SubscribeBill Gates and AN - The Most Charitable Man Alive
July 24, 2008
It is official! Bill Gates has to be the most charitable man alive. Now, he is providing a chunk of his assets to help out ailing Autonation (AN). Sure he takes a nice piece of the company and if you look at the history of this once darling/roll-up king, you will realize that this may be actually approaching a bottom.
Whether it is a brilliant move or a plan for a tax write-off is still not know, but it does appear that Autonation’s CEO Michael Jackson seems to have a plan for cost cutting and working within this difficult environment. Do we follow Gates into this without any thought? Do we then follow Lampert as he has been continuing to add to his holdings (40% now)? Maybe not.
How about a contarian play? Maybe… Whatever you think about the fate of the auto industry, this happens to be a well run company that is caught within a very bad situation. It is at a relative low and as oil prices seem to be turning and companies are waking up to the fact that they need to change their ways. This could give Autonation a boost. The biggest concern is still the consumer and their ability to buy or borrow to buy a new car.
Thoughts???
Bill Gates Tunes Up With AutoNation Buys - Barrons.com
The stock has been driven down by the weak economy and consumer pullback, but Bill Gates has used the softness to raise his stake in the auto retailer to 5.5%.
On Monday, Gates’ personal investment vehicle, Cascade Investments, reported owning 5.3 million shares, or a 2.9% stake in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based AutoNation. Also, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reported owning 4.6 million shares, or a 2.6% stake in the company.
At the end of the first quarter, Cascade had no position in AutoNation and the foundation reported owning 800,000 shares.
Both filed as passive shareholders and indicated July 17 as the date the ownership threshold was met to trigger the filing.
The investments combined give Gates, the world’s third-richest man according to Forbes, control of 9.9 million shares, a 5.5% stake. Gates is now the company’s third-largest shareholder. Edward Lampert’s ESL Investments is AutoNation’s largest shareholder, with a 40.4% stake. Lampert has been actively buying AutoNation shares since October.
The Week Ahead - Apple, Netflix and More
July 19, 2008
The Week Ahead - My Weekly Column on MSN Money
We are the heart of earnings season and this week’s lineup is massive. As I write this, I’m looking at over 25 pages of earnings estimates on hundreds of companies presenting results in one of the toughest quarters we’ve seen in decades. It appears that many of the companies that have already reported have been doing a fine job of beating lowered expectations and providing a nice balance to a market that has been under siege.
This week will be no different in terms of volatility. But those companies which have been savvy enough to project estimates that they figure they can beat will have an easy time pleasing investors. Those that don’t will pay a heavy price into the next cycle. Let’s face it, it’s a game. If played well it can provide wondrous rewards.
Here are a few companies that you may want to pay attention to. Remember, this all is predicated on oil behaving and limited announcements of any kind from the financial sector.
Stocks Discussed: Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN), Wynn (WYNN), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), JetBlue (JBLU), Ametek (AME), Chipotle Mexican Grille (CMG) and more…
Click Here to read the rest of the Article
The Week Ahead: A Few Nuggets
July 12, 2008
This week will be full of exciting earnings announcements that may actually show some promise. As investor anxiety grows, sometimes a stock will mistakenly get caught up in the hysteria/euphoria and shares will behave erratically. In these conditions, if a company can prove that it isn’t in imminent danger by showing a string of solid earnings in the face of financial adversity, investors will bid shares up with a vengeance.
There may actually be a few nuggets that will show up this week. Yes, even in a market that seems to whipsaw investors around daily, there may be a few good stocks out there. Even in the worst forest fire there is usually some form of life left that will help to bring life out of the ashes. With that in mind, here are few ideas to ponder:
Stocks: (SCHW) (C) (IBKR) (FNM) (FRE) (OXPS) (INTC) (EBAY) (COF) (GOOG) (MAT)
TDI Podcast 63: OIL-OIL-Enron Loophole-OIL-OIL
June 29, 2008
Guests: Prof. Michael Greenberger and John C. Dvorak discuss the Enron Loophole, the London Loophole and the skyrocketing price of oil. We also find out how closing the loophole could bring the per barrel price of oil down 25%!
LISTEN TO PODCAST NOW | LISTEN @ ZUNE - @ iTUNES
Since July 2001, Michael Greenberger has been a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, where he teaches a course entitled “Futures, Options and Derivatives.”
Professor Greenberger was a partner for more than 20 years in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Shea & Gardner, where he served as lead litigation counsel before courts of law nationwide, including the United States Supreme Court.
In 1997, Professor Greenberger left private practice to become the Director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Professor Greenberger has frequently been asked to testify before Congressional committees on issues pertaining to dysfunctions within United States financial markets caused by complex and unregulated financial derivatives. He has also appeared both in the media and at academic gatherings to discuss this subject, including appearances on CNN, ABC’s “World News Tonight,” the CBS Evening News, NBC Evening News, CNBC, MSNBC, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, NPR’s “Fresh Air,” and C-SPAN, where he also commented on financial dislocations arising out of the Enron collapse, the subprime meltdown, and the manipulation of crude oil and natural gas prices by unregulated energy traders.
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Additional Reading and Info related to this discussion:
MSN Article - House Passes Bill to Reverse oil price increases
Write You Senator, Copngressman or President with your concerns about oil
HUGE Listing (with emails) of your elected officials
* * Fill-in Form on Site and will Auto-Send to your Officials (COOL!) **
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ZachZone Stocks: Central European Distribution (CEDC), Energy Recovery, Inc. (ERII), Galiot Capital Corp. (GTC)
Stocks to look at from this episode: ProShares UltraShort Oil & Gas (DUG), ProShares Ultra Oil & Gas (DIG)
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CLICK HERE for a Virtual Tour of The Disciplined Investor Managed Growth Strategy
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ChartFest: Homebuilders or Ski Slopes?
June 21, 2008
The home-builders are really taking a shellacking. Pulte (PMH) and Toll Brothers (TOL) clearly look better than the others, though that is not saying much. There will be a couple of earnings releases next week which include Thursday’s release from Lennar (LEN) and followed on Friday by KB Homes (KBH).
We should get a better insight into how deep of a problem it will be for the next several months. I don’t have high hopes.. Do you? What are your thoughts? Are they coming back? Add a comment below…
(Also, check out the latest TDI Podcasts HERE)
Disclosure: Horowitz & Company clients may hold positions in the securities mentioned as of the publish date.
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