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Monthly Archives: March 2009

Ending the Post Office Monopoly

March 31, 2009
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Ending the Post Office Monopoly

Odds are you’re reading these words on a computer screen, but not so long ago, the dominant medium of our industry was paper.  In fact, in my early years in this business, our big expenses were always the “The Four Ps,” paper, printing, postage and people. The people are still around (and better than ever) but thanks to the Internet, the other three big expenses have shrunk dramatically … which is good for those of us trying to cut expenses, but bad for those who see their revenue shrink. Newspapers are at the top of this list today, as...

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AsiaInfo Holdings (ASIA): An Asian Flyer Takes Off

March 30, 2009
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AsiaInfo Holdings (ASIA): An Asian Flyer Takes Off

One of our consistent themes on the growth side of Cabot is the concept that the chart is your best friend in picking stocks.  It’s great when a company has growing revenues and soaring earnings.  It’s also nice when management has great history and return on equity is consistently high.  And I could go on with a list of everybody’s favorite fundamental measure or quantitative benchmark. The market, on the other hand, just wants to know one thing: who wants to buy this stock and how much are they willing to pay?  And it tells that story every day...

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Buffett’s Optimism Proves Prescient

March 28, 2009
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Buffett’s Optimism Proves Prescient

If you’ve been to Cabot’s Web site recently, you may have noticed a new section smack dab in the middle of the home page: Cabot Headline News. In this area, you’ll find two articles compiled from major news sources every weekday. Our goal is try to help you stay better informed about what’s happening in the financial world in a more news-oriented way–making Cabot’s Web site your one-stop shop for financial information. Be sure to check out the Headline News section at and leave your feedback on this post. Here’s an example of a story I wrote a few...

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My Predictive Powers

March 27, 2009
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My Predictive Powers

It’s March and that means it’s time for the NCAA tournament, the gauntlet of games that will eventually crown a school the king of college basketball. (The actual coronation won’t take place until April, but the competition is still called March Madness.) So I took last Friday afternoon off and spent the better part of the day watching college hoops. I was particularly interested to see my alma mater, Syracuse University, play and was happy when the team won both of its games last weekend. Earlier in the week, I had dutifully filled out my bracket on ESPN.com, joining...

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You Might be a Growth Investor, If …

March 27, 2009
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You Might be a Growth Investor, If …

Back in the BC era (Before Cable), you would occasionally hear someone talking about “getting in touch with your inner child.”  This was no doubt a useful exercise for people who were stoic, taciturn, repressed and otherwise insensitive to their own emotional lives. These days, there are entire bookstore sections devoted to self-help books.  Plus we’re blessed with Oprah, Dr. Phil and a combat-ready battalion of helpful TV hosts, shrinks, motivators and gurus who are helping us deal with our hunger, anger, boredom, regret, envy, ambition, lust, greed and any other toxic emotions that may be keeping us from...

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