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Shmulik Karpf

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  • Mr. Einhorn, You're Wrong On Chipotle!

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 21, 2013 | Tickers: CMG, MCD, PNRA

    On Oct. 2, 2012, Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn described his latest short idea at an annual value investment conference. This time, Einhorn targeted Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG). Einhorn outlined the bearish case for the company and focused on two points.

    First, he argued that Chipotle’s business was vulnerable to competition. Jeffrey Gundlach, a famous bond investor, supported Einhorn and stated that "All you need to compete with more »

  • What Do Cigarettes, Software And Oil - All Have In Common?

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 19, 2013 | Tickers: XOM, LO, MSFT

    On the face of it, There's nothing similar between Cigarettes, software and oil. The three are completely different sectors with totally different regulations, rivals, profit margins and customers. Yet, there are three outstanding companies from these three sectors that exhibit very similar traits. These traits are worth paying attention to because they can spell big profits to investors. The companies that I'm about to discuss are the cigarette more »

  • Buffett Has Just Increased His Stake In His Favorite Investment

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 13, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, BRK-A, PKX

    On May 1, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A), (NYSE: BRK-B) agreed to pay $2.05 billion to purchase the remaining piece of Iscar, an Israeli metalworking company that it had acquired a stake in seven years ago. IMC International Metalworking, known as Iscar, was founded in 1952 by Stef Wertheimer, an Israeli entrepreneur from an old rented shack. It makes cutting gear for industries including aerospace and auto more »

  • Buy This Leader of Data Storage and Avoid the Rest

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 13, 2013 | Tickers: EMC, NTAP, WDC

    I believe that the data storage industry is one of the more interesting industries out there. As technology becomes more advanced and more popular in third-world countries, the pending question will become not how to create data, but rather, how to store it in an optimal way that allows a swift yet secure access to it.

    Many investors believe that the future of data storage will grow to be many more »

  • Buy These 3 Creative Dividend Opportunities

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 10, 2013 | Tickers: NLY, ETP, GOV

    In a zero percent interest rate environment, everyone has become yield hungry - retirees especially. They must earn a satisfactory return on their funds, but that's very difficult to achieve in today's economic climate. On the one hand, they can go out and buy a world leader like Microsoft or Intel and earn an annual dividend paycheck roughly in the area of 3.5%. But that's too low more »

  • Is CVS Caremark Still a Buy?

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 8, 2013 | Tickers: CVS, XLV, WMT, WAG

    Shares of CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) have enjoyed a fantastic run over the past six months. From a price of $44 only six months ago, shares advanced to a roughly $60 price tag today - an impressive 36% rise in such a short time. Not only that, but CVS also vastly outperformed the health care sector as a whole. Take a look at the graph below.

    From looking at the graph more »

  • Buy This Golden Anomaly

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 7, 2013 | Tickers: ABX, GDX, SA

    Since the beginning of 2013, gold has remained in the spotlight. It certainly receives its share of publicity. Many traders and analysts express their opinions about the fate of gold prices. The drop in the price of gold has caused a spike in interest and demand for physical gold. For example, the U.S. Mint had ran out of its smallest gold coins. But buying coins or talking about the more »

  • Buy Into This Value Trend While You Still Can

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 4, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, CSCO, INTC, MSFT

    Investors who have been around during the dot-com bubble remember it very well. Giant tech companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) have been trading at imaginary price to earnings ratios of 55, 60 and 48, respectively. Such P/Es are, of course, out of this world, and the imminent crash was just around the corner. Investors ran for the hills, sending shares of these more »

  • This Company Is the Coca-Cola of the Internet Space

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 2, 2013 | Tickers: CHKP, KO, FTNT

    If there's one piece of Buffett advice that investors should always live by is to try and invest only in companies with exceptionally high economic goodwill. By that, he means companies that are able to deploy their capital efficiently and have relatively low costs of maintaining their operations. Such companies can deliver their excess cash back to the hands of shareholders. 

    The ultimate example

    When Buffett first bought into more »

  • Mr. Einhorn, You Got Your Wish!

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 2, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, CSCO, MSFT

    Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Cisco's current dividend yield. The article has been corrected.

    Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has long been criticized for the $150 billion pile of cash on its balance sheet. Shareholders – including hedge-fund billionaire David Einhorn – want Apple to return more of that capital to investors. On February 7, David Einhorn, the famous hedgie from Greenlight Capital, published  a pressing letter to Apple more »

  • How to Buy a Dollar for 95 Cents

    By Shmulik Karpf - May 2, 2013 | Tickers: AGNC, NLY, CIM

    In a zero percent interest rate environment, hungry-for-yield investors are willing to look into any security which offers them an extra percentage point in dividends. Often times, they are willing to settle for a low quality company just to get the stream of dividends that it offers. Usually, this turns out to be a bad investment decision and the investor ends up regretting his hunger for dividends in the first more »

  • Why J.C. Penney and HP Are Twin Sisters

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 23, 2013 | Tickers: HPQ, JCP, WMT

    J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) can't possibly be more different from one another. The former is a department store while the latter operates in the diversified computer systems industry. The former has a $3 billion market cap while the latter is a giant $40 billion company. In addition, HP was founded in 1939 while J.C. Penney is a much older brand, dating back to more »

  • Three Creative Ways To Benefit From Housing Boom

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, BRK-A, BX, WFC

    You can feel it in the air. You're not sure that it's true, and you're almost afraid to say it out loud because people might think that you've lost your mind. But it's true - home prices have officially touched bottom. We're on the right track. This feeling is supported by numbers. According to the most recent Case Shiller home index, the Home Price Indices more »

  • Three Creative Ways To Benefit From Housing Boom

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 16, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, BRK-A, BX, WFC

    You can feel it in the air. You're not sure that it's true, and you're almost afraid to say it out loud because people might think that you've lost your mind. But it's true - home prices have officially touched bottom. We're on the right track. This feeling is supported by numbers. According to the most recent Case Shiller home index, the Home Price Indices more »

  • Keep Your Distance From Dunkin' Donuts!

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 15, 2013 | Tickers: DNKN, KKD, MCD, SBUX

    Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) - together with its subsidiaries franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. For many years, Its restaurants have been serving us coffee, donuts and other goodies.

    As tempting as the fast food sector may appear, I believe that currently there are a few warning signs that any investor should clearly pay attention to. Many investors though, prefer to turn a blind eye to the company's operations and focus more »

  • Three Creative Ways To Benefit From Housing Boom

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 14, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, BRK-A, BX, WFC

    You can feel it in the air. You're not sure that it's true, and you're almost afraid to say it out loud because people might think that you've lost your mind. But it's true - home prices have officially touched bottom. We're on the right track. This feeling is supported by numbers. According to the most recent Case Shiller home index, the Home Price Indices more »

  • Can Buffett Time The Market Successfully?

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 11, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, BRK-A, GE, JNJ

    Mr. Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha and the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) is famous for his infinite investing wisdom, which he often shares with us, the common people. One of the things that distinguishes Buffett from other investors is the strong emphasis on the long term holding period. In fact, when asked about the optimal holding time for his investments, he responded that "Our favorite holding more »

  • This Is The Best Business In The World

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 11, 2013 | Tickers: AIG, BRK-A, TRV, WRB

    I often find myself pondering what is the best business in the world. When I begin to weigh all the various possibilities, I usually turn to Warren Buffett for some advice on this topic. We all know that in his teachings, the sage of Omaha emphasized the importance of a wide economic moat, consistent earnings power and strong capital efficiency.

    Why insurance?

    I believe we can find several clues why more »

  • What Not To Do With Your Walmart Shares

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 10, 2013 | Tickers: COST, TGT, WMT

    There is a big hype now surrounding Walmart Stores (NYSE: WMT). The story du jour is that the giant retailer might be losing sales to competitors due to a thin workforce unable to keep store shelves stocked. While the company increased its store count by 13% over the last five years, the number of employees fell 1.4% - leading to less customer service. This seemingly important piece of news caught more »

  • Can Buffett Time The Market Successfully?

    By Shmulik Karpf - April 8, 2013 | Tickers: BRK-B, BRK-A, GE, JNJ

    Mr. Buffett, the famous sage of Omaha and the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) is famous for his infinite investing wisdom which he often shares with us, the common people. One of the things that distinguishes Buffett from other investors is the strong emphasis on the long term holding period. In fact, when asked about the optimal holding time for his investments, he responded that "Our favorite more »

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