Hottest links for August 4th, 2013 (see Friday’s edition of hottest links here). Top stories for today include; A man tries to commit insider trading but picks the wrong ticker; a fantastic lengthy write up on the moat of Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX); What is really driving shares of Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) higher? An in-depth look from an expert on auditing; hedge funds not only have a lot of assets, they also have $1 trillion in liabilities; More investors demand the formation of long only funds in place of long short; A look at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and why value outperforms growth from an academic point of view; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac are not being privatized; Great quotes from Howard Marks; Jesse Livermore the long term investor?; Bruce Berkowitz is having a great year. All that and lots more on our Sunday edition of hottest links.
Hottest Links: Stories
Trading On Insider Scoop Works This paper looks at relationships between company on site visits and performance of equities. Very interesting academic study, check it out here. [Wesley R. Gray, Turnkey Analyst] Obamacare Full Frontal We got the job numbers on Friday and they were deemed by pundits as okay. However, a close look shows that close to 80 percent of all jobs created in 2013 are only part time. [Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge] Value Versus Growth Flashback
Today’s Comforting Stat We here a lot about hedge fund assets but what about liabilities? Well good news is that they are only over $ trillion (okay I am being a bit sarcastic). See more here on that topic. [Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker] Pharmacy Benefit Managers Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX) is the largest pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) in an industry where scale is a competitive advantage. This is a fantastic lengthy value write up on the stock, check it out here. [GlennChan] Tiger Global Preps Long-Only Launch Tiger Global Management, the hedge fund firm founded by Chase Coleman, is the latest Tiger Cub to consider a long only fund. With short sellers being decimated by the irrational exuberance, is this a sign of a market top? [Stephen Taub, Institutional Investors Alpha] June Hedge Funds: Best, Worst, Biggest Profile of Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital, who describes his approach in this interview with Barrons as “suggestivist”. See more about the famous hedge fund manager here [Erin E. Arvedlund, Barrons] Found Via MarketFolly What’s Really Driving the Herbalife Surge? (Hint: Forget About Value Investing) Recent share price volatility for Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) may be an example of how people are focusing less and less on fundamentals. A fantastic piece on the still unsolved auditing issues involving Herbalife (note: you might need to register for free, but its worth it). [Francine McKenna, Medium] Rich People Eating Like Ravenous Beasts Is Positive Economic Indicator, Says Hamptons Caterer DealBreaker has the latest on the news from the Hamptons. If this caterer’s experience is any indicator the economy is doing quite well at least for the top 0.00001 percent. [Bess Levin, Deal Breaker] Naive Realism — I’m Right; You’re Biased We’re good at spotting others’ faults while ignoring our own. If someone informed you of your biases do you think you’d change your response? see some data from The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom via [Shane Parrish, Farnam Street] U.S. Stocks – One of the Few Markets at “All-time Highs” Everyone is looking at US markets and arguing whether it is over-valued. However, the picture is not too great in some other countries where valuations seem frothy [Tom McClellan, PragCap]. On related note, if you can stomach it, you can buy Sudanese stocks for really really cheap. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Privatization Highly Unlikely
12 Insights from “The Most Important Thing” by Howard Marks Great quotes from the founder of Oaktree Capital management via his book. [Ivan Hoff, Stocktwits50] And if you have not already see his updated book with commentary from Seth Klarman and other value greats The Most Important Thing Illuminated. Nine Surprising Things Jesse Livermore Said Jesse Livermore was known as the greatest trader ever, but he always said some ideas related to long term investing, check out these great quotes from the legend. [Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker] Also if you have not, read the book, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.