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 >Approximately 18-months ago, we scribed a letter to Warren Buffet, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway about his sizeable ownership stake in the Washington Post Company. It might have been an audacious endeavor on our part...
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 >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 >For several months now, we have been waiting for an update on the status of three separate qui tam actions outstanding against Kaplan Higher Education in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida. ...
READ MORE >We have argued for a long time that the broader media would take a keen interest in the transgressions that have occurred at Kaplan Higher Education given the parent company's perceived status in DC and the history of the Graham family. There have been a few critical articles...
READ MORE >Investors have not historically focused a great deal on the actions of the HLC and other accrediting agencies. On the heels of Congressional hearings, Dept. of Education scrutiny, and highly critical...
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 >Approximately two and a half months ago, we published a report that argued that the tail risk associated with owning WPO shares continued to increase. Today we received further evidence that "tail risk" continues to grow for the company.Filing...
READ MORE >Admittedly, WPO's headline earnings results for 3Q10 appear to be compelling. The company reported total revenues of $1.189 billion and adjusted EPS from continuing operations of $11.40. This compares to our...
READ MORE >On Friday, November 5th, WPO will report 3Q10 earnings. WPO is at a significant crossroads. Fundamental demand for the company's primary growth vehicle over the past five years has changed abruptly at a time when secular headwinds facing WPO's...
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 >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 >LONG
$70
SELL/SHORT
$4
SELL
$50
SELL/SHORT
$45
SHORT
$18
SELL/SHORT
$5
SELL/SHORT
$42
LONG
$75
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