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 >Barron's columnist Andrew Bary published a follow up piece this weekend to his initial write-up on WPO in which he argued that the stock could be worth as much as $900/share. You can read the original article here. Mr. Bary's...
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 >In our preview of WPO's 2Q10 earnings release we asked: "As the Questions Pile Up, Will We Finally Get Some Answers?" Today's earnings release provided little in the form of clarity on the questions we asked, but it...
READ MORE >Don Graham and other senior executives of WPO laud themselves for their "Berkshire-like" approach to managing the company. In the world of WPO managment, the numbers speak for themselves. While we find this approach refreshing in some respects, we...
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 >WPO reported 1Q10 results on 5/7. Overall, the results did little to alter our short thesis on the stock. The company beat our estimates on the topline but fell short of our EPS forecast due to lower than expected profitability at the...
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 >This report was originally published on 3/4/10.We recently discussed WPO (446.15 ↓1.20%)’s 4Q09 results, which have prompted a 5.8% rally in shares. In our review, we highlighted how we were eagerly...
READ MORE >WPO reported 4Q09 results this morning. You can read all of the details here. The company’s revenue and EPS of $1.238 billion and $8.71 beat the lone set of analysts estimates out there of $1.16...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 1/26/10.We recently conducted a survey of privately-held for-profit postsecondary education institutions. Our goal was to gain a better understanding of...
READ MORE >This report was published on 12/17/09.The education stocks are trading off today following the release of a memorandum from the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). You can find the memorandumhere. ...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 12/14/09.The Department of Education released unofficial 3-year cohort default rate data this morning. You can find the DOE’s press release here, which also...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 12/9/09.We have expressed our concerns in the past about the impact the transition from a 2-year to a 3-year cohort default rate calculation could have on the...
READ MORE >This report was originally published 12/1/09.The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) distributed its first round of proposals to the negotiated rulemaking panel on Monday on Program Integrity Issues...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 11/8/09.In a recent letter to Warren Buffet, we voiced our concerns about what seem to be growing regulatory issues at Washington Post Company (WPO 444.32 ↓2.02%)’s most...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 10/30/09.We wanted to address a few issues related the for-profit education sector: WPO (445.09↓1.85%)’s 3Q09 results, a few thoughts on COCO (17.28 ↓1.20%)’s 10-Q filing and a playbook for the...
READ MORE >This report was originally published 10/28/09.Readers of our research know that we have been bearish on the for-profit education sector for the past few quarters based on our concerns about growing...
READ MORE >This report was originally published 10/14/09.A hearing was held today by the House Committee on Education and Labor entitled: “Ensuring Student Eligibility Requirements for Federal Aid”. You...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on September 15th, 2009.Please note, the following is a letter PAA Research recently sent to Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.. We thought our readers might find the analysis of Washington Post and...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 9/22/09.For those of you that have followed our research since inception, you are probably intimately familiar with our concerns about the for-profit education...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 9/15/09.Yesterday, the Department of Education released student loan cohort default rate data for the 2007 fiscal year. Overall, the national student loan cohort default rate (CDR) increased from 5.2% to 6.7%. As we...
READ MORE >This report was originally published on 9/11/09.On Monday or Tuesday of next week, the Department of Education will release final cohort default data for FY07. Before we get into company specific discussions, we wanted...
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