Every few years, a hot new hedge fund manager emerges on the scene. Today, that hedge fund manager looks to be Julian Robertson’s protege Chase Coleman. #-ad_banner-#One of Robertson’s “Tiger Cubs,” Coleman learned from his mentor to look for a “smart idea, grounded on exhaustive research, followed by a big bet.” My colleague David Sterman profiled Coleman in 2012 after his Tiger Global fund was the top-performing hedge fund for all of 2011, with a gain of 45%. In 2012, Coleman was buying shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) when they were only $29. Read More

Every few years, a hot new hedge fund manager emerges on the scene. Today, that hedge fund manager looks to be Julian Robertson’s protege Chase Coleman. #-ad_banner-#One of Robertson’s “Tiger Cubs,” Coleman learned from his mentor to look for a “smart idea, grounded on exhaustive research, followed by a big bet.” My colleague David Sterman profiled Coleman in 2012 after his Tiger Global fund was the top-performing hedge fund for all of 2011, with a gain of 45%. In 2012, Coleman was buying shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) when they were only $29. Now, Coleman manages about $14 billion at Tiger Global. Along the way, he has made himself a billionaire with a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. Coleman is now turning his attention to retail, particularly shares of luxury home furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware (NYSE: RH). Tiger Global just increased its stake last month by 1.25 million shares and now owns 6.4% of the company. It’s easy to see why Coleman increased his stake in the company. The company is firing on all cylinders and outperforming the home furnishings industry and its competitors. In the first quarter, Restoration Hardware… Read More

One of the richest men in the world is finding value in one of the dirtiest industries in the world.  #-ad_banner-#With a net worth of over $75 billion, Bill Gates loves the railroad industry — but he’s also heavily invested in another “must-have” business.  The railroad industry is instrumental in moving products from one region to another, but there are substitutes available, such as planes and ships.  However, there are virtually no alternatives for garbage disposal.  This is truly a must-have industry. It’s a business that performs well regardless of the broader economy. Gates has recognized this long-term… Read More

One of the richest men in the world is finding value in one of the dirtiest industries in the world.  #-ad_banner-#With a net worth of over $75 billion, Bill Gates loves the railroad industry — but he’s also heavily invested in another “must-have” business.  The railroad industry is instrumental in moving products from one region to another, but there are substitutes available, such as planes and ships.  However, there are virtually no alternatives for garbage disposal.  This is truly a must-have industry. It’s a business that performs well regardless of the broader economy. Gates has recognized this long-term trend and owns two of the industry’s largest players.  Waste Management (NYSE: WM) is the leader in the industry, with Republic Services (NYSE: RSG) coming in second. The low-yield environment, coupled with a market that’s trading at lofty valuations, makes high-yield defensive stocks attractive. Waste Management and Republic Services pay solid dividend yields and are quite defensive.  The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation owns 18.6 million shares of Waste Management, equal to 4% of the company. The private investment fund that manages Gates’ personal wealth, Cascade Investments, owns 90.9 million shares of Republic Services, a staggering 25% of the company. … Read More

Dollar stores have been on a tear since the financial crisis. Consumers flocked to the low-price stores in an effort to pinch pennies. #-ad_banner-#But even as the economy has rebounded, many of these companies have continued to perform fairly well. It appears they have integrated themselves into the lives of shoppers to the point that dollar stores are becoming one-stop shops.  This comes as they have expanded into tobacco and consumer staples. Dollar stores are also typically much smaller and easier to navigate than the likes of big-box merchants like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) or Target (NYSE: TGT), which… Read More

Dollar stores have been on a tear since the financial crisis. Consumers flocked to the low-price stores in an effort to pinch pennies. #-ad_banner-#But even as the economy has rebounded, many of these companies have continued to perform fairly well. It appears they have integrated themselves into the lives of shoppers to the point that dollar stores are becoming one-stop shops.  This comes as they have expanded into tobacco and consumer staples. Dollar stores are also typically much smaller and easier to navigate than the likes of big-box merchants like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) or Target (NYSE: TGT), which makes them ideal for consumers who are short on both time and money.  But not all dollar stores have continued to perform well throughout the strengthening economy. One of the biggest players in the market, Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), has come under fire from billionaire activist Carl Icahn.  Family Dollar’s net income has grown at an annualized 7.4% over the past three years, which is impressive on a stand-alone basis. But when stacked up against industry leader Dollar General (NYSE: DG), which has seen annualized growth of 17.7% over the same period, it appears Family Dollar is in need of… Read More

A favorite strategy among investors is to look and see what Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) are buying. After all, if the Oracle of Omaha is buying a company’s stock, chances are it’s a great value. #-ad_banner-#Well, one of the most underrated stocks is “baby Berkshire” Leucadia National Corp. (NYSE: LUK), which, like Berkshire, is a diversified holding company that’s run by a great stock picker — in Leucadia’s case, CEO Richard Handler. Handler is a great stock picker. He has built a company with interests in investment banking, meat processing, real estate lending,… Read More

A favorite strategy among investors is to look and see what Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) are buying. After all, if the Oracle of Omaha is buying a company’s stock, chances are it’s a great value. #-ad_banner-#Well, one of the most underrated stocks is “baby Berkshire” Leucadia National Corp. (NYSE: LUK), which, like Berkshire, is a diversified holding company that’s run by a great stock picker — in Leucadia’s case, CEO Richard Handler. Handler is a great stock picker. He has built a company with interests in investment banking, meat processing, real estate lending, auto dealerships, liquefied natural gas and other publicly traded companies. Thanks to the fact that Leucadia must disclose its investments, we get to peek at what Handler and Leucadia are buying.  One company that Leucadia is buying is Harbinger Group (NYSE: HRG), another diversified conglomerate. It has been growing its business by acquiring and growing businesses that generate substantial free cash flow. Leucadia is one of Harbinger Group’s largest shareholders with a 12% stake.  Besides Leucadia, billionaires Michael Dell and Leon Cooperman have stakes in Harbinger Group, owning 4.5% and 8.3%, respectively.  Looking Past Harbinger’s CEO Debacle… Read More

One of the secrets to getting rich in the stock market is to look where no one else is looking.  While Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) gets an inordinate amount of attention from investors, three billionaire gurus have been focused on buying shares of a small-cap company that makes products for Apple’s popular iPhone.  It’s much easier for a company with $1 billion in revenue to grow than it is for a company with $176 billion in revenue (as Apple had last year). While the iPhone 6 will likely boost Apple’s revenues, the increase won’t be nearly as great in percentage terms… Read More

One of the secrets to getting rich in the stock market is to look where no one else is looking.  While Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) gets an inordinate amount of attention from investors, three billionaire gurus have been focused on buying shares of a small-cap company that makes products for Apple’s popular iPhone.  It’s much easier for a company with $1 billion in revenue to grow than it is for a company with $176 billion in revenue (as Apple had last year). While the iPhone 6 will likely boost Apple’s revenues, the increase won’t be nearly as great in percentage terms as it would be for a smaller company that’s supplying a key component. Billionaires George Soros, Ken Griffin and Seth Klarman all know this. That’s why they own a combined 12% stake in Apple supplier RF Micro Devices (Nasdaq: RFMD), which provides radio frequency (RF) chips to Apple, Samsung Electronics (OTC: SSNLF) and BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY).  Earlier this year, RF Micro Devices agreed to merge with TriQuint Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TQNT). The merger combines the RF market’s third- and fourth-largest players, giving them a 35% share of the market.  Big Benefits The merger is one of equals. Each company’s shareholders will… Read More

When I think of investing in the auto sector, the first names that come to mind are the big automobile companies: General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) or Toyota (NYSE: TM). For investors with a higher risk profile, there is Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA). #-ad_banner-#However, there’s one automaker that’s an even better company to own… one that’s undervalued and whose revenues are growing at a much faster rate than many of its better-known competitors. That automaker is Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM).  Tata is India’s largest automaker, but it may… Read More

When I think of investing in the auto sector, the first names that come to mind are the big automobile companies: General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) or Toyota (NYSE: TM). For investors with a higher risk profile, there is Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA). #-ad_banner-#However, there’s one automaker that’s an even better company to own… one that’s undervalued and whose revenues are growing at a much faster rate than many of its better-known competitors. That automaker is Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM).  Tata is India’s largest automaker, but it may be better known in the U.S. for buying Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for only $2.3 billion in 2008.  In October, my colleague Dave Goodboy talked about Tata as a play on the global auto sales boom. Tata has hit his price target of $40 (which represented upside of about 25% at the time), but based on Tata’s earnings and revenue growth, there is even more upside ahead. Tata Motors is the largest automobile company in India. The company is also the world’s fourth-largest bus manufacturer and fifth-largest truck manufacturer. Since Tata Motors is an important part of India’s… Read More

When Julian Robertson speaks, the market listens.  #-ad_banner-#After starting Tiger Management in 1980, Robertson has seen his hedge fund’s assets under management grow from $8 million to $23 billion. Robertson is not only a great investor — he’s also a great mentor. Known as “Tiger Cubs,” many of Roberson’s former analysts have gone on to start their own hedge funds, many of which were seeded by Robertson. A few notable Tiger Cubs include Chase Coleman of Tiger Global, Stephen Mandel at Lone Pine Capital, and John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital.  Robertson has been managing his own money… Read More

When Julian Robertson speaks, the market listens.  #-ad_banner-#After starting Tiger Management in 1980, Robertson has seen his hedge fund’s assets under management grow from $8 million to $23 billion. Robertson is not only a great investor — he’s also a great mentor. Known as “Tiger Cubs,” many of Roberson’s former analysts have gone on to start their own hedge funds, many of which were seeded by Robertson. A few notable Tiger Cubs include Chase Coleman of Tiger Global, Stephen Mandel at Lone Pine Capital, and John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital.  Robertson has been managing his own money (he’s currently worth an estimated $3 billion) since 2000, but he’s still very active. His investment philosophy includes a “smart idea, grounded on exhaustive research, followed by a big bet.” His current $300 million Tiger Management fund is heavily concentrated on his top ideas. ‘The Best-Run Company In The World’ Robertson’s third-largest holding is Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL), which he called one of the best-run companies in the world in a recent CNBC interview. He notes that the reason he owns such a large stake in the tech giant is that as the longtime leader in… Read More

Most people know Bill Gates as the world’s richest man thanks to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), which he built into the world’s largest software company.  #-ad_banner-#However, today Microsoft represents only about one-fifth of his total holdings. His private investment company, Cascade Investments, and his charitable foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hold most of Gates’ assets.  His total assets, including his Microsoft stake, Cascade Investments and charitable foundation, are valued at over $100 billion. By selling his Microsoft stake over the years and diversifying his assets, Gates has focused on wealth preservation.  He plans to give… Read More

Most people know Bill Gates as the world’s richest man thanks to Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), which he built into the world’s largest software company.  #-ad_banner-#However, today Microsoft represents only about one-fifth of his total holdings. His private investment company, Cascade Investments, and his charitable foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hold most of Gates’ assets.  His total assets, including his Microsoft stake, Cascade Investments and charitable foundation, are valued at over $100 billion. By selling his Microsoft stake over the years and diversifying his assets, Gates has focused on wealth preservation.  He plans to give most of his great fortune to charity — but in his search for safety and stability, Gates is taking a page from past robber barons… By investing in railroads.  The source of 19th-century fortunes for names like Vanderbilt and Gould, the railroad industry is just as important today. In 2009, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) made its largest purchase ever, buying rail transport company Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $34 billion. Gates’ largest holding outside of Microsoft is Canadian National Railway Co. (NYSE: CNI), which is the largest railroad in Canada. Between Cascade Investments and his charitable foundation, Gates is… Read More

It stands to reason that companies that have been around for 100 years or more might have a pretty good chance of being around for another 100 years. These companies make the best buy-and-forget type of stocks that long-term shareholders look for in terms of stability, profits and dividends.  #-ad_banner-#These are the types of companies Warren Buffett likes. However, it’s not often that Dan Loeb and Buffett like the same stock. That’s because Buffett tends to let management do their thing — and Loeb usually wants to shake things up.  Although both Buffett and Loeb are owners of… Read More

It stands to reason that companies that have been around for 100 years or more might have a pretty good chance of being around for another 100 years. These companies make the best buy-and-forget type of stocks that long-term shareholders look for in terms of stability, profits and dividends.  #-ad_banner-#These are the types of companies Warren Buffett likes. However, it’s not often that Dan Loeb and Buffett like the same stock. That’s because Buffett tends to let management do their thing — and Loeb usually wants to shake things up.  Although both Buffett and Loeb are owners of Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), they have different visions for the $62 billion company going forward. Loeb sees Dow Chemical as extremely undervalued and wants the company to restructure its operations. Founded in 1897, Dow Chemical is the largest chemical company in the U.S. by sales and the second-largest position in Loeb’s fund, Third Point Capital. Loeb’s Thesis Loeb is not happy with the job CEO Andrew Liveris is doing. Loeb specifically cites the acquisition of Rohm & Haas as being an ill-timed purchase and wants the company split in two. Loeb says the company’s integrated approach is costing shareholders… Read More

With the largest population in the world, China is a huge market — including for one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, mobile phones.  #-ad_banner-#China is projected to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest mobile phone market this year: Sales in China are expected to hit $87 billion, compared with U.S. sales of $60 billion. That represents year-over-year sales growth of 50% for China, compared with a mere 4% for the U.S.  Here are three distinct ways in which investors can gain exposure to China’s mobile market: China’s Mobile Dominator The #1 wireless provider in China (and… Read More

With the largest population in the world, China is a huge market — including for one of the world’s fastest-growing industries, mobile phones.  #-ad_banner-#China is projected to overtake the U.S. as the world’s largest mobile phone market this year: Sales in China are expected to hit $87 billion, compared with U.S. sales of $60 billion. That represents year-over-year sales growth of 50% for China, compared with a mere 4% for the U.S.  Here are three distinct ways in which investors can gain exposure to China’s mobile market: China’s Mobile Dominator The #1 wireless provider in China (and the world), China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) owns over 70% of the market for mobile services in China. Yet, China Mobile is still in the middle of its LTE and 4G buildout, while also expanding in rural areas across China.  A key driver for the Chinese market is demand for more-sophisticated 3G and 4G phones, which offer users faster data transfer rates. The market looks promising, given that 70% of China Mobile subscribers still use 2G. That means China Mobile is poised to become an even bigger winner in China’s mobile market.  China Mobile has no debt and pays an enticing… Read More