A post over at Seeking Alpha (now temporarily removed by request of author - not sure if the post will be put back up or not) states that Whitney Tilson is short shares of HanesBrands (HBI). Hanes was my favorite idea back when it was spun-off from Sara Lee (SLE). I don't think it's expensive at all under $25 a share.

Excerpt: "The fund [CalPERS]warned it would start or step up existing efforts to push for changes if the companies do not act quickly themselves. Calpers is already pursuing shareholder proposals at four of the 11 companies."

I found the thought of CalPERS as a potential activist investor very interesting.

One of the participants in Modern Graham's recent Round Table Discussion mentions a few of his comments and provides a link to the discussion thread. "On Wednesday, the value investing site Modern Graham hosted a round table discussion involving three participants: Rick Konrad of Value Discipline, Doug McIntyre of 24/7 Wall St., and (me) Geoff Gannon of Gannon On Investing."

"A large labor union which beneficially controls 8,424 Sara Lee shares, has submitted a proposal, asking the Board of Directors to adopt a policy that would allow stockholders to express their opinion about senior executive compensation practices by establishing an annual referendum process." The company suggests shareholders reject the proposal. Sara Lee says its policies are intended to retain key executives; the 10Q Detective says there's no need to retain executives like Brenda Barnes, Sara Lee's Chairman & CEO.

Geoff Gannon does an in depth analysis of Blyth (BTH), a scented candle company that also makes other “personal indulgences [for] women at affordable prices”. Geoff does a great job walking through Blyth’s competitive position, profitability, cash flow, recent history, and valuation.