Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Oddly Relevant May-8-2013


The art of the spin-off: 11 this year so far, and there’s Murphy Oil’s retail arm, News corp’s Publishing and Australia Sports arm, and Time Warner’s Magazine arm. [Note: more noteworthy is the fact that this story is on The Economist; spins can be very profitable thanks to negligence; as more sunlight shines through, I hope there’s still some alpha left]…Source: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21577034-tips-creating-new-companies-out-old-ones-art-spin

A Humbled Kleiner Perkins Adjusts Its Strategy: While the 1994 fund delivered 32x and 1996 fund 17x, 2000 and 2004 funds had been unprofitable, and the 2008 fund is running on losses. The firm had since cut some management fees and reorganized its investment approach, eliminating three “silos” that separated teams making investments in clean technology, health care and technology. [Note: tough business with more rational money]…Source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/a-humbled-kleiner-perkins-adjusts-its-strategy/

Notes from the Ira Sohn Conference, Spring 2013: [Note: It’s a fantastic summary, read it.]
Hayman: long SPMD or DXM post-bankruptcy refinancing; calls Japanese bond Ponzi scheme.
Himalaya: South Korean preferred at 40-88% discount to true worth.
Corvex: Likes pipelines, cell towers, alternative carrier; likes TWTC and LVLT in particular for acquisition potential.
Pershing: P&G manufacturing efficiency value unlock can bring 5% organic growth, 60% upside.
Druckenmiller: sees secular bull market in Japan, sees Chinese social financing problem and demand dropping could kill commodities and related companies. Loves GOOG.
Canyon: Likes Clear Channel Outdoor stub.
Emrys: Long US RE theme (in particular Ocwen), short Canada RE (HCG)
Conatus: Short South Africa and sees bank bust coming due to lending fraud and defaults.

How analyzing Wikipedia page views could help you make money: strategy: monitor page views on companies as part of Dow on Wikipedia, long if major increase, short if major decrease. [Note: Probably better than twitter scrap?]…Source: http://gigaom.com/2013/05/08/how-analzying-wikipedia-page-views-could-help-you-make-money/

Nat Gas, is this true? Chemical engineering researchers have identified a new mechanism to convert natural gas into energy up to 70 times faster, while effectively capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). [Note: What’s the cost?]…Source: http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Researchers-Find-Process-to-Turn-Natural-Gas-into-Energy-70-Times-Faster.html

The US Jobs Market in One Picture: Source: http://pragcap.com/the-us-jobs-market-in-one-picture

How oil travels around the world, in one map: Source: http://oilchangeproject.nationalsecurityzone.org/choke-points/

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains: [Note: have I talked about this book before? It’s worth rementioning if yes. 4 key points: (1) Greater access to knowledge is not the same as greater knowledge, (2) An ever-increasing plethora of facts & data is not the same as wisdom, (3) Breadth of knowledge is not the same as depth of knowledge, and (4) multitasking is not the same as complexity.]…Source: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393339750/farnamstreet-20

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