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Moody's

  • ValueAct Shakes Things Up

    By Marshall Hargrave - May 19, 2013 | Tickers: HAL, MHFI, MSFT, MCO, MSI

    The long-term focused ValueAct hedge fund was founded by Jeff Ubben, the former managing partner of Blum Capital. ValueAct takes a long-term focus, usually making three to four new investments per year, running a concentrated portfolio of around fifteen stocks and holding each for around three years. Outlined below are ValueAct's latest shakeups to its portfolio during the first quarter (see all the stocks ValueAct loved).

    ValueAct did dump more »

  • Tarnished Brand but Untarnished Profits

    By Ted Cooper - April 30, 2013 | Tickers: FDS, MHFI, MCO

    Investors have soured on McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHFI) since the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would pursue a civil lawsuit against the company's credit ratings unit, Standard & Poor's (S&P). Moody's (NYSE: MCO), S&P's primary competitor and a Warren Buffett favorite, is under similar pressure from a government looking to make a public display of justice.

    However, McGraw-Hill's collection of wide-moat businesses will more »

  • This Wall Street Superstar is Going Against The Herd

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - April 5, 2013 | Tickers: CMG, DLTR, MCO, PCLN, S

    Eton Park Capital’s fund manager, Eric Mindich, is truly unique, in that his ability to generate piles of cash for Goldman Sachs was rewarded with an appointment to become the youngest partner (27) at Wall Street’s most elite investment bank. Knowing how difficult the process of becoming a partner at Sachs is, this is no small feat. With that said, we are going to take a look at more »

  • After the Plunge, Is it Time to Buy This Stock?

    By Alex Bastardas - March 22, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    On Feb. 5, the US Department of Justice announced that it would be seeking $5 billion in its civil lawsuit against the S&P credit rating agency, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHFI), for "defrauding investors" during the financial crisis. The government essentially argued that the company had inflated the ratings and ignored the risks in an effort to get more business. The company denied any wrongdoing, and more »

  • Billion Dollar Value Hedge Fund Goes Shopping

    By Marshall Hargrave - March 14, 2013 | Tickers: NLY, CFX, DLTR, MNRO, MCO

    Chuck Akre founded Akre Capital Management in 1989, and now manages over $1.2 billion. He was named to Barron's "Top 100 Mutual Fund Managers" list from 2003-2006, one of only two small cap growth managers to make the list four consecutive years. For his fourth quarter portfolio re-balancing, he was upping his stake in some of key stocks, including a dollar store and a top-credit rating agency. 


    Who more »

  • What Warren Buffett Really Means

    By Ted Cooper - March 13, 2013 | Tickers: AAPL, BRK-B, MCO

    A lot of investors think that when Warren Buffett says to invest within one's own circle of competence, he means invest in companies whose operations you understand. This misguided notion causes people to think "I understand Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) products, so it's within my circle of competence and I can invest in it."

    These investors believe that Buffett just doesn't understand how software works or what more »

  • Ratings Agencies Aren't Going Away Any Time Soon

    By Adam Jones - March 1, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    While reading through earnings calls over the past week, I have noticed a theme: companies from all industries are still very concerned with what the ratings agencies think of them.  Below are a few quotes that stood out to me.

    “We are working very closely with the rating agencies to make sure they are comfortable.” - Bob Benmosche, CEO of AIG, Q4 2012 Earnings Call

     “We have reviewed the plan with more »

  • Lou Simpson Is Betting Big on This Rating Agency

    By Anh HOANG - February 25, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO, DNB

    Lou Simpson is one of the best investment managers that Warren Buffett likes. When he managed investments for GEICO Insurance, he had delivered a 20% compounded annualized return for more than 30 years. He now runs a quite concentrated portfolio with his own investment advisory firm, SQ Advisory LLC. In the fourth quarter 2012, he bought more than 1.16 million shares of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO). As of more »

  • Dun & Bradstreet Gets A Poor Rating

    By Marshall Hargrave - February 21, 2013 | Tickers: ACXM, CLGX, EFX, FICO, MCO, DNB

    Dun & Bradstreet (NYSE: DNB) tanked earlier this month after posting fourth quarter numbers below Wall Street expectations, which was a result of weakness in its North American business. D&B's stock fell more than 7%, but I think it's worth taking a look at the company to see if it could be a buy on the weakness (check out the hedge funds owning Dun & Bradstreet). However, I have more »

  • Kroll Ratings Take on US Banks, Europe Next

    By Nick Slepko - February 19, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    In only two years, Kroll Bond Rating Agency, in metric after metric, has been surpassing one credit ratings agency after another.  Founded by corporate intelligence legend Jules Kroll, the firm set out to “establish new standards for assessing risk and offering accurate, clear and transparent ratings,” and picked up where of Moody’s, (NYSE: MCO), S&P (NYSE: MHFI), and Fitch had seem to have given up.  Industry veteran Jim more »

  • Kroll Credit Ratings: Old School Values, Modern Methods, New Paradigms

    By Nick Slepko - February 19, 2013 | Tickers: C, MHFI, MCO, MORN

    In only two years, Kroll Bond Rating Agency, in metric after metric, has been surpassing one credit ratings agency after another.  Founded by corporate intelligence legend Jules Kroll, the firm set out to “establish new standards for assessing risk and offering accurate, clear and transparent ratings,” and picked up where of Moody’s, (NYSE: MCO), S&P (NYSE: MHFI), and Fitch had seem to have given up.  Industry veteran Jim more »

  • Bonds. Kroll Bonds.

    By Nick Slepko - February 19, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    Capitalism is based on trust, and Kroll Bond Rating Agency has been single-handedly trying to save the foundations of a free and fair global market, while the other ratings agencies have been stroking their kitties and feeding the system to laser-guided sharks.  KBRA was founded two years ago by Jules Kroll, whose corporate intelligence firm Kroll, Inc. has been characterized as, “the private CIA.” Likening the deteriorating standards of the more »

  • Akre Capital Management’s Stock Picks for 2013

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - February 14, 2013 | Tickers: AMT, MKL, MA, MCO, ROST

    Charles Akre’s Akre Capital Management has filed its 13F for the fourth quarter of 2012, disclosing many of its long equity positions as of the end of December. We have been tracking 13F filings from hedge funds and other notable investors to build our database of filings, which can then be used to help find investments that are likely to beat the market based on historical trends. For example more »

  • Do People Believe In Ratings After the Recession?

    By Shas Dey - February 14, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO, DNB

    Recently, shares of McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc (NYSE: MHFI) fell by 11% on Tuesday after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it is filing a lawsuit against its Standard & Poor’s rating service unit. McGraw Hill has lost $3.7 billion in market capitalization in last two days and the US government is seeking $5 billion in compensation.

    What Went Wrong? 

    The US government believes that S&P mislead more »

  • McGraw-Hill Is Still a Good Buy Despite S&P Lawsuit

    By Greg Gambone - February 13, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    Despite the recent lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHFI) and Standard & Poor’s, which alleges the company knowingly issued inflated positive ratings to mortgage securities and lenders from September 2004 to October 2007, it’s unlikely that the outcome of the suit will negatively impact the long-term stability of the company or the ratings industry as a whole.

    Both McGraw-Hill and Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) stock more »

  • Why the DOJ's Lawsuit Against S&P Will Do More Harm Than Good

    By Greg Gambone - February 10, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    The Justice Department's lawsuit against Standard & Poor's can have a ripple effect that will open the flood gates for countless additional lawsuits against the ratings industry by investors who lost money, claiming they based their decisions on intentionally manipulated and inflated ratings.

  • Illogical Trends of Friday Might Create Value … or Value Traps!

    By Brian Nichols - February 9, 2013 | Tickers: LNKD, MCO, SPWR

    Earnings create movement and set the trend for a stock for the following three months. A stock can post a blowout quarter and see great movement and a shift from pessimism to optimism (i.e. Netflix) or vise versa. But sometimes, the market gets it wrong and the stock trends in an incorrect direction. Sometimes it creates value and other times it creates a value trap. With that being said more »

  • Should McGraw-Hill Investors Be Worried About the Lawsuit?

    By Brian Nichols - February 7, 2013 | Tickers: MHFI, MCO

    McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHFI) is supposed to be a large stable high-yield company, not a volatile stock in the middle of a controversy. Yet that is exactly where the company finds itself, erasing all of its 20% gains over the last year with a near 20% loss during the last two sessions. Therefore, what is it that’s moving this large and stable stock, and what could it mean for the more »

  • A Board Member Bought About $50,000 Worth of IHS

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - January 28, 2013 | Tickers: HIS, FDS, MCO, DNB, TRI

    According to a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Jean-Paul Montupet, a Board member at IHS (NYSE: HIS) purchased 500 shares of the stock on Jan. 22 through a trust at an average price of $99.26. Montupet also owns a little over 3,400 shares of IHS directly. IHS is an information, analysis, and consulting company with a market capitalization of $6.8 billion. Studies show that stocks bought more »

  • Charles Akre’s Top Stock Picks

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - January 2, 2013 | Tickers: AMT, MKL, MA, MCO, ROST

    Chuck Akre has been managing money through one vehicle or another since 1989. For some time Akre operated the FBR Focus fund before relaunching as the Akre Focus fund in 2009. Oddly, the fund is based not in New York or Greenwich or Chicago but in Middleburg, Virginia- a town with a population of 632 in the 2000 Census.

    Akre’s investment philosophy centers on finding companies with high returns more »

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