Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Paperstand

„Heard on the Street” column discusses Pfizer (PFE), that lost over $20bn in mkt value yesterday. Article highlights several funds that held, as of Sept 30, over 100m PFE shares. Spokesmen for Dodge & Cox, Fidelity, Alliance and State Farm all declined to comment. In an interview this weekend, David Shedlarz, Pfizer's Vice Chmn, said the torcetrapib failure will put a premium on "focused business development," or smarter, faster deals to bring new drugs into the co's fold. Still, he emphasized these deals wouldn't be done for "short-term financial gain" but instead would only fit with Pfizer if the acquisitions or alliances had "strong strategic merit." Some investors argue, however, that the co may have to pay a large sum for any acquisition that will affect earnings.


Barrons’ “Inside Scoop” section reports that contrarian hedge fund Tontine Mgmt nearly doubled its stake in Dycom (DY) as investors turned leery toward the co. Dycom shares fell as wide as 15% on Nov. 21 after the co's F1Q earnings and guidance missed analysts' ests. Tontine currently holds 3.1m Dycom shares or 7,64% of the co. Tontine's portfolio manager Jeffrey Gendell is "a very successful contrarian and value investor," says Rusty Szurek, of InsiderScore.com. "I think with someone like this stepping up a stake in the co appears to be showing confidence in light of what was perceived as negative results and guidance.


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