Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Investing Today:The Promise of the Mega Caps

The biggest bargains right now are the mega caps,said thought leader Joel Greenblatt of Gotham Asset Management.Google has huge cash flow and growing.Over time,it's gonna pay out a lot of money.So is Apple.
We put together portfolios of hundreds of stocks on the short and long side.If you own a bucket of Apples,you're gonna make a lot of money.The company is incredibly cheap right now,trading at only seven times free cash flow.It hides in the market in plain sight.
I can't really tell you if Apple itself is gonna work out,but if you own a bucket of Apple-type bets,you're gonna do very well.
We short about 300 stocks.At the top is JC Penney.It's eating through lots of cash,and it's doing it quickly.History would say this is gonna be a tough one to turn around.If you're gonna short a bucket of JC Penneys,you're gonna make a lot of money.I wish JC Penney well,but the odds are against them.It's possible to turn it around,but it's a tough road.
We're basically underwriting good bets and bad bets.On the straight numbers,Herbal Life is cheap,but we can't trust the numbers,so we don't play.We have no opinion on it.
We're in about the 68th percentile toward cheap.The expected return for large caps is 13-15%.You have to invest someplace.
I'd like to hide in a business that spins out a certain amount of cash every year and can adjust to what's happening in the economy.On average,companies don't spend their cash very well.If they either buy back stock below fair value or increase dividends,it might be better than going out and spending it,Mr.Greenblatt suggested.
Founder of hedge fund company Gotham Capital Management,Joel Greenblatt is the former chairman of Alliant Techsystems and is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Business.He holds an MBA from The Wharton School,and is the author of "The Little Book That Beats the Market" and "The Big Secret for the Small Investor:A New Route to Long Term Investment Success."
Google,Inc(GOOG),Apple Computer(AAPL),JC Penney(JCP),Herbal Life(HLF)

No comments: