Can Turtles Fly?

Autozone Ascent Edward Lampert hit a rough patch a few years ago but Autozone (AZO) seems to be doing well (I still don't understand their business strategy, especially their use of a high debtload in a cyclical business). I'm not sure if it is company share buybacks or accumulation by Lampert (or someone else) that is driving the price but it's an amazing sight. The price has continuously risen with barely any dip. It sort of reminds of Warren Buffett's Washington Post in the late-70's/early-80's.

There is a small running debate on this blog between I and Synchro, who is a superbear who woke up from his hibernation from, I assume, the hinterlands of America ;) One of his/her thoughts is that some investors, such as Bill Miller and Martin Whitman, who are making huge contrarian bets in the current environment are going to be proven wrong. His/her view seems to be that these investors were lucky, rather than skilled, during the unusually long bull market in the 80's and 90's. Well, add Edward Lampert, who runs the successful ESL hedge fund, to that list. I knew Edward Lampert looks into unpopular areas (eg. K-mart, Sears, etc) but I never quite considered him to be a contrarian. Well, I am surprised to hear that he is making extremely contrarian bets on a housing turnaround. (source: Lampert Puts Money On Housing Rebound , By GARY MCWILLIAMS. June 12, 2008; Page C4. The Wall Street Journal) Billionaire hedge-fund manager Edward S. Lampert is placing new bets on a U.S. hou...