Investing Information

Guru Focused: Robert Olstein's Short Sells


While it is rather rare that value gurus sell stocks short, Robert Olstein has been selling short in his Financial Alert Fund. The accountant-turned fund manager spots values by looking behind the numbers. In the second quarter of 2004, Robert Olstein sold short American Italian Pasta Co. (PLB) at $31. After about 6 months he covered at $20, easily made more than $1 million for his fund. Currently he is shorting two stocks: Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) and Fleetwood Enterprises Inc (FLE), although things do not always go that smoothly.

Robert Olstein is certainly one of the best money managers (that is why he is in GuruFocus's Hall of Fame). The strategy of looking behind the numbers has brought his fund a 15.5% average annual return over 10 years after all fees. Its only down year was 2002, off 19%. In 2000, the year the tech bubble burst, the fund was up 12%, and in 2001, up 17%.

Robert Olstein started shorting Computer Sciences Corp (CSC) in the first quarter of 2004 at an average price of $41. He said that the accounting of CSC is not in accord with its economic reality, CSC is worth about $30. The price of CSC did not go down, however. He then shorted more shares. But the price of CSC went up, by the fourth quarter of 2004, the price of CSC was $56. It came down some in the first quarter of 2005, Robert Olstein was confident enough to short more shares again. As of the end of the first quarter, his shorting position in CSC totaled 504,500 shares with an average price of $42. As of this writing, the price of CSC is $46.4.

The other short selling of Robert Olstein is Fleetwood Enterprises Inc (FLE). He thinks that Fleetwood Enterprises Inc is worth about $5-6 per share. He sold short 1,195,500 shares of FLE at about $9.2 per share in the first quarter of 2005. Right now Fleetwood has a price of $9.5 per share.

Interestingly, another highly respected value manager, GuruFocus guru, Robert Rodriguez, does not agree with his value peer Olstein. In the fourth quarter of 2004, Rodriguez added 269,500 shares of FLE to his holdings at around $14 per share. As the share price dropped to $9, he added 2,261,900 more shares, which makes his total holding of Fleetwood to 3,714,400 shares.

Who is right, Robert vs. Robert?

Dr. Charlie Tian is the Director of Research of GuruFocus.com, a website tracks the stock picks and market insight of guru investors such as Warren Buffett, George Soros etc.


MORE RESOURCES:

BiggerPockets a forum for real estate investing
Chicago Tribune, United States - 14 hours ago
The special-interest media and publishing company offers free tools and resources on real estate investing throughout the country, educating and uniting the ...


Exchange traded funds change investing
Vancouver Sun,  Canada - 13 hours ago
Mawer's World Investment fund has been named Canada's top international fund four of the past six years, and fund manager Gerald Cooper-Key was named 2007 ...


The 10 Commandments Of Muni-Bond Investing
Forbes, NY - Jul 3, 2008
Simply read and follow the new 10 Commandments of Municipal Bond Investing and thou shalt have the where-with-all to survive the credit crisis. ...


Investing for Retirement - Cramer's Mad Money (7/3/08)
Seeking Alpha, NY - 11 hours ago
While many people who are investing for retirement tend to be risk averse, Cramer thinks one can go out on a limb once in a while; he reminded viewers it ...


The Investing Mistake That Could Destroy Your Retirement
Motley Fool - Jul 3, 2008
You direct your contributions into the asset class or investment style that suits your needs -- large-caps, growth stocks, small-cap value stocks, ...


Get These Stocks Out Of Your IRA!
Motley Fool - Jul 3, 2008
But the other reason to do some investing in taxable accounts is that you can cut your taxes. It may sound counterintuitive that a taxable account could be ...


Global Investing in One Tidy Package
U.S. News & World Report, DC - Jul 3, 2008
The fund (symbol VTWSX) requires a $3000 minimum investment and charges 0.45 percent in annual expenses. So far, not many ETFs offer global exposure. ...


Servcorp investing RM96mil in i-City project
Malaysia Star, Malaysia - 22 hours ago
By FINTAN NG SYDNEY: Australia’s Servcorp Ltd, the world’s second largest serviced office operator, is investing US$30mil over five years into ...


Make This Your Best Investing Year Yet
Motley Fool - Jul 3, 2008
Today, he's investing in First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) and Visa (NYSE: V). Fast-forward another five years. Evidence abounds that, for investors, it's going to ...


BBC News

The Five Secrets to Succeed at Bear Market Investing
Money Morning - Jul 2, 2008
But here’s the ultimate irony: Bear-market investing offers a direct pathway to the biggest profit opportunities most investors will ever see. ...
Investing in Commodities: Diversification or Hedging? Seeking Alpha
Investing Strategies for Today's Bear Market Smartmoney.com
Its Black Everywhere istockAnalyst.com
Washington Post - Globe and Mail
all 265 news articles

Investing - Google News

home | site map
© 2006