Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Spekulatius who wrote (49043)	8/9/2012 4:09:45 PM
From: Grommit	1 Recommendation Respond to of 78517

To: Spekulatius who wrote (49043)	8/9/2012 4:26:38 PM
From: Grommit	Respond to of 78517

RMR. RMR consists of greedy bastards. The compensation is too high and not aligned with shareholder interests. RMR also conveniently took their compensation in the form of stock at the market minimum in 2008. I own some GOV hoping that the one degree of isolation from CWH would provide insulation from the portnoys. I agree that one must be careful here. Thanks for posting. Alpha has a write up which relates to this. I do not agree that their RMR interests are aligned here because of their history of greed: seekingalpha.com GOV has no employees. It is managed by RMR, a company owned by Barry and Adam Portnoy (father and son, respectively). Barry is a trustee of the REIT and his company, RMR, receives management fees for running GOV, so RMR has an incentive to increase its management fees, a potential agency problem. That is all well and good, but it does not tell the whole tale. The Portnoys also own a company called CWH, which owns 21% of GOV. The ownership interest and dividend income from GOV far outstrip the management fees they receive, so this should put future potential shareholders at ease that the incentive structure is still more or less properly aligned with their own (always remember that it will never be perfect in a company owned by some and managed by others). .......... also: seekingalpha.com

To: Spekulatius who wrote (49043)	8/15/2012 2:01:39 PM
From: E_K_S	Respond to of 78517

Re: GOV Conference Call and their discussion on $250M new properties acquired since 4/2012 You make a very good point about the management (and their fees) for GOV but my premise for buying at current levels (and below $21.00/share) is because they are buying properties at bargain prices. If you look at the 10 - 20 year real estate cycle, their is no doubt we are near the lows. In fact they just picked up a building located in Stockton CA (the city recently declared bankruptcy) : In July, we acquired a previously disclosed office property and stocked in Stockton, California with 22,000 square feet. The property is 100% leased to the U.S. government and occupied by the Department of Immigration and customs enforcement. For remaining lease term 14.7 years, the purchase price was $8.3 million and the acquisition cap rate was 8.8%. In their most recent conference call they described a total of $250M of acquisitions since April 2012. That represents almost 16% of their $1.48B Enterprise value. Most of these recent buys include leases that continue for 4 years or more. Their Stockton property is leased not by the bankrupt City but by the Department of Immigration and customs enforcement a Federal agency. The company also did a secondary offer as I recall around $250M at $22.5/share. If I can buy shares below this level, I should be in at a cost 7% below their cost. That hopefully will protect me on any further downside. So, I will "hold my nose" and pay up on the high management fees and go into the deal knowing that 16% of the EV reflects new discounted properties that have a good chance of increasing in value as the real estate sector continues its slow recovery. I am keeping my eyes open in all REITs and new their new property buys on the cheap. The buys should be large as a % of their EV but of good quality w/ better than avg CAP rates and long leases. If any of those REITs that the board watches make any new significant property buys, please post. I believe this is the value opportunity that only occurs once every 10 years or more. EKS

To: Spekulatius who wrote (49043)	1/8/2013 1:05:09 AM
From: Spekulatius	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 78517

VSTN.AS @33.05$. (Starter position). Book value ~50€ . They pay a 10% dividend, that going to be lowered somewhat to save cash. Low LTV (~45% currently). Their value marks are still somewhat negative, mostly because of the ~15% of their properties located in Spain and Portugal, however the bulk of their properties (located in France and Benelux) appears to be doing fine. I think this is a very cheap RE play, unlike most US REITS. What is interesting, is that the easing has not really affected the mortgage rate in most countries (except Germany), as the mortgage rates are still around 5% for five year commercial mortgages. This is depressing cap rates in Europe and affects REITs like VSTN directly. vastned.com

To: Spekulatius who wrote (49043)	1/16/2013 11:34:56 PM
From: E_K_S	Respond to of 78517

GOV hit a new 52wk high today. Last $25.14/share. Yield at 6.9%. It is near it's upper end of it's trading range and I plan to use this as a source of funds for my new buys.. Your concern about their parent company's management is w/ merit. I saw this article today: CWH Investor files Lawsuit against CommonWealth REIT Empowered News (press release) - ?18 hours ago? According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges on behalf of purchasers of CommonWealth REIT (NYSE:CWH) common shares during the period between January 10, 2012 and August 8, 2012, that CommonWealth REIT and certain of its officers and directors violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by issuing materially allegedly false and misleading statements regarding CommonWealth REIT’s financial performance and future prospects . -------------------------------------------------------------- The Transportation index hit a new high. For those that follow the DOW theory: For anyone unfamiliar with the Dow Theory non-confirmation, it works rather simply. The two indices to be considered are the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index. When both are trending higher and making new significant highs (e.g. all-time highs or cyclical rally highs), it is believed that the stock market's rally is confirmed – that is, when both the industrial and transportation sectors are making new significant highs, it is generally viewed that the economy is on sound footing and that the stock rally has solid underpinnings from two very important sectors. However, if only one of the two moves to new significant highs, it is considered a non-confirmation, since one sector is not participating fully in the rally; and that fact calls into question the validity of the stock market rally. In other words, believers in Dow Theory non-confirmation feel as though a warning is presented when only one of the two makes new highs because the stock market rally does not appear broad-based. As a result, I am starting to place my bets to take advantage of renewed double digit growth in China & India. Many of the material stocks are selling at extreme undervalued levels. This may be one sector that provides value and growth. I believe other industrial sectors will do well too. I am looking at investments in AAUKY, VALE, FCX & CNX. There are several other names on my buy list but some are still 10% over the price I want to pay. Therefore, I plan to begin to be a bit more aggressive (rather than defensive) in my new buys but will initially only scale in w/ 30% of my cash and other equities currently identified as a source of funds. Any sell offs will be a buying opportunity but we may not get that if/when the Bull takes off. EKS

To: Spekulatius who wrote (49043)	3/25/2014 8:38:37 PM
From: E_K_S	Respond to of 78517

CommonWealth REIT Confirms Removal of Board of Trustees from the article: "...CommonWealth REIT (CWH), the target of an investor campaign to overthrow the board, said all of its trustees have been removed after the required two-thirds of shareholders voted in favor of an ouster.A special meeting to elect a new board will be held on or before May 23, according to a statement today by the Newton, Massachusetts-based real estate investment trust. Shareholders who have owned at least $2,000 worth of stock for at least one year may nominate trustees.The board removal marks a victory for Corvex Management LP and Related Cos., which together own 9.6 percent of the REIT’s shares and have been seeking to oust management for a year. The New York-based firms argued that the ownership of an external management firm by CommonWealth President Adam Portnoy and his father, Barry, a company founder, led to conflicts of interest and underperformance. Both Portnoys have been directors of CommonWealth, which pays fees to the management company...." ---------------------------------------- Let those management fees go to the shareholders in dividends not to line the pockets of those greedy trustees. EKS