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Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Senior who wrote (8967)	11/17/1999 10:29:00 AM
From: Madharry	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78609

I got a little lucky with MRVC they released news about new fibre channel products yesterday. SOmething I was unaware of. However, MRVC has announced their intention to be an incubator of high tech businesses and then bring them public. Now that is a significant shift in the way they do their business and is of additional value to shareholder above the value they are creating by developing new business and just running them as divisions. MMG I have been following for a couple of years but never purchased. I sense a significant undervaluation there. I think the stock went public around 9-10 years ago and of that cheapskate Kluge has a controlling stake which means that they did not overpay for their assets. The had a big merger with a russian company controlled by Newscorp so now Newscorp owns 10%. It seems that with China allowing increased equity positions in their telecom operations it should make MMG's interests there much more valuavle. The also have ongoing discussions with the Chinese regarding two operations that the Chinese have terminated. I hope their cause wil be helped there too. This may be a long term play. But then again I thought that would be true of Comcast.

To: Paul Senior who wrote (8967)	11/17/1999 2:17:00 PM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78609

Adding a little today to my long held position in Block Drug (BLOCA). A company I can't really recommend. They buy up old brands (Polident, Lava soap, etc.) and try to rejuvenate them. Also, they're in the business of supplying products to dentists. They are very much family controlled and imo, investors here experience all the problems inherent with such a setup. Especially as many investors (I suspect) question the energy/skill/priorities/abilities of that family. Plus, the stock itself is very thinly traded with a large bid-ask spread. Buying the stock here, what you get - besides very slow sales growth and no per-share earnings growth, is a 4% (approx) dividend yield, an occasional 3% stock dividend, a stock selling near stated book value and at a three-year low, and as a potential kicker, a substantial interest in a company which has an "innovative new treatment for periodontal disease". (A disease, if you are over age 35, you maybe know about.) I look for a 50% appreciation within 2 years. Saw it before. Maybe this next time (assuming there is a next time), I'll use my head and actually profit from the stock. Paul Senior