Macquarie Group’s (MQG.AX) head of U.S. Capital  told Reuters that Mac “will continue its Wall Street hiring spree and keep its eyes open for more boutique acquisitions”.
This quote by Tim Bishop highlights part of Mac’s growth potential. ”We have a unique opportunity in the U.S. to grow and build out what we’ve done elsewhere in the world. What we’re doing here is entirely consistent with what were doing in Asia and Australia.”
We only have a small parcel of MQG now, having sold down progressively throughout the $40s, after some early profit taking …

Maybe it was too little sleep, maybe it’s my time of the month, but for whatever reason I feel like a grumpy old man today. Perhaps that’s why rather than celebrate the surreal rise of Australian and North American indices I am becoming fearful.

When I look at this chart of the S&P ASX20 as a proxy for the Australian market, rather than seeing a friend swinging me ever higher I see a viper poised to strike. I look at companies in my portfolio and ponder what to sell. Then a …

Buffett sells down Berkshire’s Moody holding with a hat tip to Fusion Investing which sells down MQG ahead of the trading halt.

Macquarie’s SPP offer was as close to a no brainer as you’ll ever get in investing, yet around 60% of retail investors decided to pass and only one third of the eligible shares were taken up. Though as Stephen Mayne points out those stats actually make Macquarie investors among the smartest in Australia. “Less than 10% of Axa Asia Pacific Holdings shareholders took up a $10,000 share purchase plan, which was 40% in the money.”

Macquarie’s SPP offer document has now been mailed out. I haven’t received mine yet, but I got a chance to look through it today on the ASX site.

Macquarie Group’s share purchase plan for retail investors in likely to be met with enthusiasm. Mac will be sending the full details on May 11, but have already released most of the key details.

While I don’t normally comment on daily news, the 12%+ jump in Macquarie’s share price intra-day caught my eye. MQG opened down 74 cents at 24.26 and then jumped suddenly at around 1.24pm, MQG last traded at $27.40.

It seems this takeover announcement for Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group (MCG) sparked the rally. Cash is king and it seems investors are now seeing the king clothing. As the phrase goes, when the tide goes out we’ll see who is naked and it appears Mac has been wearing speedos after all.

I like the news flow around Macquarie a lot more than the price direction.
A couple weeks back the bank sold $2.5B in 3yr notes at 2.6%. A great rate thanks to the government guarantee. Compare that to the 15%  Harley Davidson  (HOG) has to pay. This is an excellent time to be getting your hands on cheap cash, well done Mac.
Now Mac is putting money to work in what is arguably one of the clearest long term opportunities in North America, gas. See more below.
I like the news, but clearly I’m missing …

I’ve accelerated my buying of late, particularly in our Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) account. As I mentioned the other day the fund was cashed up and with new funds regularly added it makes sense to be buying more now.
I could start using margin in the months ahead, but most of the margin will be held in reserve for the next bull market to begin.
I liked MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED (MQG) half yearly results. The presentation is worthwhile.The strong often prosper at these times and with the loss of some …