I cribbed my headline from The Financial Times which has been full of tales of the internal fights of the Wendel family over its hapless management and money-losing stake in Saint-Gobain. The Wendels (now via a family holding company called SLPS), since the reign of Louis XIV own control of Wendel et Cie. which we own too. It is down down dreadfully in 2008, by 65%.

     Unlike how it used to be run, taking polite minority stakes in lots of interesting companies, it now is fighting in boardrooms nearly as aristrocratic as its own to establish day-to-day control of companies. Saint Gobain, where the hardest battles have been fought, is also a relic of the Ancien Regime.St.-Gobain is only down 50%; the French index is only down 43%.

     Apart from having to tolerate routurier (commoner) managers replacing family members like Ernest-Antoine Sellière (whose mother was a Wendel), the Wendel clan also had to put up with nasty directors awarding themselves a stake in the family group. One of the Wendels is suing the former board over this bit of lèse-majesté.

      The latest fix is for the family to replace M. Sellière with François de Wendel, who is obviously of the male rather than the distaff line. Then too the board of the Wendel family holding company SLPS and the board of Wendel & Cie. are being merged. There are about 9850 Wendels who will have to vote on this proposal.

Here is tje missing link to the study of Colostrinin which is truly important:

Effects of Colostrinin on gene expression-transcriptomal network analysis.

Szaniszlo P, German P, Hajas G, Saenz DN, Woodberry MW, Kruzel ML, Boldogh I.

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States.

Colostrinin (CLN) is a uniform mixture of low-molecular weight proline-rich polypeptides isolated from the mother's first milk, colostrum. Exposure of cells to CLN decreases intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species by regulating glutathione metabolism and modulating activities of antioxidant enzymes and mitochondrial function. It also inhibits beta amyloid-induced apoptosis and induces neurite outgrowth of pheochromocytoma cells. Administration of CLN to Alzheimer's disease patients has resulted in a stabilizing effect on cognitive function. We analyzed CLN-induced gene expression changes using high-density oligonucleotide arrays and transcriptomal network analysis. We found that CLN elicited highly complex and multiphasic changes in the gene expression profile of treated cells. CLN treatment affected a total of 58 molecular networks, 27 of which contained at least 10 differentially expressed genes. Here we present CLN-modulated gene networks as potential underlying molecular mechanisms leading to the reported effects of CLN on cellular oxidative state, chemokine and cytokine production, and cell differentiation, as well as on pathological processes like allergy, asthma, Alzheimer's, and other neurological diseases. Based on our results, we also predict possible modulatory effects of CLN on adipocytokine gene networks that play a crucial role in the pathobiology of diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, obesity, and inflammation. Taken together, CLN-altered gene expression networks presented here provide the molecular basis for previously described biological phenomena and predict potential fields of application for CLN in the prevention and treatment of diseases.

    We got a release from ReGen Therapeutics Plc which announced that the full results of a genomic microarray study, first reported as part of ReGen's Interim Results statement issued on  Sep. 23, has now been published on-line ahead of availability in print by the peer-reviewed journal International Immunopharmacology.

     The company wrote: "We emphasise two key points of the article. Firstly, Colostrinin™ can favourably modulate the expression of several molecules involved in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease - upregulation of bleomycin hydrolase, downregulation of APP, and effect on Tau phosphorylation. Given that Alzheimer's is a complex disease, the multi-faceted action shown by Colostrinin™ is significant. Secondly, Colostrinin™ also modulates other molecules involved in biological pathways associated with other conditions such as obesity and allergy.:

    Like Warren Buffett, I believe you can safely assume that some time over the next few years, the stock markets of the world will come roaring back. The Oracle of Omaha is long calls on various indexes to benefit from the comeback he foresees. Mr. Buffett gets his yields from special preferred stocks not available to mere retail investors in GE or Goldman Sachs.

    I want to get yields with my calls. Here is the answer.

    Computershares Ltd., an Australian stock, is something like an option on stock market recovery paying a decent dividend. It is the leading global specialist in administration, trusteeship, and owner registry activities for companies with traded stock and bonds, not just Down Under, but all over the world. You may have run into the Computershares name if you get dividend checks, receive proxies to vote, invest in DRIPs, benefit from rights
offerings, or are contacted as a shareholder for some reason. Computershares also is the administrator of employee stock option plans worldwide and also trustee for many bond issues.

     Business has been good in recent years, and the firm expanded rapidly by acquisition around the globe. It is paid a fee by the companies it provides services to. Thanks to its specialized software, Computershares is highly competitive in handling shareholder rolls.

    Then in the wake of the Lehman bankruptcy, Computershares' stock price collapsed as stocks around the world started to shrink in value. It dropped far more precipitously than the Australian market overall. Part of this is a misconception. Just because markets are down, paperwork does not simply stop being generated. Moreover, Computershares will gain business share as single-country competitors without its deep pockets run into difficulties.

    As of this writing, the stock trades at under 8.5 times earnings. Computershares'  yield is 3.5% and since most of its business is in America, its foreign exchange risk is hedged based on strategy rather than its homeland. If the savvy managers think Australian currency is rising, they will bank more of their fee income in Oz dollars; if they feel the U.S. is on the uptrend, they will keep more money here. Because its business is so close to the stock markets, they are more likely to get it right than I
am but you should be aware of the risk.

    There is a newly-created unsponsored 1:1 American Depository Receipt which trades on the pink sheets as CMSQY. You can also buy the Australian stock in the U.S., because of course Computershare itself has created the trading facility. That is also 1:1 and is more liquid, with ticker symbol CMSQF, also on the pink sheets. About 5000 of the directly-listed shares trade daily in the U.S. Computershares is a powerhouse in global share operations, not a pink sheet fly-by-night operator, even though its price is
now well under $5.

    I'm sorry that I lured you into buying in Bangkok by sharing the views of Paul Renaud who lives in Thailand. But I'm not that sorry. Of course neither of us predicted that supporters of democracy or the monarchy or whatever (but for sure opponents of Thaksin Shiwatra) would occupy and close Bangkoks' airports. Just in time for the winter tourist rush.

    Paul today summed up the reasons why he and we recommended Thai small caps. These reasons are still valid. Paul, a Franco-Swiss and an experienced and licensed U.S. broker, edits a subscription service called Thaistocks.com/ Thai pricing of high-growth small stocks is a total anomaly. He writes:

     "Post 1997, for years the Thai stock market traded at a p/e discount to other similar emerging markets. For years quality Thai growth stocks traded at a discount to their large peers listed on the same exchange.

       "While there were many periods of superior performance by the smaller [cap] choices, they remain less valued even while they had higher growth rates, higher dividend yields --and many of them far less volatility.

        "This dichotomy many pros and non-pros [want explained]. (Pre ’97 was a bubble so it was not normal). Many times I visited fund or company managers, astute investors, and the question always came up: why is this so? [Why are small Thai growth stocks so cheap?] 

         "The one group [who] did not ask this question often if at all were Thai brokers. Biased or brainwashed, [they] just wanted to see more commissions… So to participate on the Thai stock market was to promote day trading. 'Nobody invests for long term here; if you want a long term investment I can introduce you to my Uncle [who] has a great piece of land for you' is what one broker manager told me in all sincerity some time ago.

         "In developed countries smaller growth stocks trade at a p/e premium to their general market and pay near zero in dividends. This in fact is totally rational as a company which grows twice as fast is worth three times as much. [In Thailand they pay out hefty dividends and trade at a p/e discount.]

           "Why do trillions of Baht remain Thai bank accounts, year after year, at 0.75% annual interest rate, while low leveraged SET/MAI good stocks with up to ten times or more in annual dividend yields just [are] ignored?

       "Are Thai and foreign individual investors here so inept when it comes to allocating their savings, beyond land/real estate or condos? Why?

        "Could it be [that] SET/MAI leaders have done a poor job? Perhaps. But certainly not the MAI, as K. Chanitr there lately has been a very energetic leader of a new generation. The open question for them: are they enforcing the rules? Are they punishing the cheaters, like more developed markets do?  

      No they don't. "The reason I suggest [for] low valuation is the low level of overall confidence which has been ingrained for so long here that investors as well as the Thai public gave up thinking it could ever be different. After all, would you participate in playing a game with a group of people when you know some participants don’t follow the rules of the game? The answer is obviously no.

       What's "worst of all [is] if the group as a whole tolerates these non-rule followers by not kicking them out of the game. So people feel that if there is no punishment, why follow the rules? If one [can] get away with non-conformity [to] the agreed guidelines to one's benefit, why not take advantage by circumventing the [rules]? More then a few behave like this in any society."

              Paul is up against the curse of The Buddha here. Thai culture is more tolerant of rule-breaking and scofflaws than the Alpine fastnesses from which he springs. If you break rules in an avalanche zone, everyone is snowed under, so the Swiss are disciplined. They all cheat their customers together in the financial services sector the same way.

       Avalanche-free Thailand is still a venue for individualistic ways to cheat people, just as it is individualistic in rises and ruins in politics and economics. It is very tolerant of ethical lapses and to say the least, politically confused. The King supports a benevolent economic policy with safety nets; the popular/populist government is capitalistic but knows to buy the support of the majority of poor farmers. You don't want to examine too closely how Thaksin, a former police chief, made his fortune in tech stocks.

       Paul wants to get Thai bourses to clean up their act by beefing up enforcement. Given all the other issues facing Bangkok, I suspect this is not an immediate priority. Which means there are still lots of bargains out there. They may be cheaper tomorrow, but what the heck, they are much cheaper today than anything else we cover.