The Peridot Capitalist

Despite Capital Infusions, U.S. Government Should Not Dictate Bank Behavior

chadb — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:13:44 -0500

With at least a mini Citigroup (C) break-up plan coming to fruition, there is chatter that the U.S. government has a hand in some of these decisions. read more »

Brokerage Joint Venture With Morgan Stanley Is Positive Step For Citigroup

chadb — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:15:15 -0500

I have written previously, as have numerous other investment managers, that in order for Citigroup (C) to have the best chance of being nimble enough to grow and be managed efficiently it needed to be broken up. The vast number of businesses they have, coupled with the dozens of countries they c
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Fourth Quarter Earnings Will Be Horrible, But We Already Know That

chadb — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 08:20:21 -0500

Aluminum giant Alcoa (AA) kicks off fourth quarter earnings season after the closing bell today and there is little doubt that they will be the first in a series of profit reports over the next few weeks that will be absolutely brutal. Fortunately, most investors already know that, so the market
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Action in Palm Stock Highlights Why Analyst Recommendations Continually Fail Investors

chadb — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:25:58 -0500

In recent months it would have been difficult to find a stock that Wall Street analysts were more pessimistic about than struggling smart-phone maker Palm (PALM) . According to Thomson/First Call, 23 analysts follow the stock, 10 have sell ratings, and only 2 had buy ratings (the rest were neutr
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No, It Is Not A Bull Market

chadb — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:28:26 -0500

I have heard it twice on CNBC already this morning, and the market has not even opened yet. For some reason people are claiming that since the market is up more than 20% from its lows that we have entered a new bull market. This idea that any rise of at least 20% constitutes a bull market is just
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Announcing the Peridot Capital 2009 Select List

chadb — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:53:26 -0500

After a near 40% decline in the broad market in 2008, there are tremendous bargains for investors willing to commit capital when the headlines are dismal. With the spread between treasury bond yields and equity dividend yields the widest since the 1950’s (the S&P 500 pays 3.1% versus the 10-
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Retail Bottomfishers Have Better Options Than Saks

chadb — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:16:32 -0500

Last weekend’s issue of Barron’s highlighted a money manager’s bullish stance on shares of luxury retailer Saks (SKS) . read more »

Lesson from the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme

chadb — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:00:59 -0500

As more and more news comes out about Bernie Madoff and how he managed to defraud many very smart people out of billions of dollars, it is useful to ask a simple question; what should we learn from wh read more »

General Motors Fighting Uphill Battle with Double Edged Sword

chadb — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:30:17 -0500

Shortly after the U.S. government lent the Big Three $17.4 billion, we learned Monday that an additional $6 billion of taxpayer money is headed to GMAC, the large General Motors finance arm. read more »

Anheuser-Busch InBev Poised To Rebound After 85% Collapse

chadb — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:11:25 -0500

As you may have already read in Business Week’s 2009 Investment Outlook issue (dated 12/29-1/5), I highlighted the recently formed Anheuser-Busch InBev (AHBIF) as a potentially attractive bargain pick. Despite various other mergers failing to get done in the current credit environment,
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