Comments on: Graham Cheap Stocks & Free Net Net Investment Spreadsheet

By: Jae Jun

Jae Jun — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:53:37 +0000

(Special notice for comment subscribers)

I’ll be posting an update to the free net net spreadsheet hopefully this week.

Fixes include:
* 16 ticker inputs compared to the current 4.
* correction in the conditional formatting of cells
* delete “restricted cash” from assets since it should not be counted as assets and will inflate the price

Also, to improve the performance of load up times, open up excel and turn off the automatic formula recalculating option. That way it wont recalculate every time you enter a ticker. Just enter it once, press F9 to refresh, wait and viola.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:05:56 +0000

Jae, I think the spreadsheet is fine the way it is in my opinion. Its very simple and easy to understand. For me, I like simple the best and this spreadsheet you’ve created represents that. I love your spreadsheet work. You’re really really good at that and thanks again. I saw your post on IGOI and my initial thought is that it looks like a diamond in the rough. Keep up the great work.

By: Jae Jun

Jae Jun — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:09:21 +0000

Jim,
Can you help by providing some feedback on this. Do I need to add any additional details or fields or do you think it is fine the way it is?

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:51:01 +0000

Woops, never mind. I figured it out. Thanks for the tool Jae.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:36:21 +0000

Hey Jae. I can’t get this spreadsheet to work. Congratulations on VVTV by the way doing your homework pays off. All the best.

By: ludovici

ludovici — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:17:12 +0000

thanks.

By: Jae Jun

Jae Jun — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:35:02 +0000

It wasn’t long ago that I found it difficult to understand accounting concepts as well but it gets better as you read more.

I’ve never used the Ameritrade site but Morningstar, Google Finance, ADVFN.com are places where I get data if I need it quickly.
But what I really do is I’ve made a bookmark on my browser that links to edgar (http://sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html).
From the site you enter the Ticker where it says “or CIK or Ticker Symbol:” and it will list every document the company files to the sec.
Look for the 10-Q or 10-K which is the quarterly and annual reports and it will always have the accurate information. From the balance sheet you can check for assets and yes, property is an asset.

By: ludovici

ludovici — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:57:16 +0000

Thanks for the response. I won’t ask you to explain it all, because most of the accounting would be beyond me, I think. But let me ask you this: I use the data I find at the Ameritrade site where I trade. Is there a better source for company data free online? It says that total debt is about 25 billion and total assets only about 1.5 billion. Property is an asset; isn’t it? I recognize that most of your readers are much more educated on these things, so I appreciate your patience.

By: Jae Jun

Jae Jun — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:13:22 +0000

@Ludovici

Sorry I didn’t elaborate on GGP. It’s becomes a long argument and it’s also toss up as to whether you believe it is a net net or not.

GGP is a REIT so if you don’t count their property, it isn’t worth considering. But we have to include its real estate. Even at depressed mark down prices, the property is still worth more than its liabilities.

The argument so far is that commercial real estate prices haven’t come down far enough, which ultimately means that GGP assets should be marked down further. But I don’t think it matters as much because should GGP be forced to liquidate, it would be devastating for the entire economy.

The company’s operations are doing well and able to pay its interest from operations, but it’s just the huge $3+bil in upfront cash it has to pay out that is the cause of concern.

I do believe the assets outweigh the debt though. I’ve only mentioned the broad points but I’ll provide some more details if you are interested.

By: ludovici

ludovici — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:27:03 +0000

I’m puzzled by this Net Net discussion. (Sorry if I’m slow.) VVTV I understood — its assets were a few times higher than the total value of all shares outstanding. But with GGP, its debt seems to tower over its assets; so where is the hidden value?

By: Jae Jun

Jae Jun — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:04:51 +0000

Yeah VVTV has been rallying extremely nicely. I’m just over 100% so far but still feel its still too cheap to unload. My minimum price target is at around $1.5. If fear and uncertainty wasn’t in the stock price, I think it deserves to be around this mark.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:48:13 +0000

what’s your price target on VVTV?

Mark’s last blog post..Penny Stocks, Everything In Play

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:43:17 +0000

how about VVTV!! nice. hope its going good for you

Mark’s last blog post..Penny Stocks, Everything In Play

By: Jae Jun

Jae Jun — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:59:30 +0000

Sorry for the lost comments on this post. I had to quickly transfer the database and lost the latest comments in the process.