Tag Archives: blogging

Value Vault Update; Approved for Transplant and Emerging Market Value Investing

Value Vault Update

Many have been having troubles opening the Value Vault. The main problem is the size of the folder; there is a 2 Gig limit. Splitting folders means multiple emailing of keys. I get 10 requests a day so time constraints make this a hassle.  Yes, there is Google, Dropbox and many other choices than Yousendit.com.

To make this blog more assessable for learning, I will post the videos up on this blog and the important books. All case studies, documents and more obscure books, I will place in a folder (less than 2 Gigs)  or two and then email out all the keys.

This blog will no longer have advertising on it. The videos will have the corresponding case studies and financials for ease of study.  Once that is up, you have about 10 valuation case studies with videos to develop your skills along with all the prior posts.

I have all your emails, so you won’t be forgotten when I email out the new keys. You will see the videos going up by tomorrow.

I have been finally approved as a kidney donor so I wait for the date of my surgery. More blood samples, CAT scans and X-rays have been taken of me than any lab rat. Ready to go so the recipient doesn’t have to suffer dialysis or death.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/kidney-transplant/what-is-a-kidney-transplant.html

Quiz for emerging market value investors

Your company has been given a concession to open a resort on the North coast of Cuba. What recommendation would you make to your investment committee? What should your required rate of return be?

A Tip for Beginners in Learning An Industry: Cruise Ships

Using this Blog

www.csinvesting.org has an eclectic mix of posts on valuation, competitive analysis and accounting. Use the search box in the upper right corner for relevant posts on subjects that interest you. For example, if you want to learn more about EBITDA as a cash flow metric then type those words into the search box and you will see several posts like this one: Placing EBITDA into perspective: http://wp.me/p1PgpH-yS.

Value Vault

Also, there are over 60 books, many case studies and 30 videos on investing in the VALUE VAULT. Email me at Aldridge56@aol.com with (only) VALUE VAULT in the subject line. Within 48 hours, I will do my best to send you the keys to the cloud-based folder so you can download anything you might like to study. No reply? Just email me a reminder. I know this blog needs better organization and all the information can be overwhelming for new investors. The trick to developing skill is to cut through all the noise to focus on the key issues that will drive the success of the investment. Practice reading original 10-Ks and 10-Qs and Proxies.  Look at profitability, margins, trends, ownership, and the history of the industry. Take and keep notes. What are you learning?

Other blogs

A self-taught investor with excellent examples http://www.gannonandhoangoninvesting.com/     

Another for beginners: http://www.oldschoolvalue.com/blog/

http://www.oddballstocks.com/
http://www.practicetruthfearnothing.com/
http://brooklyninvestor.blogspot.com/
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/06/picture-guide-to-financial-markets-since-1800/
http://www.thedividendguyblog.com/2009/04/27/

lessons-and-ideas-from-benjamin-graham-by-jason-zweig/

APPLY, APPLYBut YOU must apply what you read to the actual world. Practice.

Investing is something that you DO. OK, you are a beginner and you have read a basic book

on accounting (Go to the folder called BOOKS in the VALUE VAULT and choose

How to Read a Financial Statement. Next ask yourself,

“Would I want to invest in the cruise ship industry?” (Find out)

“Can I understand what drives profitability? What factors can the

companies control? Is there a better company than the others?” Compare the

two (CCL and RCL -see below) using common-size financial statements to

see trends or indications of strength or weaknesses. Common-size financial statements:

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/normalized-commonsize-financial-statement-25471.html.

Read through two years of annual reports and proxies for both companies,

noting what you don’t understand–then go look up and research the answers.

Read about the industry BEFORE you read this article (click on link):

Case Study for Beginners Study an Industry Cruise Ships.

Background on Carnival Corporation

CCL_VL  CCL_Morn   CCL_2011 Annual Report

Royal Caribbean

RCL_VL    RCL_Morn   RCL_Investor Relations Presentation March 2012

Then read the article and see if you agree or can reverse engineer

what the writer did. I think you will have more fun and make your learning more relevant.

 Have a Great Weekend!