Investing

Since first mentioning Cavco it's been pretty much straight up. This pick came as a result of reading a fantastic book on special situation investing (mentioned in the link). A quick review of my calls on them is interesting;

1. With no improvement in the manufactured housing market worth $21-$28
2. With a 5% growth rate they would be worth $31
3. I then complained a little about the executive compensation but recognized that it ought to be a powerful motivator
4. Cavco was listed and traded higher than I had hoped for.
5. Berkshire Hathaway was trying to purchase Clayton Homes, another manufactured housing company. This, along with the research posted by opponents of the sale, was a great indication that the industry was at a cyclical low.
6. I discussed how important it was that US Bancorp was entering the Manufactured Home loan market was very bullish.
5. Mentioned it when it was at $18.15

Well Cavco traded above $40 today on news that Fannie May would offer 30 year mortgages for manufactured homes with deposits as low as 5%.

Well I did all of the right things here except actually buying CVCO! It never quite got cheap enough for my "random" target so I never bought any. Three spin offs that I watched, Car Max, Cavco and ABX Air all shot up significantly from the prices they traded at when-issued (there is trading on upcoming spin-offs before they are actually available).