When Max Heine founded Mutual Shares Corp. in 1949, it isn’t likely he foresaw how his $1 million investment trust would develop over the next 60 years.

Not only has it grown to a roster of eight mutual funds with more than $50 billion under management, but the Mutual Series Funds also have been pivotal in establishing the strategy known as deep-value investing.

Also referred to as special situations, or “cigar-butt” investing, the deep-value approach often sees money managers buy stocks that are facing peril and so are priced cheap.

“It’s about buying a dollar value for 50 cents,” said Peter Langerman, chief executive of Mutual Series, which was bought by fund giant Franklin Resources Inc. in 1996.

As the market has grown and participation increased, such stocks “aren’t as prevalent today, but the essence [of the strategy] is very much the same,” he added. “We still spend time and energy looking at companies in prebankruptcy or that are distressed, and try to figure out what they’re worth in normalized versions of today’s market,” Mr. Langerman said.

The flagship of the line is Mutual Shares Fund (trading symbol: TESIX), launched on July 1, 1949. An investor who deposited $10,000 at the fund’s inception would have had $8.6 million as of June 30.
True Value

Mr. Langerman, who also co-manages Mutual Shares, said the fund’s picks, as with the other Mutual Series products, are based on the firm’s idea of a company’s worth.

“A value investor’s job is to say there’s real value in a company when others aren’t appreciating it,” he said.

A company’s value could be hit because it missed its quarterly numbers, or is facing litigation, for instance. But deep-value investors go further, buying into companies that may go bankrupt, be liquidated or be merged away.
Activist Approach

Mr. Langerman said that shareholder activism is an important part of how the Mutual Series funds operate.

“Value guys always think there’s something [that's holding a company back]. In that context, I think it’s common for value managers [to play a strong shareholder role],” he said.

Mutual Shares’ most recently disclosed holdings reflect the focus of its strategy.

The largest holding as of July 31 was drug company Wyeth, which is in the process of a merger with Pfizer. Also in the top 10 holdings are companies from three under-fire sectors: tobacco companies British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Group and Altria Group; health-care companies CVS Caremark and Schering-Plough; and media company News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal.

There are drawbacks to the approach. Merger-arbitrage plays can fail if a deal falls through, for instance. And, like all value managers, the Mutual Series funds are vulnerable to so-called value traps, in which a stock’s price stays permanently undervalued for one reason or another.

And value funds are prone to lag behind the market in strong bull markets. Mutual Shares trailed the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index in 1997, 1998 and 2003, all years in which the U.S. market averaged returns of more than 25%.

But even with those drawbacks, the Mutual Shares Fund has outpaced the S&P since its launch: from July 1, 1949 to July 31 this year, the fund has annualized returns of 13% compared to the S&P’s return of 11.2%.


© Wsj

Sharing hookahs can prove to be highly contagious and can easily spread swine flu.
Even as the city struggles to keep pace with the fresh number of casualties reported daily, precautions are being taken all over the city. Business and catering establishments are stepping up efforts to ensure that all preventive measures are taken to check the spread of the pandemic.

Among them, one of the most vulnerable places from where the dreaded disease can spread at breakneck speed are hookah bars dotted around the city. Among them, Mocha has already decided to shut shop till the situation improves. “We’ve decided to close down the outlet till things improve. As on date, there is no way that we are going to let people share hookahs,” informs Nilesh K, manager at Mocha’s Law College Road outlet. “Even otherwise, we have strict instructions to not allow anyone to use the hookah without the mouthpiece,” he adds.

Aubaid Manzar, a regular at hookah bars, says it’s a bit tough to let go of the habit but in the interest of safety, he is complying. “I guess I have no choice now other than to comply; it’s better to resist for a while than be beset with swine flu,” he says. “Plus, as the hookah joints are closing down, we have no other option,” adds Manzar.

Rahul Jain, owner of The Leather Lounge, Camp says, “Although we don’t serve hookah but the Cantonment Board has ordered every pub and restaurant in the area to remain closed atleast until August 16 and we are complying with the rules.” Shyam Mohan, manager of Thousand Oaks, East Street, says, “Thousand Oaks does not have a hookah bar but we close daily at 9 pm as that is the latest the governing officials are allowing us to operate till. We ensure that each one of our customers wears a mask.”


© Indianexpress

People in Liverpool are being asked to give their opinion over plans to give films featuring people who smoke an automatic 18 rating.

The city council has put the idea out to public consultation after receiving an application from the local primary care trust (PCT) in June.

Films with images of smoking would only be suitable for adult viewing.

About 5,300 under-18-year-olds smoke in Liverpool, half of whom were influenced by films, the PCT has claimed.

If the proposals came into force, the 18 rating would not apply to films that provide a “clear and unambiguous portrayal of the dangers of smoking, other tobacco use, or second-hand smoke”.

‘Important factor’

Nor would it apply to classic films which feature smoking characters as the policy would only be applied to new releases, a council spokeswoman confirmed.

Councillor Malcolm Kelly said: “I would urge as many people as possible to take part as we want to get a broad range of opinions before we make a decision on this subject.

“Their views will be a very important factor when we decide about the PCT’s proposal.”

If the plans go ahead, cinemas and any other premises showing films would have to notify the council 21 days in advance if they intend to show films containing images of smoking.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is usually responsible for classifying films.

However, under the Licensing Act 2003 local councils have statutory powers to classify or re-classify films to be shown in their particular areas.


© BBC

If you’re looking for a safe alternative to smoking, you’d be wise to skip the electronic cigarette – unless inhaling a toxic, bubble gum-flavored component of antifreeze sounds yummy.

The Food and Drug Administration recently ran preliminary tests on two brands of battery-powered, cigarette-shaped devices billed as safe alternatives to tobacco. The devices heat up a liquid containing nicotine and produce a vapor that can be drawn directly into the lungs. Among other things, scientists found forms of nitrosamine, a carcinogen common in real cigarettes.

The tests also turned up diethylene glycol, an ingredient in antifreeze, in some samples. It’s the same chemical involved in deaths and illnesses around the world in 2007; unscrupulous toothpaste manufacturers in China used it as a cheap substitute for the thickening agent glycerine.

The Electronic Cigarette Association, a trade group representing manufacturers, says the FDA’s tests of devices marketed by Arizona-based NJoy and Florida-based Smoking Everywhere were too limited to reach “any valid and reliable conclusions.”

But, tellingly, the industry is reluctant to submit its products for safety approval, arguing that the agency doesn’t have jurisdiction.

Many of the devices are made in China, where they’re popular. But the FDA reports that there’s little quality control in the manufacturing – which isn’t surprising, given the multitude of problems with toys, pet food and other products imported from China.

Numerous U.S. health groups have issued warnings against e-cigarettes. The American Academy of Pediatrics has condemned the production of e-cigarettes flavored to taste like bubble gum, chocolate and various fruits – a move they say is intended to lure children and teens.

FDA officials, who contend e-cigarettes fall under their jurisdiction as drug-delivery devices, say they’re contemplating further action against manufacturers. Some members of Congress are calling for a ban.

Whether it’s possible to produce a safe e-cigarette remains an open question. But the FDA’s recent tests indicate there are dangerous versions on the market. They, at the very least, should be yanked from store shelves.


© Hamptonroads

Cigarette smoking is not as bad as was characterized in many studies by anti-tobacco researchers.
In modern society, smoking cigarettes has nearly become damnation, but smoking foods were more in vogue style than ever. In general smoke is consider to be the fifth flavor with the capability to transform, contrast with and accentuate the food that has been exposed to it, whether that is salmon, pork, fruit, chili peppers or tea.

In cookery, smoke is the door to another room, an active, misty space that is at once promising and almost infinite, yet also dark and dangerous.
In our days, smoking is done mainly for flavor, or rather for the distinctive aroma compounds it gives. Smoking has been a part of our cooking for as long as we know. For example, our ancestors used smoke as a way to conserve food. They hanged meat or fish over an open fire, for to speed the drying process and keep flies away. And after prolonged smoking, the meat would be not only dry but also covered in substances with the dual ability to kill bacteria and form an impervious stratum that sealed out air and therefore protected against deterioration.
In the past the flavor was only a pleasant side effect in a world where pleasure always came second to survival. For example in Norway the smoking of foods became a rule not an exception. Such a food preparation was not until the 18th and 19th centuries.
Today very few people know what make smoked foods so appetizing. Even though, people like to smoke cigarettes and to be exposed to smoke, and with such great pleasure. They like this only because it is genetically implanted in human body from a time when all cooked food was slightly smoked and all uncooked food was unsafe.
Smoked food does allow for more and different flavors. Few tasty dishes do not benefit from the supplement of a little bacon. But the smoking process itself seems inaccessible and mysterious to many home cooks.
A scientist narrated in an article: “I discovered the joy of smoking (food) by chance about 10 years ago, on a visit to the basement of the apartment block where I was living. There, in searching for the water main, I found a dark room, one of those places that give you the shivers but also a vague, exciting feeling that a treasure might be nearby.
“And so it was. After I flicked the light switch, the room remained nearly as dark as before: The walls were completely covered in tar. I had come across the smoking room of a long-abandoned butchery. The smokers there still seemed to work, so I bought some wood shavings, returned and started a fire. On my trial run, I set off the fire alarm at 11 p.m., resulting in a rear court full of sleepy and worried neighbors.
But after I started closing the door more efficiently, I quickly progressed. With professional-grade equipment, smoking was not difficult, and in the following months I exposed everything but my neighbors to my new hobby: curing my own bacon and smoked salmon and also lamb shanks, cheese and even an ice cream base, in a strange and not altogether unsuccessful attempt at smoked vanilla ice cream.
“The most surprising result was a green apple that managed to remain as fresh as ever, its characteristic cool, crisp acidity combined with deep, rich smokiness reminiscent of an Islay malt whiskey.”
The smoking mystery from the past will never come back, because it has too many enemies who want to remove it from the World.

Walking through the door of Sky Hookah Lounge is like entering another world.

One passes from the bustling pavement of commercial Kings Highway in Fairfield into a dim, curtained room carpeted with oriental rugs, where smoke that smells of fruit and honey hangs in the air.

Middle Eastern and American music mingles with the smoke, as people sit around the edges of the small room on cushioned booths, chattering and luxuriously inhaling from large, ornate water pipes. Two young women dance in the center of the room.

Sky is apparently the first hookah lounge in Fairfield County and one of two in the region that opened this month. Trying to brew a new, culturally diverse pastime, the lounges unintentionally stoked up controversy and confusion among local and state officials who are mulling where they fit in with the state ban on smoking in public places.

The confusion is evident in the reactions of Fairfield and Milford’s health departments — both of which initially told the lounges not to serve food or alcohol on the premises but didn’t bar them from opening. Fairfield approved the opening after an inspection.

Milford’s department forced The Olive Tree Hookah Lounge to close June 19, about two weeks after it opened in a small shopping plaza on Bridgeport Avenue, citing state law and city ordinance.

However, the department rescinded that order on Friday, following an appeal by Olive Tree owner Sammer Karout and his attorney.

“Since this is somewhat precedent setting … since there are implications here, we have to approach this in as objective a way as we can,” said Dr. A. Dennis McBride, Milford health director, who’d deemed the lounge “a public health nuisance” earlier in the week.

McBride said his department would inspect the business “promptly” following its opening. “Once we have an inspection … we will be able to make decisions based on that,” he said.

Karout’s Milford attorney, Steve Leo, said his client’s business is not a “public place” as defined by state statute. “I just didn’t see how the city was going to win on that,” he said. “He (Karout) put a lot of time and money into that, so I’m glad it’s not down the drain.”

Hookahs are 3-foot-tall water pipes with charcoal-heated mixtures of tobacco, fruit and/or herbs smoked through hoses. In the case of Sky Hookah, the tobacco-free mixture includes molasses, honey and sugar, owners said.

Karout said there are different types of hookahs, and the ones he serves contain no tar, .05 percent nicotine and about 5 percent tobacco. He planned to reopen Friday night.

Hookah, or “shisha” smoking is a popular pastime in the Middle East — typically accompanied by tea or coffee — as well as in clubs, bars and coffee shops in major U.S. cities and college towns.

But in Connecticut, where smoking in public places — not in private clubs — was outlawed in 2004, there are few hookah lounges, and it is unclear where they fit into the law. The owners of Sky said they knew of other lounges in New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury and Woodbridge, but those establishments weren’t common knowledge.

“No one knows what a hookah is,” said 25-year-old Jimmy Azhari, of North Haven, who co-owns Sky with his cousin, Anwar Malas. “If you go to New York or New Jersey, they’re like grocery stores — they’re on every corner.”

“It’s the social life of it,” said 23-year-old Malas, a Fairfield resident and native of Syria. “The tradition is for people to go relax. It’s not about the hookah.”

Sky patrons said they used to drive long distances, from Stamford to New Haven or even to other states, to smoke communal hookahs, and are happy to have a lounge close by.

“The location has a lot to do with it,” said Ahmed Shilleh, of Stamford. “There’s not really anything like this around. It’s something new to try for everyone.”

Not everyone greeted the concept so happily, however.

McBride indicated Wednesday he wouldn’t be sad if the Olive Tree disappeared in a puff, saying he was concerned about public access.

Karout, who holds dual American and Syrian citizenship and owns the deli next door, said he’d thought he’d jumped through the appropriate hoops and borrowed roughly $150,000 to outfit the lounge, which he runs as a private club.

The Fairfield Health Department looked into state and local regulations and determined that “you can’t have smoking and food service in the same enterprise,” but — sans food and beverage — the hookah lounge could open, said Sands Cleary, Fairfield health director.

Health officials in both towns cited “gray areas” in the law, when it’s applied to hookah lounges.

“This particular type of thing doesn’t fall directly within the language of the regulation,” Cleary said. “These hookah lounges and hookah bars are new to this area, and I bet in a couple of years there will be some legislation proposed to address any public health concerns. I guess it’s the rage in college towns and New York City — it’s very popular there.”

Both area lounges feature belly dancing on weekends. Owners of both said they are typically packed on weekends and screen patrons to ensure they’re at least 18.

State law defines “smoking” as “the lighting or carrying of a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or similar device” and makes exemptions from the ban, such as workplace smoking rooms and grandfather provisions for tobacco bars.

Jennifer Squires, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health, said the department issues no special permit or policy for hookah lounges and views hookahs “as dangerous as smoking cigarettes” because smokers inhale more smoke with them.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office wasn’t consulted regarding the lounges and he’d been unaware of them until contacted by a reporter last week.

They seem “problematic” under state law, but he’d need to know all the details to know whether they’re within legal boundaries, he said, adding that the smoking ban is typically enforced by local police.

Some top business people are so full of passion and energy and enthusiasm for the business that they carry on planning, plotting and persuading oblivious to health risks, and any advice from family and friends.

Business is just another drug at this stage and for addicts there is nothing quite like the thrill of opening a new unit, finding a different market or signing another deal. You can dress it all up to look like providing for the family, or pension security or leaving a legacy for the local community. And indeed all of these things and more may form part of the motivation behind some driven individuals. Late last year one of my clients attended the funeral of a colourful business colleague. This chap was larger than life in so many ways and he was both working and fishing with friends right up until the day he died.

James was very well known within his industry and his passing was marked by a large gathering one grey day in the north of England. The Order of Service was suitably decorated with photos of the great man on the river he loved, holding a cane rod in one hand and sporting a fresh run salmon with the other. He looked young in the picture and I was prompted to ask how old he was. Fifty nine sounded a bit young, so I asked how he died. And the reply could have been to do with his prodigious working schedule but the answer was, “A diet of dark chocolate, gin and cigarettes probably.” Source: 24dash

People who smoke are finding it harder to indulge their habit. Some years ago, territories and states have banned cigarettes from inside bars and pubs.

Now New South Wales begins to restrict the sale of tobacco in shops and joins South Australia and Tasmania in banning smoking in cars where kids are passengers. The reason is to improve public health and discourage young people from taking up smoking. Campaigners have welcomed the laws. It means that New South Wales in the first Australian state to remove tobacco from kids’ view in shops, said Assistant Health Minister Verity Firth. She also added: “And what it also means is that we’re now really up among the world’s best as the toughest jurisdictions against tobacco displays. The reason why tobacco displays are considered so important is that when you think about it, they are the ultimate marketing tool. You’re standing there as the consumer, at the checkout counter with your money in hand; the lure of the tobacco display behind the retail outlet assistant, and you’ve got it all there. What all research shows is that for intending quitters or recently quit smokers, it is incredibly difficult to resist that lure. That’s where you get real impulse purchase and people fall of the wagon and back into smoking. It’s true that the tobacco industry weren’t supportive of these changes, but we were able to talk to them and we were able to say to them, it is our goal to drive smoking rates down. At the end of the day if you’re talking about driving smoking rates down, you’re probably talking about less cigarettes being sold and therefore less revenue from those cigarettes being sold. And that’s just a part of our public health program.

Public health advocates like Sydney University’s Professor Simon Chapman said: “Getting cigarettes out of display reduces that reminder to a lot of people that smoking around. I think the main message in all this is that in all the lobbying that went on about this package of measures, the only one that the tobacco industry was concerned about was the one about getting tobacco out of retail display. That should send a loud message about how important it will be, which is precisely why the Government’s introduced it and why it should be congratulated. Generic packaging or plain packaging of cigarettes will be the next big issue. I’d like to see Australia to be the first country to do that, and the tobacco industry nominated plain packaging as their biggest concern that remain. If you take away the ability for them to brand products by only allowing packaging with the brand name on it, it will remove the last frontier for tobacco promotion.”

From the warmth of his office on the 23rd floor, the new guy who got the corner suite and is supposed to be the future of the company pulls in a long slow drag as the cool blu ember reflects off the glass then disappears. He holds in the fresh menthol flavor for a moment before letting it go. As the smoke snakes up and disappears, he looks down at the street where those less aware than he shiver in the cold rain as they desperately cling to the past, smoking their old fashioned cigarettes. He remembered being one of them once and smiled.

It’s not a cigarette. It’s blu. Everything you love about smoking and nothing else.

blu is the first eCig or electronic cigarette, created to give people what they really want – the sensation and feel of smoking, the taste and the hit. It does so without giving them what they don’t want – tar, chemicals, bad breath, red eyes, smelly clothes — and it does so with the style and fashion that fits the modern lifestyle.

Because it’s not tobacco and because it’s not burning, blu means go. Smoking bans no longer matter because this isn’t smoking. It just feels like it is.

Yes, where there’s smoke there’s fire but the ember here is a cool blu light that shines like a beacon in the night. The ribbon of smoke is simply water vapor that brings alive the flavors and aroma of cherry, vanilla, coffee, menthol or classic tobacco.

blu eCigs look, feel and taste the same as traditional cigarettes but deliver all the pleasures of smoking while eliminating the tar, carcinogens and additives that contaminate traditional cigarettes.

blu eCigs are driven by the latest microelectronic technology – a small rechargeable battery and a unique, replaceable cartridge containing water, propylene glycol, nicotine (or not) and exclusive flavorings. These are all contained in a membrane within the cartridge to suspend the ingredients and keep blu fresh while stored. blu comes in various nicotine levels including Full Flavored, Light, Ultra Light and Non-Nicotine.

With blu, the act of inhaling – or “smoking” – delivers the tactile and cravings satisfaction that smokers desire. It also triggers the atomizing process that creates simulated smoke, which is actually a water vapor that evaporates harmlessly into the air within a few seconds.

blu is green in more ways than that. Far more cost-effective than traditional cigarettes; a flavor cartridge equals 10-15 cigarettes (depending on individual use) and creates no ash or litter, making the world cleaner inside and out.

The cool blu light features superior design and performance compared to other e-cig brands. Only blu’s exclusive hard pack charges your eCigs on the go and it holds five extra cartridge filters, the equivalent of nearly four traditional packs. The proprietary blu pack can be charged by a wall unit or by USB connection.

It’s a mobile, high-tech world so why can’t a guilty pleasure be upgraded as well. blu is smoking 2.0 – eCigs for a new generation.

Source: Emailwire