MONEYGRAM INTL INC COM USD0.01 (NYSE:MGI)

Vixx01 (< 20) Submitted: 9/5/2008 3:40:12 PM : Start Price: $14.88 MGI Score: +14.18

Having worked in the payments industry, I am *very* impressed by their core business model and feel it's been beaten down more than it deserves.

This is an industry that is on fire, with a pretty good sized moat that takes decades to build into what is essentially a cash machine.

They douple dip with their fee structure - in that you pay to send money and you pay to collect (through a currency conversion fee).
The subprime mess and bad CEO descions have hamstringed them...but it is survivable.

They are growing in niche markets (aquisitions in Spain) and getting back to fundamentals.

When I look at the revenue being genrated, what they have done to avoid bankruptcy, their expansion plans...coupled with industry knownledge....This is a real world holding I'll keep adding to for sometime to come.

The financials are horrid - but the structure is sound...and time will allow them emerge from their recent missteps quicker than I believe most people anticiapte.