Legg Mason (LM)

HenryTo · Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:25 am Post subject: Legg Mason (LM)

The WSJ's summary of Legg Mason's "perfect storm" year - Miller's second year of underperformance, underperforming bond funds at Western Asset, and the ongoing SIV exposure:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119800413979137361.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo

rffrydr · Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:03 pm Post subject:

All good things come to those who wait Confused

BK or no, worth owning some Kodak debt. They don't have to wait for Chapt 11 to get in on the patents here but that is what they are setting up for. 363 spinoff with patents would make a travashamockery of BK law but Google might make that all unnecessary. I'll grab a few shares monday but it's about yield into a long-delayed BK or ST buyout.

http://cxa.marketwatch.com/finra/BondCenter/BondDetail.aspx?ID=Mjc3NDYxQVA0
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

rffrydr · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 1:22 pm Post subject:

BELOW: I was looking at Kodak's patents qua patents.....big mistake. They've got WAY more value than what they actually do. Nothing is obvious! Close, but no cigar Sad

_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

rffrydr · Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 7:34 am Post subject:

Flushed out of Kodak--a company I was just looking into a few weeks ago:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-28/bill-miller-dumps-kodak-at-a-551-million-loss-after-a-decade-of-decline.html

Any time in Hollywood, you'd see where Kodak reigns--that much money for that much film and every serious photographer across the country. There's just no substitute (after being pronounced dead in the 80's) for molecular grains of silver fixed in an image. The cash from their film portfolio still streams in--but maybe being "pronounced" dead is enough. Terminal value. The medical imaging portfolio (patents) continues to pay.....But, slamming it out with HP is ultimately a loosing game. Bonds are the way to go here.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

rffrydr · Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 7:07 am Post subject:

Miller, not surprisingly, is bullish: likes the fact that only 10% of current market price is expectations.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=3000011970&play=1
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

HenryTo · Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:12 am Post subject:

Morningstar on LM's latest earnings:

nodoodahs · Moderator Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 2408

Rebirth of securitization? FWIW I heard rumors from headhunters that asset-backed debt space is recruiting again ...
_________________
I haven’t seen a beatin’ like that since somebody stuck a banana in my pants and turned a monkey loose.

rffrydr · Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 6:22 pm Post subject:

He went to Oaktree. Starting the rebirth of securitization.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

rffrydr · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:04 am Post subject:

TCW Total Return is my money market fund: up about 30% with dividend since last nov.

A lotta that speculation will depend on the future of securitized mortages. Gundlach is a math guy. His partner is a state govt. guy.

I've been taking the (small) hit here, funds bailing and forced sale of 450million. I have no problem keeping the portfolio as it is with 45% structured residential. It may even be something of a time capsule. Increased my position somewhat on the news.

I doubt Miller has any respect, let alone stomach, for this stuff anymore. Really, his investors wouldn't abide it. It's rare I have any opinion on "personnel" but I don't think that's going to happen.
_________________
Today is the Tomorrow you worried about Yesterday!

HenryTo · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:07 am Post subject:

Just speaking out loud on a quiet Thursday evening.

What's the probability of (former) TCW's Jeff Gundlach joining Legg Mason (Western Asset) given that:

1) Gundlach spoke to Legg Mason earlier this year
2) Legg Mason is still experiencing significant fixed income outflows, per its CEO earlier today
3) Gundlach and Western are located in LA
4) Bill Miller obviously showed his lack of understanding on the mortgage market and its impact as a source of systemic risk in 2007 and 2008. A Gundlach/Miller combination would do wonders from a marketing perspective for Legg Mason's equity funds as well.

Any comments are definitely welcomed.

HenryTo · Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject:

Latest Morningstar's notes on LM:

HenryTo · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:55 pm Post subject:

Looks like Legg Mason's woes are firmly behind them, although it will still take another 30 percentage points of outperformance for Bill Miller to dig himself out of his current hole:

http://quicktake.morningstar.com/FundNet/TotalReturns.aspx?symbol=LMNVX&country=USA

Legg Mason swings to a profit in "comeback quarter"
Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:16pm EDT

* Net income $50.1 million vs loss of $36.1 million
* Revenue falls sharply on drop in fees

* Cost savings and rising equity markets help result

* Shares up 6.3 pct in after-hours trade (Recasts, adds Bill Miller details, CEO interview)

By Ross Kerber

BOSTON, July 20 (Reuters) - Legg Mason Inc (LM.N), the tenth-largest U.S. asset manager, powered past market expectations on Monday with its first profit in six quarters, bolstered by cost savings and rising equity markets.

The results signaled a comeback, said Chief Executive Mark Fetting.

Shares of the company rose 6.3 percent in after-hours trading.

Jefferies & Co analyst Dan Fannon called the fiscal first quarter performance "a step in the right direction" though he noted the company still suffers from net outflows. "It's a turnaround story that continues to show progress," he said.

Net profit in the three months to June 30 was $50.1 million compared with a loss of $36.1 million a year earlier and despite a 42 percent slide in revenue to $613.1 million on a drop in fees. The industry generates the bulk of its revenue from fees based on a percentage of assets under management.

Fetting said the quarter was helped by reduced operating expenses, which fell to $554.8 million from $825.1 million a year earlier. Calling it "A comeback quarter feels right to me," he said in an interview with Reuters.

The company's best-known fund manager, famed stock-picker Bill Miller, has had a comeback much like his employers'. After a disastrous 2008, Miller's $4.2 billion Legg Mason Value Trust is up 18.16 percent for the year so far as of July 19, 12.5 percentage points better than its benchmark S&P 500 Index.

However, Miller still trails the benchmark and rivals over one, three and five-year periods after beating the benchmark for more than a decade.

The industry is in the midst of a consolidation period following rival BlackRock Inc's pending $13.5 billion deal to buy Barclays Group Investors, and Fetting said that deal "solidifies a strong global leadership for BlackRock and the rest of us have to pick up the pace."

Asked if that meant acquisitions for Legg Mason, Fetting said in the near term it is more likely to work with its existing affiliate managers "rather than an outright separate major transaction." He added Legg won't be buying Bank of America's Columbia Management unit, though he declined to elaborate.

Baltimore-based Legg Mason was among the asset managers hardest-hit by the economic downturn, and has been forced to spend heavily in order to prop up troubled assets in its money market funds, starting in the fall of 2007. In May the company also reduced its dividend sharply.

On a per-share basis, net income reached 35 cents in the quarter, up from a loss of 26 cents a year earlier and beating the average forecast of 22 cents a share expected by analysts surveyed by Reuters Estimates. Operating revenue was $613.1 million, just above the average of $612 million expected by analysts.
Legg had $22 billion in outflows from its fixed-income funds and $6 billion in equity outflows.

But assets under management rose 4 percent to $656.9 billion from $632.4 billion at the end of the previous quarter, driven by market appreciation of 9 percent, the company said.

Shares of Legg Mason rose 6.3 percent to $26.50 in extended trading from their $24.94 close in regular trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The stock has risen 26 percent in the three months through last Friday, slightly higher than peers like Franklin Resources (BEN.N) and T. Rowe Price Group (TROW.O). All were helped by enthusiasm for the sector's profit outlook because of rising flows into mutual funds.

Expectations of more deals following BlackRock Inc's (BLK.N) $13.5 billion agreement in June to buy Barclays Global Investors also have helped support the valuations of stocks in the sector.

HenryTo · Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 7:51 am Post subject:

Legg Mason reports earnings - including a final write-down of its SIV exposure in its money market funds:

http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/DJ/200905050810DOWJONESDJONLINE000300_univ.xml

Stock is currently off by about 14%.

HenryTo · Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 11:41 am Post subject:

Legg Mason reports better-than-expected earnings - stock reacts by rising over 30% today:

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/legg-mason-shares-soar-better-than-expected/story.aspx?guid=%7B97DE4436%2D58C4%2D4D3C%2DBE5B%2DC88DF9939C8E%7D&siteid=yhoof

diesel · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:35 pm Post subject:

Legg Mason Profit Cut by Pact to Support Money Fund

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1pkK_jvGsUc&refer=home

I still cant bring myself to buy any LM here.
_________________
All cats are gray in the dark.