Hottest Links: New HF Battle, CAPE Wars, Steve Ballmer Gone

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Hottest links for Sunday August 25th, 2013 (see last week‘s edition of hottest links here).  Note: Since we missed the past few days we have an extended version today, although we certainly missed some great recent article. Top stories for the past few days include; A spin off, post bankruptcy play with some nuclear involved; Why this education stock is really not a value trap; The strange saga of the SEC and Charlie Munger; How long or how does it take you to become an expert? There is a new hedge fund battle and the name of the stock does not rhyme with Derbalife or M.C. Penney;  The case of a newspaper hedge fund and Charlie Munger; The battle over CAPE continues as perma-bull Jeremy Siegel attacks the formula used by Robert Shiller; Which stocks face the biggest risks from a taper?; After years of tears, begging, anger, fist fights, Steve Ballmer is FINALLY leaving Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT); Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) makes millionaires, Peak Elon Musk? Just look at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL); Fidel Castro would vote for a robot as president of the United States over Barack Obama. That and lots more below.

 

Hottest Links: New HF Battle, CAPE Wars, Steve Ballmer Gone

Hottest Links: Stocks

Several links found via AbnormalReturns

Susquehanna: Taper Fears Could Drag Revenue at BEN, Legg Mason

Taper fears could hurt some asset managers, and some in particular are more exposed. That weakness in the bond market will take a toll on revenues generated by asset managers Legg Mason Inc (NYSE:LM) and Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN). [Johanna Bennett, Barron’s]

Lansdowne Starts Tower Resources Position

Paul Ruddock’s hedge fund firm Lansdowne Partners has disclosed a new position in London listed Tower Resources PLC (LON: TRP). [Market Folly]

Cevian Capital Discloses G4S Stake

Anglo Swedish activist hedge fund, Cevian Capital, has disclosed a new 5.11 percent stake in London listed G4S plc (LON:GFS) [Market Folly]. The company has been the ‘battle ground’ between some big hedge fund giants. Some big names have gone long and short the company. Although, not as exciting as Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) or J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP), this is an interesting battle over a UK based retailer. [ValueWalk].

Daily Journal Tells SEC Munger Knows Best Buying Stocks

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s long-time right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B), moonlights as the chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation (NASDAQ:DJCO). Should this newspaper be considered a hedge fund asks the SEC? [Noah Buhayar, Bloomberg]

What Siegel is Missing

Jeremy Siegel talks about CAPE in a recent FT article.  He has a few criticisms, but misses the bigger picture says the CAPE expert Mebane Faber. [Mebane Faber]  Also, in another related article on the topic, in early August, Wharton finance professor, Jeremy Siegel, went on CNBC’s and announced, “my target [for the DOW] is 16,000 to 17,000 for the end of this year…and I think 18,000 is definitely achievable” Gray, the top blogger on the topic of quantitative value has some good commentary as always on the topic. [Wesley R. Gray, PhD, Turnkey Analyst]

Another Buffett-in-a-Box?

Is the newly launched iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (NYSEARCA:QUAL) a better Buffett-clone?  [Samuel Lee, Morningstar]

Microsoft CEO to retire

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer is retiring within the next 12 months. The world is celebrating the news, of who some people consider the worst CEO of our time. More on the changes at one of the biggest tech giants. [Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times]

Hong Kong: A Gateway to Chinese Companies

While many investors are dumping Chinese stocks, value oriented Royce Funds sees opportunities as valuations become very cheap in the second largest economy. And the semi independent city of Hong Kong could be the best way to get exposure. [Dilip Badlani, Royce Funds]

Blackberry Forgot to Manage the Ecosystem

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) has been facing many problems lately, and there is much talk about what will happen in the future, but what happened that lead to these problems? [Michael G. Jacobide, HBR]

A student makes a killing on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and has almost instantly become a millionaire. Which reminds me of stories we read about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in early 2012 when the stock hit its peak………  [Philip LeBeau, CNBC]

NUCLEAR STORY WITH AN UNEXPLOSIVE END

A look at a  a post-bankruptcy, spin-off monopoly with a twist of nuclear energy. See this great valuation analysis of Babcock & Wilcox Co (NYSE:BWC) [Dimitar Genchev, Student of Value]

Strayer Education (STRA): A Bright Spot in a Dark Industry

To say the for profit college industry has been hurt would be a vast understatement. Stocks in the education industry have been slaughtered, but amid the ruins some are founding value. Check out the case for Strayer Education Inc (NASDAQ:STRA) John Huber Base Hit Investing 

Hottest Links: Macro

Complexity and the Ten-Thousand-Hour Rule

Forty years ago, in a paper in American Scientist, Herbert Simon and William Chase drew one of the most famous conclusions in the study of expertise that it takes 10,000 hours to master a topic? But how long does it really take and is time the only issue? [Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker] Also see Outliers: The Story of Success

Are Machines Really Taking Our Jobs?

The “robots are stealing our jobs” meme has been around for much longer than most people realize. Cullen gives his always intelligent remarks on the topic. [Cullen Roche, PragCap]

An appeal to President Obama

Scranton is East Coast equivalent of Detroit says the famous muni expert Cate Long.  She has issued an open letter to President Obama to address the issue of pension funds and the role they play in municipal bankruptcies.  [Cate Long, Reuters]

Failure to Communicate

Bob Greifeld, the CEO of NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ), failed to communicate yesterday. [Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker] Also, was this a DDOS, HFT? What caused the crash? Some great commentary. [ValueWalk via Floating Path]

Housekeeping: So Long To Matt

Matt Levine is leaving DealBreaker. His columns were always a source for great entertainment and information on the latest scandals in the financial world. He will certainly be missed by all the hedgies who read DealBreaker daily (or hourly) but will likely deny that fact publicly.  [Matt Levine, Deal Breaker]

Hottest Links: Not the Onion

Fidel thinks Americans should vote for a robot over Obama

Fidel Castro comes out against Barack Obama. In his latest “reflection” in state-run media, the former Cuban leader declared that a “robot” would do a better job governing the United States and preventing “a war that would end the life of our species” than President Obama. [Uri Friedman, FP]

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