COCO Announces New “Private Loan” Facility, And We Use That Term Loosely This morning, COCO announced a new “private loan” facility with ASFG LLC, presumably a subsidiary of American Student...
READ MORE >Details of the Department of Education’s Gainful Employment regulation were released this evening. The full regulation will likely be published tomorrow on the Department of Education’s website here or here, or ultimately in the Federal Register by Friday...
READ MORE >In a move that has received little attention among investors in the for-profit postsecondary education space, approximately 10-days ago, the Appropriations Higher Education Committee in the House of...
READ MORE >Questions We Would Like to Hear on the CallHere are some of the questions that we would like to hear management answer on COCO’s upcoming 3Q11 conference call: In light of the substantial tuition price increases, why did revenue per student...
READ MORE >For an industry that has distinguished itself in the equity markets as a consistent source of trading opportunities, the “whip-saw” action in the for-profit education sector in the first four months of the year has...
READ MORE >In a move that has been largely overlooked by most investors in the for-profit postsecondary education space, Governor Jerry Brown (CA-D) signed Senate Bill 70 into law on March 24, 2011. While SB 70 includes many other elements aimed at reducing unwieldy budget deficits in...
READ MORE >There was a time not too long ago when investors in the for-profit postsecondary education sector viewed those institutions that generated a high percentage of their revenues from Pell Grant funding...
READ MORE >From what we can gather, few investors if any have paid close attention to the progress of the various securities class action suits filed against almost every one of the publicly traded for-profit postsecondary education companies. We are...
READ MORE >Yesterday afternoon, the California Student Aid Commission voted unanimously to support a drastic reduction of Cal Grant awards to for-profit education institutions in the event that cuts to the program are needed to help solve...
READ MORE >The Department of Education released “trial” 3-year cohort default rate data this morning on an national level and institution by institution basis. Before we get into a discussion of the national level data and some of our findings on a school...
READ MORE >COCO reported 2Q11 earnings results this morning and will host a conference call at 12PM EST today. You can read the company’s earnings release here. The stock is trading higher based on four...
READ MORE >On Tuesday, February 1st, COCO will report 2Q11 earnings and potentially provide initial guidance for 3Q11 results. At the start of 2011, COCO finds itself at a critical impasse. The company faces ENORMOUS...
READ MORE >Today the US Department of Education released data on the number of Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submitted during 4Q10-11 (calendar fourth quarter of 2010). In our view the FAFSA data provided by...
READ MORE >For an industry that has distinguished itself in the equity markets as a consistent source of trading opportunities, the “whip-saw” action in the for-profit education sector in the first few...
READ MORE >At the risk of dating ourselves, we couldn't help but think of Faith No More's edgy rock tune from the late 1980's "Epic" when STRA's negative pre-announcement hit the tape late Friday afternoon."What is...
READ MORE >Over the past several months there has been a growing bifurcation in the for-profit postsecondary education industry between those companies that have enacted significant "self regulation" measures in order to improve compliance with...
READ MORE >In our 1Q11 earnings preview for COCO, we argued that the company's first quarter earnings could represent a seminal event. As we stated in our preview:"The decisions management makes over the next 3-6 months...
READ MORE >COCO will report 1Q11 earnings before the market opens on Tuesday, November 2nd. In our view, the company finds itself in an extraordinarily precarious position irrespective of what happens with the Dept. of Educationa's Gainful Employment...
READ MORE >Over the past few weeks, three large, publicly traded for-profit postsecondary education companies reported earnings. The general feedback from each company (APOL, CPLA, and ESI) has been fairly similar: 1) new student starts have...
READ MORE >For the past 6-7 months we have argued that the definition of a credit hour could become a significant regulatory issue in the higher education space, one that has generally overlooked by most investors. As a reminder, upon the passage of NegReg 2009 the Department of Education will...
READ MORE >Investing in the for-profit education sector over the past 2-3 months has been almost entirely about one's ability to tap into various DC lobbying groups, read the "tea leaves" from public statements from...
READ MORE >Volatility has always been a hallmark of the publicly traded for-profit education companies. In the ten+ years we have been following the sector, the number of trading opportunities have been seemingly...
READ MORE >Our short thesis on COCO has never been predicated on a change in the regulatory landscape governing the for-profit postsecondary education sector. While the outcomes of NegReg 2009 and potential legislation by...
READ MORE >On July 23rd, stocks in the for-profit education sector "ripped" after the release of the Department of Education's initial proposal on "gainful employment". At that time, many investors thought...
READ MORE >At long last the details on the Department of Education's proposal for its "gainful employment" were released. You can read an excellent summary of the proposal as well as responses from Senator Harkin, Harris Miller (CCA),...
READ MORE >Even though we are only 24 hours away from the first earnings report of the season from a publicly traded for-profit education provider, investor focus remains firmly on the eventual outcome of the Department of Education's "gainful employment" proposal....
READ MORE >Over the past 48 hours a significant change has occurred in the operating landscape for proprietary higher education institutions. While most investors and sell-side analysts debate the eventual outcome of the Department of Education's "gainful employment" proposal,...
READ MORE >COCO reported 3Q10 earnings results this morning. You can read the full release here. Overall, we would characterize the results as more or less inline, but they will likely be viewed as a...
READ MORE >In the for-profit postsecondary education sector, controversy never dies and it seems like trading opportunities are omnipresent. After a one-month period during which news flow within the industry slowed to a...
READ MORE >Earlier this week, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) finally released its Key Operating Statistics report for FY09 (6/30/09). You can find the full report here. The report includes a comprehensive...
READ MORE >SELL/SHORT
$4
SELL
$50
SELL/SHORT
$45
SHORT
$18
SELL/SHORT
$5
SELL/SHORT
$42
LONG
$75
LONG
$128
SELL/SHORT
$50
SELL/SHORT
$50
LONG
$5.50
SHORT
$50
SHORT
$28
LONG
$65
LONG
$37
PAIR TRADE
$10
PAIR TRADE
$30
LONG
$35
SHORT
$35
SELL/SHORT
$10
SHORT
$101
SHORT
$15
SHORT
$0
SHORT
$9
SHORT
$0
PAIR - LONG BGG/SHORT TTC
25%
PAIR - LONG BGG/SHORT TTC
25%
SHORT
$14.00
SHORT
$22
SHORT
$15
SHORT
$20
SHORT
$31
SHORT
$35
SHORT
$30
PAIR - LONG KNL/SHORT MLHR
25%
SHORT
$100
LONG
$8
LONG
$20
SHORT
$22
PAIR - LONG CSGP/SHORT LOOP
40%
LONG
$35
SHORT
$275
SHORT
$0