Credit Risk Spreading Beyond Financials
Read full commentary at the Hussman site
Hussman believes markets are trading under assumption that US has dodged a recession. He thinks this assumption is based on lagging indicators which do not provide a current picture. He remains concerned by market participants complacency as shown by the low volatility in the options market.

Is Suntech the financier de rigueur for the solar industry?
It sure seems that way.
I have been trawling the internet trying to find details on Suntech’s minority ownership of and loans to a number of their suppliers. I have momentarily given up hope after reading a reference to a Credit Suisse research note on STP. The only comment by the CS analyst not taken directly from the earnings release or conference call was “We raise our DCF-based target price from US$48.0 to US$50.0.”
Discounted Cash Flow, DCF, is a useful tool for …

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP)
Suntech Reports Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results
Great results shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. I’ll write more tomorrow, but from my first look it was a sensational quarter.

Expectations were for $0.32 (.27-.27 range) STP did $0.41 up from $0.25 last year. (GAAP $0.38)
Revenue grew 51.3% to $480.2 million comfortably ahead of the May forecast of $430 million to $440 million. Expectations were for $439M.

Quarter ended PV cell production capacity was 660MW and  is on track to reach 1GW by the end of 2008.
As if that …

Last week I wrote about my ten favourite fund managers letters. Writing about those letters made me realise how reliant I have become on RSS feeds and email. One of my favorites from that list don’t offer an RSS or email option. Consequently a month can fly past before I remember to check the site.
Well no more I say! To ensure I read the invaluable Hussman Funds Weekly Market Comment and to provide it via RSS feed and hopefully via email, I will link John P Hussman’s weekly comments here.
This …

Guru Focus has recently launched 10 year financial data and charts.
You can check it out here.
The best part appears to be the ability to click on any row to get a chart, like this

This is not a revolutionary development as investors already have free access to 10 year data and charts from the likes of Morningstar. However I do like the format and quick charting that Guru Focus are providing.

As I mentioned with The Way of the Turtle, on Fridays I get 20 minutes of kid free time to speed read a book in Borders. This week I choose If It’s Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks By Peter Navarro.
This book is a foil to those financial gurus who eschew top down investing. As it says on the cover this is “The Investor’s Guide to Profiting from Market-Moving Events”. Peter Navarro embraces the big picture macrowaves and he has some heavy hitters in support. The book leads off with the …

Q4 2008 Earnings
Earnings Preview
Oplink Communications, Inc. (OPLK)  financial results fourth quarter ended June 30, 2008
Five analysts are predicting eps between $0.09 and $0.11, consensus of $0.10.
For those focused on eps this figure will compare poorly to last years $0.23.
Fast forward -> Results are now in and they’re great.
Good results, turnaround occurring, great upside potential in this well managed cash rich company.
The two main reasons I find oplk attractive are they make money and they mange that money well. Add in growth, OCP turnaround potential with proven management at …

I decided to invest some of my profits from selling OHI into buying a trading position in Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP). Back in mid June I flagged that I would wait patiently for STP to come to the value point I wanted…and here it is.
STP has once again fallen to a value point I couldn’t ignore. After a quick refresh of my due diligence I have gone overweight in STP. [Neither OHI nor STP are held in the FI Portfolio] The following notes are my half edited notes …

Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (OHI), has been volatile since July 07.
Check out this chart to view the wild rollercoaster for this boring REIT. With those recent extremes I shouldn’t be surprised about the ride over the last four days. OHI closed last Wednesday at $17.84, it announced OK Q2 earnings Thursday morning and the conference call later that morning was likewise mixed by largely positive looking forward. Yet OHI closed down 3.5% at 17.22. Then on Friday OHI climbed 4.8% followed by a 4.5% climb today. These are big moves …

Fund managers are generally happy to share their views. Their letters are often a great source of investment wisdom. While Buffett’s Berkshire Letters get the lion’s share of focus, many other fund managers provide valuable insights for investors.
I wrote about Howard Marks of Oaktree yestersay. That is his first letter that I have read and I look forward to reading more.
My ten favourite fund manager letters ex Buffett

You can subscribe the thoughts of Bill Nygren and other managers at Oakmark.

West Coast Asset Management provides an excellent archive of their Exclusive …