Cisco (CSCO) – A Gift from the Markets

February 10, 2011

I have over the last few months been forming the conclusion that Cisco offers an attractive potential return situation based on its earnings yield from operations. The company, with a market cap of $105 billion, is sitting on $35 billion in excess bonds because the CEO is unwilling to repatriate its overseas profits under the […]

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The Value of Deleveraging – A Paradox

February 8, 2011

Future economic historians may refer to the period beginning in 2009 and continuing for some years into the future as the era of deleveraging, at least for everyone except the U.S. government. I have often voiced the opinion on this site that companies that are in compliance with the times by voluntarily paying down debt […]

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Belo Corp. (BLC): A Television Stock Stabilizing at an Attractive Price

February 1, 2011
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Hello, everyone. I have written an article about Belo Corporation, a television broadcaster that owns major network affiliates in several markets. It currently trades at an attractive multiple to its free cash flow, and is deleveraging at a rapid pace in order to address its debt situation, an endeavor which I believe will be successful. […]

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Boise Inc., (BZ): An attractive paper company

January 24, 2011

My habit of finding companies that come in pairs is running true to form, although I think this could be the longest period between matching up the pairs. More than a year ago, I profiled Rayonier, a timber company that produces forest products and that got to take advantage of the black liquor tax credit, […]

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Windstream releases useful merger financial statements, is still cheap

January 19, 2011

As my loyal readers will know, I have been following Windstream (WIN), a phone company focusing on rural areas, for some time. Over the last couple of years, it has made a number of acquisitions in order to facilitate its strategy of expanding high speed internet and business services in order to offset losses of […]

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Mini-update on Chiquita Brands and Coinstar

January 13, 2011

At the beginning of this week I posted a review of some of my recommendations, citing Chiquita Brands (CQB) as an attractive purchase that never went anywhere, and Coinstar (CSTR) as a compelling short idea that had dramatically gone against me on a wave of optimism. Imagine my surprise to see Chiquita Brands up over […]

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The Quest for the Holy Stock Screener

January 11, 2011

Many of you may have no doubt noticed that my approach to investing is largely quantitative, concerned with free cash flow yields, interest coverage ratios, the gap between depreciation and capital expenditure, net working capital position, and other financial vital statistics. This should not be surprising; I take the position that corporations are machines that […]

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100th Poststravaganza – An examination of previous recommendations

January 10, 2011

So, my loyal readers who have been keeping count will know that this to be my 100th post. I thought I would celebrate this exciting occasion with a review of how some of my recommendations have worked out. I know hindsight makes everything look more certain than it was, but it is definitely a useful […]

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Smart Modular Technologies is a smart (and modular) choice

January 3, 2011
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A new year is upon us, and with it, a new set of investing opportunities. Actually, most of them are the same opportunities that existed last year, but the prices have changed and that makes all the difference. Actually, I have been noticing lately that I have been finding fewer attractive opportunities, as a result […]

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Supervalu: Speculating in a grocery store with indigestion

December 22, 2010

I find very often that I seem to be the one who is interested in the investments I’m interested in. Certainly that is true of the River Rock and Mohegan casino bonds, where I seem to be the only person on the Internet who has even considered their investing attributes. So, when I find people […]

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