I have discussed United Online several times on this site, and noted that it has apparently attractive dividends and free cash flows, but that the loss of a post-transaction marketing program has affected their free cash flows in such a way that a prudent investor should wait and see how they regain their traction. As […]
It is only natural that the stock market, having doubled since the March 2009 low, would seem to be running a little short on bargains. And I have a sense, based on purely anecdotal observations, that optimism in the market has reached a local peak in that companies have been punished by the market for […]
One of the great debates among fundamental investors, whether they are value investors or whether they should be value investors, is the question of bottom-up or top-down. The top-down approach involves examining the economic outlook, the state of the financial markets, and the trends among the sectors, in order to determine the best stocks in […]
I have over the last few months been forming the conclusion that Cisco offers an attractive potential return situation based on its earnings yield from operations. The company, with a market cap of $105 billion, is sitting on $35 billion in excess bonds because the CEO is unwilling to repatriate its overseas profits under the […]
Future economic historians may refer to the period beginning in 2009 and continuing for some years into the future as the era of deleveraging, at least for everyone except the U.S. government. I have often voiced the opinion on this site that companies that are in compliance with the times by voluntarily paying down debt […]
Hello, everyone. I have written an article about Belo Corporation, a television broadcaster that owns major network affiliates in several markets. It currently trades at an attractive multiple to its free cash flow, and is deleveraging at a rapid pace in order to address its debt situation, an endeavor which I believe will be successful. […]
My habit of finding companies that come in pairs is running true to form, although I think this could be the longest period between matching up the pairs. More than a year ago, I profiled Rayonier, a timber company that produces forest products and that got to take advantage of the black liquor tax credit, […]
As my loyal readers will know, I have been following Windstream (WIN), a phone company focusing on rural areas, for some time. Over the last couple of years, it has made a number of acquisitions in order to facilitate its strategy of expanding high speed internet and business services in order to offset losses of […]
At the beginning of this week I posted a review of some of my recommendations, citing Chiquita Brands (CQB) as an attractive purchase that never went anywhere, and Coinstar (CSTR) as a compelling short idea that had dramatically gone against me on a wave of optimism. Imagine my surprise to see Chiquita Brands up over […]
Many of you may have no doubt noticed that my approach to investing is largely quantitative, concerned with free cash flow yields, interest coverage ratios, the gap between depreciation and capital expenditure, net working capital position, and other financial vital statistics. This should not be surprising; I take the position that corporations are machines that […]