I’m always on the lookout for bad analysts or management teams that are consistently wrong – nothing is worth more than finding someone who’s always on the wrong side of a trend. From friends who started trading Internet stocks in 1999 and flipping condos in 2005, to analysts that always go to a Sell rating after a stock has imploded or Buy after a stock is up 100%, these are the people that can consistently make you money. I have found there’s nothing as "consistently consistent" as analysts, magazines or companies that chase trends, rather than anticipate them. By the time they get in, the trend is over and you can bet against it.
Aether Systems has been one of the top companies on my "consistently consistent" bad list. If you’re from around Virginia, you’ll remember AETH as one of the go-go Internet stocks that came public at the top of the Internet bubble in October 1999.
AETH is a Internet bubble classic – from $400 to $5…
Aether was one of the all time great shorts of the Internet age. With $5 million in revenues and $5 million in losses, it sported a market cap of about $10 billion at the height of the bubble. It actually lasted longer than most Internet companies because it managed to do a secondary offering in October of 2000. That left the company with it’s most valuable asset – cash. Unfortunately, the company managed to burn through about $600 million in cash over the next two years.
After the Internet thing didn’t work out for them, the company transformed itself into a company that invested in mortgage backed securities. In June 2004, the company began investing the $140 million that it had left in real estate securities. Once again, they managed to hit the top of the bubble.
As of this year, Aether Systems decided to get out of the mortgage backed securities market and focus on Intellectual Property management – whatever that is.
And this morning, Aether announced they were buying "The Athlete’s Foot" chain of stores. Outside of airlines, I couldn’t imagine a worse business. Between online competition, razor thin margins, economic cycles and fashion risk, every athletic shoe retailer is guaranteed to go bankrupt several times during its short lifetime.
Aether has been consistently good at doing one thing – creating tax loss carry-forwards. I’m guessing this venture will be no different. Taking my own advice, I’m going to take a hard look at all the retail stocks that I own. Because when Aether’s coming in, I want to be getting out.