Archive
A bad industry beats a great manager every time, but maybe not a great investor... Last week, the legendary Warren Buffett announced that he was selling Berkshire Hathaway's entire portfolio of newspapers – including the Buffalo News – to Lee Enterprises. The Buffalo News is integral to Buffett's lore. He purchased the paper in 1977 […]
This tech behemoth is a case study in the issues with non-operating cash... On Tuesday, Apple (AAPL) reported impressive first-quarter earnings for its 2020 fiscal year, sending shares nearly 3% higher for the day. Its market cap broke $1.4 trillion as excited investors reacted to the company's positive outlook. But another part of Apple's release […]
- AAPL
- CMCSA
- CSCO
- FDX
- UPS
- WFC
A world-class fund manager is showing the catch-22 of 'socially responsible' investing... TCI Fund Management was the highest-earning hedge-fund manager for its investors in 2019, bringing in $8.4 billion in returns. And Christopher Hohn, the company's billionaire manager and founder, is taking his activist playbook into a new world... TCI recently announced that it's focusing on […]
- NOW
Even private equity is starting to suffer from "short termism"... On Monday, we talked about how the lack of private-equity activity in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is part of the reason why we aren't concerned about overheating "animal spirits." Not only is private equity not as aggressive with acquisitions – even with its […]
- FII
We received some great reader feedback on the economic outlook for 2020... In Thursday's Altimetry Daily Authority, we highlighted that a significant amount of asset management firm AllianceBernstein's (AB) outlook for the market lines up with our own. And in that essay, we touched on the continued health of the credit markets. As a follow-up […]
- AB
- BA
- GD
- RTN
The S&P 500 Index is near all-time highs... Most people would consider that a good thing. It's a sign of growth and prosperity. But investors are a different breed, and they tend to be more skeptical of good news. While this bull market has continued on for more than a decade, we often see investors […]
Earlier this month, I spoke at the CFA Society of India's 10th annual India Investment Conference... This was my first trip to Mumbai... and as far as the conference itself, it was an amazing experience. The audience of more than 500 had a real buzz about it. I had the honor of speaking a little […]
- NOC
Asset management firm AllianceBernstein (AB) has long been a respected voice on the Street... The research it publishes and its investment strategy have generally been viewed as forward-thinking, all the way back to the company's roots at Alliance Capital and Sanford C. Bernstein in the 1960s and '70s. The co-heads of AllianceBernstein's equities department recently […]
- AB
- JNJ
The 'retail apocalypse' continues to take victims... In the December 26 Altimetry Daily Authority, we discussed how electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY) has survived the retail apocalypse in a way most companies have not. To compete with online retail, Best Buy offered price matching and focused on showrooms for product demos. But many other businesses […]
- BBY
- DIS
- NFLX
- TGNA
The 'cashless society' keeps consolidating... Back in October, we mentioned how credit-services giant Mastercard (MA) has profited from the move towards electronic payments. Not to be left out, competitor Visa (V) acquired fintech startup Plaid for $5.3 billion last week. Plaid's network allows for a seamless connection between a customer's accounts. For major players like […]
- DUK
- MA
- V