Should You Invest in the Wintergreen Fund

The direction in the West is improving.People are beginning to buy,said David J.Winters of Wintergreen Advisers LLC in Mountain Lakes,New Jersey.We still believe the future of the world is in the Asia Pacific.
We own a lot of Berkshire Hathaway BRK b shares.
The public are still hiding under their desks.They haven't gone back to the equity market.At some point,the bond markets are gonna go up and people will get crushed.People are still scared,both companies and individuals.
The US is a mature economy with lots of debt,unlike Asia.The EU in general is in deep,deep trouble and we just don't want to play because it's too hard.We love companies with no debt-you don't have a lot of risk.
Hong Kong is one of the great,great places.
David J.Winters manages the Wintergreen Fund,a global value mutual fund with much of the flexibility of a low risk hedge fund.It is #23 out of 287 World Stock funds as rated by US News.Morningstar Associates gives it four out of five stars.
The Wintergreen Fund has returned 13.26% over one year;and 4.85% over five years.Its expense ratio is 1.89%,which is considered Above Average in its category.In Mornngstar's opinion,however,the fund is Below Average in risk.
Wintergreen Fund(WGRNX)

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)

Asia This Day:Sunny Asian Markets;New Zealand Deals With Downpour

The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose Monday on the recovery of risk appetite.
New Zealand is expecting more heavy rainfall as residents assess the damage from a weekend deluge.At least 90 homes in the Tasman district experienced some flooding,and swells of up to four metres were noted at Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty.
There was also concern that a cargo of plastic beads was spreading over beaches after a shipping container aboard the shipwreck Rena was damaged by the storm.
India's Nifty Fifty index rose 0.55% Monday with most sectors showing strength,except for the IT sector that was dragging the market down a bit.Reliance was up 0.99% and Bharat Petroleum climbed 0.90%.
The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.6% ,led by consumer and telecoms shares.Asian stocks were up generally Monday on Japanese exporters rallying because of the weak yen,as the G20 developed nations didn't object to Japan's policy stimulus.The G20 feel that the Bank of Japan's plan to buy seven trillion yen,or 70.02 billion dollars,of bonds per week will boost both the Japanese recovery and the global economy,according to Rajiv Biswas,chief economist for the Asia Pacific at IHS Global Insight.
The Nikkei 225 index rose 2.00%,while the ASX 200 gained 0.49%.Gold surged 1.78% to 1420.40 an ounce as hedge funds found it to be a bargain after last week's collapse.

Thoughts of a Hedge Fund Pioneer

The macro environment is so bad everywhere,observes Julian Robertson,founder of the old hedge fund Tiger Management Group.Our political leadership is doing nothing.Europe is just in a state of financial collapse.I think we're in plenty of trouble,and we really have to watch ourselves carefully.
The weak currencies in Europe are still good shorts.They carry a lot of risk with them.We're very long the Norwegian krone.We think that's a wonderful currency.The Canadian dollar is from a very well-run country.
Apple is worth 3-4 times what it's selling for.Google is very attractive.There's a big dichotomy between the macro and stock prices.
Basically,Washington is not really trying to lead;they are trying to continue to exist.
Master Card and Visa are very appealing.The risk of any credit loss is taken by the banks,not the credit cards.I think they will continue to grow rapidly in the 20% range for some time to come.There's a need for credit in the world,Mr.Robertson noted.
The billionaire Julian R. Robertson,Jr.,KNZM(Hon),started one of the first hedge funds in 1980.He has an honorary knighthood from New Zealand,where his family owns several lodges.
Mastercard(MA),Visa(V),Apple(AAPL),Google(GOOG)

Hedge Fund Thinking:A Pershing Square Assessment

The global economy is much better now than a year ago,says Bill Ackman,Founder and Managing Principal of Pershing Square Capital Management.We're starting to see business confidence return.
We're not that worried about states defaulting;more so about municipalities.
I'm not a big fan of the government stepping in and buying bonds and so on.I think markets are self-healing.I think it's time for us to stand on our own two feet,and I think that will help the healing process,Mr.Ackman observed.
Pershing Square Capital Management,L.P. is a hedge fund management firm.Located in New York City,its funds include Pershing Square,L.P.
Hedge funds are investment instruments for affluent individuals and institutions.Many of these funds folded during the financial crisis,suffering massive losses rather than delivering the intended high rate of return.
Both presidential daughter Chelsea Clinton and her husband,Marc Mezvinsky,have worked in the hedge fund industry.

What Bothers Dennis Gartman

Money manager Dennis Gartman,founder and editor of The Gartman Letter,a leading financial website,says the stock market is telling you the recession is ending.Oil is up because of the weak dollar.If you start to get up to 80-85 dollars a barrel,you start to bring new technologies into play.New methods become profitable.
The Federal Reserve can be destroyed by congressional edict,Mr.Gartman observed.You have a left-leaning administration that will not tolerate rising interest rates.
Hedge fund misbehavior is probably widespread,in Mr.Gartman's view.This insider trading bothers him.I am a hedge fund manager,he said.We match wits with what the market's doing.This is sad,not a good thing for our business.
I got hurt in 19 October,1987,Mr.Gartman recalled.You had a stock market that had been going down for four months.My strategy was dead-spot on,but it just didn't work.Each time,the market is completely different,Mr.Gartman explained.
The Gartman Letter is accessible to subscribers only.Dennis Gartman is a frequent guest on business television,however.

The Hedge Fund Effect

Hedge funds serve wealthy individuals and institutions.It is believed they are responsible for about half the recent market declines.There had been 31 billion dollars in hedge fund redemptions as of last week.Typically these redemptions occur late in the day,when half of the recent market declines have occurred.There may be many more of these forced sales ahead.Indeed,up to a third of the 10,000 hedge funds may disappear altogether.Their investors want to cash out,so the fund managers must go on selling the funds' holdings,dragging the market down in the process.