Hottest links for Tuesday August 13th, 2013 (see Monday’s edition of hottest links here). Top stories for today include; Joel Greenblatt tells his class to imagine they are wearing hush puppy shoes or sandals; A Canadian gets really drunk swims into American waters and gets arrested; A Look at performance of Dan Loeb’s Third Point Reinsurance Ltd (NYSE:TPRE) from two different angles; The ‘top’ PR firm on Wall Street can use a little PR right not; Bill Ackman says goodbye to the deals at J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP); Tips for sticking to your investment strategy, even during the bad times; Chinese ghost towns go mainstream (sorta) and much more.
Hottest Links: Stories
Why You Need an Investment Philosophy
It is crucial to stick to your investment strategy, especially when it goes wrong, write it down and do anything you can not to shift. Some great advice here. [Christine Benz, Morningstar]
Ackman quits Penney board; not selling shares
Bill Ackman is not having a great month, both with Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) and J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP). Today, reports have come out that Bill Ackman will be quitting the board of the company where he has an 18 percent stake. [Marty Steinberg and Paul Toscano,CNBC]
Does a Good Poker Player Make a Good Investor?
Do poker players make better investors or traders? A Look at some of the data, and the connection between investing and Texas Holdem skills. [Adam Warner, Schaeffers Research]
Sard Verbinnen, Wall Street’s Go-To Crisis PR Firm
On July 15, former Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) banker Fabrice Tourre—better known as “Fabulous Fab”—walked into U.S. District Court accused of defrauding investors in a subprime mortgage deal during the financial crisis. Now BusinessWeek has taken a shot at the PR firm which represented SAC Capital; and also represents Greenlight, Saba and others. We cannot comment much since all conversations are “off the record”, but it looks like SARB can use their own PR agency. See some funny anecdotes here. [Nick Summers, Business Week]
Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. (TPRE)
Third Point Reinsurance Ltd (NYSE:TPRE) filed their S-1 recently. Hedge funds do this to seek ‘permanent capital’, like David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLRE). Brooklyn investor has great analysis of the company. [KK, Brooklyn Investor] Additionally, Meb Faber has a different approach. He notes that investing alongside Third Point through 13F filings does a decent job, but doesn’t capture all of Loeb’s alpha. [Mebane Faber]
Why Clients Don’t Give You Credit for Your Hard Work
For some reason which I’m not sure of but am happy to note, we get a lot of readers in the wealth management industry, so figure they might appreciate this one. [Dan Richards, Advisor Perspectives]
Joel Greenblatt: Munsingwear Case Study, Q&A w/ Bill Mann
Pretend you have traded in your hush puppy shoes or sandals in for a pair of wing-tips says Joel Greenblatt in a class on special situations. We have more notes, so if you have not checked them out and you like great class notes from Joel Greenblatt check them out. [Value Walk]
China RE Bubble Largest in History 60 Minutes
China’s bubble goes mainstream. After years of Jim Chanos and others have talked of Chinese ghost towns and credit bubbles, 60 minutes has finally picked up on it. Check out the latest on the situation from the world’s second largest economy. [Value Walk]
MIKO NV: Coffee and plastics – a tasty combination?
A few weeks ago when I read the news that the Benckiser heirs were acquiring Coffee company DE Master Blenders 1753 NV (AMS:DE) for 7.5 bn EUR (2.6 times sales, 27 times book, 23 times EV/EBITDA), I decided to look at them next. Check out this piece an in depth look at valuation, from the always great Value Opportunity. [Value Opportunity]
Not the Onion
Beer-chugging Canadian sorry for swimming to America
After being released from jail on Tuesday, 47-year-old John Morillo apologized for drinking eight beers and then swimming across the Detroit River, purely to prove to his buddies he could. [Cottage Life]
