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The Wall Street Transcript Publishes Money Manager Interview with Richard
Barone
NEW YORK, May 9, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Richard Barone, CEO of Maxus
Investment Group, examines portfolio management strategies in this timely and
deeply informative 4,700-word interview from The Wall Street Transcript
(212-952-7433) or twst.com.
In a valuable review of investing strategies, Barone explains his approach to
managing money, his insights about the sector, explains his portfolio
composition, and offers specific stock recommendations.
Barone states "Maxus is primarily a money management institution that was
founded in 1973. Currently, we manage a little over $2 billion split equally
between equities and fixed income." He adds, "We are definitely value managers."
Barone states that he likes Burlington Industries (NYSE: BUR) "because it has a
focus on fashion, on value-added and on specialty products. So even though it's
in an industry that tends to be commodity-like, it has pricing power and some
branded products."
On Movado (Nasdaq: MOVA), Barone asserts, "Movado is a very well run company.
Obviously, here again there is a branded product, pricing power and very cheap
stock price. The stock is down substantially from where it was a few months ago,
so it's a great buy."
Commenting on Brantley Capital (Nasdaq: BBDC), Barone states, "The reason why we
like this company is because one of its investments, its largest holding, is a
company called Corporate Wings. We expect it will go public some time this year
and boost the underlying value of Brantley's holdings fairly substantially. So
we think Brantley is very cheap in light of that."
On Strategic Distribution (Nasdaq: STRD), Barone feels it is "one of the leading
companies in what are called In-Plant Stores. What they do is provide a store
near an assembly line that has all the products that the workers need." He adds,
"The company has really great potential."
"Northwest Pipe (Nasdaq: NWPX) is one of the leading companies putting together
infrastructure -- pipe for sewers and so forth. This is a major company in that
particular field," Barone says.
Barone asserts, "Datum (Nasdaq: DATM) supplies products primarily for the
Internet which go into the Internet infrastructure and time the flow of
information." He adds, "It's a wonderful company, a necessary company for
Internet infrastructure."
Barone offers his comments on Ethyl (NYSE: EY), Barone states, "Ethyl is a
well-known name. They make lead products which are being essentially phased out
in this country and in a lot of countries. But lead gasoline is still used
around the world. The lead product is now probably less than 20, 25% of their
business. Their major businesses now are lubricants primarily used for
automobiles such as hydraulic fluids and that type of thing."
"There was a company called TCBY (NYSE: TBY), that you may be familiar with --
it stands for The Country's Best Yogurt. This was a business that was
essentially declining in value in terms of interest. This company went from a
growing business that was fairly stable in earnings to one that began declining
in earnings. And the stock went down considerably -- we bought it at a little
over $3 a share," Barone declares.
Barone asserts, "Media 100 (Nasdaq: MDEA) is the leader in digital video. With
their products, you can make film-quality videos. Its products mesh with the
young people that are making movies like Blair Witch and things of that nature.
This is a big business -- a lot of people want to get into the movie business
and they will use Media 100 products. When you watch a lot of films, you always
see them in the credits as the company that supplied the hardware and the
software."
Commenting on companies that have gone from value companies to growth companies,
Barone speaks about LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI): "LSI Logic went up to $90 a few weeks
ago. We bought it at $10 two or three years ago when it was a value stock."
Barone also owns Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO), "which is a company that owns
branded names such as Moen, Swingline, Titleist, Jim Beam, and so forth. Again,
this was a company that had very high free cash flow, one of our important
criteria."
Among REITs, Barone notes, "St. Joe (NYSE: JOE) is the largest real estate owner
in the State of Florida. They own Arvida and they also own controlling interest
in the Florida East Coast Industries, which they're spinning off. They are a
real asset value type of company that has done well."
Barone declares, "I recently bought my first position in HEALTHSOUTH (NYSE:
HRC). This is a company that was $30 or $40 a share. We bought it at $5.50 and
it's already up to $7. Again, I think the trend here is going to be long term.
We're looking out for when the stock climbs back to $15 or $20 or $25. "
On Becton, Dickinson (NYSE: BDX), Barone asserts it "has been a terrible
performer in the last couple of years. But again, we think their earnings are
going to gain some momentum and we have a position in that."
Similarly, Barone has a position in STERIS (NYSE: STE). It is "another company
that has had a tremendous amount of problems, but again, we think it's either
going to turn around or somebody will buy them."
To obtain this insightful 4,700-word report, call 212-952-7433 or see
twst.com
The Wall Street Transcript is a premier weekly investment publication
interviewing market professionals for serious investors for over 36 years.
Investors can ask any of the above companies (or any public company) a question
at qawire.com
The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewee nor
does it make stock recommendations.
SOURCE The Wall Street Transcript
(C) 2000 PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
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