Chris Katje
Occupation: Restaurant manager
Portfolio: Includes Imax Corp., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and Microvision Inc.
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The investor: In high school, Chris Katje created spreadsheets to track selected stocks. At 18, he opened a brokerage account. Now he manages his own portfolio, writes an investment newsletter and contributes to seekingalpha.com.
How he invests: Mr. Katje looks for undervalued stocks, which tend to be found more often within the strata "underfollowed by brokerage analysts" (prices aren't inflated by their buy recommendations). Then he'll look for catalysts that can drive the stock higher, such as acquisitions, earnings releases and new product introductions.
Mr. Katje first bought the shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. in 2011. Their Hunger Games movies were about to be released and he thought they would be a hit (which they were).
Lions Gate is now diversifying into theme parks and video games to extend the Hunger Games franchise. A "decent slate" of new movies is also in the pipeline and the syndication rights for several of its popular television shows, such as Mad Men, should "bring in guaranteed revenue."
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Mr. Katje was attracted to high-end film projection company Imax Corp. as it began expanding into China and shifting from documentary to theatrical releases. Currently, "its real bread-and-butter is its strong line-up of movies" headed for release.
Blockbusters, such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, are utilizing Imax's format; other hits, such as Jurassic World, will have Imax versions, too. There are also "major deals for releases under the Marvel, DC Comics, Star Wars and LEGO brands." Meanwhile, the number of analysts following Imax keeps going up.
Best move: His Imax shares have returned more than 750 per cent.
Worst move: He lost all his investment in hologram producer Digital Domain Media Group Inc. when it filed for bankruptcy protection.
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Advice: Invest in what you know, such as products you consume.
Want to be in Me and My Money? Contact Larry MacDonald at mccolumn@yahoo.com or his Website.