Chanos is not a newcomer to the world of short selling. He accurately predicted the collapse of Enron and several other shaky companies over the past several years. He is one of a breed of "short sellers." Short sellers sell before they buy, betting that their investment will drop in value so they can buy it back at a lower price, pocketing the difference in the falling prices.

Continue reading Chanos Predicts Economic Crash in China

Chanos Predicts Economic Crash in China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings has a plan to keep the company relevant given that the DVD-by mail business will become obsolete sooner or later as video content delivery via the internet becomes more widespread.

The company is partnering with LG Electronics to develop a set-top box that will allow you to stream movies from the internet straight to your television -- look for it in the second half of this year.

It's an exciting development and strong evidence that Hastings realizes that company's current bread and butter, mailing people movies, isn't the future. But I'm skeptical about whether Netflix shareholders will reap the rewards. The problem is that I can't figure out what Netflix's competitive advantage is in entering a new space. Sure, it can invest in new technology -- but so can everyone else and a lot of other companies are. Just as Blockbuster's (NYSE: BBI) brick-and-mortar presence didn't mean they could make money doing DVDs by mail, I don't think Netflix will be any better positioned than a lot of other well-funded companies looking to be on the cutting edge of the next generation of movie delivery.

True -- the company has a strong library of titles already available for streaming, but other companies willing to spend the money probably will be able to duplicate that.

Continue reading Can Reed Hastings reinvent Netflix?

Can Reed Hastings reinvent Netflix? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bloomberg reporter Katherine Burton's first book, Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning, is based on interviews with eighteen of the top hedge fund managers in the world: Michael Steinhardt, Boone Pickens, Jim Chanos and, my personal favorite, Dan Loeb, just to name a few.

The emphasis on the legends may be the book's weakness. All of the managers interviewed are running huge sums of money for institutional investors, and none of these could be characterized as mom-'n'-pop stock-pickin' shops. These firms employ armies of analysts and, with some exceptions, the profiles are repetitive: They look to hire smart people with interesting backgrounds who think independently, etc., etc.

Many of the profiles seem to blend together, and only the interviews with Mr. Chanos and Mr. Loeb could be characterized as truly memorable or insightful. Would-be hedgehogs beware: there is little practical advice here. This is, happily, not a how-to book, and focuses more on the minds and backgrounds of some of the top money managers in the world.

If you idolize guys like Loeb and Chanos, this is probably a book you'll want to pick up. But the vast majority of investors would do just as well skipping this one.

Book review: Hedge Hunters, by Katherine Burton originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jim Chanos, the founder of Kynikos Associates and the renowned short-seller who was among the first to smell something funny at Enron, was interviewed by the Financial Times on Friday. His most recent high-profile short pick is bond rating firm Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), which he says is "no longer a referee on the playing field, they are actually playing at this point. So although they are wearing an umpire's outfit, they have a Yankees hat on and I think that's the real problem, in that they are so entwined in the structured finance business."

Chanos opines on the private equity boom, hedge fund regulation, and explains how he knew to short PartyGaming (OTC: PYGMF), not long before its decline on news that the United States had banned online gambling.

Jim Chanos is one of the greatest investment minds of our time, and everyone who cares about his or her money should be an eager reader of what Chanos has to say. The top short-sellers are among the best investors in the world, and they get an undeservedly bad rap. These guys are the market's first line of defense against fraud, and it's time that they got a little more respect.

Renowned short-seller opines on Moody's, private equity, and online gambling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 10 Jun 2007 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.