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Special Situation Investing News - 8/12/2012

August 12, 2012 – Comments (4) | RELATED TICKERS: GEO , DOLE , ABT

1) I'm personally not all that comfortable with investing real money in a private prison operator from a moral perspective, but I think that a conversion into a REIT would be a great move for Geo Group (GEO). This situation hasn't gotten nearly as much publicity as Corrections Corp.' of America's (CXW) efforts to convert, probably because of Bill Ackman's involvement in CXW, so that may be why it appears slightly cheaper. CXW is up over 17% versus only 2% for the S&P 500 since I added it in CAPS on news of its potential REIT-conversion back in April. I'm adding as many REIT-conversions as possible in CAPS to track their performance.  

The GEO Group Provides an Update on a Potential REIT Conversion

http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2012-08-08/aZuwvTAipDSo.html 

2)   I posted a while ago that Dole is in the process of splitting up into two companies. Apparently the Chairman of its Board thinks this is a good move. He has acquired over a million new shares of Dole stock totaling nearly $15 million in August. While I would never buy a stock solely on the basis of insider purchases or sales, it's interesting background information.  

Insider Transactions for DOLE FOOD CO INC

http://www.insidertrade.net/insider-transactions/?symbol=DOLE

3)   Shares of truck-maker Oshkosh (not the kids's clothing retailer OshKosh Bgosh :), though that is fun to say) have performed fairly poorly since I added them in CAPS a year ago on word of Carl Ichan's involvement in the company as an activist investor. OSK is down over 25% versus a 6% increase in the S&P 500.  

Well, apparently Mr. Ichan hasn't given up on the company. He's still urging Oshkosh to spin off its JLG Industries division, a business that sells construction access equipment like lifts and booms. It certainly sounds like OSK management wants nothing to do with Ichan, so I'm not holding my breath that anything is going to happen, but I am keeping an eye on the situation.  

Carl Icahn Isn’t Giving Up the Oshkosh Fight

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/08/09/carl-icahn-isnt-giving-up-the-oshkosh-fight/

4)   Here's yet another article about how Sears (SHLD) is cheap on a sum-of-the-parts basis. I posted this one for two reasons, one of course for some reason I'm always a sucker for sum-of-the-parts analysis and two this one was written by Barron's Michael Santoli, who's usually pretty good.  It's definitely an interesting read for snyone who's into this stuff like I am.

There's Much More to Sears Than Meets the Eye

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111904239304577573161504132558.html?mod=BOL_hpp_mag 

5)  Here's an interesting overview of one of my current CAPS and real-life holdings, Abbott Labs (ABT).  While I'm no lover of big pharma by any strech of the imagination, this is the sort of company that I like to own...one that pays me a solid dividend (3.1% and it has increased ever year since 1990) to wait for a potential value-unlocking catalyst to occur.  In this case the catalyst is the company's splitting into two.  ABT is up over 25% versus an increase of 15% for the S&P 500 since I added it to my CAPS portfolio in November of last year.

Abbott Labs Shows Slow Growth, Solid Dividends 

http://news.investors.com/article/621859/201208101927/abbott-labs-grows-slowly-pays-nicely.htm 

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