If there’s anything we like to cover besides net/nets here at Cheap Stocks, it’s real estate, more specifically, companies that own relatively large amounts of raw land, commercial property, or a combination of the two. My portfolio is chock full of these companies, from retailers such as Cabela’s, to restaurants (Cracker Barrell, Denny’s) to shipping companies (Alexander and Baldwin) to agriculture (JG Boswell and Limoneira), to name just a few.
Over the years, I’ve also sold out of some names as well. Maui Land and Pineapple (MLP) is a great example. I continue to follow the company, however, looking for a re-entry point, or making a determination of whether I want to take a new position.
MLP, which owns 24,500 acres primarily in Maui, Hawaii, including 10.6 miles of ocean frontage with 3300 of lineal feet along sandy beaches, has fallen on hard times during the recession. The company recently reported a $54 million loss for the second quarter, which included more than $37 million in writedowns, $21.3 million of which represented a decrease in value of the Company’s investment in the Kapalua Bay resort. Clearly, the downturns in real estate prices and resort visitors has been a double whammy for MLP. The stock now trades at $6.22, down 79% from its 52 week high of $29.69.
Three Men Charged in Human Trafficking Conspiracy for Exploiting Thai Farm Workers in Hawaii
Three Men Charged in Human Trafficking Conspiracy for Exploiting Thai Farm Workers in Hawaii
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Justice Department announced the indictment of Alec Souphone Sou and Mike Mankone Sou, owners of Aloun Farm in Hawaii, and Thai labor recruiter William Khoo late yesterday for engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labor and visa fraud. The charges arise from the defendants’ alleged scheme to coerce the labor and services of Thai nationals brought by the defendants to Hawaii to work under the federal agricultural guest worker program. Both Sou defendants are also charged with conspiring to commit document servitude.
The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, Alec and Mike Sou each face maximum sentences of 15 years in prison and William Khoo faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Haku Mo‘olelo – The Maui News
Haku Mo‘olelo
By EDWIN TANJI, For The Maui News
POSTED: August 28, 2009
There may be plenty of water on Maui.
There is not enough cheap water – not when an extended period of abnormal rainfall places much of the island in drought and not when Hawaii law and court decisions require reallocation of access to the cheap water.
That’s not how state water commission hearings officer Dr. Lawrence Miike put it in his proposed findings and recommendations on setting stream flow standards for Na Wai Eha, the four major streams at Waihee, Waiehu, Wailuku and Waikapu (hawaii.gov/dlnr/cwrm/currentissues/cchma0601/CCHMA0601-01.pdf).
But his analysis, including a synopsis on the evolution of Hawaii law on water rights, helps to explain the issue. His history doesn’t go into detail but that was not its purpose.
The Miike findings note that sugar planters in the mid-1800s were granted rights to divert water from streams by the Hawaiian monarchy, but say nothing about whether the monarchy tempered effects on downstream users.
In the post-overthrow era, Miike notes the territorial Supreme Court turned out rulings that treated water as property of landowners. But after World War II, the legal standing of water was modified by other court decisions until the 1978 Hawaii Constitutional Convention added a section that established water as a public trust.
The constitutional amendment led to a State Water Code – Hawaii Revised Statutes 174C – and sets up the Commission on Water Resource Management to create and enforce standards on use of the islands’ water resources.
Hawaii growers urged to clean up exports-The Honolulu Advertiser
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai’i’s $125 million agricultural export industry could be threatened by hitchhiking insects and other pests found on fresh flower, foliage and fruit shipments arriving in California.
Budget cuts have left California with fewer inspectors and made that state more prone to slap sanctions on importers when pests are discovered. Hawai’i may also lose inspectors if the state lays off workers in November as planned to balance its budget.
Five key agricultural officials sent a warning letter this month to hundreds of Hawai’i growers and shippers who sell flowers, foliage, herbs, vegetables, potted nursery products and fruit, alerting them to the potential risk of not cleaning up their shipments.
"Anyone that currently ships to California can be the ‘last straw’ that triggers the decision by California to impose severe restrictions on the movement of all products from Hawai’i into the California market," the letter states.
RP hopeful of exporting mangoes outside of Guimaras to US in 2010
Written by Jennifer A. Ng / Reporter
Wednesday, 26 August 2009 19:25
MANILA is hopeful that it can begin exporting mangoes outside of Guimaras to the mainland United States in 2010 after it completes a survey of mango-producing areas in the Philippines this month.
TheGardenIsland.com – Managing uncertainty
IAL meeting creates more questions than answers
By Lois Ann Ell – Special to The Garden Island
Published: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 2:11 AM HST
KAPA‘A — What began as an informational meeting about the designation of important agricultural lands turned into a heated discussion about Kaua‘i’s agricultural future.
Dr. Karl Kim, a professor at the UH Department of Urban and Regional Planning, presented a slide show of the Koloa-Po‘ipu pilot agricultural lands study he and his colleagues conducted for the Land Use Commission. He was the guest speaker at the monthly Wailua-Kapa’a Neighborhood Association meeting Monday night at the Kapa’a Library.