Weekend Reading from Value Investing News – Easter Edition

Kick off the weekend with the following top stories this past week at Value Investing News:

1. Buffett’s Berkshire letter for 1977
   via widemoatinvesting.wordpress.com
   We progress through Buffett’s letter to Berkshire shareholders from 1977, gleaning what wisdom we can
2. Buffett Out? Trott Coming In?
   via widemoatinvesting.wordpress.com
   As usual, Buffett can’t shake someone’s hand without the press immediately speculating whether that person is going to be his successor. The latest is that Byron Trott’s departure from Goldman Sachs to run a venture fund that Berkshire Hathaway will partly finance, could signal that he will take over the 130 billion dollar company when Buffett leaves it.
3. 5 ETFs That Can Help Balance Your Portfolio
   via personalfinanceandinvesting.com
   If you’re looking to add some dimension to your portfolio, ETFs can offer a way to diversify. We like diversity in our stocks, so why not add some diversity in your asset classes as well?
4. What’s Sizzlin at WEST
   via streetcapitalist.com
   An analysis of Western Sizzlin as an investment prospect, looking at restaurant ops, land holdings, its investment advisory business, and investments in ITEX and SNS.
5. A merger arbitrage lesson to learn
   via www.dividendgrowthinvestor.com
   The big news ON Monday was the failed merger talks between Sun Microsystems and IBM. Sun Microsystems (JAVA) lost almost 23% of its value after the news hit the street. JAVA exploded on March 17 after rumors of a potential bid by IBM made Sun’s shares 79% more expensive.
6. Paulin Puts The Brakes On Manufacturing
   via barelkarsan.com
   H Paulin (PAP.A) trades at a discount to its net current asset value, meaning its current assets minus all its liabilities equal more than its market cap. This was a favourite screening tool for Ben Graham, long considered the father of value investing, and serves as a good starting point for finding value stocks.
7. 5 Points to Look For When Evaluating Management
   via www.magicdiligence.com
   Evaluating management is a crucial part of company analysis. This article gives 5 points to look for when evaluating the executive team and board of a prospective investment.
8. Using Covered Call Options Strategy for cutting losses on financials
   via www.dividendgrowthinvestor.com
   The current bear market has been a heaven for sellers of covered calls. I have mentioned earlier the pros and cons of selling covered calls. Typically I am not a big believer in cutting my profits and lowering my risk reward expectancy in exchange for the options premium.
9. Auto Parts Retailers Rallying
   via dividendsvalue.com
   As consumers delay in purchasing new cars, they are forced to perform additional maintenance on their existing cars. The primary beneficiary of this phenomenon and one of the few industries experiencing success in this downturn are retail auto parts companies such as Autozone (AZO).
10. Is it Over?
    via buyingvalue.com
    Is the stock market crash over, Has the market rebounded, are we safe to jump back in?

Be sure to also check out this past week’s Market Intelligence Report, which included some great calls on how business was going at Movado Group (MOV) and Target (TGT). You’ll continue to see more of these business fundamental reports from The Channel Checkers in the new Research Center at Value Investing News.

Finally, be sure to enter this month’s contest at Value Investing News this weekend if you haven’t already. You need to enter before April 12th to win a chance to attend Value Investing Congress for free May 5-6, 2009 in Pasadena, CA.

Have a great Easter Weekend!