brker_guy Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Carl, nice to know that JP Morgan has signed up to be a LVLT customer. I hope LVLT management put them along with MLB and Green Mountain Coffee on the list of "Enterprise Customer" slide. BTW: More Verizon LTE traffic is about to come onto our network soon: http://news.vzw.com/news/2011/05/pr2011-05-18c.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 The more I meditate on the video which you supplied, Brker_guy, which was the same one at the ASM this morning, the more FEARFUL I become surrounding the FULL MOON and LOW TIDES about to BEFALL Akamai owners. Woe to Akamai owners who failed at their lessons in ASTRONOMY unlike one of their CEO's ancestors. :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brker_guy Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Carl, I think we want to the AKAM Kingdom to be always joyous. As a matter of fact, I am praying that FOOL.com are writing raving reviews about how great the management at AKAM are doing with the capital allocation. They are their to serve their shareholders. So, we want them to think that they are the King of all kings... We want our LVLT sales people to the the alligators that sit around the big AKAM Kingdom and trying to eat into that castle that belongs to AKAM. Then all of the sudden, BAM!!! The king got knocked off his throne... Last thing we want is for AKAM to run into the arms of T or VZ, Carl... Don't get them worried; get them to be as happy and content as possible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 It's a mini-mansion at a little better than $1B forward annual revenues vs. a castle, Brker_guy, patents and all for such a LATENT stream experience over the internet. Let them ruin the customer experiences for those dinosaurs in the last mile, and see what the cables would do after such a bitter tasting, terrible to digest swallow like that occurred! "All bases covered" towards one super highway internet road for all EYES to see across and marvel at. ;) I like the infrastructure and security "LOCK" feature depicted in that smart video released by (3) earlier today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Brker_guy, in Akamai's favor, I will say that their Chief Scientist is showing more CONVICTION than our Chairman scalping premiums on "convert bonds" by selling them to other convert buyers. He must really believe in his "TECHNOLOGY" or something else that is coming down pike over the next few months? ;) http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2011/05/20/akamai-chief-scientist-buys-16m-in.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 AT&T carries a lot of dirty legacy baggage, Ben Graham. Not the least of which are unions, healthcare and pension obligations for generations of employees still on their books. Should a (3) owner who has heard they were interested but rebuffed at $132 pps during the peak of the tech bubble before the network was even finished, be hoping for such outcomes after so much hard work, at prices caused through dilution in conjunction with timing miscalculations, so many years later? :'( It would be better for most Americans to witness this dinosaur laid to rest in The Museum of Natural History. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Ben Graham, just tell me who we can send into that Stock Puppet, Cramer's world, to shove a MUZZLE on his MOUTH after two pps is convicted. >:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 O.K. Ben Graham, I got the message. The good news/bad news this weekend is, one of those "deranged" participants who I shudder to call a "partner," James Cramer, will not be tawkin about our (3) shares since closing under TWO. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brker_guy Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Carl, quite interesting that the Chief Scientist made that big of a purchase on AKAM. I sure hope he knows what he's doing and know how to value his business.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brker_guy Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Ben, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. AT&T is not anywhere close to be LTE. I am sorry to say, but T-Rex is still in the dinosaur age by calling their HPSA+ services as 4G... So, here are the wireless competitors on 4G(WiMax vs. LTE vs. HSPA+)... http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/special-reports/wimax-lte-and-hspa-comparing-operators-4g-coverage-areas?utm_source=FierceWireless-homepage-slideshow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brker_guy Posted May 21, 2011 Share Posted May 21, 2011 Ben, I guess I will be doing some S4 reading this upcoming Memorial Day weekend... Thanks for posting the link. I did receive a similar filing from LVLT's email to me. BTW: I have been participating on the CLWR's thread regarding the business and their future. I think I posted a link or two today and a few days ago that you might like to take a look when it comes to T-Rex. Just imagine, what would wireless world be like today if there was no iPhone coming along in 2006 to rescue T-Rex from its misery? Can you imagine? They would have so much churns that might have knocked them off to #4 below T-Mobile and possibly could be facing bankruptcy. So, just imagine their fate if that one event didn't take place... I hope we go after Sprint's wireline business first before we go after AT&T wireline. I don't think we want any kind of indigestion with AT&T since they are such a dinosaur. We want bite-size acquisition. I think once we close the GLBC deal, we would have leverage and the cash flow to go after Sprint. Then, we should consider talking to Matt Rose about T-Rex. Heck, by that time, we might even be a BRK company that is IF Warren backs up his beliefs at the annual meeting this year on technologies and scoop up LVLT... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Last night I watched "Brooklyn's Finest" on my PC with a Netflix stream. The quality of this video experience is the best I have seen bar none including my Time Warner Digital Cable t.v. which buffs and stalls from time to time. The combination Netflix/(3) technologies are a potent one, two punch which leaves an indelible impression on user minds. It is always good to revisit our inner city streets in order to realize how bad some have it by being on the wrong end of the "birthing lotto." Mr. Buffett understands this intuitively! Brker_guy, in all due respect, I hope you are kidding about a Berkshire Hathaway "take under" and corresponding usurp of the embedded growth rate into perpetuity which this security represents. Don't you believe this company has been through too much while being dragged under the bus consistently, and routinely over too many years, to give up their independent ghost so cheaply? Otherwise, maybe this is your more humorous attempt at preventing other early arriver's from getting too aggressive, at such low prices without an expectation of such "low returns" tied to this type of "risk" at these levels, while enabling you to more easily accumulate such dirt cheap shares? ;) It's time to roll up another player, and I don't care who, as "bean counters" with smart spreadsheets attempt to hog tie us in certain trading ranges hardly indicative of this company's future even with Global Xng. stand alone. Sky's the limit now take us to the CLOUDS! "Next acquisition, please....." has always been my take off on Big Jim Crowe's "cue" comment for those waiting patiently to ask the "Next question, please....." on conference calls and presentations over many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brker_guy Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Ben, I came up with nearly the same back of the envelope calculation as you did. However, I used a much lesser growth rate than you did. Right before this implosion, LVLT was growing revenue at 8% annually and 10% EBITDA during its best year which was 2007 to 2008 before the roof caved in. So, I used that as my metric. 8X EBITDA-- $3.50 ($2.10 in today value) 9x EBITDA-- $4.10 ($2.60 in today value) 10x EBITDA-- $4.85($3.10 in today value) 12x EBITDA-- $6.20($4 in today value) I think we are close in our estimate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brker_guy Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 We got a standstill agreement filing from SEAM: http://LVLT.client.shareholder.com/common/download/download.cfm?companyID=LVLT&fileid=S1104659-11-30767&filekey=794323&filename=1104659-11-30767.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Blue Ridge Capital's, John Griffin, an adjunct Professor at Colombia University seems to have had an EPIPHANY since already adding more than 10MM shares as of 3/31/2011. He must be reading my friend Enron Hubbard, I mean BEN GRAHAM! They have just filed to be a "controlling owner" at greater than five percent stake with 97MM shares. http://www.nasdaq.com/asp/holdings.asp?symbol=LVLT&selected=LVLT&FormType=Institutional http://www.brfny.org/about/team.html http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/794323/000090266411000998/p11-1228sc13g.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 More data on Griffin in 2007, when (3) was seemingly part of his "holdings" along with his ties to Julian Robertson. http://seekingalpha.com/article/40245-how-to-invest-like-blue-ridge-capital-s-john-griffin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 There are times when Mr. Manipulator rings his trader's bell to cause "salivating" with headlines like, "XYZ crossed above its 52 Week High," only as a ruse to dupe rubes of their money. Lest you think I don't cite examples, Comcast, that dead beat cable company attempting to gouge US citizens causing their internet expenses to RISE unnecessarily, is one. In the case of (3) today with respect to its low valuation, this is not the case! As for the long term, or the next ten years, only God knows the heights this security will reach! Some things(technological commodities) just can't fit on a spread sheet! Level 3 Communications Inc sets a new 52-week high 05/24 06:33 AM Level 3 Communications Inc (LVLT:$2.095,0$0.095,04.75%) crossed above its 52-week high of $2.04 on 9:33 AM ET on May 24, 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I might be saying more, Ben Graham. I believe I am saying that there are "growth stocks" with embedded IV, IV that is difficult or impossible to calculate by the world's best known financial curmudgeons. It might even cause men like Buffett and Munger to fall off their chairs when they look back with hindsight, i.e., How did I miss that? These "characteristics" are rarely seen in the types of stocks visited by Mr. Buffett historically, since they are comprised of "technology" in their core. However, with the Dynamic Duo embracing technological shifts in the automobile industry today via names like Iscar and BYD, it's not far reaching to expect them to embrace the "technological shift" in a pipe line business containing a raw commodity like fiber when extrapolating the "utility" of serving it in quantity to every set of eyeballs roaming planet earth. Insuring fiber in the diets of every living creature should be a new Buffett business and goal for bringing good health and change across the globe. Wise men should never be afraid to learn and adapt to new tricks which those two have proven time and time again. Is there a trace of Buffett somewhere embedded in (3) from which the casual observer is not aware? "DAMN RIGHT!" ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Taking your breath away is not an easy task, Ben Graham. Your knowledge with respect to "The Father of Value Investing" should never be taken lightly. Since smart men have gotten comfortable with pushing their value "pencils" most recently, I believe it's time to "change the rules in the middle of the game," so we might garner James Baker's attention, and the rest of that ilk from The Carlyle Group including Enron descendants from Kinder Morgan might take NOTICE! "Next acquisition, please." ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alekbaylee Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Level 3 Announces Proposed Private Offering of Senior Notes http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/level-3-announces-proposed-private-offering-of-senior-notes-122577408.html Yeah, I jumped in the bandwagon as well. Think they'll do well over time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 BROOMFIELD, Colo., May 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:LVLT - News) today announced that it has extended its network infrastructure in the Seattle market with the construction of a direct network link to the advanced South Hill Data Center, a high-capacity, 8.6 megawatt, data center located in the Seattle metropolitan area. The data center hosts a range of customers who now have direct access to over 190 markets served by Level 3's international, IP network and the ability to efficiently and economically leverage Level 3's entire service portfolio. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Level-3-Connects-Advanced-prnews-1232610075.html?x=0&.v=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 There remains another $60MM per year in interest savings for the next 600 days if Sunit would look to his AMIGOS for a voluntary conversion tied to the $400MM tranche and 222MM shares at $1.80 pps. Brker_guy, how plausible do you think a voluntary conversion vs. forced at $3.99 pps? If plausible, how would the holders of such notes justify doing so prior to being FORCED? There are some who believe this is an impossibility without a gun being held to their heads. :'( The average extra yield investors demand to own Level 3 debt instead of Treasuries dropped to 613 basis points yesterday from an 817 basis-point spread at the start of the year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Level 3 and Global Crossing said the deal will allow them to cut annual capital spending by about $40 million, while Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings said they’re reviewing Broomfield, Colorado-based Level 3’s credit ratings for possible upgrades. “We believe that this transaction improves our credit profile and, as a result, we would expect that our cost of debt capital would continue to come down,” Sunit Patel, Level 3’s chief financial officer, said in an April 12 statement. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-25/level-3-may-slash-borrowing-costs-in-500-million-debt-sale.html?cmpid=yhoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Another quasi favorable Akamai article, and a comment by this certain poster in order to review "history." http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/05/25/2-challenges-akamai-must-address.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Our new money has been priced at nearly half of Watsa, etal, 15 percent usury! Brker_guy, when Jim Crowe stated Sunit's salary would be reduced by 40 percent as a result of needing less debt management activity, I made him a better offer! I suggested owners should give Sunit a 40 percent cash increase on his base salary into perpetuity assuming he continues to do great work ahead, for getting this $60MM per year monkey for the next 600 days off of our backs! Of course, by memory, Sunit's base is 800K-maybe that's Storey, and he's less without checking the filing-so paying him forty percent more(320K per year) "incrementally" for the next thirty years would be a small FRACTION still(< 10 cents on the dollar)versus this outrageous $100MM interest balance during the course of the next 600 days. What is Sunit going to do for us tomorrow as respects this DAMN EXPENSIVE MONEY acting as a YOKE around our necks! He would be worth ten cents on longer term dollars for removing this forthwith according to a "VOLUNTARY CONVERSION." http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/25/level3-debt-notes-idUSN2562101520110525?type=bondsNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews&rpc=43 Wed May 25, 2011 5:17pm EDT May 25 (Reuters) - Level 3 Escrow Inc, a unit of Level 3 Communications Inc (LVLT.O), on Wednesday sold $600 million of senior unsecured notes in the 144a private placement market, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service. Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse were the joint bookrunning managers for the sale. BORROWER: LEVEL 3 ESCROW INC AMT $600 MLN COUPON 8.125 PCT MATURITY 7/1/2019 TYPE SR NTS ISS PRICE 99.264 FIRST PAY N/A MOODY'S Caa1 YIELD 8.25 PCT SETTLEMENT 6/9/2011 S&P CCC-PLUS SPREAD 512 BPS PAY FREQ SEMI-ANNUAL FITCH N/A MORE THAN TREAS NON-CALLABLE 4 YRS* *MAKE-WHOLE CALL 50 BPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ValueCarl Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Ben Graham, Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the BLOOD of AKAMAI MUN. We must turn these MUN into MUNCHKINS with the end run play into the last mile that crushes these monopolistic castles once and for all! It must be comprised of new solutions and choices contained in technologies like "white spaces" and/or hops to Walmart as well as Best Buy rooftops where "pure internet" based and best of breed quality of services are being delivered by innovative brands with technology based roots. The next time I see a fat Comcast engineer banging his ring finger hard on a table in DEFIANCE of the PEOPLES' will, I want him to be HEADLESS and without a HORSE!!!!!!!!!!! >:( Using the MIT campus as its proving ground, Comcast in coming months will try delivering TV channels using the same standard used to deliver data over the Internet, known as the Internet protocol, or IP. Like other cable providers, Comcast currently delivers channels over less versatile digital television technology that sends the video in streams to set-top boxes and isn't compatible with the Internet. Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576345330554958642.html#ixzz1NSix1sL2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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