Whitney Tilson writes monthly to his investors and partners. A copy of his November letter is included at the end of this article.
His fund did not do too well in November, down 1.9% for the month, as compared a flat S&P 500. For the year, his fund returned 10.0% vs. 7.9% for S&P 500.
In the November letter, Tilson discussed why stock market did well in the past three months while the economic and geopolitical factors – interest rate, housing market, European sovereign debt crisis, and the pillow fight between the two Koreas, clearly suggest market could have turned otherwise. S&P 500 jumped 13.1% for the quarter. Tilson attribute the discrepancy to two reasons: fundamentals and froth.
My favorite part of the letter, in which he defended some of his short positions:
In the letter, he mentioned that he is shoring Under Armour, Lululemon Athletica, Netflix, OpenTable, InterOil, PulteGroup, St. Joe, Gramin, MBIA, Apollo Group, and Barnes & Noble. Usually fund managers do not have to disclose short positions.
But at GuruoFocus we have a far better idea on what are his long positions.
We actually know exactly what stocks he bought and sold during the past quarter. Here are the top purchases:
No. 1: BP p.l.c. (BP, Financial), Add: 2.84% of the portfolio - Total: 717,259 Shares
BP p.l.c. is the holding company of one of the world's largest petroleum and petrochemicals groups. Bp P.l.c. has a market cap of $134.33 billion; its shares were traded at around $42.89 with a P/E ratio of 6 and P/S ratio of 0.5. Bp P.l.c. had an annual average earning growth of 20.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Bp P.l.c. the business predictability rank of 3-star.
No. 2: Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP, Financial), Buy: 2.27% of the portfolio - Total: 309,888 Shares
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. is one of the largest providers of computerized transaction processing, data communication, and information services in the world. Automatic Data Processing Inc. has a market cap of $22.94 billion; its shares were traded at around $46.51 with a P/E ratio of 19.7 and P/S ratio of 2.6. The dividend yield of Automatic Data Processing Inc. stocks is 2.9%. Automatic Data Processing Inc. had an annual average earning growth of 1.9% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Automatic Data Processing Inc. the business predictability rank of 4-star.
No. 3: LIBERTY ACQ HGDS CP (LIA, Financial), Add: 1.48% of the portfolio - Total: 840,172 Shares
No. 4: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial), Add: 0.93% of the portfolio - Total: 253,785 Shares
Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for a multitude of computing devices. Microsoft Corp. has a market cap of $229.89 billion; its shares were traded at around $26.87 with a P/E ratio of 11.6 and P/S ratio of 3.7. The dividend yield of Microsoft Corp. stocks is 2.4%. Microsoft Corp. had an annual average earning growth of 12.6% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Microsoft Corp. the business predictability rank of 3-star.
No. 5: H&R Block Inc. (HRB, Financial), Buy: 0.68% of the portfolio - Total: 304,040 Shares
H&R Block Inc. is a diversified company involved in tax return preparation,electronic filing of income tax returns and other tax-related services. H&r Block Inc. has a market cap of $4.18 billion; its shares were traded at around $13.55 with a P/E ratio of 8.8 and P/S ratio of 1. The dividend yield of H&r Block Inc. stocks is 4.4%.
Check out his long portfolio by clicking on Whitney Tilson.
Whitney Tilson November 2010 Shareholder Letter
His fund did not do too well in November, down 1.9% for the month, as compared a flat S&P 500. For the year, his fund returned 10.0% vs. 7.9% for S&P 500.
In the November letter, Tilson discussed why stock market did well in the past three months while the economic and geopolitical factors – interest rate, housing market, European sovereign debt crisis, and the pillow fight between the two Koreas, clearly suggest market could have turned otherwise. S&P 500 jumped 13.1% for the quarter. Tilson attribute the discrepancy to two reasons: fundamentals and froth.
My favorite part of the letter, in which he defended some of his short positions:
As value investors, we make money by betting against the consensus view – by deviating from the herd – and, of course, being right more often than wrong. It’s hard enough to be right on fundamentals and then also get the timing exactly right as well, so we find that we’re often early – but our experience is that we are usually rewarded for our patience and willingness to endure short-term, mark-to-market pains.
In the letter, he mentioned that he is shoring Under Armour, Lululemon Athletica, Netflix, OpenTable, InterOil, PulteGroup, St. Joe, Gramin, MBIA, Apollo Group, and Barnes & Noble. Usually fund managers do not have to disclose short positions.
But at GuruoFocus we have a far better idea on what are his long positions.
We actually know exactly what stocks he bought and sold during the past quarter. Here are the top purchases:
No. 1: BP p.l.c. (BP, Financial), Add: 2.84% of the portfolio - Total: 717,259 Shares
BP p.l.c. is the holding company of one of the world's largest petroleum and petrochemicals groups. Bp P.l.c. has a market cap of $134.33 billion; its shares were traded at around $42.89 with a P/E ratio of 6 and P/S ratio of 0.5. Bp P.l.c. had an annual average earning growth of 20.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Bp P.l.c. the business predictability rank of 3-star.
No. 2: Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP, Financial), Buy: 2.27% of the portfolio - Total: 309,888 Shares
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. is one of the largest providers of computerized transaction processing, data communication, and information services in the world. Automatic Data Processing Inc. has a market cap of $22.94 billion; its shares were traded at around $46.51 with a P/E ratio of 19.7 and P/S ratio of 2.6. The dividend yield of Automatic Data Processing Inc. stocks is 2.9%. Automatic Data Processing Inc. had an annual average earning growth of 1.9% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Automatic Data Processing Inc. the business predictability rank of 4-star.
No. 3: LIBERTY ACQ HGDS CP (LIA, Financial), Add: 1.48% of the portfolio - Total: 840,172 Shares
No. 4: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financial), Add: 0.93% of the portfolio - Total: 253,785 Shares
Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for a multitude of computing devices. Microsoft Corp. has a market cap of $229.89 billion; its shares were traded at around $26.87 with a P/E ratio of 11.6 and P/S ratio of 3.7. The dividend yield of Microsoft Corp. stocks is 2.4%. Microsoft Corp. had an annual average earning growth of 12.6% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Microsoft Corp. the business predictability rank of 3-star.
No. 5: H&R Block Inc. (HRB, Financial), Buy: 0.68% of the portfolio - Total: 304,040 Shares
H&R Block Inc. is a diversified company involved in tax return preparation,electronic filing of income tax returns and other tax-related services. H&r Block Inc. has a market cap of $4.18 billion; its shares were traded at around $13.55 with a P/E ratio of 8.8 and P/S ratio of 1. The dividend yield of H&r Block Inc. stocks is 4.4%.
Check out his long portfolio by clicking on Whitney Tilson.
