What We're Reading ~ 8/2/17

Profile of the founders of payments company Stripe [Bloomberg]

Staying competitive as the world changes [Collaborative Fund]

The unreformed stock picker: profile of Bill Miller [Forbes] 

Investment case for Gilead Sciences [WertArt Capital]

Netflix has $20 billion in debt - can it keep borrowing its way to success? [LA Times]

Palantir, the 'special ops' tech giant that wields as much power as Google [The Guardian]

Craft beer, brought to you by Big Beer [NPR]

On the threat of European grocery discounters [FBIC Group]

Priceline: the world's largest online travel company [Economist]

Electric vehicle outlook [Bloomberg]

Mental models: how to train your brain to think in new ways [James Clear]

The best path to long-term change is slow, simple and boring [NYTimes]

The 4 keys to learning anything [Zen Habits]
 

Julian Robertson on Greece/Europe, China & Various Stock Picks

CNBC's Kelly Evans interviewed Tiger Management's Julian Robertson and he talked about a range of topics, including Greece and Europe, China, Puerto Rico, and various stocks.

He doesn't seem too terribly concerned by the situation in Greece in and of itself, but if contagion spreads to Spain or Italy and potentially other countries, then things could get dicey.

Robertson says European equities "have been a very good place to be and may still be ... but you certainly want to hedge the currency."

His main concern now is that we're in the midst of a serious credit bubble.  Money that normally would flow into bonds has been forced into stocks.  This is something he's mentioned previously as well.

On Chinese equities, he notes, "I think the prospects for Chinese companies... some of them are very great.  I have changed from Alibaba (BABA) to JD.com (JD) ... JD has an advantage in that it's never had any knock-off problems.  We are very bullish on JD now and we have sold Alibaba for it."  Our Hedge Fund Wisdom newsletter back in May highlighted that many Tiger Cub funds were betting big on JD.

Robertson continues to like Apple (AAPL) but he's not overly concerned about the Watch.  He said, "Apple would be selling at double or triple its present price now if this was the 70's or 80's."

Additionally, he continues to like Gilead Sciences (GILD).  He's been short Assured Guaranty (AGO) as well.

On his industry, Robertson notes that, "I think the hedge fund industry is suffering from the expansion of the industry."  He says now you're competing with so many other hedge funds whereas back in the day you were competing with less managers and less sophisticated rivals.

Embedded below is the video of Robertson's interview on CNBC:



For more on this legendary investor, head to Morgan Creek's Q1 letter on learning from Robertson.

Julian Robertson Worried About Bubbles Bursting

Tiger Management's Julian Robertson recently was interviewed by Fox Business and touched on bubbles developing, interest rates, the US Dollar and select US equities.


The thing he said he's worried about most are bubbles developing: specifically, the bubble in bonds created by the Federal Reserve's actions.  He notes it's a hard market to save in and an easy market to borrow in, and those things aren't conducive to long-term prosperity.

Robertson thinks the equity rally will be stalled by an increase in interest rates.  He expects a rate increase this year (warranted by the economy).  "I don't think it's at all ridiculous to think an '08 size (decline)."

Tiger Management's founder also sees the US Dollar strength continuing.

As to what stocks Robertson likes, Gilead Sciences (GILD) was mentioned.  He said he likes growth companies and notes that these types of plays (like Apple, Google, Facebook) used to trade for such high multiples back in the day, but nowadays are trading for cheap.

Lastly, he singled out Amazon (AMZN) as a company he finds fascinating because it doesn't have considerable cashflow and it's "wild that it gets this kind of multiple."  He acknowledges it's done well, but he's short, saying AMZN "don't care" about profitability.

Embedded below are the videos of Robertson's appearance on Fox Business:

Video 1


Video 2

Julian Robertson Likes Google, Gilead Sciences: Interview

Tiger Management's Julian Robertson made his rare yearly media appearance on CNBC and talked about why investors have piled into stocks and some of his favorite equities these days.

Robertson noted that, "Bonds are so unattractive that people have no alternative to put their money... so they're jamming them into stocks.  I wonder what will happen when the bond market turns?"

Robertson continues to hold a large position in Google (GOOG) and thinks the company has such a great moat that "no one can breach it."

He also mentioned he likes Uber and uses it often.  He said he'd invest in Uber at twice the price that Google initially bought in at.

The Tiger Management founder also likes Gilead Sciences (GILD), citing their various drugs and management's ability to buy companies at good prices.  He sees cashflow ramping up from their Hepatitis C drug.

Robertson was also asked who he thinks is the best investor these days.  He replied:

"The man I respect the most in the business is probably Stan Druckenmiller.  He's just so smart and so good and so up on everything.  I think he's a fantastic investor."

Embedded below is a clip of Robertson's interview:

Larry Robbins & Jacob Gottlieb on Healthcare Plays: Delivering Alpha Conference

At the Delivering Alpha Conference, Larry Robbins of Glenview Capital, Jacob Gottlieb of Visium, and Kris Jenner of Rock Springs Capital sat down to talk the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare.


Larry Robbins, Glenview Capital

Robbins notes that Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) is their largest position.  He says it's independent of the Affordable Care Act as it's 75% consumables.  The growth there is driven by capital allocation.  The space will benefit from sequestration ending in 2014.

He also likes Walgreen's (WAG).

Robbins expects an increase in pharmaceutical consumerization after Obamacare starts.  Robbins also noted he still likes McKesson (MCK) ~ we've highlighted in the past how it's been one of his largest holdings for some time.

Glenview's founder notes that healthcare used to trade at a 10% premium to the market, but their portfolio trades at a 25% discount so he loves if companies buy back stock or make acquisitions.  He sees hospitals likely to continue consolidation, which means the for-profit players gain share.

With the Affordable Care Act and more people getting insured, you'll see growth on growth (especially in hospitals) but on the other hand, there will be losers down the chain as they're over-earning now and will get squeezed.

In the space, big pharma have a lot of cash but not a lot of innovation.  Small companies are exactly the opposite, so consolidation will continue there.

If you missed it, Robbins recently made a very rare media appearance and talked about HMA, THC and what he thinks about this market.


Jacob Gottlieb, Visium Asset Management

Jacob Gottlieb of Visium voiced his concern over taxes on healthcare as it could be counterproductive to making more affordable and better quality care.  As far as what his picks go, he likes healthcare IT providers and well-run hospitals.


Kris Jenner, Rock Springs Capital

Kris said there will be winners and losers in all of this.  The opportunities in healthcare are robust and based in innovation.  That innovation will be more-so in business models than new drugs.  He said he likes Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Gilead Sciences (GILD).

Thanks to @EquityNYC for live tweets on this panel.


For more from the Delivering Alpha Conference, head to:

- John Paulson on gold, real estate & merger arbitrage

- Nelson Peltz on PepsiCo & Mondelez 

- Best Ideas Panel with Mark Kingdon, Chris Hohn, Jim Chanos & Lee Cooperman

- Carl Icahn on activism