With the weekend upon us, here are five items you might wish to check out before Monday brings yet another workweek.
- King Pharmaceuticals (KG/NYSE) has the distinction of actually being in the black since being added to the portfolio. And this performance has been achieved with the company keeping a low profile -- until now. King made an unsolicited $1.38 billion bid for Alpharma Inc., which the Alpharma board rejected as too low. King's CEO says his company is committed to getting a deal done with Alpharma. Both companies' shares rose on the news (though that could mean something or nothing over the longer term).
- Foot Locker (FL/NYSE) should join King as a profitable investment at some point, though it took no time at all to achieve double-digit loss status right after I bought it last year. The results of one quarter, or even several, mean next to nothing over the long term. But Foot Locker's better-than-expected results suggest the company's fortunes may be improving. This position is still underwater, but with the stock trading a tad above book value, half of annual sales, and yielding 4%, continued patience seems prudent IMHO.
- My exposure to Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp is through John Malone's Liberty Media (which has three tracking stocks that I hold and count as a single position). Malone was pretty unhappy with Diller's plans to split IAC into five companies, which took effect this week. Tim Mullaney of Bloomberg files this story on the prospects of the five newly-traded stocks.
- I'm all for alternative energy -- wind, solar, you name it -- as long as it pays for itself. If it needs taxpayers to foot the bill then it can never be part of the solution. That's one reason why Tom Donlan of Barron's is such a refreshing voice. He's pointed out in the past that the best energy policy is no energy policy. But I'm afraid this is an issue ripe for charlatans to make big bucks at taxpayer expense. Investigative reporter Tim Carney details Boone Pickens' veiled corporate welfare in two columns in the Washington Examiner, which you can access here.
- I've just about finished Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton
by Sara Wheeler. This is the guy Robert Redford played in the movie Out of Africa (which was based on the famous memoir by Karen Blixen). Redford's character was an American in the movie but in real life Finch Hatton was from Britain. I recommend the book if this sort of thing sparks your interest. Most of the important stuff takes place in British East Africa, known today as Kenya. It's as much about a time and place and long-gone era as it is about a man's life. For those interested in Kenya in the here-and-now, read this from Africa Confidential on how politicians, administrators and churchmen fostered post-election slaughter of more than 1,000 and displacement of another 350,000.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and we'll see you next week if not sooner.
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