Investing Ideas

One of the best places to get some great investing ideas is the 2nd Value Investing Congress which is in progress as i write this. The Value Investing Congress is a collection of some of the best and brightest value investors in the country. Most of the the speakers at this congress follow the Graham/Fisher/Buffett form of investing and will be sharing their best investment ideas.

This year the Speakers and their investment ideas are

I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the list above since im collecting the information from other articles and blog posts. The table above will keep getting updated as I find out which other investments have been recommended. Any help in gathering this information is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Ameya Desigar

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Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft has often been described as “The best businessman in the World”. What made Microsoft such a successful company? It doesnt make the best products, it is not a true innovator either. The success of Microsoft is the business acumen of Bill Gates. So what is Bill Gates investing in? Most of his investments are managed through a Private Investment firm called Cascade Investments. There is no way to find out which private companies Cascade invests in but its relatively easy to find their investments in Public Companies because they need to buy so many shares that they usually appear in the top 10 shareholders of the company.

Here is a partial list of companies held by Bill Gates’ Cascade Investments

AGL Resources(ATG)
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
Canadian National Railway (CNI)
Costco (COST)
Fisher Communications Inc (FSCI)
Four Seasons Hotel (FS)
Grupo Televisa (TV)
Otter Tail Corp (OTTR)
Pacific Ethanol (PEIX)
PNM Resources (PNM)
Republic Services (RSG)
Scholastic Corp(SCHL)
Seattle Genetics (SGEN)
Six Flags (SIX)

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Eddie Lampert has 3.5 billion in Sears Holdings. The merger between Sears and Kmart has gone well. Remember SHLD is not a retailer. SHLD is a holding company that happens to currently own 2 retailers. One thing i like about SHLD is Eddie Lampert is focussed on profitability and not on same store sales growth like most dumb retailers. Yes i know its the industry metric, I dont care. I want growth in profits and thats what Eddie delivers.

Here is a quote from the Sears Holdings message from the Chairman which hints at SHLD becoming a new Berkshire
“My goal is to see Sears Holdings become a great company whose greatness is sustainable for generations to come.”

Similarities between Eddie Lampert and Buffett.
Both started investing at an early age, have great long term records. Started a partnership/Investment Management companies at a young age with great long term returns. Both have virtually all of their net worth in these companies. Both have recieved special permission to delay filing their stock purchases. Both care about long term value and profitability.

What follows is pure conjecture. DO NOT MAKE ANY INVESTMENT DECISIONS BASED ON WHAT I PULL OUT OF MY HAT.

The long term future for SHLD.
Eddie Lampert will give away shares in SHLD to current ESL Management Partners.
SHLD becomes Eddie Lamperts version of Berkshire Hathaway.

SHLD in the near future
Rumors have been floating around that Eddie Lampert is prowling around for takeover targets. I don’t believe that the rumors about a Home Depot takeover have any substance. Id really like to see Eddie Lampert buy an insurance company like Progressive to manage its float. My candidate for companies that Eddie Lampert can takeover and turnaround OR companies with good Real Estate value which he can unlock are

• Gap Stores
• Radio Shack
• Pier 1 Imports
• Pep Boys
• Six Flags

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