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

To: Paul Senior who wrote (34605)	6/4/2009 1:12:23 PM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78715

Big insider buy on AWK. finviz.com Large 10% owner sale on May 27 finviz.com Stock testing 50DMA with higher than average volume. Seems like it wants to go higher after the insider has dumped their 5 million shares. The $16.00-$17.00 price seems like a good value entry point for this water company. EKS

To: Paul Senior who wrote (34605)	6/6/2009 11:56:56 AM
From: gcrispin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 78715

I sold my GE, IMOS for major losses. I also sold ULTR (Thanks to those for writing about it on this thread) and my long held WMI for major gains. i still hold GFRE, CNOA, CHFI, and SNEN. I own very few American companies--only RSG and PRSC. I did buy AWK this week. I've studied some of the water stocks that you hold, Paul and the one I've been buying is HOO. Page 7 of the investor Presentation visually details the unique niche it holds in the sector which I find very appealing. The company is also very inexpensive on a PE basis yet has significantly grown their earnings on a nine month basis. (Page 20) cascal.co.uk Six percent of their revenues comes from operations in China and water infrastructure plays in emerging markets is where their future growth will be found. Below are are couple of articles I thought ;you might find interesting if you haven't already seen them. businessweek.com businessweek.com To be fair, privatizing water in emerging markets won't be easy. Below, the article outlines some of the past and current failures. businessweek.com

To: Paul Senior who wrote (34605)	7/6/2010 9:07:35 PM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78715

RE: Water Utilities Hi Paul - This was in our local paper today and got me thinking that there are many local municipalities having budget problems and privatizing their water systems (where possible) might benefit those companies acquiring the municipal franchise. Could be a "Value" opportunity. San Jose considering privatizing its municipal water system Updated: 07/05/2010 10:12:19 PM PDT mercurynews.com From the article:"...The plan, although still in the early stages, could mean a windfall of $50 million or more for the city, although it almost certainly would result in higher water bills for some San Jose residents. "I'm trying to be creative about balancing the budget. This is an obvious potential source of money, and I have to look at it seriously," said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed on Friday...." I think SJW is the proposed buyer that sent the letter to the major. I have discussed SJW over the years and they remain profitable and own a lot of valuable assets (mostly land). They would make the perfect operator if they could acquire the City's water assets on good terms. "...A month later, a potential buyer came forward. The San Jose Water Co. is a privately held company that provides water to 1 million people in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Monte Sereno, parts of Cupertino and 80 percent of San Jose., The company's president, Richard Roth, sent a letter of interest to Reed in April offering to pay $54 million to buy the city's water system outright. He also said his company would be willing, as part of a sale, to support a 2 percent "franchise fee" on all San Jose Water customers that would provide the city with $4 million a year...." ================================================================ I am not too sure what the exact play would be but city's around the nation may look to San Jose's solution to privatize their water services. This would be a once in a life time opportunity for a few of these mid sized companies to jump in and acquire these "water" franchises and help the selling cities solve their short term financial short falls. Here are a few possible candidates for review. finance.yahoo.com You have studied this space much more than me. What's your take and if I was to buy a basket of the more profitable water companies, which ones do you suggest and which ones might be the value plays? EKS