The Carbon Dividend May 18, 2017May 17, 2017 It seems odd to talk about anything other than how we take the ball back from Vladimir Putin, for whom every day seems to be a new first and ten. But life will go on, the globe will continue to warm, the seas will continue to rise, so here is the TED Talk I told you about — unlocking the climate puzzle. It’s a brilliant free-market approach with real voter appeal. Who doesn’t want to get a $2,000 check every year? Meanwhile, Revlon was written up in Barron’s this past January as an enticing buy at $32: . . . One top holder, Chris Mittleman, chief investment officer of Mittleman Brothers, thinks Revlon can command a multiple more in line with its peers’. He thinks the stock is worth $76—an enterprise value of 13.5 times his 2017 Ebitda estimate of $500 million. While the discount may persist as long as Perelman controls the company, Mittleman contends “that doesn’t mean the stock can’t rise dramatically while maintaining the discount.” In the past six years, Revlon has grown revenue 51% and Ebitda 60%, by making market-share gains and acquisitions. In September, Revlon paid $900 million for cosmetics maker Elizabeth Arden, which has struggled in recent years as its celebrity fragrances have become less popular with consumers. The deal is expected to generate substantial synergies . . . I didn’t buy, though I did go see War Paint, the Helena Rubinstein / Elizabeth Arden (and slightly Charles Revson) musical on Broadway. I once wrote a book about this world. Well, here we are five months later and Revlon is around $20, down from $32, so at this price I did buy some. You never know. If not $76, it might get back to $32. I continue to hold, among others, GEC, SPRT, HD, BKUTK, PRMRF, and of course (with money I can truly afford to lose) BOREF. But for the most part, I wouldn’t think this is a time to rush into the market.