Most of life’s encounters, good or bad in social welfare, present us each individually with the opportunity to choose our own long term benefits and detriments. By circumstance, I was exposed professionally to see Mary Meeker’s high times at Morgan Stanley while the ink was still wet on my undergraduate diploma. I’ll call loosely the phenomenon “Mary’s World”. In the spirit of the Holiday Season, I’d like to offer “Thanks” for the wisdom provided by a youthful exposure to Mary’s World.
The notion of “Asset Captivity” among Closed-End Funds doesn’t get much mainstream press. Instead, mainstream press focuses on a primary symptom: the illusion of a Black Friday sale on the New York Stock Exchange. A market price representing a discount to Net Asset Value (“NAV”) is only a relevant bargain if the discount is going to narrow at some point in time. Such occurs less often among funds whose governance choices could conceivable be interpreted as prioritizing Assets Under Management (“AUM”) or billable assets over shareholder value.
On Friday, November 19th, 2010, the market price of Energy Income and Growth Fund (FEN) declined significantly while the Net Asset Value (“NAV”) increased. A market premium narrowing roughly by half in just one day showcases the supply demand dynamics affecting Closed-End Funds (“CEFs”).
In the Dividend Growth model, manager James Hofmann looks for equities that have stable dividends and above average yields. He uses a value-based approach to investing and holds some cash in the model for market timing purposes. Recently, he added tobacco company Lorillard Inc (NYSE: LO) to the model. On […]
It looked as though it was going to be a dark day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average as it sank as many as 162 points today. This drop came after the release of details about Ireland’s $85 billion bailout and concerns that Portugal might also need a bailout. These […]
The recent inquiry and writing from a Dow Jones reporter whom I respect has inspired me to share a more detailed perspective of the Korea Equity Fund (KEF)
Covestor model manager Brendan Burke’s Emotional Momentum model is focused on the psychology of investors as well as technology trends. It focuses on the number of outstanding shares a company has, price movement, news and earnings for its momentum-based approach. The top position in the model is Guided Therapeutics Incorporated […]
Today, the Department of Commerce released its report on New Residential Sales in October 2010. The report (found here) shows an 8.1 percent decrease in new single-family home sales from September numbers. This decline was likely influenced by a lack of home-buying tax credit incentives in 2010. The Department of […]
Behind B1 U.S. Pursues Sweeping Insider-Trading Probe [WSJ] – “could eclipse the impact on the financial industry of any previous such investigation” Gus Lubin: “If the charges stemming from this probe have the same scope as the probe, it will shake Wall Street to its core.” NY Post: “the probe could […]
As a day trading model looking for credible growth stories and company news to affect stock price, Management Access (managed by Douglas Estadt) sees a lot of new positions each month. Last month, the model gained many positions including Sprint Nextel Corp (NYSE: S) and Ctrip.com International Ltd (NASDAQ: CTRP). […]
The National Association of Realtors announced today that October home sales had declined by 2.2 percent. This puts home sales 25.9 percent below October 2009 levels. Much of this difference can be attributed to the tax incentives offered to home buyers during 2009 that are lacking this year. Also affecting […]
We are delighted to announce the addition of Mick Weinstein as our Head of Editorial. Mick brings extensive experience in finance and online media. Most recently he was Editor in Chief and VP Content at leading stock market analysis website Seeking Alpha where he built the editorial function, overseeing publication […]