Among the more difficult elements of our research process is to acknowledge when our reasons for owning a security need to change. Such is the case with Sara Lee (SLE), a somewhat special situation for us, which we recognized was a pure cash flow story we found compelling even without a good growth outlook. Several clients questioned us about this idea, and we want to be clear about our recent decision to sell the stock in the face of SLE’s discouraging guidance concerning the outlook for profit margins. Below is the analyst’s most recent commentary on SLE.

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