Management is buying/committing capital at a price it says the market itself just set against it — cheapness measured ag
The model's full reasoning — Q2 2022 call → NOWe need to determine if management describes deliberately taking on more of its own economic exposure because it believes the outside world is mispricing what it already has. The key is a coherent posture with both halves: (1) a mispricing anchored to something concrete, and (2) the company acting on it with real resources already in motion. Looking at the transcript, the main discussion about investment is the $410 million investment in S&P Dow Jones Indices JV to fund the acquisition of IHS Markit Indices business. Terry Duffy says: "During the quarter, we invested approximately $410 million in our S&P Dow Jones Indices joint venture. This funded our portion of the acquisition of the IHS Markit Indices business... The shift from active investing to indexing was growing in 2012 when we launched the joint venture, and that momentum has only continued to strengthen since that time. Our portion of the earnings from the index joint venture have more than tripled from the $75 million earned in the full year of 2013... Looking ahead, with the addition of the IHS Markit fixed income and credit indices, the joint venture is well-positioned to continue to innovate and grow across an even wider set of products and services." This is an investment to grow the business, not a claim that the JV is undervalued. It's about strategic growth, not mispricing. There's no mention of the outside world mispricing the JV or the company's assets. The investment is described as using proceeds from Google's share purchase to invest in the business. No claim that the price is low relative to intrinsic value. It's a routine capital allocation for growth. Other parts: They discuss the SOFR transition, but that's about product adoption, not mispricing. They discuss market data, but no undervaluation claim. They discuss the Google partnership, but that's about cloud migration, not mispricing. There is no mention of a buyback or repurchasing shares. They paid dividends, but that's routine. No claim that the stock is undervalued. The question asks: "does management describe the company DELIBERATELY TAKING ON MORE OF ITS OWN ECONOMIC EXPOSURE BECAUSE IT BELIEVES THE OUTSIDE WORLD IS CURRENTLY MISPRICING WHAT IT ALREADY HAS?" The investment in the JV is taking on more exposure, but the reason is growth, not mispricing. No concrete anchor to a mispricing.
| Ticker | Company | Call | Date | Call grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESEA | Euroseas Ltd. | Q4 2022 | 2023-02-15 | C+ |
| CTHR | Charles & Colvard, Ltd. | Q1 2023 | 2022-11-06 | F |
| SBGI | Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. | Q3 2022 | 2022-11-02 | C |
| WD | Walker & Dunlop, Inc. | Q2 2022 | 2022-08-09 | C+ |
| TWO | Two Harbors Investment Corp. | Q2 2022 | 2022-08-04 | C+ |
TWO · Q2 2022 → YESThe question is whether management describes the company deliberately taking on more of its own economic exposure because it believes the outside world is currently mispricing what it already has. YES Management anchors the mispricing to concrete, verifiable levels: mortgage spreads at “historically wide” levels (125–150 bp ZV/OAS, far above the non-QE average and the March 31 levels), RMBS coupons now trading at a wide range (2 %–5.5 %) with 300 bp “out-of-the-money” low-coupon pools and 97 bp OAS–ZV spread differential on higher-coupon names.
ESEA · Q4 2022 → YESThe question is whether management describes the company deliberately taking on more of its own economic exposure because it believes the outside world is currently mispricing what it already has. YES Management anchors the undervaluation claim to a concrete, verifiable figure: their own estimate of the fleet’s market value at $666 million (derived from charter-adjusted values and market changes, incorporating the Aegean Express incident), which produces a net asset value of $344 million or >$48 per share.
WD · Q2 2022 → YESThe question is whether management describes the company deliberately taking on more of its own economic exposure because it believes the outside world is currently mispricing what it already has. YES Management anchors the undervaluation claim to a concrete benchmark: CoStar trades at ~30x EBITDA while W&D trades at under 10x despite identical revenue and EBITDA growth rates over 5–10 years. They explicitly state there is “plenty of multiple expansion available to W&D.