Endeavor Acquisition Corp.

Hey guys. This is Ross, and I have recently (through reading the journal) discovered that the company American Apparel (currently private) is going to go public through being acquired by Endeavor Acquisition Corp. (EDA) I am a big supporter of American Apparel because I think their business lines are genious. to be brief they make plain clothing with NO PRINTING, and they sell this at their 150 retail locations across the US and Europe and Asian markets. They also wholesale clothing to other companies who print whatever they design onto the shirt. These shirts are the premium for the clothing printers to use, and they are catching on all across the fashion world. The link to this investor presentation is HERE

and the 8-K ( a little less colorful, is here) I went into work for a few days this week at Citigroup, Smith Barney and after talking to my friends who are producers they think it's a good buy until 11. I got in at 8.94, and I reccomend the club vote on this and also get in. EDA is just a blank check IPO like SVI, and I think this could be a great addition to our portfolio.

U.S./China Meetings

One big item in the news that began overnight was a series of meetings between major players in the U.S. Economy (Paulson, Bernanke, Gutierrez, etc.) and their Chinese counterparts. There are many different goals that each side is pursuing with the meetings, so it will be interesting to see what prevails of this summit.

Right now the Yuan is trading at year highs compared to the dollar as the meetings begin. This could either be a resistance point and lead to a turn around, or furthe accelerate the decline of the dollar verse the major currencies of the world.

ACH

ACH resumed trading. Evidently they are trying to purchase 2 companies that they have large stakes in, and then get listed on Shanghai's exchange.

reuters article

Are we going to buy them because we already voted to, or are we going to bring it up next semester? I'm for buying them.

a fight for Phelps Dodge

Some interesting stuff going on with PD. A while ago, the company agreed to be bought by FCX for $88 plus a fraction of a share of FCX (adding up to about $126). But SAC Capital has said that they're going to oppose the deal (they own 5% of PD). Atticus owns 10% of PD, and has not announced their opinion. These are big Wall St. players that are trying to alter the future of a $25 billion dollar company. Should be entertaining and educational, especially if someone starts talking LBO.

p.s. check my comment on Joel's WLT post if WLT at $25 would surprise you

Current Positions

The Yahoo Portfolio is updated except for the trades that will clear tomorrow (sending out the login info on the listserv).

We aggreed to by 40 shares of WLT at the open tomorrow morning. We have also put a straddle on CROX by buying 10 $30 March 07 puts with a limit at $1.00 and 10 $55 March 07 calls with a limit of $1.25.

As we were wondering about ACH not having any volume today, Will found out that their trading has been temporarily held up, so we are going to wait until it starts trading again before we buy our 120 shares.

New Exec Board:
Steven Budig - President of Investment Banking
Frank Keeling - VP of Investment Banking
Ross Goldin - President of Asset Management
Chris Wasley - Co-VP of Asset Management
Brent Goldbach - Co-VP of Asset Management
Joel Niekamp - President of Miami Investment Group

adr.com

Check out adr.com for a little more info regarding ACH. Looks to me like earnings are about $2 per share, and the stock has ~5% yield. I still don't think the earnings estimates are correct ($12 a share) but I feel ok buying the stock at a trailing P/E of 10 and a 5% dividend.

some stocks to look at for the Dec 04 Meeting

SWHC (given by friend in Chicago, who I worked with)
DPHIQ, Delphi Auto Electronics Maker
I/O very high recomendation

Tastes Like Chicken!

We now own the largest poultry producer in the world as Pilgrim's Pride was finally able to complete a $1.1 bln acquisition of Gold Kist. It's a good sign to see the 9.5% surge in the price, which shows investors believe the deal is good for both companies.

I'm comfortable holding onto these guys for a while now that we have a new catalyst to help propel them back to their pre-bird flu price.

CROX

Someone brought this up a while ago. Since we're buying tomorrow, I thought I'd bring it back up as one we can discuss and vote on.

I know that crocs are not brand new, but if this is the year that many people hear of them for the first time, they could have great Christmas sales. Personally I think the clog things are not very attractive, but the company is expanding their products somewhat. They have flip-flops and boots (along with other non-footwear apparel featuring their logo). I haven't formed an opinion on their Rx models.

One negative is that their product might be a fad. I'll talk about that at the meeting.

I think this is a good stock for a high risk, high reward position.

Candidate for VP of asset management

I'd like to run for VP of Asset Management. I want to help maintain the portfolio and educate ourselves about stocks, options, and other investments. I am knowledgeable, have experience with investing, and try to be helpful when I can.

Doug