Martin Whitman Buys Sycamore Networks Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., Sells Alliance Data Systems Corp., Fair Isaac Corp., Millea Holdings Inc.

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Aug 21, 2008
Legendary Investor Marty Whitman has had some hard time with some of his holdings. But he is convinced and buying more as the stock prices decline. In his latest letter, he discussed the shorts again. These are his buys and sells during the second quarter. Martin Whitman owns 102 stocks with a total value of $7.5 billion.


Martin Whitman buys TOKIO MARINE ADR, Sycamore Networks Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., sells Alliance Data Systems Corp., Fair Isaac Corp., Millea Holdings Inc., Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc., White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. during the 3-months ended 07/31/2008, according to the most recent filings of his investment company, Third Avenue Value Fund. Martin Whitman owns 102 stocks with a total value of $7.5 billion. These are the details of the buys and sells.





New Purchases: SCMR, SHLD, TKOMY.PK,


Added Positions: ABK,


Sold Out: ADS, FIC, PPDI, WTM,





For the details of Martin Whitman's stock buys and sells, go to http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Martin+Whitman


Added: Ambac Financial Group Inc. (ABK, Financial)


Martin Whitman added to his holdings in Ambac Financial Group Inc. by 185.43%. His purchase prices were between $1.33 and $5.36, with an estimated average price of $2.7. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.61%. His holdings were 27,707,362 shares as of 07/31/2008.


Ambac Financial Group Inc. is a holding company whose subsidiaries provide financial guarantee products and other financial services to clients in both the public and private sectors around the world. Through its financial services subsidiaries the Company provides investment agreements interest rate swaps investment advisory and cash management services primarily to states municipalities and their authorities. Ambac Financial Group Inc. has a market cap of $1.5 billion; its shares were traded at around $5.22 . The dividend yield of Ambac Financial Group Inc. stocks is 1.9%.


New Purchase: TOKIO MARINE ORD (TKOMY.PK)


Martin Whitman initiated holdings in TOKIO MARINE ADR. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 2.66%. His holdings were 5,260,500 shares as of 07/31/2008.





New Purchase: Sycamore Networks Inc. (SCMR, Financial)


Martin Whitman initiated holdings in Sycamore Networks Inc.. His purchase prices were between $3.12 and $3.39, with an estimated average price of $3.3. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was 0.47%. His holdings were 10,000,000 shares as of 07/31/2008.


Sycamore Networks Inc. develop and market products that transport voice and data traffic over wavelengths of light. The products are designed to enable the customers to quickly and cost effectively create usable network capacity over existing fiber and thereby to create new high speed data services. The company's customers are new and established providers of local voice and data transport services long distance carriers Internet service providers cable operators foreign telephone companies and carriers who provide services to other carriers. Sycamore Networks Inc. has a market cap of $976.46 million; its shares were traded at around $3.44 with a P/E ratio of 122.86 and P/S ratio of 7.11.


In his latest letter, Marty Whitman wrote: "Sycamore Networks is a leading telecommunications equipment manufacturer. The Fund acquired Sycamore Common at prices close to equal to the cash on the company’s balance sheet, net of liabilities. In other words, the going-concern came almost for free."


New Purchase: Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD, Financial)


Martin Whitman initiated holdings in Sears Holdings Corp.. His purchase prices were between $70.91 and $103.22, with an estimated average price of $82.7. The impact to his portfolio due to this purchase was less than 0.01%. His holdings were 1,576 shares as of 07/31/2008.


Sears Holdings Corporation the parent of Kmart and Sears Roebuck and Co. is the leading home appliance retailer in North America and is a retail sales leader in tools lawn and garden home electronics and automotive repair and maintenance. Key proprietary brands include Kenmore Craftsman and DieHard and a broad apparel offering including such well-known labels as Lands' End Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer as well as the Apostrophe and Covington brands. Sears Holdings Corp. has a market cap of $11.38 billion; its shares were traded at around $86.24 with a P/E ratio of 21.96 and P/S ratio of 0.23.


Sold Out: Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADS, Financial)


Martin Whitman sold out his holdings in Alliance Data Systems Corp.. His sale prices were between $51.79 and $62.26, with an estimated average price of $58.5. The impact to his portfolio due to this sale was less than 0.01%.


Alliance Data Systems Corporation is a leading provider of transaction services credit services and marketing services to retail companies in North America. They focus on facilitating and managing electronic transactions between clients and their customers through multiple distribution channels including in-store catalog and the Internet. Their credit and marketing services assist clients in identifying and acquiring new customers as well as helping to increase the loyalty and profitability of their existing customers. Alliance Data Systems Corp. has a market cap of $4.15 billion; its shares were traded at around $61.65 with a P/E ratio of 31.00 and P/S ratio of 1.78.


Sold Out: Fair Isaac Corp. (FIC, Financial)


Martin Whitman sold out his holdings in Fair Isaac Corp.. His sale prices were between $19.37 and $25.27, with an estimated average price of $22.8. The impact to his portfolio due to this sale was less than 0.01%.


Fair Isaac Corporation makes decisions smarter. The company's solutions and technologies for Enterprise Decision Management give businesses the power to automate more processes and apply more intelligence to every customer interaction. Through increasing the precision consistency and agility of their decisions Fair Isaac clients worldwide increase sales build customer value cut fraud losses manage credit risk reduce operational costs meet changing compliance demands and enter new markets more profitably. Fair Isaac powers hundreds of billions of decisions each year in financial services insurance telecommunications retail consumer branded goods healthcare and the public sector. Fair Isaac Corp. has a market cap of $1.14 billion; its shares were traded at around $23.58 with a P/E ratio of 13.58 and P/S ratio of 1.47. The dividend yield of Fair Isaac Corp. stocks is 0.4%.


Sold Out: Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. (PPDI, Financial)


Martin Whitman sold out his holdings in Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc.. His sale prices were between $37.93 and $44.14, with an estimated average price of $41.9. The impact to his portfolio due to this sale was less than 0.01%.


As a leading global provider of discovery and development services and products for pharmaceutical biotechnology and medical device companies PPD applies innovative technologies therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help clients maximize the return on their R&D investments. With proven discovery through post-market resources the company also offers compound partnering opportunities. PPD has more than 6600 professionals in 27 countries around the world. For more information on PPD visit the Web site at http://www.ppdi.com. Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. has a market cap of $4.82 billion; its shares were traded at around $40.44 with a P/E ratio of 29.05 and P/S ratio of 3.17. The dividend yield of Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. stocks is 0.95%.


Sold Out: White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. (WTM, Financial)


Martin Whitman sold out his holdings in White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd.. His sale prices were between $416 and $482.83, with an estimated average price of $447.1. The impact to his portfolio due to this sale was less than 0.01%.


White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. is engaged in the business of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. has a market cap of $4.55 billion; its shares were traded at around $434 with a P/E ratio of 31.41 and P/S ratio of 1.06. The dividend yield of White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. stocks is 1.9%.