jjason

Lehman Brothers Take-over: Implications for Financials

I don't know what LFI means either.

I do know some helpful ratios and statistics like: book value, tangible book value, debt to equity, total debt to equity, return on assets, return on investment, gross margin, net margin, dividend yield, etc. They are all important to understand. All of this data must be taken into account...as well as the valuation of the underlying assets on the balance sheet and the liabilities before making an investment decision.

I am only familiar with ACAS and I do believe Malon Wilkes when he said that FAS157 has resulted in the decrease in asset values and that without a market for these assets they are hard to value but since these assets will be held to maturity, ACAS will get their money back.

I trust he is right. ACAS has a total debt to equity ratio of less than one and is selling for less than tangible book value ( ACAS has no goodwill or intangible assets on the balance sheet ).

Long ACAS, no other positions, no short selling at all ( I think short selling should be made illegal ).

Still, the Crooks Be Winnin'

With the fiasco at NEW, TMA, WB,BS,CFC, and other firms....why pick on ALD.

But I do agree that Walton has made some bad investment decisions and Walton and other executives have paid themselves too much in salaries, bonuses, stock options, etc.

I think the BDC's are in for trouble but with prudent management, ALD, ACAS, MCGC will survive.

Long ACAS and MCGC. no position in ALD.

Also, Naked short selling is illegal according to writers on SA. As the SEC enforces the laws on naked short selling then ALD, ACAS, and MCGC common shares should rise.

Finally, I would make short selling illegal too. And I would increase margin requirements on trading commodity futures contracts to 50% for six month and then to 70% and make it illegal for hedge funds and pension funds to invest ( ie. speculate ) in commodities.

Cure for the Bad-CEO Blues: Sue Your Shareholders

Gary, I read the article in Portfolio. The author did not have any significant data on ALD that proves that Einhorn is right in his opinion of this (scuzzy) company! I posted my own comment where I said " It would be nice to have some facts about what fraud has occurred at ALD".

I, too, think you have misled us regarding ALD.

I follow ACAS, ALD, MCGC, AINV and some of the competitors of these firms. I have discovered that there are many people who short these stocks. I have also discovered (mostly on Yahoo.com message boards) that there are comments made that dump on these firms WITHOUT ANY DATA. So I wonder "Exactly what do short sellers contribute to an analysis of an investment". My answer is NOTHING. ( Go to the article in Portfolio if you have time and read the comments)

As an investor, I am looking for a return of my investment and on my investment from dividends and capital appreciation. I want companies to do well and share that good fortune with shareholders. Most CEO's share the wealth with themselves and declare dividends that are less than 4 percent. This is shameful.

ALD and ACAS have consistently paid me a dividend of eight percent or more and I have profited from capital gains as well over the past four years. I hope these two firms continue to be successful. I wish there were more companies that were as well managed.

Finally...I would make short selling illegal and pass laws that make hedge funds accountable to the SEC. I approve what Congress has just done this week in attempting to limit speculators from falsely raising the price of oil.