15 questions to ask management teams [Clear Eyes Investing]
Jim Chanos betting against dialysis companies [Reuters]
A handful of value managers hoard cash as stocks surge [Bloomberg]
How the right decisions and compounding can lead to huge results [Of Dollars and Data]
The nature of underperformance and why it pays to wait [Of Dollars and Data]
CenturyLink / Level 3 merger: 1+1 = 1/2 ? [Peridot Capitalist]
America's 'retail apocalypse' is really just beginning [Bloomberg]
Withdrawal symptoms: cash is still king in India [SCMP]
How India is moving toward a digital-first economy [HBR]
Byron Wien measures China's tech success [Barrons]
In-depth interview with Shake Shack's Danny Meyer [CBS]
America's coffee market is getting too crowded [WSJ]
Who is investing in e-sports startups? [VentureBeat]
A look at Entercom: CBS Radio Reverse Morris Trust [Clark Street Value]
Thursday, November 16, 2017
What We're Reading ~ 11/16/17
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
What We're Reading ~ 9/27/17
Your tolerance for investment risk is probably not what you think [WSJ]
Is value investing dead? Depends on how you measure it [WSJ]
What do the best investors do that the rest don't? [Behavioral Value]
We're going to need more Lithium [Bloomberg]
Mastering three strategies of organic growth [McKinsey]
DaVita: Warren and Charlie's excellent insurance gambit [SIRF]
Old interview with Chuck Akre - never sell the gems [Value Research]
The history of Sears predicts nearly everything Amazon is doing [The Atlantic]
Don't believe the headlines, traditional retailers are thriving online [VentureBeat]
How Kirkland Signature became one of Costco's biggest successes [WSJ]
Altaba's endgame could reward investors nicely [Barrons]
Netflix's Sarandos aims to build the next great Hollywood studio [Bloomberg]
Our entire credit bureau system is broken [The Verge]
Snapchat's influencers are fleeing to Instagram for money [Bloomberg]
How successful people make decisions differently [Fast Company]
Monday, June 12, 2017
Jim Chanos Interview on Bloomberg
Jim Chanos, founder of hedge fund Kynikos Associates recently sat down with Bloomberg to share his thoughts on markets.
He talks about the macro landscape, how the recent political shift has changed things, and other topics.
Chanos is worried about China because it's a debt driven model. He thinks they've added trillions to the system.
Turning to US healthcare, Chanos says it's a system designed to be gamed: "It's a hybrid of socialized and free market healthcare."
He thinks the kidney dialysis business is "headed for difficulties." DaVita (DVA) seems to be one play that Chanos is short.
Telsa (TSLA) is another company Chanos has been short. He would cover the short if the company actually began to make money. They were also short Solar City before it got folded into Tesla. The company burns a lot of cash (he thinks up to as much as $1 billion a quarter). The upcoming Model 3 is the big test.
Embedded below is the video of Jim Chanos' Bloomberg interview:
For more recent interviews with prominent investors, be sure to also check out Paul Singer's chat with David Rubenstein.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
What We're Reading ~ 10/12/16
The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't [Nate Silver]
Shiller's powerful market indicator is sending a false signal [WSJ]
The consequences of risk taking [A Wealth of Common Sense]
A look at DaVita Healthcare Partners (DVA) [Rational Walk]
The AI revolution: why you need to learn about deep learning [Fortune]
What does Sam Zell know that Wall St doesn't? [Horizon Kinetics]
Profile of UK fund manager Neil Woodford [Bloomberg]
Interview with T-Mobile's CEO John Legere [Business Insider]
Liberty Media: better than Berkshire [Barrons]
The auto industry's real challenge [Strategy Business]
Mars cashes out Warren Buffett to take control of Wrigley [NYTimes]
Decoding Amazon's fashion ambitions [Business of Fashion]
How eBay's CEO plans to take on Amazon [Bloomberg]
Knowing when to break your own rules [A Wealth of Common Sense]
Why the cost of living is poised to plummet over the next 20 years [Singularity Hub]
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Berkshire Hathaway Adds to DaVita Stake Again
In what has become a bit of a routine occurrence, Berkshire Hathaway has been out buying even more shares of DaVita (DVA) recently. Per a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Warren Buffett's company has acquired over 1.1 million shares of DVA.
Berkshire acquired shares at weighted average prices ranging from $66.12 to $68.00 between February 24th and 26th. After these purchases, Berkshire now owns over 37.6 million shares.
As we've highlighted in our premium publication Hedge Fund Wisdom (new issue just released), this big stake is most likely attributed to Ted Weschler, one of Berkshire's newer portfolio managers. DVA was one of Weschler's top holdings at his hedge fund before he joined Buffett's team.
Per Google Finance, DaVita is "a provider of dialysis services in the United States for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD)."
If you haven't seen it, be sure to check out Warren Buffett's recommended reading list.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Acquires More DaVita Shares
In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has revealed new purchases in shares of DaVita (DVA).
On November 6th, 7th, and 8th, Berkshire acquired 3,700,294 shares in total at prices ranging from $52.78 to $56.41.
After all was said and done, Berkshire now owns 35,147,124 shares of DaVita. Keep in mind that the company had a 2-for-1 stock split on September 6th of this year.
This has been a position Berkshire has been heavily adding to ever since new portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler came onboard. We've highlighted Berkshire's purchases of DVA shares earlier this year in the summer, as well as in 2012.
Per Google Finance, DaVita is "a provider of dialysis services in the United States for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD)."
For more on Berkshire, head to a recent interview with Warren Buffett where he said stocks are fairly priced.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
What We're Reading ~ Analytical Links 7/10/13
On saving investors from themselves [WSJ]
Smart and stupid arguments for active management [Reformed Broker]
Incorporating right-brain thinking into your investment process [Investing 501]
How gold lost its luster [The Big Picture]
A dozen things I've learned about the psychology of investing [25iq]
Steel: an inferno of unprofitability [The Economist]
On dealing with a rising interest rate environment [WSJ]
30-year mortgage rates surge to highest level in 2 years [Zillow]
The Dow Jones Index between 1789 and today [Go Infront]
MJN, ABT, NSRGY: China investigates foreign makers of baby formula [WSJ]
DVA: dialysis pay would drop $970 million under CMS proposed rule [BNA]
DIS: An interview with head of ESPN John Skipper [HollywoodReporter]
Talk of mergers stirs cable TV's big players [NYTimes]
Labor market spider chart [Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta]
The best investment advice you'll never get [San Francisco Magazine]
Merchant banks make a comeback [WSJ]
The scam Wall Street learned from the mafia [Rolling Stone]
A report on Corrections Corp of America (CXW) [Scribd]
Introducing the Winklevoss Bitcoin trust [FT Alphaville]
Monday, July 8, 2013
Berkshire Hathaway Buys More DaVita (DVA)
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway filed a form 4 with the SEC regarding their position in DaVita (DVA). Per the filing, Berkshire has disclosed that they purchased 639,200 shares on July 2nd and 3rd at weighted average prices ranging from $112.35 to $116.41. After all purchases, Berkshire now owns over 15.6 million shares of DVA.
DaVita shares have recently been hit on news that a proposal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would decrease payments to dialysis facilities by $970 million in calendar year 2014 (more details here).
Berkshire has been slowly building a large stake in DVA and we've detailed their previous purchases. This coincided with new portfolio manager Ted Weschler joining the Berkshire team (DVA was a top holding at his previous hedge fund).
Berkshire originally built their position in DaVita between $70-85 it looks like and they've slowly added to the stake each quarter, recently buying at around $110 and now again at the prices outlined above.
Per Google Finance, DaVita is "is a provider of dialysis services in the United States for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD)."
For more from this manager, we've also highlighted some other recent Berkshire Hathaway portfolio activity.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Continues to Buy DaVita (DVA)
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has continued to buy shares of DaVita (DVA), according to two separate Form 4's filed with the SEC in recent days. We've previously highlighted how Berkshire was buying DVA late last month.
The most recent batch of SEC filings show that Buffett's conglomerate now owns 10,547,040 shares. These trades took place on October 10-12th as well as the 16th and 17th.
Berkshire was buying in the $108.28 to $111.2125 range (using weighted average prices). The bulk of Berkshire's purchase comes around $109. In total from the two filings, Berkshire has purchased 281,525 additional shares of DaVita.
While this position size has become much larger over time, it seems likely that new portfolio manager Ted Weschler is responsible for the idea as it was one of his big holdings at his previous hedge fund. And if you're a reader of our premium newsletter, you would have known that DVA was a consensus buy among hedge funds back in Q2.
Given that Berkshire nowadays focuses on buying great companies at a good price, it's interesting to see them continuing to buy shares even while DVA approaches 52-week highs. If they assume that DVA will grow 20% annually, perhaps they're less concerned about valuation at current levels. On the other hand, some investors have pointed to DVA's dependence on government payments as a potential negative.
Per Google Finance, DaVita is "a provider of dialysis services in the United States for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD)."
For more on Berkshire's leading man, head to notes from Buffett's meeting with MBA students.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Files 13G on DaVita (DVA)
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has filed a 13G on shares of DaVita (DVA). Per the filing, they have disclosed a 10.8% ownership stake in the company with 10,197,569 shares.
This is more of a formality as their position remains unchanged from when we detailed Berkshire's recent Form 4 filing where they disclosed they had purchased more shares in late September.
This just goes to show why you should track all SEC filings instead of just focusing on the 13G's and 13F's. The Form 4 was filed last week and already disclosed everything this 13G does a week later. The 13G was required due to portfolio activity on September 21st.
Hedge Funds Own DVA Too
As we mentioned when Berkshire was buying DaVita late last month, this portfolio activity is most likely attributed to new manager Ted Weschler. DVA was one of his big holdings at his previous hedge fund.
Also, our premium newsletter flagged that DVA was a consensus buy among hedge funds back in August. Other top holders of shares at the end of Q2 included Viking Global, Lone Pine Capital, Pennant Capital, and more.
Per Google Finance, DaVita is "a provider of dialysis services in the United States for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD)."
Monday, October 1, 2012
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Buys More DaVita (DVA)
In Forms 3 and 4 filed with the SEC today, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has disclosed an increased position in DaVita (DVA).
Per the filing, Berkshire now owns over a $1 billion stake with 10,197,569 shares (or over 10% of the company). The filings disclose Berkshire purchased 282,403 shares at weighted average prices ranging from $100.96 to $103.7272 between September 26th and 28th.
In the most recent issue of our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter, we highlighted how Berkshire had boosted its stake in DVA by 55% during the second quarter and noted that it is portfolio activity most likely attributed to new portfolio manager Ted Weschler. DVA was one of Weschler's big holdings at his previous hedge fund.
Additionally, our premium newsletter flagged that DVA was a consensus buy among hedge funds in Q2. Other top holders at the end of Q2 included Viking Global, Lone Pine Capital, Pennant Capital and more.
Per Google Finance, DaVita is "a provider of dialysis services in the United States for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD)."
For more from Warren Buffett's Berkshire, we've posted up their activity in Phillips 66.
