Kynikos Associates founder Jim Chanos (Trades, Portfolio) has been a very vocal critic of electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc. (TSLA), as well as its celebrity CEO Elon Musk, over the last five years. Since October 2019, Tesla's stock has more than quadrupled in price, and as of writing, the business has a $186 billion market capitalization and is trading at more than $1,000 a share. Despite this, Chanos is still as bearish as ever on the company. He discussed his thesis in a recent interview with Bloomberg.

A barometer for the market

Few stocks inspire

While Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio) has seen a lot of different things throughout his long career, he has remained steadfast in his convictions and skepticism of financial shenanigans. He has long been a critic of complex financial engineering, mark-to-market accounting and the use of risky derivative products. Here’s what he said on the subject in an interview at Stanford University back in 2010.

A fundamental problem

Munger stated his belief that the majority of the crisis of 2008-09 would not have happened if accountants at big banks had been better organized. His basic point was

The Oakmark International Small Cap Fund disclosed it established two new positions when it released its first-quarter portfolio last week.

With the goal of capital appreciation, the $2.9 billion fund, which is managed by David Herro (Trades, Portfolio), invests in foreign, small-cap companies that are trading at a discount to the firm’s estimate of intrinsic value.

The two stocks the fund opened positions in were Babcock International Group PLC (LSE:BAB) and Dignity PLC (LSE:DTY), which are both British companies.

Babcock International

The fund invested in 4.9 million shares of Babcock International for an average price of 6.79

The Markets Go Negative
Although worldwide equity markets started off well in 2018, they could not sustain the rally and posted declines for the quarter as a whole. Politics, especially relating to trade, contributed to this outcome, as did the inference that central banks were diminishing their market-supporting quantitative easing policies. The quarter ended up being the worst March quarter for stocks since 2009. The Oakmark Global Fund felt the downtrend’s pull and lost 2.6% in the quarter, which compares to a 1.3% loss for the MSCI World Index and a 1.0% loss for the Lipper Global Fund Index.

The top-performing stock for the quarter was Wirecard (XTER:WDI), a Germany-based online payment services provider. Wirecard’s clients include retail and banking companies that utilize its software and systems for online payment, mobile payment, risk and fraud management, enterprise solutions, and other services. Wirecard’s share price rose after its first-half earnings results were released in August. The company reported transaction growth of 38%, and both transaction volumes and order intake increased on a year-over-year basis. In our view, the integration of Citibank’s Prepaid Card Services is progressing well, and adjusted earnings are expected to modestly exceed previous guidance thanks to

The Oakmark International Small Cap Fund returned 26% for the fiscal year that ended September 30, outperforming its benchmark, the MSCI World ex U.S. Small Cap Index, which appreciated 20.4% for the same period. For the recent quarter, the Fund returned 3.8%, underperforming the MSCI World ex U.S. Small Cap Index, which returned 7.3% for the period. Since the Fund’s inception in November 1995, it has returned an average of 9.9% per year.

The top-performing stock for the quarter was Wirecard (XTER:WDI), a Germany-based online payment services provider. Wirecard’s clients include retail and banking companies that utilize its software and

This week’s political wrangling on Capitol Hill to avert a federal government shutdown –Â as well as the extreme volatility of U.S. stocks –Â highlights the appeal of overseas investments.

One region surprisingly neglected by American investors is Europe, and one of the most appealing investments “across the pond” is Wirecard (WRCDF). Although little known on these shores, Wirecard is the largest credit card company on the Continent.

Wirecard is positioned to benefit from euro zone economic growth this year, fueled by loose monetary policy and easing political tensions. Although they remain a threat

Wirecard (XTER:WDI) is a vertically integrated online payment services provider, primarily operating in Europe and South Asia. The majority of the activities are online, which allows for attractive growth opportunities as credit card penetration increases and as e-commerce displaces in-store purchases. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wirecard benefits from significant scale and network effects that allow it to provide an increasingly superior value proposition to its clients (i.e., a virtuous cycle effect). We find Wirecard’s management team has added tremendous value for shareholders via its strategic and operational prowess, and the large insider ownership (CEO

Although the Oakmark Global Fund’s 8% absolute return this quarter was nearly identical to last quarter’s, the drivers of performance broadened to include more relative contribution from the Fund’s large international weighting and was less driven by the financials sector, though it still contributed nicely. While we are pleased with the back-to-back 8% quarterly returns, please understand that high-single-digit quarterly returns are more the exception than the rule. In the meantime, we trust that you appreciate the performance as much as we do, as fellow shareholders in the Fund.

For the quarter ending March 31, as outlined above, the Oakmark

Wasatch International Growth (Trades, Portfolio) Fund seeks out investment opportunities wherever they may be – but especially in emerging markets. The Fund’s third-quarter emphasis appears to have been on Taiwanese companies, at least in its largest transactions, but its overall activity extended to all corners of the world.

Wasatch’s most noteworthy third-quarter transaction was the sale of its 506,338-share stake in Wirecard AG (XTER:WDI), an Aschheim, Germany-based financial services and technology company, for an average price of €41.98 (about $46.12 in U.S. currency) per share. The deal had a -1.38% impact on Wasatch’s portfolio.

Wirecard has a

Most news observers, even casual ones, were aware of two big news stories last week – the pope’s visit to America and Volkswagen’s (VOW) apparent manipulation of diesel emission results.

German-based Volkswagen is the second-largest automaker in the world; when it has a problem, aftershocks within the auto sector are to be expected. The more severe the problem is, the more severe the aftershocks are, and this problem has been severe enough to force Volkswagen’s CEO to resign.

The resignation of such a high-ranking company official is not an everyday occurrence. Will there be ripple effects for other

Wirecard (XTER:WDI) (Germany) is a longtime holding for Wasatch. Five years ago, the company began to expand beyond Europe. Today, it generates 26% of revenues outside of Europe. Wirecard is the market-leading payment processor in Europe and has proven it can grow from cycle to cycle. The company is a one-stop shop for acquiring and payment processing needs. Wirecard’s technology platform allows customers to handle all aspects of online payment processing from merchant acceptance, issuing services, wallet solutions and risk-management services. While the weak environment in Europe may impact Wirecard’s business, we believe the company is well-positioned to benefit

Overview

The [url=http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Wasatch International Growth[/url] ([url=http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Trades[/url], [url=http://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Portfolio[/url]) Fund declined -6.78% in the third quarter of 2014, slightly outperforming the -6.80% return of the MSCI All Country (AC) World Ex-U.S.A. Small Cap Index. Over the past three months, there has been more evidence of slowing European growth in the core continent, with the perceived risk of deflation rising. The U.S., by contrast, has seen steady economic improvement. We have seen strong equity flows out of Europe along with a weaker euro compared to the U.S. dollar.

We are continuously searching the world intent on investing in high-quality, long-duration growth companies. These

Wirecard AG (XTER:WDI) is one of the largest payment gateways in Europe and a direct beneficiary of increased online spending. Based in Germany, Wirecard continues to expand the number of payment methods it accepts, which increases the difficulty for smaller players to compete.

From [url=http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Wasatch International Growth[/url] ([url=http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Trades[/url], [url=http://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Portfolio[/url]) Fund Q2 2014 Commentary.

Overview

The [url=http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Wasatch International Growth[/url] ([url=http://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Trades[/url], [url=http://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Wasatch+International+Growth]Portfolio[/url]) Fund returned 0.67% in the second quarter of 2014, underperforming the 3.64% return of the MSCI All Country (AC) World Ex-U.S.A. Small Cap Index.

The world is showing uneven signs of economic recovery, with some positive advances being felt throughout many of the developed and emerging markets. Within this environment, the Fund’s relative performance was adversely affected largely by its investments in consumer-discretionary companies, many of which have not been the main beneficiaries of recent investor optimism. To a lesser, but still noticeable extent, it is apparent that much of the stock-market gains