revenue / earnings growth? pls check it out b4 investing or trading
1) ELECTRICAL-POWER/EQUIPMT GROUP (53 STOCKS) AMSC: MANUFACTURES PROGRAMMABLE POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS, AND HIGH TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTOR WIRES
Composite Rating 80
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (AMSC) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 70
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (AMSC) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 10/29/2010
EPS Rating 79
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 133%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth N/A N/A
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 1
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 47%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 16.7%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate N/A N/A
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 3
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 78.57%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating A
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 33%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 78%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 16.6%
Annual ROE 12.6%
Debt/Equity Ratio 0%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (AMSC) Price And Volume
Price $34.54
RS Rating 55
% Off 52 Week High -21.4%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 12.57%
50-Day Average Volume 632,900
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 1.57 B
Acc/Dis Rating B
Up/Down Volume 1.5
% Change In Funds Owning Stock 10%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 1
2) COMTECH TELECOMM CORP RANK WITHIN THE TELECOM-CABLE/SATL EQP GROUP (51 STOCKS)
CMTL: MANUFACTURES TELECOM/MOBILE DATA TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS AND RFMICROWAVE AMPLIFIERS FOR COMMERCIAL AND GOVERNMENT MARKETS.
Composite Rating 97
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (CMTL) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 39
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (CMTL) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 12/08/2010
EPS Rating 88
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 248%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth 135%
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 3
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 103%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 25.9%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate -21%
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 1
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) -9.5%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating A
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 111%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 13%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 14.2%
Annual ROE 10.6%
Debt/Equity Ratio 29%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (CMTL) Price And Volume
Price $30.59
RS Rating 69
% Off 52 Week High -20.3%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 22.28%
50-Day Average Volume 475,900
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 866.00 M
Acc/Dis Rating A
Up/Down Volume 2.3
% Change In Funds Owning Stock 1%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 2
3) ITRON INC RANK WITHIN THE ELEC-SCIENTIFIC/MSRNG GROUP (39 STOCKS)
ITRI: MANUFACTURES METERS AND AUTOMATED METER READING AND ADVANCEDMETERING INFRASTRUCTURE SOFTWARE FOR THE UTILITY MARKET.
Composite Rating 76
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (ITRI) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 23
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (ITRI) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 10/28/2010
EPS Rating 94
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 100%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth 85%
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 88%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 34.2%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate -4%
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 73.11%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating B
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 38%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 17%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 4.8%
Annual ROE 6.7%
Debt/Equity Ratio 55%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (ITRI) Price And Volume
Price $60.14
RS Rating 25
% Off 52 Week High -26.6%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 2.24%
50-Day Average Volume 401,600
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 2.43 B
Acc/Dis Rating B
Up/Down Volume 1
% Change In Funds Owning Stock -4%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 0
4) AEGEAN MARINE PETROLEUM RANK WITHIN THE OIL&GAS-REFINING/MKTG GROUP (42 STOCKS)
ANW: SUPPLIES AND MARKETS REFINED MARINE FUEL AND LUBRICANTS TO THE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING INDUSTRY.
Composite Rating 52
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (ANW) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 51
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (ANW) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 11/11/2010
EPS Rating 92
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 7%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth 74%
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 6%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise -16.7%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate 26%
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 4
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 28.03%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating B
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 146%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 46%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 1.8%
Annual ROE 14.7%
Debt/Equity Ratio 101%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (ANW) Price And Volume
Price $16.95
RS Rating 3
% Off 52 Week High -51.6%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 2.05%
50-Day Average Volume 568,900
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 791.00 M
Acc/Dis Rating C-
Up/Down Volume 0.6
% Change In Funds Owning Stock -2%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 0
5) VEECO INSTRUMENTS INC RANK WITHIN THE ELEC-SCIENTIFIC/MSRNG GROUP (39 STOCKS)
VECO: MANUFACTURES METAL ORGANIC CHEMICAL VAPOR/ION BEAM DEPOSI TION SYSTEMS AND ATOMIC FORCE/SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPES
Composite Rating 80
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (VECO) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 23
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (VECO) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 10/26/2010
EPS Rating 79
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 773%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth N/A N/A
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 3
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 681%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 21.7%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate N/A N/A
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 1396.42%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating B
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 251%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 5%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 3.7%
Annual ROE 3.1%
Debt/Equity Ratio 28%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (VECO) Price And Volume
Price $38.26
RS Rating 40
% Off 52 Week High -29.8%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 8.87%
50-Day Average Volume 2,406,800
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 1.56 B
Acc/Dis Rating B-
Up/Down Volume 0.9
% Change In Funds Owning Stock -8%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 0
6) POWER ONE INC RANK WITHIN THE ELECTRICAL-POWER/EQUIPMT GROUP (53 STOCKS)
PWER: MANUFACTURES AC/DC AND DC/DC CONVERTERS AND RENEWABLE ENERGYINVERTERS FOR TELECOM AND INFRASTRUCTURE MARKETS.
Composite Rating 89
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (PWER) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 70
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (PWER) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 10/22/2010
EPS Rating 79
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 313%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth N/A N/A
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 866%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 70.0%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate N/A N/A
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 2
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) N/A N/A
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating C
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 135%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 1%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 0.9%
Annual ROE 0.0%
Debt/Equity Ratio 64%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (PWER) Price And Volume
Price $10.19
RS Rating 99
% Off 52 Week High -21.9%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 0.88%
50-Day Average Volume 6,149,000
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 1.08 B
Acc/Dis Rating B-
Up/Down Volume 0.8
% Change In Funds Owning Stock 59%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 2
7) RIVERBED TECHNOLOGY INC RANK WITHIN THE COMPUTER-NETWORKING GROUP (32 STOCKS)
RVBD: PROVIDES PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT IMPROVE APPLICATIONS ANDACCESSIBILITY OF DATA OVER WIDE AREA NETWORKS.
Composite Rating 99
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (RVBD) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 27
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (RVBD) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 02/02/2011
EPS Rating 97
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 79%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth 70%
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 2
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 42%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 21.4%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate 16%
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 1
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 50%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating A
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 39%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 30%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 19.4%
Annual ROE 15.5%
Debt/Equity Ratio 0%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (RVBD) Price And Volume
Price $45.87
RS Rating 97
% Off 52 Week High -6.0%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 9.06%
50-Day Average Volume 2,292,400
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 3.33 B
Acc/Dis Rating B-
Up/Down Volume 1.7
% Change In Funds Owning Stock 8%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 1
8) GRAND CANYON EDUCATION RANK WITHIN THE CONSUMER SVCS-EDUCATION GROUP (32 STOCKS)
LOPE: OFFERS POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR 37,700 STUDENTSVIA AN ONLINE PROGRAM AND ITS ARIZONA CAMPUS.
Composite Rating 54
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (LOPE) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 185
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (LOPE) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 11/03/2010
EPS Rating 99
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 59%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth 245%
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 93%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 12.5%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate 326%
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 4
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 81.15%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating A
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 55%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 61%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 19.7%
Annual ROE 44.8%
Debt/Equity Ratio 31%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (LOPE) Price And Volume
Price $20.24
RS Rating 23
% Off 52 Week High -28.9%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 4.61%
50-Day Average Volume 527,000
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 926.00 M
Acc/Dis Rating D+
Up/Down Volume 0.8
% Change In Funds Owning Stock 6%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 2
9) CTRIP.COM INTL LTD ADR RANK WITHIN THE LEISURE-TRAVEL BOOKING GROUP (9 STOCKS)
CTRP: CHINA-BASED CONSOLIDATOR OF HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS AND AIRLINETICKETS TARGETING INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS AND LEISURE TRAVELERS.
Composite Rating 99
GENERAL MARKET AND INDUSTRY GROUP (CTRP) General Market
Market in confirmed uptrend
Industry Group
Industry Group Rank 2
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE (CTRP) Current Earnings
EPS Due Date 11/11/2010
EPS Rating 99
EPS % Chg (Last Qtr) 53%
Last 3 Qtrs Avg EPS Growth 50%
# Qtrs of EPS Acceleration 0
EPS Est % Chg (Current Qtr) 9%
Estimate Revisions
Last Quarter % Earnings Surprise 38.1%
Annual Earnings
3 Yr EPS Growth Rate 36%
Consecutive Yrs of Annual EPS Growth 4
EPS Est % Chg (Current Yr) 17.07%
Sales, Margin, ROE
SMR Rating A
Sales % Chg (Last Qtr) 47%
3 Yr Sales Growth Rate 38%
Annual Pre-Tax Margin 45.1%
Annual ROE 32.0%
Debt/Equity Ratio 0%
TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE (CTRP) Price And Volume
Price $51.01
RS Rating 94
% Off 52 Week High -0.7%
Price vs. 50-Day Moving Average 15.44%
50-Day Average Volume 1,633,800
Supply And Demand
Market Capitalization 6.85 B
Acc/Dis Rating B+
Up/Down Volume 1.6
% Change In Funds Owning Stock 3%
Qtrs Of Increasing Fund Ownership 6
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
sleeping on the wheel
was waiting it to go higher when bad news announced, but did not. can short now?
Put Options Expiring Friday, March 18, 2011
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int
30.00 GMCR110319P00030000 4.80 Up 0.60 4.40 4.50 10 2,328
call
GMCR110319C00030000 4.40 Down 0.10 4.25 4.50 72 387 30.00
Put Options Expiring Friday, January 21, 2011
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int
30.00 GMCR1110122P00030000 0.25 0.00 0.07 0.19 22 67
call
GMCR1110122C00030000 139.10 0.00 102.85 105.70 22 23 30.00
izit to early to short? wait an uptick or a rebound
Put Options Expiring Friday, May 20, 2011
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int
40.00 APOL110521P00040000 6.85 Down 0.20 7.20 7.45 100 121
call
APOL110521C00040000 3.85 Down 0.30 3.80 4.00 38 233 40.00
Put Options Expiring Friday, February 18, 2011
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int
37.00 APOL110219P00037000 4.50 0.00 4.45 4.60 30 175
call
APOL110219C00037000 3.85 Down 0.53 4.00 4.15 131 11 37.00
Sunday, September 5, 2010
pls conduct your own analysis on 3 September 2010
Options Expiring Friday, February 18, 2011
Strike Price $60, call & put for straddle for current stock price ALXN $58.18
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int - Calls
ALXN110219C00060000 5.10 0.00 5.30 6.50 10 115
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int - Puts
ALXN110219P00060000 7.50 0.40 7.20 8.20 10 10
Options Expiring Friday, February 18, 2011
Strike Price $55, call & put for straddle for current stock price HLF $56.45
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int - Calls
HLF110219C00055000 6.70 0.00 6.30 6.50 20 154
Symbol Last Change Bid Ask Volume Open Int - Puts
HLF110219P00055000 5.07 0.43 5.00 5.20 10 69
George Schwartz, the Jewish Nazi
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2583506/posts
Ezra Levant ^ | 2010-09-05 | Ezra Levant
Posted on Sunday, September 05, 2010 7:35:17 PM by Clive
Have you ever heard of a Jewish Nazi? My new Sun column:
Moral hollowness at work
George Schwartz was born in Hungary in 1930 — not the luckiest time and place to be born a Jew.
George’s father Theodore tried to change the family’s fortunes by changing their name to something less Jewish-sounding. It didn’t help. And soon war came.
When the Nazis took total control of Hungary in 1944, the Holocaust followed. In two months, 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to death camps.
To survive, George, then a teenager, collaborated with the Nazis.
First he worked for the Judenrat. That was the Jewish council set up by the Nazis to do their dirty work for them. Instead of the Nazis rounding up Jews every day for the trains, they delegated that murderous task to Jews who were willing to do it to survive another day at the expense of their neighbours.
Theodore hatched a better plan for his son. He bribed a non-Jewish official at the agriculture ministry to let George live with him. George helped the official confiscate property from Jews.
By collaborating with the Nazis, George survived the Holocaust. He turned on other Jews to spare himself.
George moved to London after the war and then to New York, where he became a stockbroker. He’s rich now. Forbes magazine says he’s the 35th richest man in the world. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He goes by the name his father invented: George Soros.
How does Soros feel about what he did as a teenager? Has it kept him up at night?
Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes asked him that. Was it difficult? “Not at all,” Soros answered.
“No feeling of guilt?” asked Kroft. “No,” said Soros. “There was no sense that I shouldn’t be there. If I wasn’t doing it, somebody else would be taking it away anyhow. Whether I was there or not. So I had no sense of guilt.”
A Nazi would steal the Jews’ property anyways. So why not him?
That moral hollowness has shaped Soros’ life. He’s a rabid critic of capitalism, but in 1992 when he saw a chance, he speculated against the British pound, causing it to crash, devastating retirement savings for millions of Britons. Soros pocketed $1.1 billion for himself. If he didn’t do it, someone else would, right?
In 2002, Soros was convicted of insider trading in France, and fined millions of dollars. He admitted buying the shares, but denied it was a crime.
Last year, when he made $3.3 billion off the banking collapse, he called the world’s financial crisis “the culmination of my life’s work.”
This is a man who boasted he offered to help his mother commit suicide. Apparently he didn’t see enough death in Hungary.
Soros is a sociopath. But he’s a sociopath with $14 billion, and he likes to spend it on politics.
Sometimes his gifts are large, like the $24 million he spent in 2004, trying to defeat George W. Bush. Sometimes they’re small, like $20,000 to a woman convicted of helping terrorists.
Now Soros has turned his attention to Canada.
One of his front groups, called Avaaz, is lobbying to stop Sun Media’s license for a TV news channel. Soros doesn’t know anything about Canada — Avaaz called the Sun newspapers the “Suncor newspapers” — but we’re his latest toy.
Avaaz is sending a petition to Canada’s TV regulator, the CRTC, claiming that thousands of Canadians want to censor the Sun and keep it off the air.
The petition is a fraud — it’s an Internet petition, and anyone can sign anyone else up without their permission. Fake names are permitted, and so are foreign citizens. And the whole campaign is run out of New York.
Do you think Soros should determine what you can watch on TV? Do you think that decision should be made in New York? Is our freedom of speech just another trinket for him to buy and sell?
Hasn’t Soros silenced enough voices in his life?
Fight back.
Visit www.suntvnews.ca.
Ezra Levant ^ | 2010-09-05 | Ezra Levant
Posted on Sunday, September 05, 2010 7:35:17 PM by Clive
Have you ever heard of a Jewish Nazi? My new Sun column:
Moral hollowness at work
George Schwartz was born in Hungary in 1930 — not the luckiest time and place to be born a Jew.
George’s father Theodore tried to change the family’s fortunes by changing their name to something less Jewish-sounding. It didn’t help. And soon war came.
When the Nazis took total control of Hungary in 1944, the Holocaust followed. In two months, 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to death camps.
To survive, George, then a teenager, collaborated with the Nazis.
First he worked for the Judenrat. That was the Jewish council set up by the Nazis to do their dirty work for them. Instead of the Nazis rounding up Jews every day for the trains, they delegated that murderous task to Jews who were willing to do it to survive another day at the expense of their neighbours.
Theodore hatched a better plan for his son. He bribed a non-Jewish official at the agriculture ministry to let George live with him. George helped the official confiscate property from Jews.
By collaborating with the Nazis, George survived the Holocaust. He turned on other Jews to spare himself.
George moved to London after the war and then to New York, where he became a stockbroker. He’s rich now. Forbes magazine says he’s the 35th richest man in the world. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He goes by the name his father invented: George Soros.
How does Soros feel about what he did as a teenager? Has it kept him up at night?
Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes asked him that. Was it difficult? “Not at all,” Soros answered.
“No feeling of guilt?” asked Kroft. “No,” said Soros. “There was no sense that I shouldn’t be there. If I wasn’t doing it, somebody else would be taking it away anyhow. Whether I was there or not. So I had no sense of guilt.”
A Nazi would steal the Jews’ property anyways. So why not him?
That moral hollowness has shaped Soros’ life. He’s a rabid critic of capitalism, but in 1992 when he saw a chance, he speculated against the British pound, causing it to crash, devastating retirement savings for millions of Britons. Soros pocketed $1.1 billion for himself. If he didn’t do it, someone else would, right?
In 2002, Soros was convicted of insider trading in France, and fined millions of dollars. He admitted buying the shares, but denied it was a crime.
Last year, when he made $3.3 billion off the banking collapse, he called the world’s financial crisis “the culmination of my life’s work.”
This is a man who boasted he offered to help his mother commit suicide. Apparently he didn’t see enough death in Hungary.
Soros is a sociopath. But he’s a sociopath with $14 billion, and he likes to spend it on politics.
Sometimes his gifts are large, like the $24 million he spent in 2004, trying to defeat George W. Bush. Sometimes they’re small, like $20,000 to a woman convicted of helping terrorists.
Now Soros has turned his attention to Canada.
One of his front groups, called Avaaz, is lobbying to stop Sun Media’s license for a TV news channel. Soros doesn’t know anything about Canada — Avaaz called the Sun newspapers the “Suncor newspapers” — but we’re his latest toy.
Avaaz is sending a petition to Canada’s TV regulator, the CRTC, claiming that thousands of Canadians want to censor the Sun and keep it off the air.
The petition is a fraud — it’s an Internet petition, and anyone can sign anyone else up without their permission. Fake names are permitted, and so are foreign citizens. And the whole campaign is run out of New York.
Do you think Soros should determine what you can watch on TV? Do you think that decision should be made in New York? Is our freedom of speech just another trinket for him to buy and sell?
Hasn’t Soros silenced enough voices in his life?
Fight back.
Visit www.suntvnews.ca.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
For Consistent Profits, Shun Penny Stocks
You might know someone who crows about the small fortune he or she made in a stock that was bought at a buck a share.
Ormaybeyouhave a pal who landed a huge profit in a stock that once traded a dime a share. Or perhaps you snatched shares of a company at a penny a share and can now brag
to your friends that you sold it thousands of percent higher.
That’s nice. But do you know anyone who has bought cheap stocks and turned a profit consistently?
As a growth-stock investor, you’re more likely to win long-term by focusing your time and money on institutional-quality stocks. IBD’s research of big winners over the past 100 years shows that these stocks not only trade at $30, $40 a share or
higher but that they possess the powerto double or triple in price.
Stock investing is filled with risk. Why boost that risk with penny stocks that can plunge as fast as they can rise in a single day? Don’t forget that the media pay little attention to scores of stocks that get delisted and become worthless.
The best growth stocks don’t hail from pink sheets or bulletin boards.They tend to already own a record of strong earnings and sales growth, a great product or service and a healthy balance sheet before they even begin their big moves in price.
Because of these characteristics, such stocks trade at a “higher” price due to strong demand by institutional investors. Mutual funds, hedge funds, pensions, banks and the investment units of large corporations have the serious money to invest
in companies that will grow in good times and survive in bad ones.
It’shard to resist acheapstock, because it appears the odds of making a profit are much higher. If you buy a stock at $1 a share, it just takes a one-point gain to double your money.Sounds great, right?
Here’s the problem: To see that one-point gain, you’re going to need at least one fund manager scooping up shares. The fund must also stand guard to support the stock if others dump their shares.
Large investors won’t buy a stock if they can’t invest with significant size. Let’s say a fund has $100 million to invest. Two percent of the fund—$2 million—is allocated for one stock.To buy a stock that trades at 50 cents a share, the fund must accumulate 4 million shares, and that assumes the stock price remains
steady. That might be the size of the company’s share float, leaving no
room for other buyers.
Since at least the late 1990s, securities regulators have clamped down on “pump and dump” schemes. A broker or someone posing as a broker would cold-call investors to recommend an ultra cheap stock, saying it would triple in a few weeks or
months. These fraudsters claim they have juicy inside information.
Now, the Internet is filled with newsletters touting stocks with promises that their prices will reach the moon. The SEC gives tips on its Web site, sec.gov, on how to
avoid such frauds. Any company with at least 500 investors and $10 million in net assets must submit filings to the commission.
In an IBD study of 84 market winners during the 2000 to 2008 period, the average price at the breakout was $34.79 per share. Sounds expensive? Well, the average
peak price for these superb stocks was $123.74 a share. It took, on average, 109 weeks for these stocks to hit their peak. The adjacent table shows a sample
of stocks that traded for at least $30 a share 12 months ago and logged
gains of at least 40% over the time frame. In all, 33 issues made the cut.
company, ticker, 12 month % price change, price 12 months ago, EPS, RS & SMR
Netflix NFLX 160 $45.00 97 78 A
Cree CREE 128 31.42 66 89 B
Priceline.com PCLN 123 131.32 99 90 A
Salesforce.com CRM 123 46.73 81 87 B
Bucyrus International BUCY 96 32.68 98 79 A
SL Green Realty SLG 93 32.48 22 91 C
Cimarex Energy XEC 91 37.94 14 76 B
Boston Beer Co. SAM 85 36.67 63 73 B
Concho Resources CXO 84 34.43 56 71 A
Jones Lang Lasalle JLL 81 45.05 44 83 C
Cognizant Tech CTSH 79 34.14 97 84 A
Cummins CMI 72 47.14 26 86 B
Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG 62 93.70 99 80 A
Lubrizol LZ 60 59.93 92 85 B
Wynn Resorts WYNN 60 58.47 61 83 B
WebMD Health WBMD 59 32.30 87 74 B
Apple AAPL 58 165.51 96 81 A
Portfolio Recovery PRAA 57 44.62 74 80 A
Polaris Industries PII 53 38.78 44 82 A
Amazon.com AMZN 51 85.32 65 71 A
Ormaybeyouhave a pal who landed a huge profit in a stock that once traded a dime a share. Or perhaps you snatched shares of a company at a penny a share and can now brag
to your friends that you sold it thousands of percent higher.
That’s nice. But do you know anyone who has bought cheap stocks and turned a profit consistently?
As a growth-stock investor, you’re more likely to win long-term by focusing your time and money on institutional-quality stocks. IBD’s research of big winners over the past 100 years shows that these stocks not only trade at $30, $40 a share or
higher but that they possess the powerto double or triple in price.
Stock investing is filled with risk. Why boost that risk with penny stocks that can plunge as fast as they can rise in a single day? Don’t forget that the media pay little attention to scores of stocks that get delisted and become worthless.
The best growth stocks don’t hail from pink sheets or bulletin boards.They tend to already own a record of strong earnings and sales growth, a great product or service and a healthy balance sheet before they even begin their big moves in price.
Because of these characteristics, such stocks trade at a “higher” price due to strong demand by institutional investors. Mutual funds, hedge funds, pensions, banks and the investment units of large corporations have the serious money to invest
in companies that will grow in good times and survive in bad ones.
It’shard to resist acheapstock, because it appears the odds of making a profit are much higher. If you buy a stock at $1 a share, it just takes a one-point gain to double your money.Sounds great, right?
Here’s the problem: To see that one-point gain, you’re going to need at least one fund manager scooping up shares. The fund must also stand guard to support the stock if others dump their shares.
Large investors won’t buy a stock if they can’t invest with significant size. Let’s say a fund has $100 million to invest. Two percent of the fund—$2 million—is allocated for one stock.To buy a stock that trades at 50 cents a share, the fund must accumulate 4 million shares, and that assumes the stock price remains
steady. That might be the size of the company’s share float, leaving no
room for other buyers.
Since at least the late 1990s, securities regulators have clamped down on “pump and dump” schemes. A broker or someone posing as a broker would cold-call investors to recommend an ultra cheap stock, saying it would triple in a few weeks or
months. These fraudsters claim they have juicy inside information.
Now, the Internet is filled with newsletters touting stocks with promises that their prices will reach the moon. The SEC gives tips on its Web site, sec.gov, on how to
avoid such frauds. Any company with at least 500 investors and $10 million in net assets must submit filings to the commission.
In an IBD study of 84 market winners during the 2000 to 2008 period, the average price at the breakout was $34.79 per share. Sounds expensive? Well, the average
peak price for these superb stocks was $123.74 a share. It took, on average, 109 weeks for these stocks to hit their peak. The adjacent table shows a sample
of stocks that traded for at least $30 a share 12 months ago and logged
gains of at least 40% over the time frame. In all, 33 issues made the cut.
company, ticker, 12 month % price change, price 12 months ago, EPS, RS & SMR
Netflix NFLX 160 $45.00 97 78 A
Cree CREE 128 31.42 66 89 B
Priceline.com PCLN 123 131.32 99 90 A
Salesforce.com CRM 123 46.73 81 87 B
Bucyrus International BUCY 96 32.68 98 79 A
SL Green Realty SLG 93 32.48 22 91 C
Cimarex Energy XEC 91 37.94 14 76 B
Boston Beer Co. SAM 85 36.67 63 73 B
Concho Resources CXO 84 34.43 56 71 A
Jones Lang Lasalle JLL 81 45.05 44 83 C
Cognizant Tech CTSH 79 34.14 97 84 A
Cummins CMI 72 47.14 26 86 B
Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG 62 93.70 99 80 A
Lubrizol LZ 60 59.93 92 85 B
Wynn Resorts WYNN 60 58.47 61 83 B
WebMD Health WBMD 59 32.30 87 74 B
Apple AAPL 58 165.51 96 81 A
Portfolio Recovery PRAA 57 44.62 74 80 A
Polaris Industries PII 53 38.78 44 82 A
Amazon.com AMZN 51 85.32 65 71 A
Monday, August 2, 2010
From Tiananmen Square to Possible Buffett Successor
by Susan Pulliam
Monday, August 2, 201
provided by
the wall street journal
Twenty-one years ago, Li Lu was a student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests. Now a hedge-fund manager, he is in line to become a successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B - News).
More from WSJ.com:
• Warren Buffett Isn't Your Grandpa
• Q&A: Sell Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway?
• Does Warren Buffett Prefer China to India?
Mr. Li, 44 years old, has emerged as a leading candidate to run a chunk of Berkshire's $100 billion portfolio, stemming from a close friendship with Charlie Munger, Berkshire's 86-year-old vice chairman. In an interview, Mr. Munger revealed that Mr. Li was likely to become one of the top Berkshire investment officials. "In my mind, it's a foregone conclusion," Mr. Munger said.
The job of filling Mr. Buffett's shoes is among the most high-profile succession stories in modern corporate history. Mr. Buffett, who will turn 80 in a month, says he has no current plans to step down and will likely split his job after he leaves the company into separate CEO and investing functions. Mr. Li's emergence as a contender to oversee Berkshire investments is the first time a name has been identified to fill the investment part of Mr. Buffett's legendary role.
The development illustrates that Berkshire is moving toward putting in place—possibly sooner than investors anticipated—certain aspects of its succession plan.
The Chinese-American investor already has made money for Berkshire: He introduced Mr. Munger to BYD Co., a Chinese battery and auto maker, and Berkshire invested. Since 2008, Berkshire's BYD stake has surged more than six-fold, generating profit of about $1.2 billion, Mr. Buffett says. Mr. Li's hedge funds have garnered an annualized compound return of 26.4% since 1998, compared to 2.25% for the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index during the same period.
Mr. Li's ascent on Wall Street has been no less dramatic. He spent his childhood shuttling between foster families after his mother and father were sent to labor camps during the Cultural Revolution. After the Tiananmen Square protest, he escaped to France and came to the U.S. Investors in his hedge fund have included a group of senior U.S. business executives and the musician Sting, who calls Mr. Li "hardworking and clever."
Mr. Li's investing strategy represents a significant shift for Mr. Buffett: Mr. Li invests chiefly in high-technology companies in Asia. Mr. Buffett typically has ignored investments in industries he says he doesn't understand.
Mr. Buffett says Berkshire's top investing job could be filled by two or more managers who would be on equal footing and divide up responsibility for managing Berkshire's $100 billion portfolio. David Sokol, chairman of Berkshire unit MidAmerican Energy Holdings, is considered top contender for CEO. Mr. Sokol, 53, joined MidAmerican in 1991 and is known for his tireless work ethic.
In an interview, Mr. Buffett declines to comment directly on succession plans. But he doesn't rule out bringing in an investment manager such as Mr. Li while still at Berkshire's helm.
"I like the idea of bringing on other investment managers while I'm still here," Mr. Buffett says. He says he doesn't preclude making a move this year, though he adds that there is no "goal" to bring on an additional manager that quickly either. Mr. Buffett says he envisions a team approach in which the Berkshire investment officials would be "paid as a group" from one pot, he says. "I don't want them to compete."
Mr. Li fits the bill in some important ways, Mr. Buffett says. "You want someone" who "can think about problems that haven't yet existed before," he says. Mr. Li is a contrarian investor, loading up on BYD shares when they were beaten down. And he's a big fan of Berkshire, which may also help his cause. "We don't want them unless they have special feelings about Berkshire," Mr. Buffett says.
But hiring Mr. Li could be risky. His big bet on BYD is his only large-scale investing home run. Without the BYD profits, his performance as a hedge-fund manager is unremarkable.
It's unclear whether he could rack up such profits if managing a large portfolio of Berkshire's.
What's more, his strategy of "backing up the truck," to make large investments and not wavering when the markets turn down could backfire in a prolonged bear market. Despite a 200% return in 2009, he was down 13% at the end of June this year, nearly double the 6.6% drop in the S&P-500 during the period.
Mr. Li declines to discuss a potential Berkshire position, saying only that he feels fortunate to be a member of the Berkshire inner circle. "This is the stuff you can't conjure in dreams," he says.
Mr. Li was born in 1966, the year Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution began. When he was nine months old, he says, his father, an engineer, was sent to a coal mine to be "re-educated." His mother was sent to a labor camp. Mr. Li's parents paid various families to take him in. He was shuttled from family to family for several years until moving in with an illiterate coal miner, with whom he developed a close bond, in his hometown of Tangshan. Living apart from his family as a child taught him survival skills, Mr. Li says.
He was reunited with his family, including two brothers, by age 10, when a massive earthquake hit his hometown, killing an estimated 242,000 people in the area, including the coal miner and his family. His nuclear family was spared, he says, but "most of the people I knew were killed."
At the time, he says he had no direction and was fighting in the streets. Mr. Li says his grandmother, who was among the first women in her city to attend college, inspired him to begin reading and studying. He later attended Nanjing University, majoring in physics.
In April 1989, he traveled to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to meet with students who were gathering to mourn the death of Secretary General Hu Yaobang, who was viewed as a supporter of democracy and reforms.
The students protested against corruption, among other things, and Mr. Li helped organize the students and participated in a hunger strike.
He and other students fled to France. Later in 1989, he traveled to the U.S. to speak at Columbia University, where human-rights activists embraced him as a hero. He spoke little English but landed an advance to write a book about his experiences.
Helped by financial scholarships at Columbia, Mr. Li quickly learned English. He simultaneously earned three degrees: an economics degree, a law degree and a graduate degree in business, according to Columbia.
With his student loans piling up, Mr. Li attended a lecture by Mr. Buffett at Columbia in 1993. At the time, the 1990s bull market was in full swing, and hedge funds were on the rise. Mr. Li says in China he didn't trust financial markets but hearing Mr. Buffett helped him overcome skepticism about stock investing.
He began dabbling in stocks using money from his book advance. By his graduation in 1996, he had built a sizable nest egg and says he thought he could retire. Instead he took a job at securities firm Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and then left to set up his own hedge fund. In 1997, he had set up Himalaya Partners, a hedge fund. Later he started a venture-capital fund to invest in U.S. technology companies.
It was a heady time on Wall Street. The Internet boom was beginning. Investors were clamoring to find hot stocks.
Through his human-rights contacts, Mr. Li quickly attracted well-heeled clients including Bob Bernstein, former chairman of Random House and founder of Human Rights Watch as well as the musician Sting. Other investors included financier Jerome Kohlberg, News Corp. director emeritus and Allen & Co. executive Stanley Shuman and hedge fund manager Jack Nash, Mr. Li says.
But Mr. Li bombed out in 1998, his first year as a hedge fund manager. His fund, which was invested chiefly in Asian stocks, was hammered by the Asian debt crisis, and lost 19%.
"I felt bad that people had trusted me," he says. "All they knew was I was a student activist and all they saw was losses."
His fortunes rebounded as the Asian crisis quickly faded. As 1998 began, so did a huge new bull market. By now, the hedge-fund industry was growing gangbusters, and by the end of 1999, Mr. Li's fund had regained its losses.
In 2002, hedge-fund giant Julian Robertson gave Mr. Li money to invest in his fund on the condition that the fund would make bearish as well as bullish bets on companies.
It wasn't a good fit. Mr. Li says he "hated" betting against stocks, complaining that he had to "trade all the time" to adjust his portfolio. (The remaining parts of the fund now are being unwound.) Mr. Robertson declined to comment on the business relationship.
One of Mr. Li's human-rights contacts was Jane Olson, the wife of Ronald Olson, a Berkshire director and early partner at a Los Angeles law firm Mr. Munger helped found. Mr. Li began spending time at the Olsons' weekend home in Santa Barbara, Calif., and on Thanksgiving 2003 met Mr. Munger, whose home is nearby.
Mr. Munger says Mr. Li made an immediate impression. The two shared a "suspicion of reported earnings of finance companies," Mr. Munger says. "We don't like the bull—."
Mr. Munger gave Mr. Li some of his family's nest egg to invest to open a "value" fund betting on beaten-down stocks.
Two weeks later, Mr. Li says he met again with Mr. Munger to make certain he had heard right. In early 2004, Mr. Li opened a fund, putting in $4 million of his own money and raising an additional $50 million from other investors. Mr. Munger's family put in $50 million, followed by another $38 million. Part of Mr. Li's agreement with Mr. Munger was that the fund would be closed to new investors.
Mr. Li's big hit began in 2002 when he first invested in BYD, then a fledgling Chinese battery company. Its founder came from humble beginnings and started the company in 1995 with $300,000 of borrowed money.
Mr. Li made an initial investment in BYD soon after its initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange. (BYD trades in the U.S. on the Pink Sheets and was recently quoted at $6.90 a share.)
When he opened the fund, he loaded up again on BYD shares, eventually investing a significant share of the $150 million fund with Mr. Munger in BYD, which already was growing quickly and had bought a bankrupt Chinese automaker. "He bought a little early and more later when the stock fell, which is his nature," Mr. Munger says.
In 2008, Mr. Munger persuaded Mr. Sokol to investigate BYD for Berkshire as well. Mr. Sokol went to China and when he returned, he and Mr. Munger convinced Mr. Buffett to load up on BYD. In September, Berkshire invested $230 million in BYD for a 10% stake in the company.
BYD's business has been on fire. It now has close to one-third of the global market for lithium-ion batteries, used in cell phones. Its bigger plans involve the electric and hybrid-vehicle business.
The test for BYD, one of the largest Chinese car makers, will be whether it can deliver on plans to develop the most effective lithium battery on the market that could become an even bigger source of power in the future. Even more promising is the potential to use the lithium battery to store power from other energy sources like solar and wind.
Says Mr. Munger: "The big lithium battery is a game-changer."
BYD is a big roll of the dice for Mr. Li. He is an informal adviser to the company and owns about 2.5% of the company.
Mr. Li's fund's $40 million investment in BYD is now worth about $400 million. Berkshire's $230 million investment in 2008 now is worth about $1.5 billion. Messrs. Buffett, Munger, Sokol, Li and Microsoft founder and Berkshire Director Bill Gates plan to visit China and BYD in September.
Mr. Li is able to travel in China on a limited basis today, but he hopes to regain full travel privileges soon. It isn't clear how he is viewed by the Chinese government.
Mr. Li declined to name his fund's other holdings. Despite this year's losses, the $600 million fund is up 338% since its late 2004 launch, an annualized return of around 30%, compared to less than 1% for the S&P 500 index.
Mr. Li told investors he took a lesson from watching the World Cup, comparing his investment style to soccer. "You may very well work extremely hard and seldom score," he says. "But occasionally—very occasionally—you get one or two great chances and you make decisive strikes that really matter."
Monday, August 2, 201
provided by
the wall street journal
Twenty-one years ago, Li Lu was a student leader of the Tiananmen Square protests. Now a hedge-fund manager, he is in line to become a successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B - News).
More from WSJ.com:
• Warren Buffett Isn't Your Grandpa
• Q&A: Sell Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway?
• Does Warren Buffett Prefer China to India?
Mr. Li, 44 years old, has emerged as a leading candidate to run a chunk of Berkshire's $100 billion portfolio, stemming from a close friendship with Charlie Munger, Berkshire's 86-year-old vice chairman. In an interview, Mr. Munger revealed that Mr. Li was likely to become one of the top Berkshire investment officials. "In my mind, it's a foregone conclusion," Mr. Munger said.
The job of filling Mr. Buffett's shoes is among the most high-profile succession stories in modern corporate history. Mr. Buffett, who will turn 80 in a month, says he has no current plans to step down and will likely split his job after he leaves the company into separate CEO and investing functions. Mr. Li's emergence as a contender to oversee Berkshire investments is the first time a name has been identified to fill the investment part of Mr. Buffett's legendary role.
The development illustrates that Berkshire is moving toward putting in place—possibly sooner than investors anticipated—certain aspects of its succession plan.
The Chinese-American investor already has made money for Berkshire: He introduced Mr. Munger to BYD Co., a Chinese battery and auto maker, and Berkshire invested. Since 2008, Berkshire's BYD stake has surged more than six-fold, generating profit of about $1.2 billion, Mr. Buffett says. Mr. Li's hedge funds have garnered an annualized compound return of 26.4% since 1998, compared to 2.25% for the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index during the same period.
Mr. Li's ascent on Wall Street has been no less dramatic. He spent his childhood shuttling between foster families after his mother and father were sent to labor camps during the Cultural Revolution. After the Tiananmen Square protest, he escaped to France and came to the U.S. Investors in his hedge fund have included a group of senior U.S. business executives and the musician Sting, who calls Mr. Li "hardworking and clever."
Mr. Li's investing strategy represents a significant shift for Mr. Buffett: Mr. Li invests chiefly in high-technology companies in Asia. Mr. Buffett typically has ignored investments in industries he says he doesn't understand.
Mr. Buffett says Berkshire's top investing job could be filled by two or more managers who would be on equal footing and divide up responsibility for managing Berkshire's $100 billion portfolio. David Sokol, chairman of Berkshire unit MidAmerican Energy Holdings, is considered top contender for CEO. Mr. Sokol, 53, joined MidAmerican in 1991 and is known for his tireless work ethic.
In an interview, Mr. Buffett declines to comment directly on succession plans. But he doesn't rule out bringing in an investment manager such as Mr. Li while still at Berkshire's helm.
"I like the idea of bringing on other investment managers while I'm still here," Mr. Buffett says. He says he doesn't preclude making a move this year, though he adds that there is no "goal" to bring on an additional manager that quickly either. Mr. Buffett says he envisions a team approach in which the Berkshire investment officials would be "paid as a group" from one pot, he says. "I don't want them to compete."
Mr. Li fits the bill in some important ways, Mr. Buffett says. "You want someone" who "can think about problems that haven't yet existed before," he says. Mr. Li is a contrarian investor, loading up on BYD shares when they were beaten down. And he's a big fan of Berkshire, which may also help his cause. "We don't want them unless they have special feelings about Berkshire," Mr. Buffett says.
But hiring Mr. Li could be risky. His big bet on BYD is his only large-scale investing home run. Without the BYD profits, his performance as a hedge-fund manager is unremarkable.
It's unclear whether he could rack up such profits if managing a large portfolio of Berkshire's.
What's more, his strategy of "backing up the truck," to make large investments and not wavering when the markets turn down could backfire in a prolonged bear market. Despite a 200% return in 2009, he was down 13% at the end of June this year, nearly double the 6.6% drop in the S&P-500 during the period.
Mr. Li declines to discuss a potential Berkshire position, saying only that he feels fortunate to be a member of the Berkshire inner circle. "This is the stuff you can't conjure in dreams," he says.
Mr. Li was born in 1966, the year Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution began. When he was nine months old, he says, his father, an engineer, was sent to a coal mine to be "re-educated." His mother was sent to a labor camp. Mr. Li's parents paid various families to take him in. He was shuttled from family to family for several years until moving in with an illiterate coal miner, with whom he developed a close bond, in his hometown of Tangshan. Living apart from his family as a child taught him survival skills, Mr. Li says.
He was reunited with his family, including two brothers, by age 10, when a massive earthquake hit his hometown, killing an estimated 242,000 people in the area, including the coal miner and his family. His nuclear family was spared, he says, but "most of the people I knew were killed."
At the time, he says he had no direction and was fighting in the streets. Mr. Li says his grandmother, who was among the first women in her city to attend college, inspired him to begin reading and studying. He later attended Nanjing University, majoring in physics.
In April 1989, he traveled to Tiananmen Square in Beijing to meet with students who were gathering to mourn the death of Secretary General Hu Yaobang, who was viewed as a supporter of democracy and reforms.
The students protested against corruption, among other things, and Mr. Li helped organize the students and participated in a hunger strike.
He and other students fled to France. Later in 1989, he traveled to the U.S. to speak at Columbia University, where human-rights activists embraced him as a hero. He spoke little English but landed an advance to write a book about his experiences.
Helped by financial scholarships at Columbia, Mr. Li quickly learned English. He simultaneously earned three degrees: an economics degree, a law degree and a graduate degree in business, according to Columbia.
With his student loans piling up, Mr. Li attended a lecture by Mr. Buffett at Columbia in 1993. At the time, the 1990s bull market was in full swing, and hedge funds were on the rise. Mr. Li says in China he didn't trust financial markets but hearing Mr. Buffett helped him overcome skepticism about stock investing.
He began dabbling in stocks using money from his book advance. By his graduation in 1996, he had built a sizable nest egg and says he thought he could retire. Instead he took a job at securities firm Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and then left to set up his own hedge fund. In 1997, he had set up Himalaya Partners, a hedge fund. Later he started a venture-capital fund to invest in U.S. technology companies.
It was a heady time on Wall Street. The Internet boom was beginning. Investors were clamoring to find hot stocks.
Through his human-rights contacts, Mr. Li quickly attracted well-heeled clients including Bob Bernstein, former chairman of Random House and founder of Human Rights Watch as well as the musician Sting. Other investors included financier Jerome Kohlberg, News Corp. director emeritus and Allen & Co. executive Stanley Shuman and hedge fund manager Jack Nash, Mr. Li says.
But Mr. Li bombed out in 1998, his first year as a hedge fund manager. His fund, which was invested chiefly in Asian stocks, was hammered by the Asian debt crisis, and lost 19%.
"I felt bad that people had trusted me," he says. "All they knew was I was a student activist and all they saw was losses."
His fortunes rebounded as the Asian crisis quickly faded. As 1998 began, so did a huge new bull market. By now, the hedge-fund industry was growing gangbusters, and by the end of 1999, Mr. Li's fund had regained its losses.
In 2002, hedge-fund giant Julian Robertson gave Mr. Li money to invest in his fund on the condition that the fund would make bearish as well as bullish bets on companies.
It wasn't a good fit. Mr. Li says he "hated" betting against stocks, complaining that he had to "trade all the time" to adjust his portfolio. (The remaining parts of the fund now are being unwound.) Mr. Robertson declined to comment on the business relationship.
One of Mr. Li's human-rights contacts was Jane Olson, the wife of Ronald Olson, a Berkshire director and early partner at a Los Angeles law firm Mr. Munger helped found. Mr. Li began spending time at the Olsons' weekend home in Santa Barbara, Calif., and on Thanksgiving 2003 met Mr. Munger, whose home is nearby.
Mr. Munger says Mr. Li made an immediate impression. The two shared a "suspicion of reported earnings of finance companies," Mr. Munger says. "We don't like the bull—."
Mr. Munger gave Mr. Li some of his family's nest egg to invest to open a "value" fund betting on beaten-down stocks.
Two weeks later, Mr. Li says he met again with Mr. Munger to make certain he had heard right. In early 2004, Mr. Li opened a fund, putting in $4 million of his own money and raising an additional $50 million from other investors. Mr. Munger's family put in $50 million, followed by another $38 million. Part of Mr. Li's agreement with Mr. Munger was that the fund would be closed to new investors.
Mr. Li's big hit began in 2002 when he first invested in BYD, then a fledgling Chinese battery company. Its founder came from humble beginnings and started the company in 1995 with $300,000 of borrowed money.
Mr. Li made an initial investment in BYD soon after its initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange. (BYD trades in the U.S. on the Pink Sheets and was recently quoted at $6.90 a share.)
When he opened the fund, he loaded up again on BYD shares, eventually investing a significant share of the $150 million fund with Mr. Munger in BYD, which already was growing quickly and had bought a bankrupt Chinese automaker. "He bought a little early and more later when the stock fell, which is his nature," Mr. Munger says.
In 2008, Mr. Munger persuaded Mr. Sokol to investigate BYD for Berkshire as well. Mr. Sokol went to China and when he returned, he and Mr. Munger convinced Mr. Buffett to load up on BYD. In September, Berkshire invested $230 million in BYD for a 10% stake in the company.
BYD's business has been on fire. It now has close to one-third of the global market for lithium-ion batteries, used in cell phones. Its bigger plans involve the electric and hybrid-vehicle business.
The test for BYD, one of the largest Chinese car makers, will be whether it can deliver on plans to develop the most effective lithium battery on the market that could become an even bigger source of power in the future. Even more promising is the potential to use the lithium battery to store power from other energy sources like solar and wind.
Says Mr. Munger: "The big lithium battery is a game-changer."
BYD is a big roll of the dice for Mr. Li. He is an informal adviser to the company and owns about 2.5% of the company.
Mr. Li's fund's $40 million investment in BYD is now worth about $400 million. Berkshire's $230 million investment in 2008 now is worth about $1.5 billion. Messrs. Buffett, Munger, Sokol, Li and Microsoft founder and Berkshire Director Bill Gates plan to visit China and BYD in September.
Mr. Li is able to travel in China on a limited basis today, but he hopes to regain full travel privileges soon. It isn't clear how he is viewed by the Chinese government.
Mr. Li declined to name his fund's other holdings. Despite this year's losses, the $600 million fund is up 338% since its late 2004 launch, an annualized return of around 30%, compared to less than 1% for the S&P 500 index.
Mr. Li told investors he took a lesson from watching the World Cup, comparing his investment style to soccer. "You may very well work extremely hard and seldom score," he says. "But occasionally—very occasionally—you get one or two great chances and you make decisive strikes that really matter."
Dow Jones Industrials -40% Declines 1885 to 2008
From 1885 to 2008, (123 years) the Dow Jones Industrial Average, (DJIA*) has fallen -40% from a bull market high on only nine occasions. Such deep bear markets are always historic and distressing.
My BEV Chart presents a unique view of the 123 year history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average by rendering each Dow data point into specific percentage information ranging from 0% to -100%. This format allows direct comparison of every bull and bear market cycle from 1885 to 2008.
When new all-time highs occur, they are recorded as 0% in the BEV chart. So understand that bull markets are seen as a series of 0% in a BEV chart. All other data points that are * not * new all-time highs are reduced to a precise negative percentage decline from its last all-time high. There are compromises in processing market data like this, but more is gained than lost by compressing 123 years of DJIA history into percentage terms bounded in a range between 0% to -100%. Charting the data as published actually provides little historical information due to the effects of monetary inflation over the decades. Below is a chart of the unaltered data I used in creating my DJIA BEV charts. Compare the information displayed by my above BEV charts with what you see below.
http://www.gold-speculator.com/mark-lundeen/5071-dow-jones-industrials-40-declines-1885-2008-a.html
My BEV Chart presents a unique view of the 123 year history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average by rendering each Dow data point into specific percentage information ranging from 0% to -100%. This format allows direct comparison of every bull and bear market cycle from 1885 to 2008.
When new all-time highs occur, they are recorded as 0% in the BEV chart. So understand that bull markets are seen as a series of 0% in a BEV chart. All other data points that are * not * new all-time highs are reduced to a precise negative percentage decline from its last all-time high. There are compromises in processing market data like this, but more is gained than lost by compressing 123 years of DJIA history into percentage terms bounded in a range between 0% to -100%. Charting the data as published actually provides little historical information due to the effects of monetary inflation over the decades. Below is a chart of the unaltered data I used in creating my DJIA BEV charts. Compare the information displayed by my above BEV charts with what you see below.
http://www.gold-speculator.com/mark-lundeen/5071-dow-jones-industrials-40-declines-1885-2008-a.html
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