Graham & Doddsville Fall 2018 Issue: Tweedy Browne, Greenhaven Road & More

Columbia Business School has just released the Fall 2018 issue of its Graham & Doddsville newsletter.  In it, they interview members of Tweedy, Browne Company such as Roger De Bree, Andrew Ewert, Frank Hawrylak, Jay Hill, Amelia Koh, Tom Shrager, John Spears, and Bob Wyckoff.  They also interview Scott Miller of Greenhaven Road Capital.

Additionally, the issue also includes student investment pitches such as long JD.com (JD) and long Qorvo (QRVO)


Tweedy Browne Buys Baidu, Sina, AutoZone

Tweedy recently bought some Chinese equities: search engine giant Baidu (BIDU) and Sina (SINA), which owns Weibo, a popular social media business.  They like the profitable advertising business models but have smaller position sizes due to various risks.

Domestically, Tweedy also purchased shares of AutoZone (AZO):  "If you lookover the previous 11-yearperiod, its intrinsic value grew by 16% per annum, with a significant percentage of that growth driven by share buybacks. The historical record also revealed a stable and defensive business. Same store sales at AutoZone have grown in 19 out of the last 20 years, including in 2008 and 2009.AutoZone has also historically produced high returns, with a 14% ROA (return on assets) and a roughly 30% lease adjusted ROIC (return on invested capital)."


Greenhaven Road Long Etsy, Fiat, Yelp

Greenhaven Road's founder talks about his positions in Etsy, (ETSY), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) and Yelp (YELP). 

On Fiat, he notes: "Fiat Chrysler is reducing the low margin fleet business by getting out of sedans and focusing on SUVs, aligning themselves with customer preferences and higher margins.They are also going to either spin off or sell their parts division. If you backout the parts business, you're getting the core business for less than 3x earnings excluding net industrial cash and the parts business. That’s an attractive multiple for a growing earnings stream and a business that should remain profitable even if US new car sales decline by 30%."

Graham & Doddsville New Fall 2018 Issue

Embedded below is the new issue:



You can download a pdf copy here.

What We're Reading ~ 9/23/15

More Than You Know: Finding financial wisdom in unconventional places [Mauboussin]

Fundamentals are only half the story [Reformed Broker]

Masters in business interview with Jason Zweig [The Big Picture]

Full transcript: interview with Chinese President Xi Jinping [WSJ]

Ukraine & Europe: what should be done? [George Soros]

How cable can capture the mobile internet [WSJ]

Steve Wynn plays the China card [Barrons]

Highlighting large price increases on certain drugs [NYTimes]

Notes from Mohnish Pabrai's annual meeting [Frenzel Herzing]

The rent crisis is about to get a lot worse [Bloomberg]

The pace in Mexico's fight against corruption is slowing [FT]

A potential disruptor in the lab testing industry [Inc]

A look at how the Berkshire/Precision Castparts deal came together [Biz Journals]

Apple's iPhone upgrade plan is a gamechanger [Recode]

On the brink of a revolution in smart digital assistants [Wired]

What We're Reading ~ 8/26/15

Risk: your best friend and worst enemy [Morgan Housel]

On when to sell a stock [Safal Niveshak]

What investors must know about China [Dash of Insight]

A quick look at Charles Schwab [Brooklyn Investor]

A write up on Cable & Wireless [Dislocated Value]

A pitch on Interactive Brokers [Bear of Burrard Street]

Quick look at impending spin-off Ferrari [Just Value]

Myths and facts about risk parity [FT Alphaville]

A teenager's view on social media [Medium]

Ways to think about cars [Benedict Evans]

Preparing for life after cable [NYTimes]

A look at Google's new CEO Sundar Pichai [The Verge]

American economy blues: everything you need to worry about [Fortune]

Housing, consumer confidence are bright spots in US economy [WSJ]

Credit scores are rising and becoming more visible [NYTimes]

Racing to stay ahead of Uber [Bloomberg]

Smart guys are the most dangerous [Behavioral Macro]

Peter Thiel on what works at work [Washington Post]

What We're Reading ~ 5/27/15

On investing in bad businesses [Aswath Damodaran]

10 non-investing quotes with great investing lessons [Clear Eyes Investing]

Kahneman: clients driven by losses, not gains [Think Advisor]

Mary Meeker's 2015 internet trends [Kleiner Perkins]

Qualcomm: the biggest bargain in large cap tech [Capital Observer]

Are declining businesses good shorts? [Young Money]

The ability to focus and make the best move when there are no good moves [Farnam Street]

Big cable is coming for big wireless [Bloomberg]

Charter's deal for Time Warner Cable is classic John Malone [FT]

Meet Altice founder Patrick Drahi [Venture Beat]

Inside the trillion dollar war on packaged food [Fortune]

What makes Danaher such a stock market star? [Bloomberg View]

Goldman on 7 trends that will reshape the auto industry [Bloomberg]

Sergio Marchionne: Detroit's chief instigator [NYTimes]

A look at Markel's Tom Gayner [WSJ]

Tech firms seek ways to fend off activist investors [WSJ]

'The Big Short' movie starts filming [WSJ]

Interview with Brunello Cucinelli, king of cashmere [PI]

Graham & Doddsville Latest Issue: Interviews With First Eagle, Jericho & More

Columbia Business School is out with the latest edition of its Graham & Doddsville investment newsletter.  This issue features interviews with Matthew McLennan and Kimball Brooker of First Eagle Investment Management, Josh Resnick of Jericho Capital, and Harvey Sawikin of Firebird Management.

Additionally, they talk with Eric Yip and Mark Unferth of Alder Hill Management, and Rolf Heitmeyer of Breithorn Capital.

Lastly, the new issue features student investment pitches of: long Altice, long Fiat Chrysler, long HCA, long Genuine Parts Company, and long Precision Castparts (PCP).

Embedded below is the latest issue of Graham & Doddsville:



Be sure to also check out the previous issue of Graham & Doddsville including an interview with Bill Ackman.

Broyhill Asset Management Q1 Letter on Ally Financial & Subprime Auto Lending

Chris Pavese's Broyhill Asset Management is out with its first quarter letter.  In it, they note their interest in the automobile industry.  Having previously invested in General Motors (GM) and CDK Global (CDK), they've recently found another idea that they found intriguing: Ally Financial (ALLY).

Broyhill notes that Ally is trading at 70% of tangible book value and they see book value approaching $40 over the next few years.  If the stock trades back to book value, this would mean a 2x return. They're not alone in their bullishness here, as late last year we detailed how Perry Capital liked ALLY as well.

In addition to looking at Ally Financial specifically, Broyhill also takes a deeper look at the myths and realities surrounding the subprime auto lending industry as a whole in an appendix at the end of the letter.

Embedded below is Broyhill's Q1 letter on Ally Financial and the subprime auto lending industry: