John DiStanislao

Dry Clean USA: Deep Value in this Micro Cap

I never tried to call management but have sent them emails after their attempt to go private at .80 cents. All my attempts at contact were ignored. But the minority shareholders still have a voice to stop a low ball offer.

Thanks for that insight into management! So disappointing that management would behave in such a hostile manner.

Dry Clean USA: Deep Value in this Micro Cap

Hi el duderino

My enterprise calculation was as follows;

I used the 10k filed on 09/23/09 for the 06/09 year end results.

Price = 1

Shares outstanding = 7,033,804 (10k)

Cash balance = 5,560,954 = .776 per share

Total Liabilities = 3,068,193 = .4362

EV = 1-.776+.436= .66 or .66 ( 7,033,804) = 4.642,311 (rounding)

Market cap of 7,033804 – Cash of 5,560,954 +total liabilities of 3,068,193 = EV of $4,451,043

Note: customer deposits are $1,847,822 and were included in the total liabilities of 3,068,193

Creating Shareholder Value

Hi Saj

I program my own searches to scrap the internet for financial data.

Thanks for all the work you do in your articles. Good luck.

John


On Jul 04 05:54 PM Saj Karsan wrote:

> Interesting search! What kind of tools did you use to complete this
> search of all cash flow statements in an automated fashion?

There Are Conceptual Limits to Efficient Markets

Important useful analysis!!

The article is packed with practical information. It’s worth a close read for serious investors.

Illiquid stocks with honest management and industries out of favor such as radio can provide spectacular returns for the patient investor.

Thanks for the work!

How to Interpret Insider Transactions

I appreciate!

These 3 ideas are less than 2% of my portfolio. That is just how I invest.

I don’t have a business and just do this for fun, crazy but I do.

Thanks
John DiStanislao




On Apr 15 08:45 AM ArtfulDodger wrote:

> John DiStanislao:
>
> As always, I like an author/investor who puts his money where his
> mouth is.
>
> Good info. Thanks.

How to Interpret Insider Transactions

Hi Johnathan

Thanks for the input.

These are not my ideas but based on the academic studies of insider buying.

I did write “There is a strong inverse relationship between the size of the firm and the usefulness of insider activity. Smaller companies provide more market outperforming information given they are less efficiently priced.”

The larger companies are not only more efficiently priced but the size of most insider trades is immaterial when compared to company’s size.

The 3 ideas mentioned have nice value attributes; little dilution over the past few years, high earnings yield and ROIC.

Thanks
John DiStanislao




On Apr 15 08:29 AM Johnathan Vrozos wrote:

> So, was Potash Corp (seekingalpha.com/symbo...) senior seasoned
> veterans of finance wise in buying back $2Bln of stock at $185/share
> and now trading at $80/share? I don't think so. Your theory is flawed.
>
> By Johnathan Vrozos
> johnathanvrozos.ca/

How to Interpret Insider Transactions

Mr Old trader

My portfolio is highly diversified and most positions never exceed 2%. I thought some of the ideas on insider buying although well understood its worth repeating. If all 3 ideas go to zero it would have little impact on my portfolio. All 3 ideas are less than 2% of my stock portfolio.

Thanks for the response
John DiStanislao



On Apr 14 11:58 PM old trader wrote:

> I'm glad you disclosed your holdings; my first take was somebody's
> talking their book. In your defense, you're at least explaining your
> rationale for the holdings.

Four of Chile's Most Attractive Companies

Interesting and very informative thoughts on Chile and the stocks!

Chile continues to prove for over +25 years Freedman’s ideas are alive and working to improve many lives.

Imperial Sugar: Shorts Take the Upper Hand, But Not for Long

I took a closer look after getting home from work and have concerns about the weak cash flow, low margins and less than perfect balance sheet. For me this needs more work but will still hold my position for a trade.

Good article, thanks!

Imperial Sugar: Shorts Take the Upper Hand, But Not for Long

Great write up!

Although not directly related to IPSU, SGG, a stock I hold is a Sugar ETF that tracks the price of sugar. Jim Rogers is a strong bull on the price of sugar.

I purchased some IPSU today.

Ideal Market Environment for Clarus Corporation

Hi ebschor

What got me seriously interested in CLRS.PK at this time was the first conference call the other day. He said the call would never occur until a combination took place. But Warren Kanders did sound optimistic in this environment. He discussed many scenarios for a successful combination.

CLRS has a 70 million market cap supported mostly by cash and an average volume of 37,000. Investors that have an interest must wait for a potential combination and the ultimate success of the new firm. I believe Kanders will pull this off and now is the right time as he spoke about this issue for 2009.My intention is to wait at least one year.

Kanders has been aligning his interests with the shareholders.

From 8/5/2008 to 12/30/2008 Warren Kanders purchased 1,001,027 shares in the open market for an average price of $4.46 investing $4,467,208.

Additional shares were purchased before 8/05/08

CLARUS CORP --- Insider Trades

Insider Date Trans Type Form Shares Traded Price Shares Held
KANDERS WARREN B 12/30/2008 B Form 4 300,000 3.75 3,213,977
KANDERS WARREN B 11/26/2008 B Form 4 125,000 4.2 2,913,977
KANDERS WARREN B 11/21/2008 B Form 4 142,027 4.2 2,788,977
KANDERS WARREN B 8/11/2008 B Form 4 309,000 5.105 2,646,950
KANDERS WARREN B 8/5/2008 B Form 4 125,000 5.146 2,337,950
KANDERS WARREN B 11/15/2007 B Form 4 58,500 6.5 2,212,950
EHRLICH BURTT R 8/22/2007 B Form 4 25,000 7 88,000



On Mar 05 08:07 PM ebschor wrote:

> Kanders has been talking about this for 7 years now. The guy took
> over a defunct software company by buying enough shares to get himself
> on the board, sold off the assets, then "moved" the shell to CT so
> he could furnish his existing company's office space, pay himself
> and his cronies from the cash, and mention every year or so that
> he's looking for investment opportunities. It is about time that
> he cr4p or get off the pot! There's also an expiration on those NOLs.
>
>
> John, I think you're writing this article hoping that you get a "pop"
> in the stock price by getting people to look at an extremely LOW
> volatility stock trading on the PINK SHEETS. Come on man, pump and
> dump somewhere else! Seeking Alpha has integrity standards!

Ideal Market Environment for Clarus Corporation

I'm not a tax accountant but KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the consolidated financial statements.

Warren Kanders and the CFO of Clarus have done this before.

Good luck
John




On Mar 05 10:55 AM Silverfox2 wrote:

> How did Clarus preserve it's NOLs when it sold it's software business?

Syms: Hidden Values Buried on Balance Sheet

Hi markkrieger

Thanks for the comments!

I also owned and sold BRID some time back. Yes they do have some nice real estate.

Insiders own about 77% of the company. For me there are other stocks with more appeal at this time. Good luck



On Feb 10 01:13 PM markkrieger wrote:

> Great story..thanks for the detective work. SYMS's is a similar scenario
> to BRIDgford Foods (seekingalpha.com/symbo... guys
> own a plant near the Sear's Tower which is probably worth more than
> BRID's current market cap of $35 million alone. BRID also owns RE
> next to Disneyland, and plants in Texas and NC--The Bridgford family
> owns 80% of the shares.

Syms: Hidden Values Buried on Balance Sheet

Hi Tom

I agree not much of clear cut catalyst. But the franchise coupled with the real estate does provide a potential floor to the stock price. Remember management recently was proactive in recognizing value of their NYC location by purchasing air rights and the adjacent property.

Sy Syms is 84 years old and he may decide to do some estate planning and monetize some of the assets. But either way for me its part of a well diversified portfolio and I can wait for that final puff of this cigar butt. And the final puff may be the most profitable.
Nice input



On Feb 09 08:48 PM Tom Armistead wrote:

> 4 or 5 years ago I got interested in Ben Graham's writings and tried
> an investment in Syms, based on the same thinking the author is using.
>
>
> The issue was waiting for something to come along as a catalyst.
> The stock meandered for what seemed like an eternity, so I exited
> with a small profit. If I had been more patient I could have had
> something like 50%.
>
> These types of investments can make money but it requires a lot of
> patience to wait for a catalyst. Graham's advice was to give it as
> much as two years.

Syms: Hidden Values Buried on Balance Sheet

Hi Marcap

You wrote “I fail to see in your argument where
> the actual "margin of safety" lies”

The properties can easily be mortgaged or used as collateral to raise cash for a special dividend, expand operations or fund working capital. Furthermore a brand name retailer like Syms coupled with real estate that could be worth well over 150 million does provide a cushion to the stocks 101 million market value. Thanks for the input.



On Feb 09 05:55 PM Marcap wrote:

> The line "I do not believe this would not provide any "margin of
> safety" to the investor (or speculator)." should read...
>
> "I do not believe this would provide any "margin of safety" to the
> investor (or speculator)."
>
> (unfortunately I added the phrase "I do not believe" without removing
> the "not" in "would not provide") :)
>
> On Feb 09 05:44 PM Marcap wrote: