Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
In terms of Dan Loeb, you can bet with him if you want, but the shares are thinly traded at best and not something I'd really recommend, given that they can trade at massive discounts to NAV. TPNTF.PK = Third Point Offshore (US foreign ordinary shar…
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of bond insurer MBIA (MBI_) jumped 5% following a landmark ruling that may give the company an upper hand in its long-running dispute with Bank of America (BAC_) over failed mortgage-backed securities.
http://www.thes…
Reply to @hank: "Look around at our roads & infrastructure. Some third world nations have better Internet than parts of the U.S."
I joked about this the other week. "In a report released Monday, Amtrak revised its projections for costs, ridersh…
Reply to @BenWP: I own HQL. I do also own one specific health care co, but I'll say this: I think I'm reasonably intelligent, but after researching health care companies (medicines in development, going through various statistics), I decided (for m…
Reply to @MaxBialystock: "although I might just add that "fundamentals" departed the picture YEARS ago, pre- 2008 Crash."
Yeah and the increasingly short-term time horizons that people have aren't helping the markets, either.
Having some views on…
I have some cash on the sideline, but am otherwise continuing to sit in what I consider to be longer-term themes (mobile, hard assets, EM, some healthcare, consumer staples and mobile payments/financial technology) and reinvesting the dividends (an…
Reply to @Investor: To actually quote a few snippets from the book: ""When I told Karen about Eliot (Spitzer)'s request that night, she said I had to honor it and open the fund for everyone. But she told me that I had
better brace myself for massive…
Egan Jones was barred for 18mo from issuing some govt-related ratings (http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/egan-jones-barred-for-18-months-on-some-ratings/.) No surprise, given that they downgraded the US (as did S & P.)
Not saying that S &a…
It's not that he's not going to manage mutual funds, but this:
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Berkowitz is raising money for a partnership that takes minimum investments of $1 million, according to a January regulatory filing. He declined to elaborate when as…
Anyone who can frequently time these sorts of situations in this kind of market (and speaking of this kind of market, apparently even Al Gore was chatting about the negatives of people having such a short-term mentality on investing on Charlie Rose …
RSH, HNHPF.PK 2:52 AM Six months later (original), RadioShack (RSH) formalizes the terms of its Asia joint-venture with Cybermart (HNHPF.PK). Cybermart will own 51% of the JV, which could see the retailers opening small-format stores in China, Taiwa…
Others can speak more regarding the bond side, but I think it's an interesting, rather diverse group of funds. Fairly risky in some regards, but you know your risk tolerance. What % (approximately, doesn't have to be exact) of the stock side is ma…
I think B of A isn't going anywhere, but I do see alternative banking services eroding things a bit and taking a possibly significant amount of smaller customers. Things like Amex's Bluebird (http://www.forbes.com/sites/arjanschutte/2012/11/25/blueb…
Reply to @Investor: I still like my idea of offering IPads to specific audiences. What about an IPad for the outdoor/North Face crowd? Waterproof, rugged body, thermometer, higher-end GPS/location (if that's possible), loaded with outdoor apps, etc.…
Maybe not. Kashkari has now left after becoming the head of their equity fund division. I actually really liked the concept of taking existing fund managers - such as the former Thornburg and Mutual Discovery managers - but it just hasn't quite gone…
Reply to @Charles: "Confessions" is not the world's greatest book on finance, but I think it's enjoyable from the standpoint of being entirely different from the "Mad Money" Cramer, and taking a look at his hedge fund period (and how much his ex-wif…
Reply to @Old_Joe: Thanks! Can't take credit for GASFX though - although I do have a good deal in Kinder Morgan and Enbridge, which are among the top holdings and things that are - I think - very long-term holdings, especially Kinder.
Kinder Morga…
I still like a number of long-term stories - mobile payments (and the likely eventual transition to EMV chip credit cards in the US), mobile services, a little healthcare, consumer staples, hard assets (pipelines/rail/infrastructure) and EM.
Reply to @Shostakovich: Well, I suppose as a generality, if I'm getting the same abilities as a current mutual fund, then I wouldn't be as interested. If there was a "bridge" product - not quite a hedge fund, more flexibility than a mutual fund - th…
Reply to @mns: Ackman's fund is going to IPO on the London Market, it would appear.
http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/01/pershing-square-capitalizes-new-hedge-fund-with-over-1b-ahead-of-ipo/
Third Point (Dan Loeb) is another large hedge fund that has …
Reply to @Shostakovich: Yeah, I think Berkowitz is a talent, but I didn't like the Barrons article discussing Fernandez (who went on to open his own hedge fund - Barnstar, which sounds sort of like a country band.) Additionally, I just don't get how…
From Morningstar: "Nevertheless, this move is not a surprise. Manager Bruce Berkowitz has alluded to this possibility a number of times over the past 18 months, feeling burned by the massive outflows of the past two years. He says he would now rathe…
Reply to @Shostakovich: "now he's will to suspend the reinvestment of cap gains and income distributions for existing shareholders."
I didn't even notice that.
Reply to @Investor: "The management risk, financing risk, political and region risks, mining exploration and production risks."
Agreed, which is why I think they are more of a trade than any sort of long-term holding.
Reply to @MaxBialystock: "Inflation and stagnation are going to bite us in the ass, sooner or later. If the stock market is rising, there are still a huge number of people who simply are not benefitting from that fact. They don't HAVE enough money t…
Reply to @Investor: "Also, economic activity slowed down because of Sandy."
Krugman was probably thrilled at the hurricane. Otherwise, it's always something, always excuses. The easiest monetary policy in history has not exactly resulted in much be…
DWGOX also leans heavily towards smaller names (and thus, is more volatile in either direction.) DWGOX also, as noted above, has offered a nice yield, although I think miners have done nothing to convince me that they are more than a trade, so yield…
Reply to @Mark: It's no different with any manager. Paulson made the biggest trade in history shorting subprime. He has a couple of lousy years after and everyone runs for the hills. People can believe in Berkowitz, Paulson, etc - but if performance…
Reply to @BobC: "One thing I know is that when I retire, the one thing I will not miss is the hours I spend every week jumping through SEC hoops and trying to interpret rulings and laws that they don't even know how to interpret."
I'd have to imag…
"And as for buying, well, the train's already left the station. If you buy, you'll have to hope and expect new record highs in the indices and in your particular holdings."
I think that's a good way to put it, or you have a really long-term view an…
