Over the past two years, we have penned two separate letters highlighting some of the most high-profile Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to hit markets. During that time, many of the companies we’ve discussed have had blockbuster performances, turning from promising unicorns, to high-flying publicly traded companies and ascending well beyond their list price over a very short period of time.

Typically, the reaction to one of my EVAs is like the sound of one-hand clapping.  That was definitely not the case with last week’s “Take Profits!” edition. 

Admittedly, that isn’t the snazziest EVA title I’ve ever created.  But I wanted to accomplish two things with it: First, save time for those who want essentially a Twitter message in terms of brevity and, second, to underscore the basic message. 

Since nearly the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have all hoped for an end to the harsh restrictions and a return to the way of life we had previously taken for granted. This new way of life, however, has led to some notable changes in the way we approach virtually everything.

There may have been no more reviled corner of the stock market in its history than tobacco stocks were in the late 1990s.  The industry was besieged by countless multi-billion lawsuits from almost every state in the union.