Investor daily: Investing by burgers and beer

You decide you're going to have some friends over to watch a little NASCAR. You hit the supermarket and buy some burgers, hot dogs and a 12-pack. You get home, fire up the grill, turn on the tube and let your dog out. What does all this have to do with investing?Steaks, beer, cable, car racing, pets -- those are all businesses that Intrepid Capital (ICMBX) fund manager Mark Travis owns stock in. They don't exactly fit the traditional definition of consumer staples, but even in an economic downturn, he says they're not going away."If you look at the end products, they're kind of recession resistant," Travis says, "whether that's shoes, underwear, beer, cable TV. People may trade down to a certain extent, but I think cable TV is not something that gets cut off very quickly."So far his thesis has been right. His fund is ranked first in the "moderate allocation" category on three-year annualized total returns (4.73%), according to Morningstar. And this year it's up 26%, beating out its category's 18.6% returns.His results may excite, but Travis says he likes boring businesses. He wants a company that's a consistent cash generator, that doesn't have any outstanding debt, and is not growing rapidly but is going to figure out how to get cash flow back to shareholders. And he also wants it at a discount to private-market value."The way we define private-market value is if you ran a dry cleaner," he says, "what's that business worth, and what would I write you a check to buy your dry cleaner from you for?"One common theme that runs through many of Travis's investments: family ownership. Ju...
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Thrillist Captures The Guy-Zeist

Advertisers are running away from old media companies and paying new media companies so little they can barely subsidize operations, much less make a profit. That's good news for Ben Lerer and Adam Rich. Lerer, 27, and Rich, 29, are co-founders of Thrillist, a daily e-mail newsletter that's been profitable for two years and just reached 1 million subscribers. Thrillist scouts bars, gadgets, sites and fashion finds for its audience of urban, affluent men aged 20-35. Subscribers opt in by going to Thrillist.com and punching in an e-mail address and the desired newsletter version (Thrillist publishes 12 different city editions across the U.S.). City by city, Thrillist is uniting a national network of hip, young men through their daily blasts and sponsored parties. Their goal: to create a new national editorial brand on the Web--a territory where old-media stalwarts have floundered. ("We're eating their lunch," says Lerer.)Thrillist expects revenues of $5 to $10 million this year, with a profit margin as high as 50%. According to Lerer, Thrillist has been profitable since 2007. Advertisers are willing to shell out big bucks for e-mail newsletters, since reader engagement is much higher compared to the passing attention paid to blogs or Web sites. The company charges advertisers like American Apparel, Heineken ( HINKY.PK - news - people ) and Jose Cuervo $25 to $60 CPM for banner ads and $250 to send out dedicated e-mails with sponsored content. To up the ante a bit more, the 40-person company plans to feature embedded, ad-supported video content in newsletters by the end...
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Bubbling Up With Banquet Beer

With the stock market on a sugar high and headwinds still brewing around the economy, it's time to crack open a few beer stocks.Earnings for beer makers typically fill up during the peak summer season, and favorable comparables may put the wind at the backs of brewers. Consumers are choosing to stay at home more as they curtail their spending habits. With unemployment set to breach 10%, many more could have plenty of time to kick back with a cold one. Larry McMillan's subscribers in June doubled their money in call options on Ctrip.com (CTRP) and Citrix Systems (CTXS). Click here for today's and tomorrow's trades in Option Strategist. Less expensive brands like Coors and Budweiser try to lure cost-conscious shoppers to capture market share from slightly more expensive brands such as Guinness, Corona and Heineken ( HINKY.PK - news - people ). Anheuser-Busch, the self-titled "King of Beers" and maker of Budweiser, became an even bigger powerhouse after being purchased by Belgian-based InBev last year. The acquisition left the highly profitable U.S. mass beer market without a home team. The Molson Coors Brewing Company ( TAP - ...
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Investor daily: Investing by burgers and beer

You decide you're going to have some friends over to watch a little NASCAR. You hit the supermarket and buy some burgers, hot dogs and a 12-pack. You get home, fire up the grill, turn on the tube and let your dog out. What does all this have to do with investing?Steaks, beer, cable, car racing, pets -- those are all businesses that Intrepid Capital (ICMBX) fund manager Mark Travis owns stock in. They don't exactly fit the traditional definition of consumer staples, but even in an economic downturn, he says they're not going away."If you look at the end products, they're kind of recession resistant," Travis says, "whether that's shoes, underwear, beer, cable TV. People may trade down to a certain extent, but I think cable TV is not something that gets cut off very quickly."So far his thesis has been right. His fund is ranked first in the "moderate allocation" category on three-year annualized total returns (4.73%), according to Morningstar. And this year it's up 26%, beating out its category's 18.6% returns.His results may excite, but Travis says he likes boring businesses. He wants a company that's a consistent cash generator, that doesn't have any outstanding debt, and is not growing rapidly but is going to figure out how to get cash flow back to shareholders. And he also wants it at a discount to private-market value."The way we define private-market value is if you ran a dry cleaner," he says, "what's that business worth, and what would I write you a check to buy your dry cleaner from you for?"One common theme that runs through many of Travis's investments: family ownership. Ju...
Click here to read the whole Article (external link)