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To: marginmike who wrote (141303)	1/2/2002 1:50:00 PM
From: John	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

OT - Here's a good read. drudgereport.com My wife is buying me his new book soon. John

To: marginmike who wrote (141303)	1/2/2002 2:11:13 PM
From: GraceZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Outback is terrible, and I wouldnt touch their stock at any price. There's a forty minute wait to get into the one near me on a Tuesday night. Its always packed.

To: marginmike who wrote (141303)	1/2/2002 2:16:05 PM
From: reaper	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

MM, in my opinion Outback is terrible as well, but frankly my opinion doesn't count. The opinions of the people who stand in line for a friggin' hour on a Saturday nite to eat at the Outback in Burlington MA (and all of the other Outback's that I see) are the opinions that matter. I don't think that Outback cares that we think they suck, 'cause they do $3.5mm a unit without us eating there. I don't know who eats there or why, all I know is that they DO, and do enough such that Outback generates unit-level capital returns (pre-tax) of over 30%. They generate over $200mm a year in cash flow and do so reliably, and there is a price at which that cash flow should be bought (though I don't think its $35). Near as I can tell the ROIs don't suck at Papa John's, though I am willing to be persuaded otherwise. They are likely to generate +/- $85-90mm in cash this year, after generating $77mm last year, $90mm in 1999 (before the leveraged recap) and $65mm in 1998. They're going to generate a lot of free cash this year as they have slowed unit expansion. They will pay off +/- $50mm of debt this year, and are prudently levered. I know this isn't the best company in the world, but jeez I can have it today for 6.5-7.0x the after-tax cash flow that they generate every year. Where I come from that's cheap. Cheers