Okay, I hope this would be interesting. It was buying the Peter Lynch Book One Up on Wall Street
I don't consider myself that bright. I'm a hard asset guy. People who met me in person know that I'm kind of a burly guy who's better at REITs and physical stuff.
The book was $7 or $10
But Peter Lynch talked about how rock pits are good businesses, it just kind of stood out. It was a very simple concept. Cost $10 a ton, cost $10 to truck it 30 miles etc.
In 2015, Patriot spins off the RE business which became FRP Holdings. I bought the stock at $30. Made it a 26% position and a huge position in my PA and told my family to buy it. Blackstone buys the warehouse for $359mm. The EV that I paid was $340mm but they still owned the MF and the rock pits and other cats and dogs. We made a double.
I also raised outside capital because of this idea.
Fast forward to 2020, Covid hits and FRP Holdings was trading at $40 but The Maren leased 45% of their units during Q2 of 2020. Holy Shit! They leased 45% when people were not allowed to view it? WTF? Made it an 18% position and raised some more capital.
In total, realized gains for my family and investors are likely closer to $2mm. Unrealized gains from the second investment in 2020 is around $4mm. These are gains from my own accounts and capital that I manage for others. The gains alone are double digit % of my current asset that I manage.
All of this from a book that Peter Lynch wrote about containing some little nuggets about rock pits.
Investing is funny like that. You get an insight that is timeless, i.e. rock pits are good business.
You get to know the assets, the management, the capital allocation, and the business. You can recycle the idea and come back.