• GGP: Berkowitz makes public ‘court me’

    Bruce Berkowitz finally made his position clear in regards to GGP. The WSJ reports that Berkowitz is interested in converting his unsecured debt into equity. WSJ mentions that Berkowitz wants a $8 share price for his conversion. Now, with the shares trading for around $13 and two outstanding offers for $9 and $15, makes you…

  • GGP: Updates (mostly Simon’s moves)

    Here are some quick updates on GGP: – Gap recently got hit with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) questions about Simon’s recent agreement to purchase Prime Outlets. Prime Outlets has 22 retail outlet centers. The implication for GGP is if FTC is getting worried about acquisition of 22 outlet centers, Simon’s purchase of GGP will bring…

  • Weekend Readings

    Enjoy the weekend morning coffee with a copy of Mr. Buffett’s wisdom: – Berkshire’s Annual Shareholder Letter: A required reading. Will be out on Saturday the 27th. – When CEOs have Warren Buffett in their Boardroom: By Alice Schroeder about the way Buffett works with CEOs of companies he has invested in. – How a…

  • Ternium: Steel Solid Results

    Steel companies have been hit hard in 2008 and 2009. Most companies have put up negative cash flow numbers, with only a few that have successfully made it through the two years without burning cash. Our investment in Ternium was based on the analysis that the company is one of the best operating steel companies…

  • GGP: BAM and Westfield updates

    The GGP world is moving at a pace faster than the internet world speed. Since our update over the weekend, the following has happened in 3 days: – BAM and GGP have come up with a counter-offer to the Simon offer. The proposal values GGP at $15 and proposes splitting GGP into two: one holding…

  • GGP: Updates

    I had initially thought about providing updates on GGP on a daily basis. Although with the way things are moving, what happens in the morning seems like old news by the end of the day. Here are the recent updates: – Bruce Berkowitz, of Fairholme Capital, recently announced his interest in helping GGP come out…

  • New Purchase: ATP Oil and Gas

    We bought a position in ATP Oil and Gas yesterday. More on our thinking in the coming days.

  • Simon bids for GGP: Bidding war begins

    The bidding war for GGP officially got started today. Simon announced a $10B offer for all of GGP. The offer looks like Simon trying to low-ball GGP. To us, this offer has no chance of being accepted. We know there will be many more offers coming, with the price increasing substantially. Let’s look at the…

  • State struggles

    Watching the stock market in the last 6 months might make you believe that the good times are here. Although we still have a long way to go. For one, many of the states are struggling with their budgets and will struggle in balancing their ‘check books’. We expect taxes to increase in many states.…

  • Quarterly Update: Setting up for a strong year

    The Q4 of 2009 was a strong finish for a year that will go down as one of the wild one in history. From an investment perspective, we hit the bottom in early 2009. In the end of 2009, the market was brimming with optimism and was in high spirits. As someone once said, things…