Some Notes on Fastenal’s Results

by John Huber | Jan 20, 2016 | Case Studies, Investment Ideas & Company Research

I wrote a post a few months ago on Fastenal’s quarterly results. As I mentioned then, it’s one of the few companies that puts out an earnings press release that is more like a quarterly investor letter than a typical corporate press release. As I did last...

Focusing on the Investment Process

by John Huber | Jan 6, 2016 | Case Studies, Education, General Thoughts

“It is the basics. It is focusing on selection, low prices, and reliable, convenient, fast delivery. It’s the cumulative effect of having this approach for 14 years. I always tell people, if we have a good quarter it’s because of the work we did three,...

Valeant, Short Selling, and the Too-Hard Pile

by John Huber | Dec 6, 2015 | Case Studies, Investment Philosophy

In general, I find reading short reports to be a very valuable exercise. I don’t do much shorting in my partnership, but I find that for the most part, short sellers provide a useful service to the capital markets and I think that the good short sellers (who are few...

David Einhorn and Reasons Why Widely Followed Stocks Get Mispriced

by John Huber | Nov 30, 2015 | Books, Case Studies, Investment Philosophy

Over the weekend I was reading David Einhorn’s book Fooling Some of the People All of the Time. I’ve had it on my bookshelf for some time, and it has always taken a back seat to other books until I decided to pick it up recently. It’s an entertaining read, basically...

Focus on the Key Variables of an Investment

by John Huber | Jun 2, 2015 | Case Studies, Investment Quotes, Warren Buffett

Earlier this year I watched Lang Lang play Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A Minor—one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. The concerto is a monster—full of big octaves, virtuosity, excitement and power. It has around 30,000 notes, but the music is tied together with a...

Michael Burry: Focus on Bargains and not Stock Market Valuations

by John Huber | May 11, 2015 | Case Studies, Investment Quotes, Overall Stock Market, Think Differently

Michael Burry’s story is captivating. And in fact so good of a story that excellent financial storytellers like Michael Lewis and Greg Zuckerman turned it into main portions of best-selling books on the financial crisis. The story goes something like this: Burry was...