Whitney Tilson - T2 Partners LLC
Whitney R. Tilson is the Founder and a Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC, which manages three private investment partnerships and the Tilson Mutual Funds. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Value Investor Insight. Tilson has been a guest on Lou Dobbs Moneyline and Wall $treet Week, has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal and is a regular columnist for Financial Times. He is the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Value Investing Congress.
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Articles
9 Ways to Make Money
Kiplinger.com - October 2008
"The only source of knowledge is experience," said no less an authority than Albert Einstein. This is certainly true of investing, where your ability to learn from both successes and failures is a key determinant of how successful an investor you'll be. Thomas Gayner, of Markel Gayner Asset Management, puts it this way: "Having invested since I was a kid, I've lost money every single way it can be lost. The good thing is that by process of elimination, you can figure out how things work and how they don't."
The Storm Intensifies
Kiplinger.com - September 2008
No corner of the market has been more decisively beaten up than financial-services companies. Shares of financial titans with once-unassailable franchises have been cut to pieces right along with those of marginal and niche players. Citigroup shares are down 67% in the past year. Merrill Lynch shares are off 64%. American International Group has seen its stock dive 63%. Their performances shine, however, compared with high-profile collapses of such companies as bond insurers MBIA and Ambac, investment bank Bear Stearns (since bought out by JPMorgan Chase) and mortgage company Countrywide Financial (bought by Bank of America in a deal likely to go down as one of the most ill-conceived and costly acquisitions of all time).
Whose Freddie Investment Thesis Is Right?
SeekingAlpha.com - 08.20.08
Bill Miller has increased his stake in Freddie (FRE) and now owns 12.2% of the company. Besides Bill Miller, other smart managers such as Richard Pzena, Charles Brandes, David Dreman and others are long on FRE. On the other hand, there are smart people like Bill Ackman, Whitney Tilson and others that short FRE. Being an amateur investor myself, it is scary to see very smart people on different side of the bet. My knowledge is too shallow to analyze the complexities of FRE's portfolio and the severity of the housing slump.
What We Value
Kiplinger.com - July 2008
A walk down any supermarket aisle makes it clear we live in a world of increasing product specialization. To break into a new market or grab more of an existing one, companies launch a dizzying array of new products in ever-more-specific categories. Want your soda with more caffeine or less? You've got it. More sugar? Less sugar? Six ounces, 10 ounces, 20 ounces? Whatever you like
How To Play the Short Game
Ft.com - 07.17.08
Many people think Erin Callan, then chief financial officer of Lehman Brothers, made a big mistake a few months ago when she took a call from David Einhorn, a hedge fund manager whose fund had taken a big short stake in the Wall Street investment bank.
Whitney Tilson: Buy Prudently and Be A Fan of Fear To Reduce Risk
Ft.com - 07.05.08
While everyone would agree it makes a lot of sense to prepare one's portfolio for mistakes, bad luck or cyclically difficult times, most investors devote too little attention to risk management.
Whitney Tilson: Fairfax Can Offer A Port In the Post-Bubble Storm
Ft.com - 06.07.08
In Irrational Exuberance, published in 2000, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller defines a speculative bubble as "a situation in which temporarily high prices are sustained largely by investors" enthusiasm rather than by consistent estimation of real value". Such phenomena have become all too familiar in the past decade as markets have lurched from bubble to bubble, in internet stocks, housing and — most likely today — commodities.
Fixes for Bad Timing
Kiplinger.com - June 2008
Investing too early is one of the more common sins of value investors. Watching as that well-researched idea you loved a few months ago falls 20% to 30% can be painful and nerve-racking. Bruce Berkowitz, of the highly successful Fairholme fund, calls it "premature accumulation."
Whitney Tilson: Let the Herd Stampede First Before Making Your Move
Ft.com - 04.12.08
Without doubt, timely and democratic access to financial and market information contributes to smoothly functioning financial markets. But it's worth asking whether the ubiquity of such information today is a friend or foe of sound investment decision-making. For all but the most active professional traders, the answer is often "no".
NYSE Trading Volume Drops as Investors "Wait and See"
Bloomberg.com - 04.09.08
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange
Fear Fatigue
Ft.com - 03.24.08
World stock markets have survived the nastiest test yet of a slow-moving but relentless crisis that has persisted since credit markets suddenly seized up in July. The latest move towards the edge of the abyss came as the Federal Reserve was forced to help engineer a rescue for Bear Stearns, Wall Street's fifth-largest investment bank.
Whitney Tilson: The Worst Is Yet to Come — Time To Flee To Quality
Ft.com - 03.15.08
Recent announcements on manufacturing activity, household income and employment have made it painfully clear that the US economy is struggling. For investors, however, the relatively arcane debate over whether we are in a recession or not is largely irrelevant. Today's stock prices discount future expectations, and it is the extent to which reality ends up exceeding or falling short of those expectations that drives future stock performance.
Videos
Has Buffett Lost His Touch?
TheStreet.com - 09.11.08
As Berkshire Hathaway continues to trail the market, some are saying that Warren Buffett has lost his way. Whitney Tilson, portfolio manager of the Tilson Focus Fund, says Buffett's recent moves prove he still has the golden touch.
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Summer Strategy Session
CNBC.com - 07.28.08
Searching for market opportunities, with Larry Adam, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management; Tobias Levkovich, Citigroup and Whitney Tilson, T2 Partners.
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Help for Troubled Lenders
CNBC.com - 07.28.0
All eyes are on Fannie & Freddie, with Whitney Tilson, T2 Partners.
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Early Innings for Housing
CNBC.com - 05.21.08
Prominent voices in Wall St. believe we are through the eye of the credit storm, with Whitney Tilson, T2 Partners.
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Tilson Sees Berkshire Making More Overseas Acquisitions
Bloomberg.com - 05.05.08
Whitney Tilson discusses Berkshire Hathaway with Bloomberg. watch this video >
Bottom Fishing for Retail Stocks
CNBC.com - 02.08.08
Opportunities in retail, with Whitney Tilson, T2 Partners & Michael Farr, Farr, Miller & Washington.
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