Billionaire value investor Mario Gabelli has been on a recent buying binge of a particular stock, and savvy investors would be wise to follow his lead.
The money manager and CEO of Gamco Investors now holds a 5.7 percent in Vascular Solutions (VASC), which develops products and services for minimally invasive coronary and peripheral vascular procedures, Barron's reported, citing a regulatory filing.
That holding equates to a little over a million shares of Vascular, which has agreed to be acquired by Teleflex (TFX) for $1 billion, or $56 a share.
But the final chapter of this saga may have yet to be written.
"Although the filing doesn’t state that Gabelli or his entities expect to replace Vascular’s management, take seats on the board or materially change the company’s direction, it should be noted that the filing was on a Schedule 13D," Barron's reported.
"That’s the form used by activist investors, who would seek such actions. The abbreviated form for disclosing a stake of more than 5%, the Schedule 13G, is for passive investors only."
Meanwhile, "Gabelli entities have bought about 550,000 more shares of E.W. Scripps (SSP), raising his beneficial stake to 11.2 million shares, or 15.8%, as of Jan. 27, up from a 14.8% stake disclosed on June 14," Barron's reported.
To be sure, the economy faces uncertain and volatile times as President Donald Trump settles into office.
And Newsmax Finance Insider Olivier Garret recently warned that it may not be as easy as some expected.
"Like most candidates, Donald Trump will not fulfill all of his promises. Hopefully, he will compromise on some divisive issues and won’t go to extremes. However, contrary to popular belief, the biggest issue is not Trump," Garret wrote.
"President Trump will do his best to reform government and stimulate business. But he will have to fulfill that in the face of major economic headwinds, some of which are outside his control," he wrote.
Here are the five strongest ones.
- Unprecedented debt levels: The US government has accumulated almost $20 Trillion in IOUs. That doesn’t even factor in unfunded liabilities or the cost of a massive infrastructure program.
- ZIRP: The Fed has made it clear it will raise rates going forward. But the economy is now too weak to weather higher interest rates. The nation’s bank is pretty much out of magic bullets to stimulate the economy should it falter.
- Rioting around the country: We can hope that time heals deep political divisions in the US. However, political discourse is breaking out and many citizens are willing to resort to violence. President Trump will need to be very savvy if he is to lead a united America towards peace and prosperity.
- Recession: The US has had eight consecutive years of growth without a recession. Despite an overdue recession, the markets seem positive. Will they be disappointed?
- Washington reforms: President Trump has a mandate, yet very little power to reform the political system in Washington. Crony capitalism is entrenched and the ties between Wall Street and K Street will stay resilient.
(Newsmax wires services contributed to this report).
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