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 ~ 11/8/17

Lou Simpson explains his portfolio strategy [Kellogg Insight]

Carl Icahn's making a $5 billion bet on the future of cars [Bloomberg]

A closer look at Ray Dalio's 1937 scenario for current markets [A Wealth of Common Sense]

Bill Miller has 30% of his assets in bitcoin?! [WSJ]

Analysis of Equinix and Interxion: network effects in a box [Scuttleblurb]

The psychology of designer handbags [Business of Fashion]

The biggest stock collapse in history has no end in sight [Bloomberg]

JD.com shares a better deal than Alibaba's [Barrons]

Asia has more billionaires than the US for the first time [Daily Mail]

Caesars returns to building its gaming empire [Barrons]

A look at Snap Inc [Seeking Alpha]

The war to sell you a mattress is an internet nightmare [Fast Company]

Universities take a hard look whether MBA programs are worth it [WSJ]

On trying to boost your productivity [Thrive Global]

What We're Reading ~ 9/20/17

You need to do what others don't [Ian Cassel]

The case for stock buybacks [Harvard Business Review]

5 common mental errors that sway your decision making [James Clear]

Why is value investing so difficult? [Behavioural Investment]

Best Buy's secrets for thriving in the Amazon age [NYTimes]

Why augmented reality is about to take over your world [Buzzfeed]

What's the true total addressable market of search? [Value Venture]

Google Travel is worth $100 billion - even more than Priceline [Skift]

Profile of JD.com's founder [FT]

'Netflix for theaters' sending industry into a frenzy [NYPost]

When will self-driving cars make conventional cars worthless? [Quartz]

Why listen to earnings calls when artificial intelligence can do it better? [Institutional Investor]

The big data breach at Equifax has alarming implications [The Economist]

How Casper wants to sell you sleep [Wired]

What We're Reading ~ 11/16/16

Thinking strategically: the competitive edge in business, politics, and everyday life [Dixit]

Is value investing broken? [Gannon on Investing]

Understanding the art of doing nothing [Pragmatic Capitalism]

India's demonetization - what's next? [Marginal Revolution]

How to find the most persistently profitable companies [Gannon on Investing]

How investors develop bad habits [A Wealth of Common Sense]

On overconfidence and the scout mindset [Abnormal Returns] 

A pitch on American Tower (AMT) [Broad Run]

Inside Intel's race to build a new reality [Techcrunch]

In-depth interview with Liberty's John Malone [CNBC]

Interview with Michael Mauboussin [Motley Fool]

JD.com's Richard Liu takes on Alibaba in cutthroat contest for Chinese consumers [Forbes]

Guide to stocks potentially impacted by a Trump presidency [StreetInsider]

How your brain decides without you [Nautilus]

What We're Reading ~ 7/6/16

Decision Quality: Value Creation from Better Business Decisions [Carl Spetzler]

An interview with Berkshire's Ted Weschler [Business Insider]

Interview with Disney's Bob Iger [Hollywood Reporter]

Brexit and the future of Europe [George Soros]

Things you can't care about when managing other people's money [A Wealth of Common Sense]

The truths and myths of buybacks [Fat Pitch]

How your brain picks and sticks with winning decisions [Singularity Hub]

Mark Cuban on CEO pay [Blog Maverick]

Exor SpA: buying a reinsurance co doesn't mean you're the 'next Berkshire' [Value & Opportunity]

The CFA exam's toughest question: what's the payoff? [Bloomberg]

The cure for decision fatigue [WSJ]

Soaring childcare costs squeeze families [WSJ]

The rise of self learning software [Recode]

As self driving cars hit the road, innovation is outpacing insurance [NYTimes]

A look at Nextdoor, a local neighborhood social network [The Verge]

Inside a robot run warehouse [BBC]

What's the most important financial advice you'd give to your children? [Castlebar]

What We're Reading ~ 5/25/16

How to make better investment decisions [Morgan Housel]

Why active management fell off a cliff - perhaps permanently [Reformed Broker]

Falsification: how to destroy your best ideas [Farnam Street]

Importance of ROIC: reinvestment vs legacy moats [Base Hit Investing]

Position sizing in value investing [Journeys of a Bumbling Trader]

8 big ideas from super investor Philip Fisher [Safal Niveshak]

JD.com (JD): a multi-decade compounder [Value Venture]

The race to 5G: inside the fight for the future of mobile [Tech Republic]

An inside look at Google Fiber [Recode]

The story of Facebook's biggest setback in India [The Guardian]

The most important investors of all time [The Irrelevant Investor]

On hero worship in investing [Clear Eyes Investing] 

The battle between startups & incumbents: distribution vs innovation [Andreessen Horowitz]

Why we still don't see a China hard landing [Mark Mobius]

The business of too much TV [Vulture]

Baby lull promises growing pains for economy [WSJ]

Luxury brands go on a diet [Bloomberg]

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.