The market continues to show strength, as most of the news out there is positive. br /br /RHIE dropped again today as it still hasn't found a bottom. It will be interesting to see if Seth Klarman picks up any shares at these levels, as he has in the past. As usual when this happens with a stock, you get people on message boards and blogs saying they are done for. They are most likely short the stock and aren't willing to have a conversation about it. There are always risks and its important never to risk more than you can afford to lose, especially with a stock that is this volatile. That's about all I have to say about that. I had reasons for buying it, and I still see value there. It may take time for that value to be realized. ...

RHI Entertainment (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=RHIE"RHIE/a) is a small cap name I've spoken about for a good portion of 2009. a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RHI-Entertainment-Announces-bw-531831091.html?x=0amp;.v=1"They reported a bad quarter /atoday, and the stock is off 60%! I took a small position at 1.16 for a couple of reasons:br /br /-Yes the quarter was bad, but keep in mind this is a company whose earnings are tied to the releases they put out (many more coming in next quarter than previous), and their library. Seasonality is a big factor here. I'm not saying this quarter will be outstanding, but it will likely be better. I may not even own the stock by the next earnings release.br /br /-They do have way too much debt for a company this size and are burning through their cash at this point. My bet isn't on the long-term viability and ability to grow earnings, which still remain to be seen. ...

Loews (L) continues to provide value to its shareholders, while the market continues to undervalue its shares. I'm not going to break down each of its companies, but rather look at the bigger picture and the comments from their management. br /br /Here are some statements by CEO Jim Tisch (one of the best around, I may add).br /br /-Loews reported a solid quarter reflecting improved results in CNA, continued strong results in Diamond Offshore, and higher investment income in the holding company portfolio. During the third quarter Loews' book value per common share increased by over 14%, primarily as a result of the $1.7 billion increase in the mark-to-market value of CNA's investment portfolio. What a difference a quarter makes.br /br /-At the end of the third quarter, CNA's book value per share stood at $35.38 compared to $20.92 at year end '08. This improvement was primarily the ...

Tii Network Technologies (TIII) is one of those small caps I've been saying is attractive. I a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/10/late-friday-buy.html"picked up a small amount of shares /aback in the middle of October. You can read my initial reason for buying through that link. a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Tii-Network-Technologies-prnews-593431932.html?x=0amp;.v=1"Here's the release/a:br /br /blockquotestrongNet sales for the three months ended September 30, 2009 were$7,460,000 compared to $8,521,000 in the comparable prior year period, a decrease of $1,061,000 or 12.5%/strong. Net sales for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were $19,703,000 compared to $27,248,000 in the comparable prior year period, a decrease of $7,545,000 or 27.7%. The decrease in the 2009 periods was primarily due to the economic downturn, which has negatively impacted sales of our connectivity and network interface device products, and the loss of landlines by the service providers which has negatively impacted sales of our network interface device products. Additionally, in ...

My claim that the market had turned negative last week appears to be a little premature. The melt-up is back on with the dollar declining and stocks off to the races again. A span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"few/span stocks of interest to me have reported earnings, and they have all come in strong. I'm going to do a post about each, span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"TIII/span, CODI, and L. br /br /The reflation trade, or whatever you'd like to call it, remains on.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/819581243324579563-3051518487373046206?l=briskycapital.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

If you follow financial news, or any news for that matter, you know what happened this morning. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Berkshire-buying-Burlington-apf-3016566039.html?x=0amp;.v=18"agreed to buy Burlington Northern/a. He already had a large stake (I believe around 20%), but this is a massive bet on the US economy. It really is classic Buffett. If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm bullish on railroads, and have felt BNI is the best out there. I don't own any shares, so I missed out on this one. Buffett isn't stealing it, but it will likely look like a good purchase five years from now. br /br /In other news, a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Berkshire-Hathaway-OKs-50for1-apf-323762915.html?x=0amp;.v=5"Berkshire agreed to split /atheir "B" shares 50 to 1, which is a big departure for them. br /br /Buffett is clearly trying to make a statement here, and likely wanted another "signature purchase" (like ...

In my opinion, the market action seems to have a downward bias to it now. In the past few months, anytime negative news would come out, the market would dip, only to see bulls push through and move the market higher. Right now, it feels like the opposite. Earnings haven't been making big headlines and economic data is carrying more weight, as is the apprehension of investors and fear that stocks are overextended. br /br /Small caps are getting hit hard. They are the most volatile and have moved the a lot to the upside during this rally, so their sell off comes as little surprise. I have a few names on my radar that I may pick at if prices continue to improve. I know I've been saying that for sometime, but I'm a very patient investor.br /br /I do think that things ...

I always keep track of the railroad earnings as I still think they are a pretty good primer for the rest of the economy. I know there are others, but this is just one that I follow. So, Union Pacific reported this morning. More of the same...Revenues still down double digits, profits helped by cost cutting (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Weak-economy-sends-UPs-3Q-apf-1278070157.html?x=0amp;.v=6"release/a). I've highlighted a couple key areas. br /br /blockquoteUnion Pacific Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 26 percentbr /as shipping demand remained weak and the overall economy stabilized.br /br /The nation's largest railroad couldn't offset lower shipping volumes,br /though it benefited from significantly lower fuel costs, improved productivitybr /and other cost-cutting measures. Union Pacific operates 32,400 miles of track inbr /23 states from the Midwest to the West and Gulf coasts.br /br /The Omaha company said Thursday it earned $517 million, or $1.02 per share,br /down from ...

Quick, name me a few companies that have grown revenue and net income year over year. Having trouble? Me too. Here's one. Diamond Offshore Drilling. I've written about them occasionally over the past few quarters. They operate in a very profitable industry, and to me are about the best in that industry. Here's a brief snippet from the a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Diamond-Offshore-3Q-profit-up-apf-905257113.html?x=0amp;.v=1"release/a:br /br /blockquoteContract driller Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. on Thursday said third-quarter earnings rose 17 percent as rising crude prices drove up demand from oil companies for more drilling services. As the economy showed signs of recovery in the third quarter, crude oil prices stabilized, trading as high as $76 per barrel, well above a 2009 low of $46.73 per barrel in February. Diamond Offshore's quarterly earnings climbed to $364.1 million, or $2.62 per share, from $310.5 million, or $2.23 per share, during ...

Now that I own some Pfizer stock (due to the acquisition of Wyeth), I feel obligated to at least post on Pfizer's earnings. (a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pfizer-reports-26-higher-profit-but-lower-sales-2009-10-20"marketwatch/a) br /br /-The world's largest drug maker posted net income of $2.88 billion, or 43 cents a share, compared with $2.28 billion, or 34 cents a share, for the same quarter in 2008.br /br /-Excluding various items, Pfizer would have reported adjusted earnings of 51 cents a share, versus 62 cents. This year's quarter was also impacted by a higher tax rate, due largely to its merger with Wyeth.br /br /-Revenue in the period fell 3% to $11.62 billion, from $11.97 billion.br /br /-Pfizer was expected to report lower year-over-year sales, with the loss of patent protection for such former blockbusters as Norvasc and Zyrtec weighing heavily on its top line.br /br /-Still, Pfizer's sales results managed to top Wall Street's expectations. According to a ...