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	<title>The Enlightened American</title>
	<link>http://enlightened-american.com</link>
	<description>One person's quest to make sense of a senseless American economy and society.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:51:29 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>For Real Insight, Ignore Barron&#8217;s</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Barron&#8217;s cover story this week is a comparison of Obama&#8217;s and McCain&#8217;s visions for the US economy.  The caption on Barron&#8217;s website says &#8220;Required reading before you vote.&#8221;  Quite frankly, Barron&#8217;s is full of crap.
I&#8217;ve said in the past and will keep reiterating: ideology (and the idiots it spawns) has no place in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/27/for-real-insight-ignore-barrons/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>American Capital (ACAS): Q2 2008 Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A brief rundown of Q2&#8217;s earnings report (all figures US$ unless noted):

After last quarter&#8217;s negative cash figure (-$10M OCF), Q2 saw several encouraging developments on the cash flow statement.  ACAS is once again cash flow positive, generating $141M OCF during the 1st 6 months.  This is a 26% decline from last year but [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/26/american-capital-acas-q2-2008-update/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Weekly Biking Playlist (2008/08/22)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday&#8217;s Wall Street Journal had an amusing article [$] regarding the conflict in San Francisco between bicyclists and everyone else.  And to be honest, some of the folks in SF are a bit militant in regards to their bikes (and other things too!). But at the end of the day, much of the bad [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/23/weekly-biking-playlist-20080822/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>2008 Q2 13-F Filings Speculative Edition: David Winters, Boone Pickens, Jim Puplava</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Wintergreen Fund, managed by David Winters, was fairly steady judging from its 13F filing.  My spreadsheet is a little off as it seems some of the CUSP IDs were changed from last quarter so disregard the new positions shown in GLD &#38; CNQ.

Winters opened only 1 new position, eBay.  I&#8217;ve seen some [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/21/2008-q2-13-f-filings-speculative-edition-david-winters-boone-pickens-jim-puplava/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>2008 Q2 Portfolio Holdings: Bruce Berkowitz, Bob Rodriguez &#038; Mohnish Pabrai</title>
		<description><![CDATA[In their 13F-HR filing for Q2 2008, Bruce Berkowitz and his cohorts at the Fairholme Fund continue their shift from energy into healthcare:


Fairholme opened huge (relative) positions in Pfizer (PFE), Forest Labs (FRX) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH).  The UNH position echos Seth Klarman&#8217;s endorsement.  I don&#8217;t follow the pharma industry too  closely [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/19/2008-q2-portfolio-holdings-bruce-berkowitz-bob-rodriguez-mohnish-pabrai/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Chesapeake Energy: Shale Drama</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A quick rundown on Q2 earnings and then I&#8217;ll focus on strategic matters.  All results US$ unless otherwise noted:

Cash flow from operations increased 30% to $2.8B for the 6 months ended 06/30/2008.  That&#8217;s probably another record for the company but they&#8217;re going to need every penny and then some as they showed $6.3B [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/19/chesapeake-energy-shale-drama/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Taking A Look At Seth Klarman, Meryl Witmer and Marty Whitman&#8217;s Q2 2008 Portfolios</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Seth Klarman&#8217;s Baupost Group continues its move into the healthcare sector as evidenced by the latest Q2 13F-HR filing:


Baupost opened big positions in UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and Liberty Media.  The UNH position complements last quarter&#8217;s WLP position, which was augmented 24% in Q2.  Additionally, by my numbers, they staked a huge position in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/18/taking-a-look-at-seth-klarman-meryl-witmer-and-marty-whitmans-q2-2008-portfolios/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Q2 2008 13F Portfolio Holdings</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Professional money managers have filed their 13F filings for Q2 2008.  I will examine them over the weekend and publish my comments next week but submit the spreadsheet links below for readers.
Also, if you have a strong case for other managers I should include, send me an email or post in the comments below. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/14/q2-2008-13f-portfolio-holdings/</link>
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		<title>Amidst the Handwringing, The Naked Truth</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I posted some quick thoughts on the Russian-Georgian conflict a few days ago.  Since then, I have read too many articles and editorials filled with finger-wagging (bad Russia, bad!), moralizing (how dare the Russians violate another sovereign country), sermonizing (now is the time for the West to put Russia in its place) and plain-old [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/14/amidst-the-handwringing-the-naked-truth/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Penn West Energy Trust (PWE) Q2 Earnings Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[2008 Q2 highlights (all figures C$ unless otherwise noted):

Due to the acquisitions, YOY comparisons may be misleading so I will be focusing on changes from Q1 2008.  Keep in mind the big spike in oil prices during the quarter (and the big drop since).
 Operating cash flow improved markedly in Q2 2008 to $671M, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://enlightened-american.com/2008/08/12/penn-west-energy-trust-pwe-q2-earnings-update/</link>
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