Bankruptcy/Chapter 11

What Do Other Turnaround Letter Readers Think?

 

We believe The Turnaround Letter should be a key component of your investment arsenal. Our long term, pragmatic approach has a proven track record of success that has resulted in double-digit increases for our subscribers over the last 25 years, but don’t take our word for it. In their own words, our subscribers share testimonials of their Turnaround Letter success:
 

Old fashioned common sense is always worth the price.
- Richard S.
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I’ve been a subscriber to several investment newsletters over the years. For me, The Turnaround Letter is the most recent of these, having just been a subscriber for the past several months. I must say, I am generally happy with the current format. It’s simple and easy to read, and they concisely cover macro as well as company specific issues. The buy/sell recommends are straightforward and I like the way they are grouped under three different market caps, so you know the market cap of the stock that which you might be about to consider for investment. I’m happy with the newsletter’s layout and content…When I read a positive review of your newsletter in Kiplingers Personal Finance Magazine a few months ago, I decided to subscribe because your record of investment performance seemed to speak for itself. Since then, the investments that I’ve made based on the newsletter’s advice have performed very well, for which I’m grateful. Keep up the good work!
- Charlie B.
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The reason I subscribe to your letter is that (i) I believe in the turnaround concept and (ii) I know George has been in and around the investment business all his life, so I know that some good stuff has rubbed off on him. Keep up the good work.
- Lee M.
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For 21 years, George Putnam III has trained his sights on one of the more obscure areas of investing: turnaround situations and bankruptcies. By focusing on out-of-favor companies, his flagship publication, The Turnaround Letter, has achieved enormous success for its subscribers.
- Barron's
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I have been a subscriber for 1 1/2 years now and I like the newsletter and have made money from it. I am a small investor and therefore cannot buy everything on your list but I look at the list on a regular basis and sometimes buy a recommended stock months after its put on the list based on how things look for the stock.
Regards,

Wesley S.
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I love your publication….Thanks and keep up the good work!
- Peter S.
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After much consideration and comparison to choose only one investment letter best suited to my own style I chose the TL not too long after it began publication…and I have always appreciated it over the years.
- Gary B.
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Bargain Hunters who like out of favor stocks with good prospects should look at The Turnaround Letter.
- Kiplinger's
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I have read The Turnaround Letter for over 15 years and consider it to be one of the most informative publications of its kind. I have also been involved with turnarounds and workouts for over 35 years .In the meantime, keep up the good work.
- James H.
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I have subscribed to numerous newsletters over the years but The Turnaround Letter is the only one that has provided excellent recommendations on a consistent basis. I have been a subscriber for over 10 years and plan to be one into the foreseeable future.
- Frank B.
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Love your letter and your coverage of bankruptcy and turnaround situations.
- Malcolm M.
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I’ve watched George Putnam successfully build his fund and The Turnaround Letter since the beginning. He provides a very perceptive, fresh view we should all pay attention to.
- David F.
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When it comes to profiting from other people's problems, there's no place like Wall Street. And, in recent months, there's been no analyst like George Putnam when it comes to telling people how to do it.
- New York Times
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I have enjoyed getting The Turnaround Letter, about which I have no suggestions as how to make any improvements to it. I’m looking forward to seeing its enhancements!
- Lee H.
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I have been reading The Turnaround Letter for longer than I can remember; that is, forever. Sometimes it is just for my amusement—just to see all the stocks I should have bought. Some of its picks, particularly smaller capitalization stocks, have performed amazingly, an example being Bristow Group. As well, the commentaries remind one of the old adage—“Buy Low, Sell High.” That is, more than once editor George Putnam will sail across the tide, telling us to buy in bad markets or to pick up stock groups that are out of favor, and this is the key to making big money in the Street, advice which will often put him temporarily at odds with the thundering herd of stock market professionals who have some deep psychological need to mold their views to current fashionable opinion. Yes, this letter is a good place to find stocks lying low in the doghouse which will come out to play and to scurry to new heights on a sunnier day.
- William D.
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For 21 years, George Putnam III has trained his sights on one of the more obscure areas of investing: turnaround situations and bankruptcies. By focusing on out-of-favor companies, his flagship publication, The Turnaround Letter, has achieved enormous success for its subscribers. For the five years through September, ideas in the newsletter generated average annual returns of 25.3%, versus 13.3% for the Wilshire 5000 index. For the past decade, they gained 17.1%, compared with an average annual 7.1% for their benchmark. Clearly, this grandson of the founder of Putnam Investments knows a thing or two about investing.
- Barron's

TLCorner

Don't Chase the Headlines

The recent unfortunate accident involving the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which is owned by a subsidiary of Carnival Corp., raises an important investing question: Should you bail out of a stock if the company is affected by a serious negative event? Unless the event could be part of a series or trend, the answer is usually “no,” for two reasons.

Read More.

Should You Buy Kodak Stock Now?

The argument in favor of buying Kodak stock goes something like this: Now that Kodak has filed for bankruptcy, its stock trades for about 30 cents; but since it traded for more than $30 just a few years ago, doesn’t that mean it has to be cheap? Unfortunately, there are two major fallacies with this argument.

Read More.

Good Brands are Not Enough

One of the things we like to see in a potential turnaround stock is a strong brand name. That will often provide the foundation on which the company can build its turnaround. However, the recent Chapter 11 filing by Hostess Brands and Eastman Kodak are reminders that well known brand names alone may not be enough to save a company. In both of these cases the brand names are widely recognized, but the products with which they are associated no longer represent strong business franchises.

Read More.

What did The Turnaround Letter see that others did not?

Questions & Tips

AskGeorge

With so much turmoil and uncertainty in the U.S. economy, and even more fear of collapse overseas, do you ever recommend just getting out of the stock market all together and hunkering down with something safer like bonds?

I never recommend getting out of the stock market entirely--or even making major changes to your allocation to stocks. The stock market is so unpredictable that if you bail out, the risk is very high that you will miss a significant upturn. Moreover, even if you make the right call to get out of the market, you then have to muster the courage to get back in. 

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What is your opinion on investing in foreign turnaround companies?

There are certainly good opportunities in foreign turnarounds, but also very significant risks as well. The market inefficiencies that provide unusually high return potential for turnarounds here in the U.S. are probably even greater in foreign markets. However, there may be special, local features that affect foreign companies that we may not understand when we view them from afar. 

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In our normally quite efficient securities markets, why are there certain structural factors that make bankruptcy securities inefficient and therefore potentially unusually profitable?

The structural factors relating to bankruptcy securities can be both legal and psychological. As an example of a legal factor, many institutional investors (such as insurance companies or mutual funds) are not allowed, either by law or by their charter, to hold bonds that have defaulted and no longer pay interest. 

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Bankruptcy Investing

George reflects on bankruptcy investing activity & trends seen in 2010. Read more.

Where are Interest Rates Headed?

Where will interest rates be at the end of 2012, as measured by the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note (which was at 2.0% on January 20)?
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