Manager Douglas Estadt is a manager who focuses his short-term holding model on companies with growth stories that are credible but whose price in the market shows that they are still under-valued. This week Douglas bought Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU). At just over 72, BIDU’s price to earnings ratio is pretty high and the position seems as though it is over-valued in the market, especially when you compare this Chinese and Japanese language search engine to competitors like Google and Yahoo who each have lower price to earnings ratios and higher 2009 profits. But with a long list of services and a popular following, it looks like a stock that might eventually have earnings that justify its price in the market.
Manager John Rodgers, who invests only in resource and commodity companies and looks at broader economic behaviors to help him decide which positions will likely gain and which will likely not, bought PolyMet Mining Corp (AMEX:PLM) this week. PolyMet Mining mines for many of the essential metals we use daily including copper, nickel and gold. Currently the company is working with state and federal review agencies on an environmental review in order to get the permits they need to begin the long-awaited process of mining a rich metal deposit in Minnesota. While their stock has steadily fallen this year, the potential for the approval of the mining permits as well as PolyMet’s disclosure that their budget can accommodate any changes requested by the environmental review committee is encouraging.
