Opportunity in First Israel Fund

The First Israel Fund (ISL) is off nearly 6% in above average volume. The sell-off eliminates the 4% premium that ISL had to its NAV and puts it slightly back into discount. However, the Israeli stock indexes were only off about ½% on Thursday and the markets are closed in Eretz Yisrael on Fridays and Saturday (Yom Shabbat).

The largest holding in ISL is Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA). TEVA comprises about 10% of ISL holdings. TEVA received some good news today when it received a favorable court ruling allowing the company to produce a generic form of Wyeth’s (WYE) Protonix prescription heartburn medication. TEVA is off about 2/3% today and if the market was not weak I believe it would be trading higher. WYE is falling over 3%.

Today is another great example of the cuffs not matching the collars and you have a nice opportunity to pick up ISL. Shabbat Shalom to all.

Disclosure: At the time of this Blog entry Scott Rothbort, his family and or clients of LakeView Asset Management, LLC were long shares of ISL --- although positions can change at any time.