imagine Budweiser as anything but an American company? Scary isn’t it? While it seems unlikely, this deal has a good chance of going through. This first bid they made was just to get a reaction, the next will be a lot bigger. I found out how high InBev is willing to go, click through to find out.
Eleven of Wall Street’s most insightful investment experts weigh in on the uncertain prospects for the economy, stocks, bonds, commodities and more in our midyear Roundtable. Some good and bad news about oil and banks. And an early read on 2009 — and yes, 2010.
After its second bid was rejected, a frustrated Microsoft turned its back and walked away. This infuriated Yahoo shareholders who had seen the bid as the company’s last chance to regain profitability. A contingent led by Carl Icahn instigated a proxy battle, seeking to oust Yahoo’s current board of directors and replace it with candidates of his choosing.
The dormant, yet important, proposed $5 billion merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) cleared a major hurdle, as Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin backed the merger – with stipulations.
Billionaire hedge-fund manager Edward S. Lampert is placing new bets on a U.S. housing recovery, buying stakes in beaten-up home builders, mortgage lenders and a home-improvement retailer.
Weekly roundup of stocks moving in and out of the Magic Formula screen.
Why won’t execs stop making promises they are not 100% sure they can deliver?
A look at the likelyhood of the latest rumor…
Not so fast
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
Fat Pitch, Gore, FireFox, Klarman
– Nice work George……
– I agree
– Anything he says should be listened to
Visit the ValuePlays Bookstore for Great Investing Books
