Best hedge fund? Recently I visited the home of the world's best ever hedge fund manager and I often re-read his writing on investment topics. On my way to his house I saw some black swans on a lake which seemed appropriate and later ate at a restaurant that had run out of rice which appeared even more significant. It is sometimes the minor data points that lead to major opportunities.

How does one define "best" in the fund manager universe? I have looked at lots of funds, both traditional and alternative. Here is the performance chart of one I analyzed a while back:

GE (GE) missed its numbers, toned down the guidance, had problems with its finance and healthcare businesses.

The way this is being portrayed is that they really did not see it coming until very recently.

In my last week’s post, I cited the article, “On the brink of disaster," from Fortune:

Bear (BSC) had about $13 trillion of derivatives deals with counterparties, according to its most recent financial filings. If Bear had croaked, large parts of the world could have croaked. And the economic damage could have been catastrophic.

In equities news, overnight M&A activity along with poor earnings results were the focus of the session. Royal Philips Electronics reported a 75% y/y decline in first-quarter net income, falling well below analysts’ estimates. Sales results fell slightly below estimates, however the company did reaffirm its 2010 EBITDA margin target of 10%-11%. Groupe Danone opened lower in the session, but pushed higher on the back of a 18.7% y/y rise in first-quarter sales, along with its FY08 revenue growth forecast of 8%-10% and its EPS growth forecast of 15% or more.

M&A news overnight included was varied. Titian Europe elaborated on news circulating this weekend. Titan Europe announced that it was in preliminary talks for the US-based Titan International to acquire the rest of the shares that it does not already own in the company in an all share deal. According to the preliminary terms, the Titan Europe shareholders would receive 1 Titan International share for every 8 Titan Europe shares they own. UK-based industrial holding company Enodis (ENODF.PK) announced overnight that it will be acquired by the US-based Manitowoc for 260p/share, in a deal valued at £948M. Under the terms of the Offer, Enodis Shareholders will receive 258 pence in cash for each Enodis Share. In addition, prior to the Scheme becoming effective, Enodis will pay a dividend of 2 pence per Enodis Share in lieu of an interim dividend in respect of the financial year ending 30 September 2008. Manitowoc expects that the deal will be accretive to earnings in FY09.

Norwegian-based Yara International (YARIY.PK) is thought of as a fertilizer company, but it is much more than that.

In a recent edition of Value Investor Insight, Boykin Curry of Eagle Capital Management described why he sees unrecognized value in SLM Corporation (SLM).

Turning to a more controversial financial industry bet, describe your interest in Sallie Mae [SLM].

2008-04-14T05:47:00-04:00 Value Investor Insight

In a recent edition of Value Investor Insight, Boykin Curry of Eagle Capital Management described why he sees unrecognized value in SLM Corporation (SLM).

Turning to a more controversial financial industry bet, describe your interest in Sallie Mae [SLM].

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