It's the last Friday of the month, so Frank (author of value site frankvoisin.com) and I are chatting messenger, where we discuss stories from the web that caught our interest:
Saj: Are gas prices maybe a little too high? Some beneficiaries have run out of things to do with their money.
"Nothing quite says MINE like carving your name in your private island...The whole thing is so large that it's actually visible from space..."
Frank: Good thing his name is Hamad and not Ahmadinejad, or he'd run out of space.
Saj: Or, he could just buy a bigger island.
Frank: Much bigger islands aren't cheap! To scrape together that kind of cash, he'd need at least a few hundred thousand Hummers to fill up in the next year - oh wait, that's how many Hummers fill up every week in the USA alone!
Saj: Well, maybe people are adjusting. According to this guy, "[Hummer] values are dwindling which will hopefully make their demand go down."
Frank: Doesn't he have the direction of causation completely bass ackwards?
Saj: Yes
Frank: Check this story out. Even though the wife wanted no part of the Madoff funds in the divorce settlement, the husband is coming after her for half of the money that was scammed!
Saj: That seems fair. He chose to invest all of his financial assets post-divorce with Madoff, and now she should have to pay for it.
Frank: This serves as a good lesson in diversification.
Saj: Yes, diversification of spouses, or risk your only spouse being a total jerk!
Frank: So Travelzoo fell 35% in one day this week, despite announcing revenue and income growth of 34% and 51%!
Saj: I guess it's not a good idea to buy a stock at a P/B of 50?
Frank: Only if its price to operating cash flow is less than 60...and Travelzoo's wasn't.
Saj: But hey, it is now!
Frank: What a steal...everyone who bought at a P/B of 50 must now love it at a P/B of 30!
Saj: It's rare to see a value stock have such a ridiculous short interest, but check out hhgregg's short interest as a percentage of float: 67% !!
Frank: Seriously, what gives? Is it some sort of Chinese fraud?
Saj: "Muddy Waters reports hhgregg's supposed flagship store in Avon, Indiana is just an empty building."
Frank: "The security guard spoke only broken English, but told us the store is simply closed for renovations in preparation for a massive back-to-school sale."
Frank: Yet another city feels the need to subsidize a private business with taxpayer funds.
"At least half the funding for the building will come from the public purse..."
Saj: Why only half? Billionaire sports team owners and their millionaire employees need our help!
Frank: Incredibly, not only does the owner of the team want a new arena funded by the public, but he wants the city's existing arena shut down!
"Katz [the owner] says the city has to exert some kind of influence on Northlands so they will agree not to compete with a new arena."
Saj: Sounds like a great plan. Let's give him a publicly funded, private monopoly on all large city events. Surely reducing competition is great for the citizens!
Frank: Socializing losses while privatizing gains...when has THAT ever been a problem?
Showing posts with label messenger chats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label messenger chats. Show all posts
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Chatting Messenger
It's the last Friday of the month, so Frank (author of value site frankvoisin.com) and I are chatting messenger, where we discuss stories from the web that caught our interest:
Saj: Can you believe there are people who actually want Donald Trump to be President?
Frank: Maybe the same people who have invested in some of his bankrupt businesses, hoping he will one day be in a position to pardon some of his own business decisions?
Saj: If he runs, it's great news for Sarah Palin. She's no longer the biggest comedic target in politics.
Frank: Palin goes from being the biggest laughing stock in the party to "wow, she makes a lot of sense compared to that guy who keeps going on and on about how great he is"
Saj: Alas, unlike Palin, Trump doesn't seem able to laugh at himself. He sits there stone-faced while parodied at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Frank: Though Obama finally got some chuckles out of Trump after showing a video of Obama's birth.
Saj: So value manager David Einhorn buys a stake in Yahoo!, claiming its Asian assets are worth much of its market cap. But then we find out one of those Asian assets was "transferred" out of the Chinese company Yahoo! has an ownership stake in (Alibaba), sending Yahoo! shares down almost 10%!
Frank: So it's not just small investors...Even conglomerates are losing their shirts investing in Chinese companies!
Saj: Maybe Yahoo! should hire Kerrisdale Capital to see if Alibaba even exists.
Frank: "We at Kerrisdale visited Alibaba's headquarters in China and found a bunch of empty offices"
Saj: "We then tried to buy a product from Alibaba.com but they wouldn't take our credit card"
Frank: So China's got an inflation problem, suspect business practices, a massive government that gets involved in the private sector, and a bunch of ghost cities.
Saj: Hey sounds just like the US! China's got nothing on the city of Glendale, which this month voted to subsidize the NHL hockey team there to the tune of $25 million:
"...Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs and a majority of city councilors successfully argued the costs of losing the team would be more damaging than the $25 million expense incurred to keep them for one more season. Though there was precious little evidence presented to back up that claim..."
Frank: So hockey teams are owned by billionaires, who employ millionaire pro-athletes, and yet the team is getting bailed out by some of the poorest citizens in the country?
Saj: At least hockey isn't poison. Check out Quebec's guarantee of a loan to an asbestos company:
"Jean Charest's government recently announced a $58-million loan guarantee to keep [the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine] open."
Frank: "Hey, sometimes the private market fails. If the private market doesn't think it's economical to pull poison out of the ground and sell it to 3rd world countries where it's still legal, then the government has no choice but to step in"
Saj: Can you believe there are people who actually want Donald Trump to be President?
Frank: Maybe the same people who have invested in some of his bankrupt businesses, hoping he will one day be in a position to pardon some of his own business decisions?
Saj: If he runs, it's great news for Sarah Palin. She's no longer the biggest comedic target in politics.
Frank: Palin goes from being the biggest laughing stock in the party to "wow, she makes a lot of sense compared to that guy who keeps going on and on about how great he is"
Saj: Alas, unlike Palin, Trump doesn't seem able to laugh at himself. He sits there stone-faced while parodied at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Frank: Though Obama finally got some chuckles out of Trump after showing a video of Obama's birth.
Saj: So value manager David Einhorn buys a stake in Yahoo!, claiming its Asian assets are worth much of its market cap. But then we find out one of those Asian assets was "transferred" out of the Chinese company Yahoo! has an ownership stake in (Alibaba), sending Yahoo! shares down almost 10%!
Frank: So it's not just small investors...Even conglomerates are losing their shirts investing in Chinese companies!
Saj: Maybe Yahoo! should hire Kerrisdale Capital to see if Alibaba even exists.
Frank: "We at Kerrisdale visited Alibaba's headquarters in China and found a bunch of empty offices"
Saj: "We then tried to buy a product from Alibaba.com but they wouldn't take our credit card"
Frank: So China's got an inflation problem, suspect business practices, a massive government that gets involved in the private sector, and a bunch of ghost cities.
Saj: Hey sounds just like the US! China's got nothing on the city of Glendale, which this month voted to subsidize the NHL hockey team there to the tune of $25 million:
"...Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs and a majority of city councilors successfully argued the costs of losing the team would be more damaging than the $25 million expense incurred to keep them for one more season. Though there was precious little evidence presented to back up that claim..."
Frank: So hockey teams are owned by billionaires, who employ millionaire pro-athletes, and yet the team is getting bailed out by some of the poorest citizens in the country?
Saj: At least hockey isn't poison. Check out Quebec's guarantee of a loan to an asbestos company:
"Jean Charest's government recently announced a $58-million loan guarantee to keep [the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine] open."
Frank: "Hey, sometimes the private market fails. If the private market doesn't think it's economical to pull poison out of the ground and sell it to 3rd world countries where it's still legal, then the government has no choice but to step in"
Friday, April 29, 2011
Chatting Messenger
It's the last Friday of the month, so Frank (author of value site frankvoisin.com) and I are chatting messenger, where we discuss stories from the web that caught our interest:
Frank: Check out AGX. Tons of cash on hand. Sort of a weird conglomerate structure, but very little debt.
Saj: I've written about it here
Frank: Dammit, Saj, I swear you've looked at 98% of public companies.
Saj: Just the ones with high cash to debt balances...I'm no match for Cramer!
Frank: Can you imagine if you were on that show? Cramer would be screaming and making cow sound effects, and then they'd cut to you, and you'd be totally calm and say something about a company's fundamentals.
Saj: And I'd be off the show at the first commercial break. "Sorry, but when we cut to you, our ratings drop 50%"
Frank: "Yeah, can u at least 'moo' or something? Our research indicates animal noises raise viewer interest levels and strengthen our relationships with advertisers"
Saj: So salesforce.com is now trading at a P/E of 300!
Frank: Seems pretty fair.
Saj: Looks like the late 90's are back...any company with a "dot com" in the name is worth 5 times what it would otherwise be worth.
Frank: And another 5 times that that if they are related to "cloud computing" in any way.
Saj: To be fair, the guy in this video makes a pretty good case for owning shares at the current price.
Saj: Chinese reverse-takeover (RTO) stocks continue to take a beating.
Frank: HQS shows us you don't even need to be an RTO to have those problems, as an independent director resigned after claiming management was stalling him as he had "difficulties in verifying information relating to company accounts and customer positions".
Saj: That's pretty bad on the auditor, which is a fairly sizable firm, if "company accounts" are in question.
Frank: People are always saying the auditor can't prevent fraud, but at the very least can't they verify that the cash account is for real??
Saj: Seriously! It's like they spend all their time getting to really specific inventory numbers, or confirming whether the depreciation method conforms to GAAP, when what we'd really like to know is whether the bank balance exists!
Frank: "Are you straight line or accelerating your depreciation of that mirage?"
Saj: We should be allowed to ask auditors questions. "What is your process for verifying cash balances?"
Frank: As much as short sellers get a bad rap, thank God for them. If short-selling were outlawed, as my lawmakers would like, we'd still be thinking some of these stocks look like good value, because the SEC certainly wouldn't uncover these frauds.
Frank: Check out AGX. Tons of cash on hand. Sort of a weird conglomerate structure, but very little debt.
Saj: I've written about it here
Frank: Dammit, Saj, I swear you've looked at 98% of public companies.
Saj: Just the ones with high cash to debt balances...I'm no match for Cramer!
Frank: Can you imagine if you were on that show? Cramer would be screaming and making cow sound effects, and then they'd cut to you, and you'd be totally calm and say something about a company's fundamentals.
Saj: And I'd be off the show at the first commercial break. "Sorry, but when we cut to you, our ratings drop 50%"
Frank: "Yeah, can u at least 'moo' or something? Our research indicates animal noises raise viewer interest levels and strengthen our relationships with advertisers"
Saj: So salesforce.com is now trading at a P/E of 300!
Frank: Seems pretty fair.
Saj: Looks like the late 90's are back...any company with a "dot com" in the name is worth 5 times what it would otherwise be worth.
Frank: And another 5 times that that if they are related to "cloud computing" in any way.
Saj: To be fair, the guy in this video makes a pretty good case for owning shares at the current price.
Saj: Chinese reverse-takeover (RTO) stocks continue to take a beating.
Frank: HQS shows us you don't even need to be an RTO to have those problems, as an independent director resigned after claiming management was stalling him as he had "difficulties in verifying information relating to company accounts and customer positions".
Saj: That's pretty bad on the auditor, which is a fairly sizable firm, if "company accounts" are in question.
Frank: People are always saying the auditor can't prevent fraud, but at the very least can't they verify that the cash account is for real??
Saj: Seriously! It's like they spend all their time getting to really specific inventory numbers, or confirming whether the depreciation method conforms to GAAP, when what we'd really like to know is whether the bank balance exists!
Frank: "Are you straight line or accelerating your depreciation of that mirage?"
Saj: We should be allowed to ask auditors questions. "What is your process for verifying cash balances?"
Frank: As much as short sellers get a bad rap, thank God for them. If short-selling were outlawed, as my lawmakers would like, we'd still be thinking some of these stocks look like good value, because the SEC certainly wouldn't uncover these frauds.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Chatting Messenger
It's the last Friday of the month, so Frank (author of value site frankvoisin.com) and I are chatting messenger, where we discuss stories from the web that caught our interest:
Saj: We talk a lot about company balance sheets and market positions, but that's all useless according to this article in a national newspaper:
"One look at the charts tells the whole story at Cisco Systems...balance sheet strength, their cash position, R&D spending and their position in their industry don’t amount to a hill of beans."
Frank: Sounds like the media is providing a great education to investors.
Saj: This "hill of beans" metric sounds important.
Frank: Maybe we should focus more on it! And:
"As investors we need to be alert to changes in trend...Until CSCO moves convincingly through the upper resistance of the channel the down trend is still in place"
Saj: Yeah, that makes sense. As "investors" we should ignore the actual company, and instead just copy what other investors are doing by going with the trend.
Frank: Yeah, that's not a recipe for disaster.
Saj: So a government is funding the construction of yet another sports arena, this time in Quebec.
“We have a window of opportunity of only a few months to attract an NHL franchise. It will be gone in a year."
Frank: It's great how the government intervenes in such important areas, where the private sector constantly lets us down.
Saj: Absolutely. Millionaire professional athletes and billionaire team owners need to be subsidized by tax payers...where else is the money supposed to come from??
Frank: While one government spends superfluously, another nation can't afford its interest payments.
Saj: But they're not admitting defeat just yet:
“We do have the money of course...I don’t have a date yet but we will definitely pay.”
Frank: They sound like the degenerate gambler in every mobster movie
Saj: "Come on, you know I'm good for it! The money's no problem, I've got some cash coming my way real soon!"
Frank: How about this chart from Egypt.
Saj: Step 1 in defending a dictatorship: Don't let your citizens assemble/communicate.
Frank: Should governments have internet "kill switches"? This chart says probably not.
Saj: We talk a lot about company balance sheets and market positions, but that's all useless according to this article in a national newspaper:
"One look at the charts tells the whole story at Cisco Systems...balance sheet strength, their cash position, R&D spending and their position in their industry don’t amount to a hill of beans."
Frank: Sounds like the media is providing a great education to investors.
Saj: This "hill of beans" metric sounds important.
Frank: Maybe we should focus more on it! And:
"As investors we need to be alert to changes in trend...Until CSCO moves convincingly through the upper resistance of the channel the down trend is still in place"
Saj: Yeah, that makes sense. As "investors" we should ignore the actual company, and instead just copy what other investors are doing by going with the trend.
Frank: Yeah, that's not a recipe for disaster.
Saj: So a government is funding the construction of yet another sports arena, this time in Quebec.
“We have a window of opportunity of only a few months to attract an NHL franchise. It will be gone in a year."
Frank: It's great how the government intervenes in such important areas, where the private sector constantly lets us down.
Saj: Absolutely. Millionaire professional athletes and billionaire team owners need to be subsidized by tax payers...where else is the money supposed to come from??
Frank: While one government spends superfluously, another nation can't afford its interest payments.
Saj: But they're not admitting defeat just yet:
“We do have the money of course...I don’t have a date yet but we will definitely pay.”
Frank: They sound like the degenerate gambler in every mobster movie
Saj: "Come on, you know I'm good for it! The money's no problem, I've got some cash coming my way real soon!"
Frank: How about this chart from Egypt.
Saj: Step 1 in defending a dictatorship: Don't let your citizens assemble/communicate.
Frank: Should governments have internet "kill switches"? This chart says probably not.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Chatting Messenger
Back by popular demand is a segment where Frank (author of value site frankvoisin.com) and I discuss a few news stories that caught our interest. Please provide your feedback; should this be a monthly segment, or would you prefer a discussion of a boring value stock in its stead?
Frank: State budgets are still in rough shape following the recession.
Saj: Obviously, states have to reduce their deficits by cutting spending and/or raising taxes.
Frank: Or, they can just steal from their citizens:
New Jersey lawmakers voted to allow the state to seize any gift cards that remained unused two years after their purchase.
Saj: That seems pretty fair. If you don't use something for 2 years, it really should belong to "the people".
Frank: Yeah, it can't be government spending that's causing the deficit problem, this is the fault of those patient people who don't immediately use up their entire gift card balances!
Saj: Why stop at gift cards? I have a savings account I haven't spent in a while...maybe that belongs in government coffers too!
Frank: Of course it does, along with that bike you're storing in the garage, and Grandma's jewelry set.
Saj: Oh well, at least they're giving us fair warning. From now on, I'll use my gift cards ASAP.
Frank: Actually, it's too late:
A key element of the legislation was that it would be retroactive, allowing the Treasury to seize money from travelers checks as far back as 1994.
Saj: Wow
Frank: Speaking of overzealous governments, it looks like China is looking at ways to ban Skype:
The Chinese move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers -- China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile -- that provide the bulk of China's telephone services.
Saj: "Er, yeah we realize the average income of a Chinese citizen is $7500, but we're trying to run a business-I mean government here."
Frank: Besides, the average citizen has enough on his plate what with food inflation. He shouldn't be burdened with all these tough decisions that free markets provide!
Skype...has been growing in popularity among Chinese users and businesses to make cheap or free international phone calls over the Internet.
Saj: "Well sure, you can make those calls for cheaper...but calls through us are of higher quality! That's what you really want!"
Frank: If you'd like to experience the restrictions of communist rule without having to actually live under such a regime, try this board game.
Disclosure: Chatters have an ownership position in a couple of gift cards.
Frank: State budgets are still in rough shape following the recession.
Saj: Obviously, states have to reduce their deficits by cutting spending and/or raising taxes.
Frank: Or, they can just steal from their citizens:
New Jersey lawmakers voted to allow the state to seize any gift cards that remained unused two years after their purchase.
Saj: That seems pretty fair. If you don't use something for 2 years, it really should belong to "the people".
Frank: Yeah, it can't be government spending that's causing the deficit problem, this is the fault of those patient people who don't immediately use up their entire gift card balances!
Saj: Why stop at gift cards? I have a savings account I haven't spent in a while...maybe that belongs in government coffers too!
Frank: Of course it does, along with that bike you're storing in the garage, and Grandma's jewelry set.
Saj: Oh well, at least they're giving us fair warning. From now on, I'll use my gift cards ASAP.
Frank: Actually, it's too late:
A key element of the legislation was that it would be retroactive, allowing the Treasury to seize money from travelers checks as far back as 1994.
Saj: Wow
Frank: Speaking of overzealous governments, it looks like China is looking at ways to ban Skype:
The Chinese move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers -- China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile -- that provide the bulk of China's telephone services.
Saj: "Er, yeah we realize the average income of a Chinese citizen is $7500, but we're trying to run a business-I mean government here."
Frank: Besides, the average citizen has enough on his plate what with food inflation. He shouldn't be burdened with all these tough decisions that free markets provide!
Skype...has been growing in popularity among Chinese users and businesses to make cheap or free international phone calls over the Internet.
Saj: "Well sure, you can make those calls for cheaper...but calls through us are of higher quality! That's what you really want!"
Frank: If you'd like to experience the restrictions of communist rule without having to actually live under such a regime, try this board game.
Disclosure: Chatters have an ownership position in a couple of gift cards.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Chatting Messenger
Frank and I discuss a few stories from around the web that caught our interest. Let us know what you think!
Frank: Saw this neat video on gold the other day.
Saj: I love how it's both a deflation and inflation hedge. Magical!
Frank: Just have faith!
Saj: Of course, ever the contrarian, Warren Buffett doesn't like gold:
You could take all the gold that's ever been mined, and it would fill a cube 67 feet in each direction. For what that's worth at current gold prices, you could buy all -- not some -- all of the farmland in the United States. Plus, you could buy 10 Exxon Mobils, plus have $1 trillion of walking-around money. Or you could have a big cube of metal. Which would you take? Which is going to produce more value?
Frank: Of course you want the cube!
Saj: Yeah, you can't store 10 Exxon's in an underground vault!
Frank: And seriously, what are you going to do with $1 trillion in cash at today's highly inflated prices? Give me that in gold and you've got yourself a deal!
Saj: Why don't gold miners just pay their dividends in gold instead of cash? Don't they know their investors are just buying more gold with it anyway?
Frank: The investors still need the paper currency to heat their houses when Armageddon arrives.
Saj: I love how Netflix continues to buy back shares even though its P/E is at 70.
Frank: Great use of corporate cash!
Saj: They would have liked to buy shares of Amazon instead, but Amazon's P/E, at 73, was just too pricey.
Frank: Thank God for relative valuation techniques!
Saj: Yeah, that just saved them from a huge mistake! Phew!
Frank: It looks like the cash-strapped Ontario government is getting into the online gambling business.
The OLG estimates that Ontarians spend approximately $400 million each year in unregulated online gambling — with none of that money entering government coffers through taxation or fees. "In its current form, internet gaming in Ontario does not return proceeds to this province," said Godfrey.
Saj: The "current form" being: you're not allowed to start a gaming company as a private citizen.
Frank: "But we can, cause we're the government!"
Saj: Why stop at gaming?
Frank: Yeah, what about all the cocaine money that leaves Ontario?
Saj: Resulting in no taxes and jobs for the good people of Ontario!
Frank: Or why not just let the private sector do it, and then regulate it?
Saj: They don't like that model. "In other news, the Ontario government is going to set up its own airline."
Frank: "Yeah, we know we *could* have the private sector run airlines and then just regulate them for safety and tax their profits"
Saj: "But we'd rather just profit from a legislated monopoly instead."
Frank: Who ends up paying for the higher costs associated with monopolies? The addicted gamblers of course, whom the government is "protecting" with this legislation.
Frank: Saw this neat video on gold the other day.
Saj: I love how it's both a deflation and inflation hedge. Magical!
Frank: Just have faith!
Saj: Of course, ever the contrarian, Warren Buffett doesn't like gold:
You could take all the gold that's ever been mined, and it would fill a cube 67 feet in each direction. For what that's worth at current gold prices, you could buy all -- not some -- all of the farmland in the United States. Plus, you could buy 10 Exxon Mobils, plus have $1 trillion of walking-around money. Or you could have a big cube of metal. Which would you take? Which is going to produce more value?
Frank: Of course you want the cube!
Saj: Yeah, you can't store 10 Exxon's in an underground vault!
Frank: And seriously, what are you going to do with $1 trillion in cash at today's highly inflated prices? Give me that in gold and you've got yourself a deal!
Saj: Why don't gold miners just pay their dividends in gold instead of cash? Don't they know their investors are just buying more gold with it anyway?
Frank: The investors still need the paper currency to heat their houses when Armageddon arrives.
Saj: I love how Netflix continues to buy back shares even though its P/E is at 70.
Frank: Great use of corporate cash!
Saj: They would have liked to buy shares of Amazon instead, but Amazon's P/E, at 73, was just too pricey.
Frank: Thank God for relative valuation techniques!
Saj: Yeah, that just saved them from a huge mistake! Phew!
Frank: It looks like the cash-strapped Ontario government is getting into the online gambling business.
The OLG estimates that Ontarians spend approximately $400 million each year in unregulated online gambling — with none of that money entering government coffers through taxation or fees. "In its current form, internet gaming in Ontario does not return proceeds to this province," said Godfrey.
Saj: The "current form" being: you're not allowed to start a gaming company as a private citizen.
Frank: "But we can, cause we're the government!"
Saj: Why stop at gaming?
Frank: Yeah, what about all the cocaine money that leaves Ontario?
Saj: Resulting in no taxes and jobs for the good people of Ontario!
Frank: Or why not just let the private sector do it, and then regulate it?
Saj: They don't like that model. "In other news, the Ontario government is going to set up its own airline."
Frank: "Yeah, we know we *could* have the private sector run airlines and then just regulate them for safety and tax their profits"
Saj: "But we'd rather just profit from a legislated monopoly instead."
Frank: Who ends up paying for the higher costs associated with monopolies? The addicted gamblers of course, whom the government is "protecting" with this legislation.
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