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

To: Paul Senior who wrote (11481)	11/28/2000 10:22:06 AM
From: Grommit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78598

I was looking at USG and LAF, and decided that LAF is the better stock. Both companies are lamenting the price drop in drywall. However, gypsum is only 10% of LAF revenue. LAF is primarily selling Construction Materials & Cement. They are the largest supplier in North America. 3% dividend yield. ROE 15%. PE of around 5. With profits steady for a year or so, then hopefully going up. The PE over the past 5 years has varried from 4.8 to 16+. Sales growth over past 5 years is over 11%. They have been able to pass on only some fuel costs thru surcharges. So price drop in oil prices would clearly help LAF. Buffet caused me to pull the trigger this AM, instead of a week or two from now.

To: Paul Senior who wrote (11481)	1/12/2001 11:28:42 AM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 78598

Nobody here seemed to have any interest my pick of SFN posted in November. That was good because the stock has dropped to new lows. Today I've doubled my small position. Co. business profile from the company website: spherion.com menu=company&headerstyle=1&site=Spherion (Among their claims, they say they are the US's fifth largest private employer.) SFN negatives, imo: It's a tough, competitive business which results in lousy ROE. At leasted two motivated sellers of large positions have recently shown up. Companies in the staffing/consulting areas that "buy" their rapid sales by acquisitions too often seem to me to eventually succumb to problems of integration/differentiation and/or centralization vs. decentralization. SFN positives, imo: Low pe. and low relative stock price. The cash flow numbers (per Market Guide) might be attractive. (-g- I defer here to the thread's cash flow afficionados.) SFN announced an expanded stock repurchase program last Nov. Value investor Ruane-Cunniff is still reported to be the largest institutional stockholder. SFN seems to be in some business segments - IT consulting, outplacement services, financial/accounting personnel - that perhaps could see sustained demand in a economic downturn. marketguide.com Paul Senior

To: Paul Senior who wrote (11481)	1/12/2001 11:33:03 AM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78598

Nobody here seemed to have any interest my pick of SFN posted in November. That was good because the stock has dropped to new lows. Today I've doubled my small position. Co. business profile from the company website: spherion.com menu=company&headerstyle=1&site=Spherion (Among their claims, they say they are the US's fifth largest private employer.) SFN negatives, imo: It's a tough, competitive business which results in lousy ROE. At leasted two motivated sellers of large positions have recently shown up. Companies in the staffing/consulting areas that "buy" their rapid sales by acquisitions too often seem to me to eventually succumb to problems of integration/differentiation and/or centralization vs. decentralization. SFN positives, imo: Low pe. and low relative stock price. The cash flow numbers (per Market Guide) might be attractive. (-g- I defer here to the thread's cash flow afficionados.) SFN announced an expanded stock repurchase program last Nov. Value investor Ruane-Cunniff is still reported to be the largest institutional stockholder. SFN seems to be in some business segments - IT consulting, outplacement services, financial/accounting personnel - that perhaps could see sustained demand in an economic downturn. marketguide.com Paul Senior

To: Paul Senior who wrote (11481)	6/24/2002 4:59:42 PM
From: Paul Senior	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 78598

I sold some JAH today. It's the Ball and Kerr brand canning company formerly known as Allistra. Nobody here seemed to like the company or stock when I mentioned it in Nov. '00. For a mundane company and in this market, there's been a nice move in the stock though. finance.yahoo.com Too bad I have losing positions in other stocks that more than offset the gains here.

To: Paul Senior who wrote (11481)	11/11/2005 1:30:24 PM
From: Paul Senior	Respond to of 78598

JAH. "Jarden Corporation is a leading provider of niche consumer products used in and around the home. Jarden operates in three primary business segments through a number of well recognized brands, including; Branded Consumables: Ball , Bee, Bicycle, Crawford, Diamond, Forster , Hoyle , Kerr , Lehigh, Leslie-Locke and Loew-Cornell; Consumer Solutions: Bionaire, Crock-Pot, First Alert , FoodSaver , Harmony , Health o meter , Holmes, Mr. Coffee, Oster, Patton , Rival , Seal-a-Meal , Sunbeam , VillaWare and White Mountain™; and Outdoor Solutions: Campingaz and Coleman. Headquartered in Rye, N.Y., Jarden has over 16,000 employees worldwide. For more information, please visit www.jarden.com." Yahoo reported last night that insiders filed to sell about 6 million shares. Now I can't find the link. Disappeared. How'd that happen? Anyway, I've taken this as an opportunity to sell about 40% of my position at the open today. Sometimes even a few shares bought at the right and lucky time, and with the company getting a new top guy who surprises by actually delivering results - this can lead to unexpectedly good results over time, even (or especially) in mundane businesses. Stock was as high as 42 this year and has gradually dropped now to $32.75. Sold today my 11/27/00 shares purchased @$2.27 (was Alltrista before name change). Sold my 2/'03 shartes purchased @$11.37. Sold some 6/'03 shares purchased @$11.71.