Bonhomme

Pre-Paid Legal Services: SEC Won't Find Any Wrongdoing

PDT,

With great hesitation do I reply to your comment. Also, with great sincerity do I ask for you to earnestly explain how you determine/identify a ponzi scheme. In using the M-W definition (below) as a sort of base line, I am in no way attempting to be pedantic. Words and phrases are used in different ways...just trying to make sure I understand your meaning.

Main Entry: Pon·zi scheme
Pronunciation: \ˈpän-zē-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Charles Ponzi †1949 American (Ital.-born) swindler
Date: 1973
: an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks


On Oct 14 03:23 PM PDT wrote:

> Sorry - thought I did respond to the free cash flow point. At the
> risk of sounding blunt, every ponzi/pyramid scheme gives the illusion
> of high FCF until the scam collapses.
>
> PPD's revenue growth...

Rewarding Failure and Punishing Success

PDT,

With great hesitation do I reply to your comment. Also, with great sincerity do I ask for you to earnestly explain how you determine/identify a ponzi scheme. In using the M-W definition (below) as a sort of base line, I am in no way attempting to be pedantic. Words and phrases are used in different ways...just trying to make sure I understand your meaning.

Main Entry: Pon·zi scheme
Pronunciation: \ˈpän-zē-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Charles Ponzi †1949 American (Ital.-born) swindler
Date: 1973
: an investment swindle in which some early investors are paid off with money put up by later ones in order to encourage more and bigger risks


On Nov 20 10:36 AM PDT wrote:

> You wrote: "In the world today, companies who made massive mistakes
> and are proved to be extremely greedy are rewarded while companies
> like Pre-Paid Legal Systems (PPD), IBM (IBM) and Google (GOOG) get
> subpoenaed and are punished because they are so successful."
>
> Really? Good God, man. I can't figure out if this is willful ignorance,
> naiveté, or the product of a serious head injury. Go back and do
> more homework on PPD. You could hurt people with foolishness like
> this.

Home Healthcare Industry: Ghosts in the Demographic Machine

Ahhh. Nooneimpotant again. Obviously, I have a vested interest in these stock prices staying low. I shorted AFAM at $48. There you have it. I don't even apologize for it. While it lacks in articulation, it's meaningful...more meaningful than a 10 page diatribe about "nothing." Not to scoreboard you or anything, but technically I was offering a more neutral comment. The last time I recommended shorting these guys was right around the time you bought GTIV at a price that I would guess was significantly higher than today's. I've been following this industry for a bit. I admit, I got lucky with my timing. I don't know as much as you, but I know enough to not trust the government to do what should be done. Somewhat similar to playing golf with me. If you want to know the safest place to stand, stand right next to the pin. Certainly I'd like to get there. Certainly I'm trying to get there. But neither will my ball get there, nor will the government get to where it "should" be.

Home Healthcare Industry: Ghosts in the Demographic Machine

I'm not sure how much relavance any of this has. Demographs or whatever...cuts are coming. Those shorts saw the budget cuts coming as soon as MedPAC made their recommendations. Long on any of these is a gamble until the future is more clear.

Demographic Trends in Amedisys's Favor

Bad debt is going to kill all of these home-health companies. Receivables are melting all over the economy. Short, short, short.

Almost Family: A Growing Company That Will Benefit from Aging Baby Boomers

Logically, that assessment gets an A. Our politicians aren't logical. If you look at the Adult Day Care experiment the results are compelling: A fraction of the traditional PC cost with physical results that are verifiably better for the patient. Irrespective of this compelling evidence, the government has done nothing to move towards embracing this option--and it's been years. While I agree that AFAM and AMED and others have potentially mercurial financial futures, things could change quick. Medicare is an outdated prescription for a new world. When changes have to be made, I wouldn't want to bet on the "solutions" coming out of Washington--or any/all of the states with respect to Medicaid, for that matter. Our politicians listen to special interests first, with logic (ROI and relative costs) only entering the equation later, if at all. The future looks bright for home health, but I'd discount earnings potential quite significantly due to such future unknown bumps in the road.

Almost Family: A Growing Company That Will Benefit from Aging Baby Boomers

This is farily solid, if not biased, info. Many currently view home healthcare as somewhat recession-proof. However, what happens when Congress has to snip and cut pieces out of Medicare. We saw a strong group of lobbyists succeed last week on behalf of doctors. Does the home healthcare industry have similar muscle?