Especially when markets are fairly valued, we have to look at a company’s balance sheet closely. If obligations can’t be met, little else matters and an “investment” is nothing more than a gamble.
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (JTX) is the second largest paid individual tax return preparer in the US (based on the number of individual tax returns prepared and filed with the IRS). In 2009, its network of 6,584 offices prepared 2.96 million tax returns. According to Jackson Hewitt, that’s 3-4% of…
And the blogging returns. Thanks all for your patience. It has been a wild few months, between market crashes and rebounds, a business “split” so that my partner and I could each focus on our core competencies (yes, it was friendly; and, no, there’s no juicy back story), and so…
I often tell clients and investors: “If I can find one or two opportunities a quarter, I’m ecstatic.” As we close out the third quarter of 2009 in a few days, I’d like to share with you some of the investments we’ve made. As I mentioned in this post, I…
In its recent end-of-quarter filing, Berkshire Hathaway reduced its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 54%. As is often the case, the media automatically assumed that Buffett turned sour on Johnson & Johnson and was dumping the stock. Before you run off and sell 50% of your JNJ stake because…
This is a continuation of Wells Fargo and Wachovia Together It’s the first quarter of 2008 and the proverbial you-know-what is hitting the fan. The credit crisis has begun; the recession has started; Bear Stearns will be a distant memory by the end of the quarter. Wellsovia sets aside $4.86…
So, I bought a bank. I know…I know. I said I wouldn’t. Then again, that was a year or two ago, when I couldn’t understand what the hell these guys were doing to make money. CDOs. Sub-prime mortgages. I would try to read the annual reports, and they would make…
The other day, I said that I had purchased Wells Fargo to the tune of 10% of the F Wall Street portfolio. As it continued to sink, I made another purchase in the $16s to bring the total Wells Fargo investment back up to 10% of the portfolio’s assets. The…
In this comment, I had said that I was “way wrong” on American Eagle Outfitters, and that sparked some good questions. Namely: The price is down some 60%; but, what happened in the business that makes me feel like I was “way wrong”? The short answer: The business is taking…
Yesterday I added Apple to the F Wall Street portfolio to the tune of 10% of our portfolio. I started watching it as it dropped below $160 on September 5th – the low end of my estimation of Apple’s intrinsic value. Let’s take a look at the purchase.