Welcome, welcome. Come in, come in.
It is with deepest satisfaction and greatest privilege that I unveil to you how my 9th floor office and subsequent domain have signed treaty with THE INVINCIBLE NATIONS OF IBANKCOIN just this week to become an official territory of this most hallowed website.
Henceforth, all work done and published here by my hand shall have the added benefit of furthering the prestige and authority of iBankCoin, in its commendable goal to clear the stagnant and unworthy from the center stage and replace them with a gilded era of fiduciary responsibility and investing competence.
May I never deviate from this course, or find myself worthy of reprimand or replacement.
I have spent the weekend cleaning and clearing room in my office; it should now accommodate us, you and I. I hope you can tolerate the smell of aging paper, smoky wood, and the damp musk of tobacco. All are welcome, as are visitors and respectfully phrased questions.
In the process of arranging for the transference, I have also decided to file my records in a way which is more suitable for my readership’s viewing. My preference is to stick to the written word as my sole means of communication. However, I no longer have such luxuries, with this newly granted responsibility.
As such, I have begun construction of the Talir Portfolio, which shall be little more than an index for the investing decisions we make here, and an easy visual reference for performance of the fund. Moreover, I shall begin to use other visual aids for those of you who are…shall we say…”effectively deaf.”
This portfolio shall be constructed from when I first began writing here (as I find myself at a crossroads, and have no patience for fools who can’t see things in their entirety), and I shall unveil it later this week.
Now, a quick word of introduction for the benefit of those who are stumbling through my doorway for the very first time:
My name is Cain Hammond Thaler, and I have written in the peanut gallery for about two years now from my asylum in Detroit.
During that time, I made many excellent trades…and had a few enormous blowups. I present both my best and worst sides, openly, for your consideration. But, between you and I, without humility, I’m right more than I am wrong and have the established track record to prove it.
On my strategy, I never really considered to put it into words until very recently. However, I will now etch in sandstone for the masses to read:
I am an investor of distressed assets. I am a buyer of the unsteady present. I give little for the tumultuous today to make a fortune in the tepid tomorrow. I am also a purchaser of prospects. I buy the boring and unwanted before they are the best and most desirable. I am an analyst of assumptions, who seeks to gain from the misperceptions of others.
I am an opportunist.
This is different from the quaint, mainstream notion of risk/reward. I rarely make a purchase when I deem it “risky” and I always look for tremendous reward. Specifically, I move when I believe everyone else is wrong; and hence, the very notion of risk/reward is utter hogwash.
All of my best trades, whether SLB, APC, MGM, TLP, silver, etc. were conducted to this standard. I may as well embrace my roots as a vulture. It is not glamorous, but it pays well.
And when I cannot be these things; when opportunity does not present itself; then I am a fundamental investor who looks for quality stores of value which will give me ample footing to strike when the next expedient moment arrives.
Certainly, with Egypt and Tunisia falling, and the future of global maritime hanging in the balance; with bomb threats on mosques in our own backyard (my own home state, in fact); with food riots and rising costs; and deficits and unfunded debts crippling entire nations; with China fighting free trade and the Asian world raising interest to stave off absurd inflation;
In short, with uncertainty everywhere;
There couldn’t be a more opportune time to get started.
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Well done, Cain!
Nice to see a fellow Detroiter/Michigander here. Althought I must admit I do everything within my power to stay outside of Detroit city limits, for it is filled with random vile shit and the corruptest of the corrupt politicians.
stay warm up there
Cain,
Well deserved and congrats.
Take a look at LO. I know you were in MO and still may be. LO has been pounded of late in anticipation of an FDA ruling in March that may outlaw menthol cigarettes, 90% of LO’s sales.
Hey Chess,
I sold out of MO to establish my position in APC.
I don’t like LO; Lorilland at $75 is a huge price to pay for a company that admits in its balance sheets that it has no shareholder value. Of course, all the cigarette manufacturers have terrible balance sheets, but there are less expensive ones you can buy, with more diverse operations and better foreign prospects.
Also, since LO is one of the oldest cigarette manufacturers, it has the added headache of pre-anti-smoking campaign liability. There indemnity pages make up a pretty thick section of their filing, literally disclosing thousands of lawsuits.
The newer companies, ironically even those which were spawned off the corpses of other older companies, have managed to shed a lot of that responsibility and are only responsible for litigation going forward.
I’m going to take a pass on the menthol issue specifically. I just don’t know enough about all the players.
I’d still buy PM over LO.
And the food riots are in Detroit!
What better place from which to pick on capitalism’s carrion?
Welcome aboard, friend.
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Thanks for the invite. Nice view up here – you can see the river!
Hey, where’s your bathroom?
you can see the river
Great thing about Detroit is you can see the river at night because it’s usually on fire.
“i like your style, Dude.”
Outstanding, Cain! Welcome…
I’ve known you would make it to the big time here. Congratulations! Looking forward to the Talir.
indoor grill
I shall have it installed immediately, right next to my armoire.
Welcome to the club.
Congratulations on the tab, Mr. Thaler. Looking forward to your posts.
Great work (and persistence) seizing the opportunity for a tab with the best financial bloggers on the internets (sic). Congrats and looking forward to your perspective!
Welcome and congratulation. Look forward to pick your brain.
congrats on your induction into Team le FLy
I never spent any time at the peanut gallery, just from your introductory speech I feel like I sold myself short! Looking forward to reading your blogs Cain, Congrats on the step up!
Good job.
I have been reading you all along and it is nice to read a contrarian instead of mo mo traders all of the time.
And since you are in Detroit, I would suggest armed security (V. King?) outside of your office and watch for roadside bombs along Michigan Ave. near Dearborn. Been there once when I was re routed off the Interstate (from the airport for construction) looking for the Ambassador Bridge.
Congrats! Awesome to be working with you.
I tip my hat, and my glass of Sancerre, in your direction good sir… play on!
Congrats Sir.
congrats, sir! methinks we are about to be treated as plebes.
Congratulations good sir.
Today I see a man rise to the ranks of greatness from my locale, and I feel a great sense of pride. Please sir, continue on as you have in the PG, your works are a great value. Represent the D well my friend.
I like the alternative muni play with utilities. What say you of LLY in the intermediate? Do you feel the company has stability to continue paying its juicy coupon?
Mais oui. But people dont’ generally buy Pharmas “just for the coupon” if ya know what I mean.
(Sorry Cain, but the Lilly people are practically neighbors, ovah heah..)
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I agree with Jake. The reason I picked the utilities sector is because it is a large, capital intensive industry, which gives it a certain sort of monopoly. You don’t just build a power plant or water treatment facility overnight to compete. And, court cases are well established to protect investors as much as local residents. These criteria make it a viable substitute to bond holders, should a muni-bond crisis take off.
That’s what interests me most; selling my utility shares to a bond portfolio manager who is desperate to lock his client’s money down. That and it’s nice to have some part of my own allocation relatively stable.
With a drug company, you have a whole list of problems, from lawsuits that favor the exceptional cases to the whim’s of the FDA.
There’s a reason pharmaceuticals are called “bio-tech hand grenades,” and it isn’t for their predictability or stable nature.
Many thanks to the both of ya’s. I was screening for huge market cap and divi rate. LLY met both criteria, but it’s a different beast entirely.
The congratulations are much appreciated.
welcome mr cain , & nice introduction to your trade-crude-fashion
Check out how your avatar is situated on the right hand column, under the King of the PG avatar.
If you leave the KoPG tab un-spread, it looks like your little man (what is that anyway?) is crowned!
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Haha