Asta Funding, (NASDAQ:ASTA), is in the business of acquiring, servicing, and collecting distressed consumer receivables – primarily credit card receivables.
I wrote a few articles about Asta in Dec 2009 – Jan 2010 on my previous blog here, here, and here.
Since that time, it has traded as low as $6.00 and as high as $10.03, overall trailing the return of the S&P 500 as shown below.
Today I think it presents a compelling investment opportunity.
Yesterday evening I posted an article titled “Accounting Irregularities at L&L Energy.”
In it I discussed my concerns regarding certain SEC filings of L&L Energy (LLEN).
I had originally intended to post several follow up articles focusing on other aspects of the company, but in light of today’s events I no longer plan to continue this story.
Author has posted a follow up to this post here.
L&L Energy, Inc, (NASDAQ: LLEN) is in the business of coal mining, washing, coking, and wholesaling. Although its operations are conducted in China, the company is headquartered in Seattle, WA. As of 5/20/11, the company had a market cap of $200 MM.
The stock has been volatile, and although off significantly from its 2010 highs, the stock is still up over 200% from its 2009 debut.
The company claims an impressive growth record.
It also has questionable accounting, puzzling acquisitions, and checkered senior management.
Today in part 1 of this series I am going to discuss the accounting irregularities I have found.
High in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, in the rich soils north of Kingston, grow some of the world’s finest coffee beans. Every year these beans are hand-picked, sun-dried on bamboo racks, and roasted over wood fires before being shipped around the world, much of it to Japan, where it is coveted for its mild flavor and sweet aroma.
Almost 3,000 miles away in a very different set of hills – Beverly Hills – the young directors of Jammin Java Corp must be celebrating the opening of the US stock markets with a cup of their own signature Lion’s Blend coffee. It is Monday May 9, 2011, and shares of Jammin Java Corp (JAMN.OB) have catapulted to $3.20 per share and the company they oversee now has a market capitalization of over $220 Million. Continue reading
One of the most interesting investment stories to come out in the past year is the debate over The St. Joe Company. On the long side, and 30% stockholder, we have Bruce Berkowitz and his mutual fund, Fairholme Funds, Inc. In 2010, Morningstar named Mr. Berkowitz their Domestic-Stock Fund Manager of the Decade. And it’s no wonder why – since inception in 1999, his fund has achieved annualized returns of 14.47% compared to just 0.45% for the S&P 500.
On the short side we have David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital. Mr. Einhorn is a highly respected manager who’s fund has returned annualized returns of 22% since inception in May 1996 (through 2009) compared to approximately 4% for the S&P 500.
This is reposted from my original blog over at http://valueinvestorblog.wordpress.com/. I am in the process of migrating over to Totally Invested!
Just a quick update…
On July 17, 2009, I ran a Yahoo Finance stock screen for stocks trading at a low P/B and relatively high cash per share. I then looked at the individual balance sheet of every stock and compiled the list below of all stocks from the screen that were trading at less than 1.1 times their net-net working capital.
I have been following their performance and below is an update (original post here):
