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$374.75 -4.30 (-1.13%)
7/23/2008 4:01 PM

Markel Corp (MKL)

CAPS Rating:
*****

The Company markets and underwrites specialty insurance products and programs to a variety of niche markets and operates in three segments of the specialty insurance marketplace: the Excess and Surplus Lines, the Specialty Admitted and the London markets.

Rating a stock in CAPS consists of three components:

Your call - Will this stock outperform or underperform the S&P 500? Successful picks are measured in terms of whether or not you were correct and by how many percentage points.

Your time frame - A guideline for other members to see whether your thinking is short or long-term. Time frame is also used to calculate the stock rating, but is not used in the scoring of your pick.

Your pitch - Here's your chance to offer more detailed thoughts, analysis, concerns, or the rationale behind your call. The pitch is optional and may be added later.

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What the Community Thinks

Total Members

2010 Outperforms
46 Underperforms
 

All-Stars

487 Outperforms
5 Underperforms
 

Wall Street

10 Outperforms
0 Underperforms
 

Members bullish on MKL are also bullish on:

Members bearish on MKL are also bearish on:

Ticker Tags

Property & Casualty Insurance (110), Mid Cap (670), Casualty Insurance (100)
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Markel Corp At A Glance

Current Price: $374.75
Last Trade Time: 7/23/2008 4:01 PM
Open: $380.01
Previous Close: $379.05
Daily Range: $361.57 - $380.01
52-Week Range: $315.90 - $554.95
Volume: 73,086
Market Cap: $3.77B
P/E Ratio: 11.06
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Stock Trends

MKL VS S&P 500 (SPY)

MKL 12 month chart vs. S&P

News & Discussion Boards

Other News Headlines for MKL

More Headlines...

Top Bull Pitch

Recs

10

Markel Corp (MKL)

Avatar TMFBuck (82.48) Submitted: 5/27/08 2:47 PM

A strongly disciplined underwriter of insurance coupled with an experienced investor make for a winning combination. Did I mentioned they've modeled themselves after Berkshire Hathaway? I like the culture, the leadership, the business model, and the price.

Replies: 1 | Reply | Permalink

Top Bear Pitch

Recs

7

Markel Corp (MKL)

Avatar jetamerica (35.46) Submitted: 1/14/08 12:25 PM

This was pitched by MF as the "next Berkshire Hathaway", and I fell for it. I bought it the day after their pitch at $525, and it declined by 16%-straight down to $441. Ratings have declined and it is tracking the industry and underperforming all of the indices

Replies: 6 | Reply | Permalink

CAPS Members

picks per page. CHANGE

Results 1 - 5 of 344 :   1 2 3 4 5 Next » Jump to page:

Show Pitch Replies

Recs

0

 (MKL)

Avatar robcat2075 (67.16) Submitted: 7/23/08 1:55 AM : Outperform Start Price: $430.00 MKL Score: -7.92

I bought this at $500 last year because of Motley Fool's promoting it as "the next Berkshire". Well, quite a disaster. It's down 25%. I notice now they don't mention it anymore on any of their pick services.

I have to hope it does well now, but it will take great performance just to break even from here.

Report this Post Replies: 1 | Reply | Permalink

Recs

0

 (MKL)

Avatar ZachMansell (67.90) Submitted: 7/22/08 4:50 PM : Outperform Start Price: $357.07 MKL Score: 3.29

To be honest, I only bought this stock because of the hype created by Motley Fool. That is a terrible reason to buy a stock and I regret that, but that doesn't mean it's a bad stock, just bad reasoning.
According to Motley Fool, the management of this company is very "Buffet-esque" it appears to be following in the footsteps of Berkshire Hathaway. (Using its insurance company to earn money to fund investments).
It has a large chunk of its invested capital in Berkshire Hathaway and so it follows that stock tickr almost religiously. If you do further research into the company (though information is hard to find) you'll see a lot about the effectiveness of the management. That's good, I did research into their income as well and was a little disconcerted by what I saw on the income statements.
Overall: Buy at your own risk, but consider. If this is the next Berkshire Hathaway, 400$ a share is a very reasonable price.

Report this Post Replies: 0 | Reply | Permalink

Recs

1

 (MKL)

Avatar nemaline (95.40) Submitted: 7/21/08 11:36 AM : Outperform Start Price: $399.59 MKL Score: -1.76

With book value increasing in the upper teens to 20% and the market expecting decline in premiums (the best time to buy a prudent insurance company), plus hurricane season waning, seems like a great time to buy this Buffett-like insurance company. Expansion into international markets will continue to foster growth. Excellent management and chief investment officer (probably a candidate for Buffett's job) make this the strong winner that it is.

Report this Post Replies: 0 | Reply | Permalink

Recs

0

 (MKL)

Avatar JoyofMoney (< 20) Submitted: 7/17/08 1:45 AM : Outperform Start Price: $344.45 MKL Score: 6.39

2nd time around for this at a lower stock price. I expect that such a good fundamental long term stock will be able to stay that way.

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Recs

0

 (MKL)

Avatar Manovick9 (32.62) Submitted: 7/17/08 12:13 AM : Outperform Start Price: $344.45 MKL Score: 6.39

at 52 week low good buisness model

Report this Post Replies: 0 | Reply | Permalink

Results 1 - 5 of 344 :   1 2 3 4 5 Next » Jump to page:

Wall Street

Results 1 - 10 of 10  

picks per page. CHANGE Expand All Pitches

Top
Pick
Member NameMember RatingStart
Date
CallTime FrameStart
Price
Stock
Gain
S&P
Gain
ScorePitch
TrackChrisDavis 80.11 06/03/08 06/03/08 Outperform 1Y $410.00-8.60%-7.96%-0.64 Toggle the visibility of 60-Second Pitch and replies
TrackKeyBancCapi 98.22 05/15/08 05/15/08 Outperform NS $404.88-7.44%-9.19%+1.75
TrackBerkowitz 85.39 09/30/07 09/30/07 Outperform NS $484.00-22.57%-15.97%-6.60 Toggle the visibility of 60-Second Pitch and replies
TrackJohnRogers < 20 09/30/07 09/30/07 Outperform NS $484.00-22.57%-15.97%-6.60 Toggle the visibility of 60-Second Pitch and replies
TrackChuckAkre 31.59 09/30/07 09/30/07 Outperform NS $484.00-22.57%-15.97%-6.60 Toggle the visibility of 60-Second Pitch and replies
TrackMHawkins < 20 09/30/07 09/30/07 Outperform NS $484.00-22.57%-15.97%-6.60 Toggle the visibility of 60-Second Pitch and replies
TrackStifel 94.11 12/26/06 12/26/06 Outperform NS $475.86-21.25%-9.16%-12.09
TrackMatrix 93.96 11/06/06 11/06/06 Outperform NS $414.50-9.59%-6.39%-3.19
TrackPatDorsey 74.62 10/06/06 10/06/06 Outperform 3Y $411.24-8.87%-5.01%-3.86
TrackKeyBanc 98.29 09/05/06 09/05/06 Outperform NS $365.00+2.67%-2.51%+5.18

Results 1 - 10 of 10  

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