Posts Tagged ‘Elliot eisenberg’
Terrible Tobacco
The proposed merger between cigarette makers Reynolds American and Lorillard would create a behemoth with 40% of the US cigarette market, behind Altria’s 50% market share! The government is now concerned about antitrust issues given two firms with 90% of the market. Are you kidding me! Is the government’s job to protect smokers from price…
Read MoreSterling Sale
Having bought the LA Clippers for $12.5 million in 1981, embattled owner Donald Sterling appears set to sell the club for $2 billion. That’s the second most ever paid for a team and a spectacular compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.63%. The S&P 500, with dividends reinvested, had a CAGR of 11.23% over the…
Read MoreMerger Mania
Given slow growth, low interest rates, firms with record cash holdings and high stock prices, the record $650 billion in mergers and acquisitions announced YTD isn’t surprising. It’s safer to buy than build, and if done right, mergers boost profits by eliminating redundant staff. However, in the short run, mergers rarely lead to employment growth…
Read MoreCalifornia Crown
The Friday File: Only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown and while many hope California Chrome becomes the 12th and the first since 1978, my portfolio and I hope not. Eight of the 11 times a horse has won the Derby, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, the stock market has fallen. No horsing around!…
Read MoreRotten Returns
Why are rates so low? Let me count the reasons: flight to quality due to rising geopolitical risk, the Fed’s promise to keep short-term rates low for a long time, Japan’s massive monetary stimulus, the ECB’s decision to start printing money, weaker than expected US growth, no evidence of commodity or wage inflation in the…
Read MoreCable Conniptions
AT&T’s $48.5 billion bid for DirecTV is brilliant. AT&T’s subscriber base of 5.7 million households is much too small for them to bully content providers into agreeing to favorable terms, and their U-Verse technology is poor compared to Verizon’s FiOS and Comcast’s Xfinity. This merger solves both problems, but most importantly will get DOJ/FCC approval…
Read MoreWeek that Was
Last week the economic data were decidedly mixed. The leading economic indicators, Chicago Fed National Activity Index, existing home sales, mortgage applications and the Architectural Billing Index were all negative to neutral. However, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing index and the US PMI Manufacturing Index were both very positive as were existing home inventory numbers.…
Read MoreFantastic Freedom
The Friday file: To paraphrase Milton Friedman, a society that puts equality of outcome ahead of freedom will have neither. Using force to achieve equality will destroy freedom and the force will end up in the hands of self-serving persons. A society that puts freedom first will, as a happy by-product, end up with both…
Read MoreYuan Upmanship
A great international currency possesses three characteristics. It’s used to settle a substantial amount of international trade and commerce, it floats freely and is used as global reserve currency, meaning it’s held in large quantities by central banks and financial institutions. Thought of this way, the Chinese Yuan has largely accomplished the first, but because…
Read MoreLimited Leisure
While total hours worked have declined over the past century, until recently the poor worked more hours than the upper classes. In 1965, college-educated men enjoyed more leisure than those with a high school diploma. Now, college graduates work 10 hours more a week than those without a high school diploma. The increasingly high wages…
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