Theme of the Week
Gangnam Style
Last May, IBKR was the first US broker to enable trading of Korean equities.
When investing abroad, we are well aware of our own limitations and the information disadvantages we face compared to locals. Which is why we turned to KEDM friend Michael Fritzell over at Asian Century Stocks to jump in and update us on what’s happening on the ground.
Korea’s shareholder reforms are real
Korea’s KOSPI benchmark index has been on a tear. In the past year, the index has essentially tripled on the back of the success of SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and other Korean ‘AI bottleneck stocks’ that everyone is piling into.
Kuppy’s Tweet of the Week
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Kliff Note of the Week
Buyback Notes: Visteon (VC) announced a $800m buyback (~27% of the market cap) through 2029. With sluggish growth in recent years but solid FCF, cash has been building, and VC has picked up the buying.
Things might become interesting again operationally as well. VC is past its toughest 2026 comps and set to inflect on growth (solid wins across 2‑wheelers, commercial vehicles, Toyota, and Asian OEMs).
This could mean a return to hsd% organic growth next year, with margins returning to 13%+. Roughly 6x EV/EBITDA.
Newsletter Shorts Monitor: Abaxx Technologies (ABXXF) continues to fight back, now asking Canadian regulators to probe potential manipulative trading behavior after Viceroy’s short report, alleging inflated exchange activity and reliance on non‑commercial trades.
Abaxx also flagged rising June volumes, stronger open interest, and seven quarters of cash runway, while Viceroy reiterated concerns about wash‑trading‑like patterns and insufficient disclosure. Meanwhile, the share price is not liking this.
13D Monitor: Phoenix AM is pushing Barratt Redrow (BTRW LN) to materially accelerate share buybacks, calling the stock deeply undervalued (as in, 3-5x potential). Phoenix says the group has ample financial headroom (even though that’s not clear from headline financials).
They published the full analysis here – a >400-page slide deck. That poor junior analyst.
Strategic Alternatives Monitor: Small and sweet. Schroder European REIT (SERE LN) is going into a managed wind‑down after concluding that its persistent NAV discount (>40% still) is ‘unlikely to close under any continuation strategy’.
The company believes the portfolio can be sold at values above the implied share price, with the process taking 2-3 years.
Other Interesting ED Action: It might be an interesting time to look at Centerspace (CSR). CSR has been dropping (like a rock) since the strategic review ended without a full company sale, but with a ‘sell assets to deleverage’ story.
It plans to sell 12 properties for about $245m, which could lower debt by $175-190m and reduce leverage to <7x by late 2026. They pay a $0.77 quarterly dividend (~$3 pa) and may add a $45-65m special distribution.
Looks perhaps too soon given the poor momentum, but good one for the watchlist.
Disclaimer. KEDM is provided for informative purposes only. No due diligence has (yet) been performed on the names on this list. The list might change strongly on a regular basis. This overview does not constitute advice; always do your own due diligence. For the full disclaimer, please go here.