Mark Krieger

Food Stocks Deserve to Be on Your Plate

Damn..sorry about that..I thought the SA editors would of caught that error. best....mark

Imperial Sugar: Spike in Sugar Prices Sweetens Prospects

A couple of points I need to drive home that were not included are: (1) IPSU is getting $210 to $225 million million in insurance proceeds to rebuild its plant--- The damage to the plant was $13 million net impairment against book value. So the company will eventually have to show a large gain of as much as $212 million or $18.00 per share (2) The company expects to receive from $60-70 million in business interruption proceeds-this could be settled as early as the current quarter.--this could result in a gain of about $6.00 per share.About income tax: the accountants have some clever ways of avoiding the tax liability from these gains( they place the gains in a deferred column)

Priceline Gets Pricey

Bedeviled: Nice work..you sound like a Harvard MBA...If PCLN holders did decide to read the 10Q, they would be horrified by the very high risk this stock holds.


On Aug 24 05:50 PM Bedeviled wrote:

> Absolutely true that the PCLN emperor has no clothes. They cannot
> protect their market--in fact their one main tool that they have
> used to do so, US Patents, are about go away. PCLN as much as admits
> this in their 10Q discussing the changes in US patent law. PCLN has
> previously been asserted its patents against Microsoft and its Expedia
> site to keep them out of the market. Now the Supreme Court is deciding
> in its next term whether "business methods," such as the PCLN auction
> model, are protectable by patents. The law as it stands now has recently
> switched this answer to a "no." There is nothing to keep away the
> "slew of competitors." It makes you wonder if anyone reads a 10Q
> anymore.

Priceline Gets Pricey

You hit the nail on the head--great work! You should be writing the blog, not me!!!!


On Aug 24 01:18 AM User 439661 wrote:

> you failed to mention how much of priceline's earnings are due to
> the dot com era style of pro forma reporting. For the recent quarter,
> they reported gaap of 1.38 and pro forma of 2.02...
> over thirty percent of their earnings go to stock based compensation,
> and any future growth is going to be seriously mitigated by this
> ongoing dilution...

Basic Food Fund: Fat and Happy for Now

Roger: way to think outside the box,, BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Basic Food Fund: Food Stocks Devour Bears

I like it alot, although I'm surprised the share price has not acted more favorably... The company is doing the right thing and sooner rather than later Wall Street will catch on and reward the stock appropriately.

Basic Food Fund: Food Stocks Devour Bears

you are right, PBY , JBLU and SCS are not food stocks-i included them because they were a big part of my portfolio and I wanted to track them. About WFMI, It's a high priced food retailer and I expect many consumer's will drop down to lower priced retailers to help ease their finacial burdens brought on by the recession. MY point is simple: Beaten down defensive stock present less risk and higher reward potential than most other equities!!


On Mar 30 03:08 PM Alan Young wrote:

> Why are SCS, JBLU, and PBY in a food index? (Did you mean PBJ?)<br/>Other
> components are a really mixed bag. CAG is about even; but IPSU is
> down -50% YTD--never mind the one-day block sale. So what's your
> point? "You have to be a glutton for punishment" to buy all these
> names just because the sector seems safe.
> Ironically, WFMI --not on your list-- is outperforming all of them:
> +60% YTD.

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

Nathaniel:How do you know it was barclay's who sold? I don't think management cares too much about the shareholder, or else they would of already put the company up for sale.The good thing is, Management now has a ton of shares thru grants, so if they can put a deal together, they could make alot of $$$ on the stock.

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

what do you mean less than perfect balance sheet? It is better than perfect: they have zero debt, $35 million in cash and are selling at 1/2 book value. Their low margin and cash flow is temporary-it is because of the closedown of thier plant due to the accident.Once the plant is back on line and at full production capacity, margins and cash flow will substantially improve.


On Mar 26 08:43 PM Shadowstock wrote:

> 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!
>

Basic Food Fund Skyrockets

There is no such index, because I invented it, a little bit out of neccesity to track my own holdings. I cleverly coined it the "BFF" and it kind of stuck, even though three of the components are non food related.These are my core holdings and I figured why not make my own index out of these for fun. Who knows: maybe S&P will adopt it, as a true index someday-I won't hold my breath!


On Mar 13 03:35 PM Hmm?! wrote:

> BFF?? I can find no such index on bigcharts or my online brokeredge?
> I did some looking on google too.

Food Stocks Not As Safe as I Thought

i think the insurance is more than adequate: IPSU has three separate types of insurance: They are (1) workers comp (2) Liability (3) Property loss/ business interruption..the fist two deal with claims for injuries and item one has no limits other than State statutes.

Basic Food Fund: Will a 5000 Dow Decimate It?

it's a joke: The market is giving no value to IPSU's cash, and it two refinery plants. The company will also be getting a $40-60 million influx of cash through business insurance interruption proceeds, as well as another $250 million to rebuild its damaged plant. This one is a classic Buffett stock--his mantra: Buy when others are fearful.. This one is the buy of the century--its only caveat; its management team is ineffective at communicating to Wall Street.

Basic Food Fund: Will a 5000 Dow Decimate It?

I think I was referring to the Wholesome Sweetner business being worth $80 million, not the mexican joint venture!


On Feb 25 09:45 AM whatswrong wrote:

> Mark,
>
> You also stated in an earlier article that IPSU 50% position in the
> Mexican joint venture had a total value of 80 mil at todays mrkt
> cap that would value IPSU core business at less that 50 mil. Any
> comments are appreciated.

The Basic Food Fund Gets Leaner

I am at a loss of words--today's drop of over 15% is fives times worst than the overall markets fall. This is supposed to be a defensive stock--I am losing my mind in this crazy market. I am tempted to buy more to average down, but they say you never want to throw good money after bad,,my thinking is, if i don't buy more, the shares will surely begin to rally


On Feb 17 11:54 AM whatswrong wrote:

> Any thoughts on IPSU hitting new 52 week low. It's trading like it's
> going out of business or has serious legal issues. In the past IPSU
> has not traded with the market like it is trading now.

The Basic Food Fund Gets Leaner

I expect the insurance proceeds will cover the lawsuits, otherwise I wouldn't be long. The shares are already priced to maximum pessimissm.


On Feb 16 08:44 PM User 358237 wrote:

> Mark, Much activity going on with this company. Whats your anticipated
> outcome on this company with all the legal challenges facing them
> ahead?
> Just curious.