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Thoughts

Exclusive commentary and insights from Team CSC's deep fundamental research, repeatable investment process, and culture of continuous improvement.

Category: Thoughts

Texas Pacific Land Trust

Law And Order: Proxy Offense Unit. Duh…Duh. At Cove Street Capital, we focus on business, value, and people. We put particular emphasis on the people,

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA June 11, 2019

Ben Claremon Interviewed on The Acquirers Podcast

I have known Toby Carlisle for close to 10 years now. Toby is a deep value investor who runs a firm called Acquirers Funds. At

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA June 4, 2019

Patiently Waiting for a Fat Pitch

Patience is not a virtue that is developed easily, especially if your primary job is to assemble portfolios of publicly traded equities. The amount of

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA May 28, 2019

This is Why EVERYONE Should Hate Proxy Advisors

Today’s topic is the proxy advisor industry and the real abandonment of responsibility by the investment management/passive management industry despite what nonsense they espouse. My

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA May 22, 2019

It’s Just This Simple

We read and listen to a lot of stupid things written by people who work at places who should know better. Sadly, they are often

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA May 15, 2019

Bond People Think They Are Smarter Than Equity People. We Will See.

This Time Is Different, But It Will End the Same Way. – Daniel Zwirn, Jim Kyung-Soo Liew and Ajakh Ahmad

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA May 13, 2019

Twenty Years Seems like a Reasonable Proxy for a Complete Cycle Within the Bounds of Career and Firm Risk (Or Is it Three Years?)

One of “our” many behavioral flaws is best described as Recency – as in we either can’t remember a damn thing and thus we extrapolate

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 30, 2019

I Am Shocked, Simply Shocked, to Find That There Is Gambling Here

Non-GAAP earnings are increasingly being used for management compensation. A large difference between GAAP and non-GAAP earnings is a lead indicator for poor future stock

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 24, 2019

CSC Strategy Letter | Number 35 | Cocktail Napkins

Download Cove Street Capital’s April 2019 Strategy Letter Number 35 “Cocktail Napkins.”

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 24, 2019

A Car Wash?

After returning from an investor conference and speaking with companies across the economic spectrum, one theme emerged: employees are costing more and are harder to

Andrew Leaf April 18, 2019

Replace Investing with Business…And You Will Properly Credit the 2018 Amazon Annual Report

Sometimes (often actually) in investing, you do know where you’re going, and when you do, you can be efficient. Put in place a plan and

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 15, 2019

Good Thinking

This was lifted from a recent column by John Authers, who now writes for Bloomberg after a long career at the Financial Times. In regard

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 15, 2019

The Markel 2018 Annual Report

Worth reading at least the first six pages. A class act that we stupidly sold long ago when it seemed “expensive.” Before tripling again. Whether

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 9, 2019

Here is Where We Call BS

We read random academic papers. We are innately wary of any sentence that starts with “Our model says. ” We prefer literature without quadratic formulas.

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA April 9, 2019

How We Try to Avoid Mistakes

Written by Dean Pagonis Mistakes are a key part of life. People who develop wisdom make a large number of mistakes, but they mitigate the

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA March 28, 2019

Looking for the Right Owners: Help Us Help You

Culled from the 2018 Markel Letter to Shareholders. Right Owners The first idea is that of the “Right Owners.” As your management team, we want

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA March 26, 2019

The State of Corporate Affairs Restated

“In the modern corporate sphere the desire to make profits, however, has been replaced with the desire to achieve growth at any cost. Often this

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA March 20, 2019

Stupid is Path Dependent

As mentioned in the WSJ

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA March 20, 2019

The Almighty ‘Adjusted’ Dollar

Very few things trigger CSC as a collective as the idea of the ‘adjusted’ quarterly/annual performance metric. While it has become very common and an

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA March 19, 2019

Nothing New, But Well Said Nonetheless

If you have traipsed through a CFA program, you probably remember Mr. Damodaran, who co-wrote any number of books on valuation. And if I didn’t

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA March 4, 2019

A Little More Than Noise (Though Sometimes Deafening)

From an Interview with Chad Myhre, Portfolio Manager, Public School & Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri: CIO: What’s the most challenging? Myhre: One of

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA February 7, 2019

Principles of Accounting

New CEO Larry Culp on the Q4 GE earnings call: Number one is managing first and foremost for operational performance. Preparing for the earnings call,

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA February 4, 2019

The Richard Feynman “I too am a dog” Fallacy

So you might have noticed a few articles around the web in regard to AI/data mining/quantitative finance/etc. While we remain irrevocably wedded to the premise

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA January 24, 2019

Much More Interesting Than Watching Paint Dry

Click here for Ben Claremon’s presentation on Axalta. This report is published for information purposes only. You should not consider the information a recommendation to

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA January 22, 2019

YELP

This is a relatively new purchase for Cove Street and we are delighted to see something thoughtful and intelligent to assist our cause. “While we

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA January 18, 2019

Gosh Darn, We Learn Something New Everyday!

Source: Bloomberg

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA January 18, 2019

CSC Strategy Letter | Number 34 | The Old Normal

Download Cove Street Capital’s January 2019 Strategy Letter Number 34, “The Old Normal.”

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA January 10, 2019

Cove Street Gives – 2018

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” —Winston Churchill Each year, Cove Street gives both

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA January 4, 2019

Apparently It Is Difficult to Tell Who Has Been Naughty and Who Has Been Nice

Source – Asian Investment Bank CLSA and the Asian Corporate Governance Association – December 2018

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA December 7, 2018

It REALLY Would be Nice to Have Permanent Capital

John Malone and Co. from the 2018 Liberty Media Investor Day: Well, we have to take the long view and I’ve always taken the long

Jeffrey Bronchick, CFA November 26, 2018

Thoughts

Exclusive commentary and insights from Team CSC's deep fundamental research, repeatable investment process, and culture of continuous improvement.

Categories

Category: Thoughts

Texas Pacific Land Trust

Ben Claremon Interviewed on The Acquirers Podcast

Patiently Waiting for a Fat Pitch

This is Why EVERYONE Should Hate Proxy Advisors

It’s Just This Simple

Bond People Think They Are Smarter Than Equity People. We Will See.

Twenty Years Seems like a Reasonable Proxy for a Complete Cycle Within the Bounds of Career and Firm Risk (Or Is it Three Years?)

I Am Shocked, Simply Shocked, to Find That There Is Gambling Here

CSC Strategy Letter | Number 35 | Cocktail Napkins

A Car Wash?

Replace Investing with Business…And You Will Properly Credit the 2018 Amazon Annual Report

Good Thinking

The Markel 2018 Annual Report

Here is Where We Call BS

How We Try to Avoid Mistakes

Looking for the Right Owners: Help Us Help You

The State of Corporate Affairs Restated

Stupid is Path Dependent

The Almighty ‘Adjusted’ Dollar

Nothing New, But Well Said Nonetheless

A Little More Than Noise (Though Sometimes Deafening)

Principles of Accounting

The Richard Feynman “I too am a dog” Fallacy

Much More Interesting Than Watching Paint Dry

YELP

Gosh Darn, We Learn Something New Everyday!

CSC Strategy Letter | Number 34 | The Old Normal

Cove Street Gives – 2018

Apparently It Is Difficult to Tell Who Has Been Naughty and Who Has Been Nice

It REALLY Would be Nice to Have Permanent Capital

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Thoughts

Exclusive commentary and insights from Team CSC's deep fundamental research, repeatable investment process, and culture of continuous improvement.

Categories

Category: Thoughts

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