Navigating Market Complexities: Theme Parks to Short Selling

This week I had the privilege to talk with Ben Gordon. He is the founder and head portfolio manager at Blue Grotto Capital. This episode is a deep dive into Ben’s process of researching and finding ideas, why he started Blue Grotto, his prior work at GMT, why he went long on Spectrum Brands and Cedar Fair Entertainment, and why shorting is a dark art.

Here is the time-stamp: 

• [0:00] The Story Behind Blue Grotto
• [3:00] Who is Ben Gordon?
• [6:40] From Analyst to PM: Emerging Markets Wireless Carriers 
• [10:00] Reply and Smurfit Kappa
• [12:05] Using Regressions to Find Ideas 
• [16:30] The IT Business 
• [18:20] Lessons from Bad Investment Ideas: Michael Kors
• [22:10] Importance of Walking Away from an Investment Theme
• [30:00] The Catalyst to start Blue Grotto
• [36:05] Spectrum Brands 
• [46:00] Cedar Fair Entertainment: The Theme Park Business a Regional Monopoly
• [49:10] Shorting: The Dark Art 
• [55:30] Shorting Orthopediatrics $KIDS
• [1:00:00] Position Sizing while Shorting
• [1:04:00] VMware: Optionality and Themes Case Study
• [1:12:40] Ben Gordon’s Investing Mosaic
• [1:22:00] Improving Weaknesses  
• [1:27:10] More from Ben and Closing Questions

If you liked what you heard, check out Ben's website here. 

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