What We're Reading ~ 7/6/17

A look at Trupanion (TRUP) - a long-term compounder [Variant Views]

Jim Chanos: US economy is worse than you think [INET Economics]

A chat with Peter Bernstein [Jason Zweig]

Bob Rodriguez: We're witnessing development of "perfect storm" [Advisor Perspectives]

A skeptic's view of popular stocks [Barrons]

Bruce Berkowitz seeks return to glory by betting on Sears (SHLD) [WSJ]

Stockpicking is dying because there are no more stocks to pick [WSJ]

Surveying the direct to consumer landscape [Medium]

Tencent rules China; the problem is the rest of the world [Bloomberg]

A pitch on Cars.com (CARS) [Barrons]

Habits of people who know how to bring out the best in others [Fast Company]

JANA Partners Starts EQT Stake, Opposes Rice Transaction

Barry Rosenstein's activist hedge fund firm JANA Partners has filed a 13D on shares of EQT (EQT).  Per the filing, JANA now owns 5.8% of EQT with over 10.13 million shares (inclusive of options to purchase 1.86 million shares).

This is a newly disclosed equity position  for JANA. They purchased shares in April, May and June at prices ranging from $53.xx to $60.xx.

JANA's Letter to EQT Board

Rosenstein's firm also sent a letter to the board of directions and say they invested because "we believe that the Company trades at a substantial discount to its intrinsic value and has a ready opportunity to unleash this value potential by immediately separating its E&P and midstream businesses into two separate companies, which we estimate could create as much as $4.5 billion (or $26 per share) of value for EQT shareholders."

Additionally, they lay out their case as to why they are against the company's acquisition of Rice Energy.

Embedded below is JANA's letter to EQT:



If you overlaid this position on JANA's portfolio as of the end of the first quarter, EQT would be their second largest position, behind only Whole Foods (WFM).

You can view other recent portfolio activity from JANA Partners here.

Warren Buffett Interview With PBS

Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett recently sat down with Judy Woodruff of PBS for an interview on a wide range of topics like the economy, income inequality, taxes and more.

Here's the video of part 1 of the interview:



And here's the video of part 2 of the interview:



For more on Buffett, we've also highlighted some recent buying activity from Berkshire Hathaway.

Tiger Management Shows Ooma Position

Julian Robertson's hedge fund firm Tiger Management has filed a 13G with the SEC regarding shares of Ooma (OOMA).  Per the filing, Tiger now owns 6.7% of OOMA with 1.22 million shares.

This is a newly disclosed equity position for the fund and the filing was made due to activity on June 21st.

You can view other recent portfolio activity from Tiger Management here.

Per Google Finance, Ooma is "a communications platform for small businesses and consumers. Ooma serves as a communications hub, which offers cloud-based telephony, Internet security, home monitoring and other connected services. Ooma combines PureVoice high definition (HD) call quality features with mobile applications anytime, anywhere calling. Ooma is a full router capable of prioritizing voice data and directing traffic to ensure reliable phone service. Its enterprise-grade phone service built for small business includes features, such as calling features, including unlimited calling in United States and Canada, 911 service and toll-free numbers available; office features, including virtual receptionist, extension dialing and voicemail; mobility features, including call forwarding, voicemail forwarding and multi-ring, and one-touch Internet protocol (IP) phone features, including three way conference, transfer calls and call on hold."