Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Buying at Net Quick Assets

Dear Diary,

I just bought shares of General Electric (GE) common at $18.7998, based on a Net Quick Asset calculation of $23.57 in my "Value Lines."

Jones Soda (JSDA) was just purchased for $0.81 per share with a Net Quick Asset calculation of $.76 per share.

Finally, Heely's Inc. (HLYS), a shoe company, was just purchased for $3.28 per share, based on a Net Quick Asset calculation of $3.76.

AHG is expected to closed today on its arbitrage sale for $21. It is currently trading for $20.99 a hour before the market close, but I want to save the commission and just let cash switch into my account for the stock naturally.

Gene

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Arbitrage #5 and #6

Dear Diary,

In Arbitrage #5, I just bought shares of BUD for $59.89 per share with an expectation of a close on the Imbev deal by 12-31-08 for $70 a share, a 17% gain over 76 days, or an annualized gain of 81.64%.

I also picked up in Arbitrage #6 shares of ROH for $69.64 with a expectation of close by 1-1-09 for $78 a share, a 12% gain over a 77 day holding period, for an annualized gain of 56.88%.

Gene

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Sold First Arbitrage

Dear Diary,

In probably the worst market conditions in the past 80 years, I sold DRS just now for $80.0305 per share, a gain of $3.5515 or a 4.64% gain over a 15 day holding period. This represents a 113.15% annualized gain.

Gene

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Market Jittery/ Buffett Buying

Dear Diary,

The market dropped 800 points at one point yesterday, and it closed under 10,000 for the first time in four years, say the talking heads.

Mr. Buffett made a $3 billion infusion into General Electric (GE) in the $22 per share range. This stock is in my universe of stocks I follow, and it clear that Buffett is buying in relationship to Net Quick Assets (Working Capital less Inventories and Medium Term Holdings on a Balance Sheet). This calculation is very close to Working Capital per share, so I generally make no distinction. GE shows $27.08 in Working Capital and about $23 in Net Quick Assets.

There are 6 companies selling in relationship to Working Capital in my tracking universe of stocks.

My Cash on Sale Arbitrage holds 4 positions, presently. AHG was due to close on 9-30-08 and HUN was due to close on October 2, but neither has done so to date. Expectations are still for a close.

That "Kiplinger's" article was a writer attempting to extrapolate Buffett's mind onto CROX back when it was trading say at $75 per share. It was too highly priced with a growth rate that could not have kept pace with the price. Today, CROX trades at less than Working Capital, so I'm buying when I have cash available.

A friend bought me a copy of, "The Snowball," Mr. Buffett's biography. The main thing we learn for our purposes is that arbitrage is a big part of his investment life.

Gene