KirkLindstrom.com - Articles - 2012 Blog - Kevin Landis Firsthand Funds Facebook Position
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                Windsurfing at Palo Alto in SF Bay in May 2009 Firsthand Funds Facebook Position
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 Number of Facebook shares owned by Landis Firsthand Funds

Facebook Stock Quote and Historical Charts
 

 
July 26, 2012:   10AM PST: Today, Kevin Landis, President of Firsthand Capital Management, Inc. and a portfolio manager for Firthand Funds was on CNB today to discuss Facebook (Ticker FB click for charts and stock quote) before Facebook releases earnings later today after the market closes.  This is a summary of what Landis had to say:

Kevin Landis, Firsthand Funds Comments with my calculations in green.
  • "We own over 620,000 shares of Facebook across two funds."
    • The two funds are:
      • Firsthand  Alternative  Energy Fund:  ALTEX (3/31/12: $3.3M assets)
      • Firsthand Technology  Opportunities  Fund: TEFQX (3/31/12: $93.9M assets)
    • More info below about ALTEX and TEFQX
  • They own the 620,000 shares with an average cost of $31.50
    • $31.50 x 620,000 = $19,530,000
    • Currently at $27.50, they are down 12.7% or $2,480,000
    • Wow!  FB looked to be about 20 of assets in TEFQX....

  • Landis does not care if Zuckerberg is on the conference call.  "The call is just optics... what I care about is does the company do well."
  • The key issues for Landis going forward are
    • Is Facebook improving their mobil experience
    • Can facebook grow into its valuation
  • What matters here are how well are they moving desktop users to "all the time users."
  • He thinks you will get a clue to what they are doing by the brainpower they are hiring.
  • Landis cares about Zynga because it contributes revenue to facebook, but he doesn't own any Zynga shares.

I consider Kevin Landis "Mr. Bubble Head" for sucking people into his Firsthand Technology Opportunities fund, TEFQX, near the very top of the internet bubble.  Back then the fund was set-up to invest in "business to business internet companies."  Landis sucked radio guru Bob Brinker (article) into this fund in early 2000 at the very top of the bubble:
  • Bob Brinker wrote in his Feb. 8, 2000 Marketimer newsletter: TEFQX=$15.99; "Firsthand e-Commerce Fund is the newest addition to the Marketimer No-Load Fund Recommended List on Page four...... We have ALWAYS viewed books, toys and on-line auctions as the tip of the iceberg for electronic business. We believe business-to-business transactions will greatly surpass retail e-commerce including software development tools, database providers, hardware manufacturers and service providers.

    We are very positive on the potential for the internet growth track to carry forward through international penetration. We are hopeful the fund will be able to add many of the best positioned B2B companies going forward. Many of these companies are not yet publicly owned but will come to market in the future." 


ALTEX Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund


Firsthand Alternative  Energy Fund Firsthand Technology  Opportunities  Fund
 Sector  Energy  Technology
 Inception Date  10/29/07  9/30/99
 Net Assets (as of 3/31/12)  $3.3 million  $93.9 million
 Ticker  ALTEX  TEFQX
 Manager  Kevin Landis  Kevin Landis
 Manager Tenure  Since Inception  Since Inception
Average Expense Ratio
1.98%
1.85%

Note how Landis had to change the name of TEFQX to distance it from the ill timed decision to invest money in internet stocks at the very top of the internet bubble.  I find CNBC brings out Landis when it needs a "bubble head" to take the other side of the trade when most of its own analysts are bearish on internet stocks or at least not willing to defend what Landis holds.


It is sad, but it appears Landis sets up funds near the top of bubbles to attract the least sophisticated investors while keeping the fees for managing the funds.  Landis founded Firsthand Funds in 1993 but he doesn't list any of the funds he started with as being alive today!  BEWARE OF WHAT HE SAYS!


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