BP(BP) and Husky Energyhave formed a partnership to extract crude from Alberta's oil sands. The two companies will spend about $5.5 billion through 2015 to bring the oil to the markets.Complete Story »
Larry Dignan (ZDNet) submits: Comcast (CMCSA) has cut it outlook for 2007 citing ?anincreasingly challenging economic and competitive environment.?Andjust to hammer the point home, Michael Angelakis, co-chief financialofficer, said Thursday at a UBS investment conference in New York that?this is not a robust economy.?Complete Story »
Liam Mulcahysubmits: Fuel Tech (FTEK) describes itself as provider of air pollution control technologies. The company has two main product lines called Air Pollution Control [APC] and FuelChem. The APC products are designed to reduce emissions from coal energy plants.Complete Story »
Eric Savitz(Barron's) submits: Sales of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone in Europe are better than some investors thought, according to a research note today by RBC Capital?s Mike Abramsky.Complete Story »
Amit Chokshisubmits:Aspiringfund managers/masters of the universe take note. If you're ever in thelucky position to manage enough capital, the next time a position goesagainst you, quickly raise your stake to file a 13D, include a quickletter suggesting you want to buy the company, and then sell into therally for a quick profit. That's what appears to have happened withGerald Ford-led Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH) and its recent "rental"of Downey Financial Corp. (DSL) shares.On November 19th, 2007, HTH filed a 13D indicating that it owned 6.8% of DSL. Schedule B in that filingrevealedthat HTH acquired all of its DSL shares through the first two weeks inNovember at an average price of $33.49 per share. Under the section Purpose of Transaction, HTH stated the following (my emphasis bolded):OnNovember 16, 2007, Mr. Gerald J. Ford, Chairman of the ReportingPerson, met with representatives of the Issuer, including Mr. MauriceL. McAlister, Chairman of the Board. During that meeting, Mr. Fordindicated that the Reporting Person had accumulated a meaningful equityinvestment in the Issuer. Mr. Ford also indicated that the ReportingPerson contemplates seeking discussions in the near-term withthe Issuer, either through oral or written communications, regardingthe Issuer?s long-term strategies, including a potential businesscombination.The Reporting Person intends to continue toevaluate the Issuer?s business, financial condition, results ofoperations, capital structure, management, stock market performance andother relevant factors. Depending on the price andavailability of the Issuer?s securities, subsequent developmentsaffecting the Issuer, the business prospects of the Issuer, generalstock market and economic conditions, tax considerations and otherfactors deemed relevant, the Reporting Person may consider variousalternative courses of action and take any action deemed appropriate,including, but not limited to, acquiring additional securities of theIssuer or disposing of all or a portion of the Issuer?s securitiesthrough open market or privately negotiated transactions or otherwise,seeking to acquire control of the Issuer through a business combinationor other transaction, or making certain proposals to the Issuer or itsshareholders.The Reporting Person may seek the views of,hold discussions with and respond to inquiries from representatives ofthe Issuer and other persons with respect to any of the foregoing.Well,obviously HTH covered itself in the filing but what wasinteresting/pathetic/hilarious was that this 180% turn was made within 10trading days of filing the 13D. For practical purposes, say he hadabout another 5-7 days given weekends and the time it takes to file the13D. In either case, when HTH started buying DSL, shares were justunder $35 and fell about 14% down to $30 or so before the 13D wasissued on the 19th. After filing the 13D, shares pushed up to tradefrom $32 to as high as $43 over the next 10 trading days. Lookingat the amended 13D filed on December 5th(2ndamendment solely to correct for a typo for the December 4th filing)shows HTH unloaded its shares to get under the 5% reporting thresholdat around prices ranging from $40-$41. Who knows what the tax andmatching basis would be for HTH, but the simple math would say HTH madea 20% gain or so on this block of shares as it reduced its stake by28%. Now that HTH is under the reporting threshold the rest of theshares will probably be dumped quickly and quietly. I'd also besurprised if HTH didn't buy puts up at higher levels as DSL stock roseto serve as insurance for when it revealed its stake was reduced. Basically, this "pump" likelyhelped HTH's entire position (I alsothink HTH would have had some level of hedges in place from thebeginning).So the main question is, what caused this quick turnaround? I have stated beforethatI didn't think HTH was genuine in terms of being a real buyer for DSLbut I didn't think we'd see a retreat this quickly. I think thereare a few scenarios to consider/speculate on:1) McAlister toldFord to take a hikeand wouldn't sell DSL for 50+% off of its high. Idon't know if these two are friends or close associates, but both have longhistories in the banking industry so I'm sure they must have known eachother fairly well. Nonetheless, friends or not, selling a business foras deep a haircut as DSL is currently trading may have turned McAlisteroff from a deal, irrespective of what some skeptics think DSL is reallyworth.2) HTH investors may have contacted Fordwith their ownview on DSL and the proposals listed in the 13D. HTH shares did notperform well when it was revealed that the firm had a 6.8% stake in DSL.3)Ford got under the hood of DSL and bolted, which is what I think mostlikely happened. McAlister may have said he's open to discussions at adecent price but once Ford started to really parse the information, itmay have just scared him off. HTH may make another offer but as Istated in the past, it will probably be for much much lower prices. IfDSL crumbles, HTH could come in and offer to equitize it underregulatory supervision and be able to do it for a dirt cheap pricecompared to $30-$40 per share.DISCLOSURE: AUTHOR MANAGES A HEDGE FUND THAT OWNS DSL PUTS.Complete Story »
Todd Kenyonsubmits: It's true. To be a value investor, you must be a Wall Street outcast. You are required to be a member of the chess team and the audio-visual club. You spend prom night at the mall's video arcade. Amazingly though, value strategies have beaten growth strategies again and again throughout history (come to think of it, most of those high school nerds probably way outperformed the "cool crowd" later in life). Think of just about any of the most famous investors of all time. Yup, they're nerds. RICH nerds.Complete Story »
Wayne Mulligansubmits:I?ve had a number of Tycoon members write in recently asking about the current downturn we?ve been seeing in the Chinese equity markets.Complete Story »
Thomas Kosubmits: Trident Microsystems (TRID) is a leading semiconductor company in the hot consumer television market with its high end chip sets designed for the big screen LCD televisions looks good as a potential buyout candidate to come.Complete Story »
Carl Howe (Blackfriars Communications) submits: Net Applications reports that in November 2007, iPhone browsing market share was 0.09% -- nearly 0.1% -- of all browsers in their sample.Complete Story »
The November job survey released Wednesday by ADP showed a surprising 189,000 private-sector job expansion, with strength in the service sector. Economists had been expecting non-farm payrolls, which is released Friday and which include both private- and public-sector jobs, to have grown about 60,000 in November. Adding an estimated 25,000 public-sector jobs pegs non-farm payrolls for November at a far higher-than-expected 214,000.Complete Story »
