Hottest links for Tuesday, April 1st, the late edition. Get our free daily newsletter and never miss a single linkfest. Also, now if you sign up you will get our new e-book on value investing.
Top stories for today are posted below. To your Tuesday afternoon reading pleasure, we’ve got a few pieces commenting on the relative “blandness” of Q1 2014 so far (and why things might be about to get more exciting), an article taking a step back from the Michael Lewis / Flash Boys / HFT story that advises folks to take a step back and breathe, and a biting piece of satire comparing Herbalife to American Airlines.
Hottest Links: Stories
Value Investing
Value Investment Case Study #1
Here are the links to download the most recent quarterly and annual reports for the first blind value investment case study on this blog. As I stated in one of my previous posts about this I redacted all identifying information about this company so all you will have to rely on is what is found in the financials. [Jason Rivera, Value Investing Journey]
Funds
PIIGS stock markets did insanely well during the first quarter
Stock markets in Europe’s beleaguered PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) did tremendously well during the first three months of the year. [Matt Phillips, Quartz]
The Current Hangover In China’s Stock Market Is Worse Than 1929
The chart below, taken from the latest presentation by Alexander Ineichen at Ineichen Research & Management, shows the path of various stock markets following historic bubbles and crashes. [Matthew Boesler, Business Insider]
So Far, So Meh
So far, this is pretty much what’s transpired as we come to the close of Q1. Rates haven’t exactly risen but expectations for rate hikes certainly have. Volatility has been minimal and stocks have largely done nothing – frustrating all but the most nimble. [Joshua M Brown The Reformed Broker]
Profit Margins: The Death of a Chart
In the debate on profit margins, two different types of charts frequently appear. The first chart is a chart of the aggregate profit margin of the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX). [Philosophical Economics]
“The Stock Market is Rigged!”
Yes, I’m excited about Michael Lewis’s new book Flash Boys coming out this week but no, I don’t get worked up about high frequency trading anymore. I’m going to tell you a quick story and then you won’t either. [Joshua M Brown, The Reformed Broker]
InfuSystem: Keeping a 30% Portfolio Position
InfuSystem Holdings Inc (NYSEMKT:INFU) provides electronic ambulatory infusion pumps to oncology clinics to be used to treat cancer, mainly colorectal cancer, through continuous infusion therapy. [Shamapant, Reverie and Rumination]
Worried? Aggressive Fund Managers Aren’t — They’re Nearly Fully Invested
Fund managers polled in the National Association of Active Investment Managers’ weekly survey on average say they’re close to fully invested in stocks. What’s more, they’ve been that way for roughly a month. [Brendan Conway, Focus on Funds]
American Airlines vs Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)
I am waiting until some hedge fund manager comes out with a billion dollar short on American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL). Meanwhile I am going to write to the Federal Trade Commission about American Airlines unfair behaviour. [John Hempton, Bronte Capital]
Greenberg: Feds Snare CEO of Chinese Coal Company
Last week’s SEC suit against L&L Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:LLEN) CEO Dickson Lee on fraud charges didn’t make the headlines. Nor did the news that he landed in a Federal prison in Seattle, waiting for an arraignment Tuesday, as the Feds seek criminal charges against him on the same securities charges. [Herb Greenberg, Herb on TheStreet]
Hottest Links: Not the Onion
Dublin Bomber’s Device Exploded in Face ‘After Forgetting About Clocks Changing’
A bomber who injured himself after his device went off too soon may have forgotten about the clocks changing for Daylight Saving, according to reports. [Ewan Palmer, International Business Times]
