Knowledge grows through sharing! To be the best, learn from the best! May all your dreams come true! Collections of Value Investing articles, interviews and videos, especially on Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger and articles from various disciplines to build "Latticework of Mental Models"
Yesterday, Berkshire shares closed at a high of $100,000, representing a gain of 13% so far this year. The stock is up 5,555 times since May 10, 1965, the day Mr. Buffett took control of the former textile company and the stock closed at $18 a share.
To read the complete article.
Source: WSJ.com.
The world's biggest retailer said yesterday that it plans to ratchet down its expansion rate next year and slash its capital spending. Wal-Mart executives, meanwhile, hinted that some of the money previously devoted to expansion might be put to use buying back stock.
Yesterday's announcement sent Wal-Mart's shares climbing more than 5% during the day before closing up $1.91, or $3.9%, at $51.28 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading, a new 52-week high.
In recent years, Wal-Mart has expanded the square footage of its global portfolio of stores at a consistent 8% clip, translating this year into as many as 615 new stores, including 332 to 340 in the U.S. That relentless expansion, coupled with the appeal of Wal-Mart's low prices, has made Wal-Mart one of the most dominant retailers in history, accounting for 2% of the nation's gross domestic product.
Yesterday, Wal-Mart said it is reining in its expansion rate next year to 7.5% globally and 7% domestically. The company, which is based in Bentonville, Ark., announced at its annual conference for investors that it intends to open 625 to 660 stores in 2007, including as many as 330 U.S. outlets. Wal-Mart currently operates nearly 4,000 stores in the U.S. and more than 2,700 abroad.
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Buffett always seems to be able to buy companies at their lows at the right time!
$5.8 billion loss!! That is over 1/3 of Ford current market cap.
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Ford Co., in the midst of a massive restructuring of its North American operations, on Monday reported a preliminary third-quarter net loss of $5.8 billion, or $3.08 a share, representing the company's largest quarterly loss since 1992.
The auto maker also said it will restate earnings results dating back to 2001 to correct the accounting for certain transactions entered into to hedge interest-rate risk.
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To read further: WSJ.com.
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Source: Yahoo Finance.
Price per share: $7.90
Market Cap (intraday): 14.86B
Enterprise Value (23-Oct-06)3: 145.03B
Price/Sales (ttm): 0.09
Price/Book (mrq): 1.09
Enterprise Value/Revenue (ttm)3: 0.85
Enterprise Value/EBITDA (ttm)3: 13.065
Profit Margin (ttm): -0.92%
Return on Assets (ttm): -0.52%
Return on Equity (ttm): -9.51%
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Companies with poor net margin, poor ROE and ROA and capital intensive should be avoided.
Happy investing,
Dah Hui Lau (David)
David J. Winters says he wants his associates at Wintergreen Advisers in Mountain Lakes to be so content that they "tap-dance to work."
His new fund, Wintergreen (WGRNX), started last October, is up slightly more than 9 percent.
What makes his new fund different?
It enjoys the best of two worlds, he explains. It has the transparency of a traditional mutual fund along with adherence to the SEC regulations that help keep managers honest.
He also has the tools of hedge funds: the ability to go anywhere for things to buy, to engage in short-selling (which he has done only on a small scale), arbitrage, hedging currencies and so forth. "We can do essentially everything a hedge fund can do -- except leveraging." (Borrowing to invest.)
In short, his fund is flexible. It's also global: Almost half of the assets are invested in foreign companies.
How many stocks does his fund own?
About 30, and he expects to keep the number down -- to focus on his best bets.
What advice would he give to all the people I meet who are afraid to invest in the stock market?
Buy one share of Berkshire Hathaway B, selling for about $3,300, which is "a fine collection of companies, managed by one of the smartest men on the planet, Warren Buffett."
To read the complete article.
“I don’t think we can make a killing,” Mr. Buffett said in an interview yesterday. “We could take a big loss. Nobody knows in this kind of thing. We’re taking on everything Lloyd’s wrote before 1992.
Lloyd’s, a collection of 66 insurance companies known as syndicates that was started by Edward Lloyd in his coffee house overlooking the Thames River in 1688, went into a tailspin in the late 1980’s as it faced enormous claims for man-made and natural disasters. Annual losses reached a peak of $12 billion in 1992. It has been profitable since 2002, except for a modest loss of more than $100 million from hurricanes and other catastrophes in 2005.
To read the complete article.
Pfizer, which had previously forecast modest revenue growth, said it now sees little change in 2007 and 2008 due to a strengthening U.S. dollar and European "access and pricing" issues. The company said it is trying to cut costs above the $4 billion annual savings already envisioned through the Adapting to Scale program. Pfizer also said it will buy back up to $10 billion in shares in 2007.
"Pfizer needs to be realistic about its operating environment, embrace necessary changes and turn them to our advantage, for the benefit of our shareholders and everyone with a stake in our future," said Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey B. Kindler.
The company said it expects its restructuring program to yield savings of about $2.5 billion this year, $500 million ahead of earlier projections.
U.S. sales of cholesterol buster Lipitor rose 19% to $2.07 billion from $1.74 billion, helped by higher prices and the new Medicare drug plan. Global sales of Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug, rose 15% to $3.32 billion from $2.9 billion.
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From: Yahoo Finance.
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Price per share: $28.29
Market Cap (intraday): 206.28B
Enterprise Value (19-Oct-06)3: 199.52B
Trailing P/E (ttm, intraday): 19.18
Forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-07) 1: 13.41
PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): 4.06
Price/Sales (ttm): 4.00
Price/Book (mrq): 2.99
Enterprise Value/Revenue (ttm)3: 3.90
Enterprise Value/EBITDA (ttm)3: 9.09
Profit Margin (ttm): 21.19%
Return on Assets (ttm): 9.19%
Return on Equity (ttm): 16.23%
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Why is Pfizer a potential purchase?
Happy investing,
Dah Hui Lau (David)
From: WSJ
The Atlanta beverage giant said Thursday that third-quarter net income increased to $1.46 billion, or 62 cents a share, compared with $1.28 billion, or 54 cents a share, in the year-earlier period, when per-share results were dragged down three cents by an asset write-down and tax change.
Revenue climbed 6.9% to $6.45 billion from $6.04 billion.
Coke repurchased $1.2 billion of its stock year-to-date and currently intends to repurchase a total of $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion of its stock for the full year.
Enviga, a new green-tea beverage that Coke says burns calories, will be rolled out in the New York-Philadelphia region Nov. 6, with a national launch in February.
From: Yahoo Finance
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Price per share: $44.92
Market Cap (intraday): 105.13B
Enterprise Value (19-Oct-06)3: 103.77B
Trailing P/E (ttm, intraday): 20.90
Forward P/E (fye 31-Dec-07) 1: 17.88
PEG Ratio (5 yr expected): 2.40
Price/Sales (ttm): 4.42
Price/Book (mrq): 6.01
Enterprise Value/Revenue (ttm)3: 4.46
Enterprise Value/EBITDA (ttm)3: 13.383
Profit Margin (ttm): 21.85%
Return on Assets (ttm): 14.24%
Return on Equity (ttm): 30.41%
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Why is Coca Cola a potential purchase?
How do you enjoy Coca Cola fortune?
Happy investing,
Dah Hui Lau (David)
From WSJ:
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In giving Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for financing the business aspirations of "millions of small people," the award's judges made a clear attempt to draw a connection between poverty and conflict.
"Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. "Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development."
"Eradication of poverty can give you real peace," the 66-year-old Mr. Yunus told reporters in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, according to Reuters.
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To help and learn more about Grameen Foundation: Grameen Foundation.
Well done Mr. Yunus,
Dah Hui Lau (David)
MGIC Investment Corporation reported net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 of $130.0 million, compared with the $142.4 million for the same quarter a year ago, a decrease of 8.7%. Diluted earnings per share was $1.55 for the quarter ending September 30, 2006, compared to $1.55 for the same quarter a year ago. PR Newswire Business.
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It is interesting to note that book value per share increased from $47.31 to $50.85 from Dec 05 to Sept 06; an increase of 7.48%.
Thus, MTG is on track to achieve better book value per share growth than I have conservatively predicted (8.5% per annum) in my previous analysis.
Management has been doing great job at buying back shares.
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To read my previous analysis on MTG.