Comments on Kevin Cook's articles RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/author/kevin-cook/articles http://seekingalpha.com/article/86186-financial-bottom-but-where-s-the-vix-fear?source=feed#comment-212257 212257 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:24:18 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/85372-how-do-you-spell-a-short-term-bottom-in-financials?source=feed#comment-207699 207699 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:25:47 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/85372-how-do-you-spell-a-short-term-bottom-in-financials?source=feed#comment-207455 207455 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:40:19 -0400
Today was a short-covering bounce. Tomorrow (Thursday), I'm betting the financials will take another hit in anticipation of MER's awful earnings after-hours. (Also, the financials SP's sprung far too high today to not get some bounce-back).

I could be wrong, so I'm straddling/strangling my options on this one...but I'm definitely weighted to the downside puts.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/85190-dividends-in-danger-at-regional-banks?source=feed#comment-206917 206917 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:46:04 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/85190-dividends-in-danger-at-regional-banks?source=feed#comment-206861 206861 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:50:32 -0400
USB's CEO said he expects to do the same, for the 37th straight year. USB's nonperforming assets are at $1.14b - 0.69% of all loans. Regulatory capital stands at 8.5%. And it made a decent profit even after increasing loss provisions. If you read the transcript, you know that Davis talked about keeping his powder dry and said it was prudent to increase reserves, but also noted opportunities for growth - opportunities management felt were worth suspending share buybacks to pursue. Does this sound like a company that's panicking, on the ropes, or mismanaged? I sure don't think so, and neither does Mr. Market: shares have risen over 15% off their lows. The dividend is well-covered by earnings and leaves enough cash to continue growing the business and adding to reserves as necessary. The shares are now trading under 2x book (one of the key signs I was waiting for) and below 10x earnings, a reasonable valuation for a conservative bank offering a yield north of 7%.

While downside risk remains, I took the opportunity yesterday to begin building a position in USB. I've already been rewarded, and expect those rewards to continue for many years to come. The next few quarters will not be very good, but banking crises can last only so long, and with minimal exposure to risky business and the Fed running the printing presses at full blast there is a limit to how much USB can realistically lose.

There's another way to look at this, too: USB is well capitalised and conservative, with high-quality assets. If it fails, it's likely that the entire banking system has collapsed. So I like it as a complement to my long position in gold and my short positions in Treasuries.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/85190-dividends-in-danger-at-regional-banks?source=feed#comment-206813 206813 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:59:07 -0400
USB's earnings increased last Q. they were down from 2007, but the were positive unlike a lot of other banks, like WFC. the company grew its asset base and shareholder equity.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/85190-dividends-in-danger-at-regional-banks?source=feed#comment-206718 206718 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:17:44 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/85190-dividends-in-danger-at-regional-banks?source=feed#comment-206694 206694 Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:37:14 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/84377-carl-icahn-raider-or-trader?source=feed#comment-202611 202611 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:34:38 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/84377-carl-icahn-raider-or-trader?source=feed#comment-202144 202144 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:48:10 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/84377-carl-icahn-raider-or-trader?source=feed#comment-202081 202081 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:40:00 -0400 - Not want Yahoo to go away.
- Not want Yahoo to go to Microsoft.
- Not like being threatened by outsider.
- Not feel Yahoo is rightly valued
- Feel Yahoo could go above $35 as a standalone entity.

However, from a shareholder’s profit maximizing view, all the above may seem irrational, emotional, somewhat egotistical. No doubt, Yahoo’s presentation to SEC was well done. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, the majority shareholder calls the shots.

Takeover defenses may make it extremely difficult to raid, but a right premium can change everything.
]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/82062-killed-by-the-huntsman?source=feed#comment-188930 188930 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:12:09 -0400 seekingalpha.com/artic...

Nice reporting, after the fact though. The above linked balanced article is from before it happened.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/81758-yahoo-options-spell-opportunity-even-if-youre-not-a-billionaire?source=feed#comment-187538 187538 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:20:14 -0400