A number of leading financial newsletter advisors -- including Mark Skousen, Bryan Perry, Daniel Frishberg, and Neil George -- have recently taken positions in specialty finance and mortgage lending stocks, sectors that had suffered from the "meltdown" in the subprime mortgage market.

Mark Skousen, in his The Hedge Fund Trader, notes, "Mortgage lenders are making a comeback." The recent price recovery, he notes, has been broad ranged, covering most thrifts and mortgage trusts. He notes, "It appears that investors have concluded that the subprime lending scandal was limited."

iStar Financial (NYSE: SFI), he states, is his favorite commercial REIT. In fact, it was a recent announcement from iStar that acted as a catalyst for an improvement in the overall sector.

He explains, "California savings & loan Fremont General Corp. (NYSE: FMT) announced that it would sell its commercial real estate lending business to iStar Financial for about $1.9 billion. With Fremont expecting now to survive its subprime mortgage woes, many now consider the real estate industry recovery to be real."

Skousen also points to strong insider buying of shares in thrifts and mortgage banks.

Continue reading Mortgage gains: After the meltdown

Mortgage gains: After the meltdown originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For his portfolio holdings, Neil George often considers stocks that he believes are underpriced due to investor misunderstandings about international markets and political risk. Having lived and work in the U.S., Europe and Asia, he is particularly attuned to geopolitics.

In his Inner Circle, a specalized service designed for risk-oriented investors, he is recommending Apex Silver (ASE: SIL), which he calls his "play on the Bolivian political and mining industry getting itself up on better footings."

He explains that with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez making anti-market noises, investors have grown concerned that Bolivian president Evo Morales will do the same.

Not so, he says. George explains, "As more and more folks understand that the Bolivians aren't Venezuelans and that Morales is no Chavez, we've been getting more buyers who are picking up the bargains in the Bolvian market, such as Apex."

Beyond politics, he explains, a second factor has negatively impacted the shares -- a financial restatement. He explains, "Normally, a restatement is the harbinger of the end for a company. But this time there's a difference. Apex isn't an operating company. It simply owns properties that someday will produce silver and other minerals."

Continue reading Apex's silver lining

Apex's silver lining originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.