• 846 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 846 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 848 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 1,248 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 1,253 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 1,255 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 1,258 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 1,258 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 1,259 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 1,261 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 1,261 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 1,265 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 1,265 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 1,266 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 1,268 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 1,269 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 1,272 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 1,273 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 1,273 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 1,275 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
How The Ultra-Wealthy Are Using Art To Dodge Taxes

How The Ultra-Wealthy Are Using Art To Dodge Taxes

More freeports open around the…

What's Behind The Global EV Sales Slowdown?

What's Behind The Global EV Sales Slowdown?

An economic slowdown in many…

Is The Bull Market On Its Last Legs?

Is The Bull Market On Its Last Legs?

This aging bull market may…

  1. Home
  2. Markets
  3. Other

Greatly Depressed U.S Assets?

On August 14, 2008 Warren Buffett disclosed a position in NRG Inc. In reaction to this news the regular Buffett followers rejoiced, bid up shares of NRG, and awaited their fat returns. Shares have fallen 55% since August 27.

While Buffett's stake in NRG is so small compared to Berkshire's assets that it doesn't merit significant attention, it nonetheless serves as an excellent example of a U.S. company with tangible assets seeing its stock price collapse as economic uncertainty and investor fear unite. Another example of this is readily seen in Smithfield Foods Inc., which despite recent assurances on its liquidity situation has recently seen its share price plunge below its tangible book value.

Yet another example of the carnage striking down tangible America can be seen in Natural Resource Partners LP. With the recent addition of shares NRP insiders seem to be confident that coal royalties will continue to generate attractive payouts, but investors have voted with their feet and fled what is now one of the highest yielding MLP's in America.

The cyclicality of the wholesale power, poultry, and coal industries notwithstanding, the above companies seem to be pricing in a worst case scenario. This suggests that if the U.S. economy and financial markets can skirt complete disaster and/or investors refrain from catapulting precious metals higher and every other asset class severely lower, that some American assets are trading at depressed prices that are not reflective of their longer-term returns potential.

Greatly depressed or not, it goes without saying that in order to take advantage of attractive longer-term returns, investor's are required to select the companies that will withstand today's crunch.

Disclosure: No one at FallStreet.com has any financial position in any of the above companies.

 

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment