Starting an exploratory position in long-haul carrier OVNT, also insurer GFR.
OVNT is attractive to me given current p/bv. Yahoo numbers need adjusting for debt. P/s seems reasonable to me.
I'll start an exploratory position in GFR. I'm no fan of the business model (which is annuities mostly), and the business is punk (lousy ROE past few years). I have NO trust in, and plenty of distrust of, Carl Lindner who, with his son, runs this AFG subsidiary company. I'm only buying because the stock is below book value (unusual with insurance companies that aren't going bankrupt- but I could see why for GFR with the aforementioned negatives) - and because Mr. Lindner keeps buying and buying shares in the open market. It's a bet that Mr. Lindner will enrich himself eventually somehow, and MAYBE the stockholders who are along for the ride.
Asides:
Still holding XPRESA and BOYD in trucking business. BOYD might finally turn around if it can capitalize on the boom in steel that seems to be occurring.
Fwiw, cutting back exploratory position in MMS by half. I should close the position entirely - I don't know the business, and the stock no longer looks like a value to me.
I've taken on just a little EPIQ. High p/e, high p/bk, high p/sales, not-so-great ROE. Offsetting this has been high profit margins, record earnings and revenue. The company prospers from bankruptcies, so some folks consider it a play on a falling economy or the ramifications of increasing business and consumer debt.
Paul Senior
finance.yahoo.com |
