this is fascinating

These are the days that value and dividend investors long for. There have been times in the past where I struggled to find stocks worthy of purchasing. Now, the challenge is to pick the best available stocks that will maximize my chances of future success.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) moved against short sellers this week. This is a gross double standard, says Dave Gonigam in Desidooru Saloon. Many of the companies the SEC is protecting from short sellers profit from shorting stocks…

Heidi Moore at WSJ's Deal Journal has found a June report breaking down Lehman Brothers on a sum-of-the-parts basis.

Why won't execs stop making promises they are not 100% sure they can deliver?

Excellent piece from New York Magazine on Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn.

This week saw Lehman Brothers replace two of its top executives: CFO Erin Callan and COO Joseph Gregor. The two will remain at the bank in lesser roles.

“As recently as a month ago,” says Justice Litle in Taipan Daily, “Erin Callan was on top of the world.”

Video of William Ackman interview with the Wall Street Journal. Thinks shorts would be the best source for journalists. Thinks shorts could have prevented a housing bubble. I think he is stretching his defense of shorts too far.

Thoughts on how David Einhorn's campaign against Lehman Brothers cost the CFO, Erin Callan, her job. Lesson: Don't dismiss the shorts.

A stalling U.S. economy has typically been a cause for a concern among Asian exporters, which have traditionally been over-reliant on the American consumer for business.

However, those concerns have been assuaged recently, as many exporters throughout the Pacific have found a significant demand for their goods in other markets.

Whitney Tilson on the housing market... He thinks we are just in the beginning of it. He's shorting the financials!

With today’s news regarding the Bear Stearns buyout, the markets were certainly volatile, with some large sell-offs for Lehman Brothers (LEH) and MF Global (MF). I was more interested in the performance of the credit default swaps that are held in the portfolios of Odyssey Re (ORH) and Fairfax Financial Limited (FFH).

We try to buy businesses at big discounts to what they're worth, focusing mostly on out-of-favor or forgotten stocks, the ones nobody wants until they start going up," Mark Boyar explains. Once described as "the most patient man on Wall Street," Mr. Boyar has outperformed the S&P 500 during the past decade with a compounded annual growth of better than 2-to-1 (roughly 11.9%, versus 5.3%).

Great synopsis.

Inelligent investor makes a great case for shorting