This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on August 1st, 2014 at 1:19pm EST “Short interest” is a measure for what percentage of a company’s outstanding shares are currently held short. Ok, so what does that mean? To short a stock means you must first borrow the shares, on margin, and then sell them along with the promise to buy them back at a…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on July 18th, 2014 at 6:30am EST Equities in the U.S. look expensive but our debt looks cheap. Overseas it’s the exact opposite. Despite the fact that yields here in the U.S. are “below historical norms” there is still an enormous global appetite for our debt. The full faith and credit of the U.S. government…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on July 9th, 2014 at 6:00am EST There is a concept in the investment community that is discussed primarily behind closed doors: underperformance. Whether a manager is underperforming his benchmark (like the S&P 500) or his peers (think hedgies like Einhorn, Ackman, Loeb, Paulson, etc.), believe me he is paying attention. If that underperformance becomes dramatic —…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on June 13th, 2014 at 1:58pm EDT Trying to time the market is a fool’s errand which will end up costing you time and, more importantly, money in the form of trading costs, taxation on capital gains, and the prospect of being un- or under-invested on up days. At least, that’s what “buy and hold”…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on June 5th, 2014 at 2:03pm EST Back in March we posted an article here about how Linn Energy (LINE) was “walking the line” of risk versus reward. At the time we were reading one negative headline after another about Linn, though most of the information stemmed from 2013 accusations by Hedgeye’s Kevin Kaiser about Linn’s financials.…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on May 22nd, 2014 at 6:30am EST The following is an actual, “real life” example of a strategy we’re working on for a client — let’s call him Robert. Robert’s father, Fred, worked for Chevron his entire career. Fred accumulated a sizable chunk of Chevron stock in his employer-sponsored plan, which he passed tax-free to…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on May 7th, 2014 at 6:30am EST For whatever reason it feels like the collective guard is up in the investment community. We have Russian/Ukrainian tension, the stock market seems to be bumping up unsuccessfully against resistance, and nobody can seem to explain why Treasury yields are dropping despite the Fed tapering and a strengthening…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on April 24th, 2014 at 6:30am EST Before there were alternative investments (“alts”) or hedge funds, having some exposure to commodities served as a good way to diversify a portfolio against stock market volatility. Historical correlations to the stock market are rather low, or at least sporadic, and owning commodities can also be seen as…
This article was originally published on TheStreet.com on April 15th, 2014 at 6:30am EST In the wake of an absolutely stellar performance last year, thus far in 2014 we are hearing a lot about what’s not working for investors, both professional and retail. The major indices have had a rocky go of it, and the recent sell-off in the NASDAQ momentum names…
