However, a lot of value investors get too caught up in the macro picture, trying to outsmart the market by holding large cash positions, tweeting links to examples of excess in the market, and attempting to call a market top. It always sounds clever to be bearish and pessimistic, but it's not productive unless you're trying to build followers. I'd rather focus on finding a handful of mispriced securities than constantly worrying about when the next market correction is going to happen, it will at some point, but for smallish investors it leads to bad decision making.
Current Portfolio
Positions Closed
You'll see I disposed of the thrift/mutual bank conversions, I still like the strategy and will continue to highlight conversions I find attractive, but for now I'm going to pass until I increase the size of the portfolio or macro conditions change. I'm finding too many other opportunities available that don't have 2-3 year opportunity costs like a thrift conversion. I also work for a large bank and I'm fully aware of the headwinds facing the entire industry, especially those highly weighted towards net interest margin like small community banks.
There are so many spinoffs happening right now it's hard to keep them all straight. Despite the value creation being fairly well known at this point, spinoffs still outperform as a group. I'm going to try to identify a few that I find interesting in the back half of the year. Then exploiting them either by buying a call option if I believe the spinoff is actually the more attractive asset (like OIS/CVEO), or wait until regular trading occurs and buy the spinoff if its the orphaned business that gets sold indiscrimately. I also like the REIT conversion trend, curious to see if these conversions and tax inversions acquisitions will finally spark some corporate tax reform in Washington.
Position Thoughts/Updates
Lots to like at Howard Hughes Corporation, they're aggressively investing in their "strategic assets" which will make their way into operating asset bucket over the next few years. At some point in the future, it doesn't make sense to have these stabilized operating properties in a C-Corp structure, so another REIT spinoff could be in the offering once the NOLs are used up. I like this company as a long term compounder, they have quite a few levers to pull and a capital allocation/shareholder focused management. At a recent investor presentation, management quipped that an analyst's $200 price target was too low, I would agree.
MuniMae
It's balance sheet has uncovered most of the hidden real estate value due to accounting consolidation rules already creating a quick gain. The question is what's next? I like the share repurchase program, but that doesn't really help the fact that they're too small to be a public company, and they're only breaking even on an operating basis. MuniMae has an incredible amount of NOLs, they should be initiating a rights offering and buying an operating business that throws off taxable income. It's no longer a screaming buy, but I'm going to hold and let the situation play out more. However, it's towards the top of the sell list if I need cash for a better idea.
Ultra Petroleum
The Uinta Basin purchase is a nice bridge asset, its going to be cash flow positive right away and gives management and analysts something to focus on while waiting for natural gas to resume its climb up. There's still a huge spread between natural gas prices in the United States and what it fetches in foreign markets. Given the recent news about oil exports being allowed for the first time in 40 years, more LNG export terminal approvals might be in the offering as well, long term this spread should narrow.
Disclosure: Table above is my blog/hobby portfolio, its a taxable account, and a relatively small slice of my overall asset allocation which follows a more diversified low-cost index approach. The use of margin debt/options/concentration doesn't represent my true risk tolerance.
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