October 29th, 2012
I’m writing this month’s letter sitting at the Coco Bar in Boracay, Philippines. A typhoon is inbound in a few hours so the beach and bar have mostly emptied out. It feels a bit eerie and ominous. Although, that could be from the big rum drinks.
A couple of things I have been mulling over on the topic of emerging market investing….
The full article is on page 15 of the newsletter (download here). Please sign up for future newsletters on the right.
October 16th, 2012
Kind of an interesting press release from Peking University Guanghua Business School from 2011. Not 100% accurate but interesting.
July 25th, 2012
Topics this month include:
- How Grupo Gloria made a killing in Peruvian sugar plantations
- How South Korean CJO became the #1 home shopping channel in China – and then lost it.
This month’s newsletter on global value investing is available for download here.
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All thoughts and feedback appreciated. This is a work in progress.
May 24th, 2012
This month’s newsletter on global value investing includes:
It is available for download here.
For future newsletters, please sign up on right.
All thoughts and feedback appreciated. This is a work in progress.
April 15th, 2012
We are working on a newsletter on global value investing. This issue includes:
It is available here for download.
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All thoughts and feedback appreciated. This is a work in progress.
March 29th, 2012
A pretty interesting article. How do you operate as a value investor in markets with significant political components? Article by Peter Schweizer on Reason.com
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In 19th-century America, there was a concerted effort to ban alcohol sales on Sunday. “Blue laws,” intended to protect the sanctity and sobriety of the Sabbath, were pushed by what seemed like an odd alliance: Baptists and bootleggers. Baptists backed the ban publicly on moral and religious grounds, while the bootleggers lobbied for the ban privately to boost their own bottom lines. Blocking legal alcohol purchases for even one day each week meant more opportunities for their illegal sales. Bans were enacted state by state, and many blue laws still exist (in Arkansas, Indiana, Minnesota, and Mississippi, for example), although restrictions have been steadily disappearing in recent years. Economist Bruce Yandle immortalized the phrase “Bootleggers and Baptists” in a 1983Regulation magazine article of the same name, making the point that ostensibly opposing sides will happily collude when it serves their mutual interests. Read More
February 7th, 2012
Things have come circle. Warren Buffett’s first investment in China is increasingly coming back to West. An interesting article – reprinted and linked below.
PetroChina Co. (PTR) has signed binding agreements to buy a stake in a Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) shale gas asset in Canada, marking the latest move by Chinese state-owned companies to expand their Canadian footprint and increase their ability to tap unconventional fossil fuels. Read The Rest →
July 5th, 2011
You can go to the Tradestreaming link to hear the audio.
The Tradestreaming Introduction is pasted in below. Note: in the audio my title was said to be Chief Investment Officer which is not correct. This correction is also noted below in the text and on their site.
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Saudi’s Prince Waleed took $30k and investing globally, turned it into $22 billion — all with staff of only 2 or 3.
He was able to accomplish this by applying a framework to invest globally. Like Buffett, Waleed is a value investor. But the similarities end there — Waleed is a deal maker, on the prowl to see where he can add value and how.
In this podcast, we’re joined by Jeff Towson, who was Head of Direct Investments Middle East/North Africa and Asia Pacific for Waleed** for almost 10 years. He’s written a new book describing the Waleed model,What Would Ben Graham Do Now: A New Value Investing Playbook for a Global Age. He explores the essential question of our day: how does a foreigner properly invest in emerging markets?
In today’s episode of Tradestreaming Radio, we discuss:
- ways global value investing differs from what Warren Buffett did so well
- how Waleed and others like him find and invest in value in inherently chaotic environments
- why global investing is a hybrid of investment banker, business development exec and investing
- what geographies Towson is looking at now for their investment potential
** In the audio of this program, I mistakenly refer to Towson as Waleed’s Chief Investment Officer. His correct title was Head of Direct Investments Middle East/North Africa and Asia Pacific.
April 11th, 2011
In my previous article on Step 1 of Becoming a Global Investor, I argued that “going global” as a value investor means exponentially increasing your potential opportunities. There are just so many more companies out there now. It’s a fantastic time to start looking globally.
But it is also about overcoming “5 going global” problems:
- Limited access
- Increased uncertainty in the current intrinsic value
- Increased uncertainty in the long-term intrinsic value
- A weak or impractical claim to the asset
- Foreign disadvantages
Read The Rest →
March 16th, 2011
Note: Kingdom Holding and Batelco have scrapped their bid. So this article (published in March 2011 after they made their bid) is now out of date.
On Tuesday, Prince Waleed, whom Forbes labeled the “Prince of deals”, lived up to his name and made an apparently successful $950M bid (in partnership with Bahraini Batelco) for Zain’s Saudi mobile business. It was the culmination of an over six year effort to break into the Saudi telecommunications business.
The joint bid, which has been preliminarily accepted by the Zain Board, will secure 25% of Zain Saudi which is one of the three Saudi mobile service companies. His purchase of these Saudi assets will enable Kuwaiti Zain to now be purchased by UAE Etisalat (which holds the 2nd Saudi mobile license).
**Note: as of March 25, the Etisalat bid has been rejected by Zain. So the Waleed / Batelco bid is still in play.
Read The Rest →
I’m writing this month’s letter sitting at the Coco Bar in Boracay, Philippines. A typhoon is inbound in a few hours so the beach and bar have mostly emptied out. It feels a bit eerie and ominous. Although, that could be from the big rum drinks.
