BTShine

Oh, come on... When someone makes a lot of money it's not out of line to erect a nice building and furnish it with art for the public to enjoy. I enjoy nice art galleries that are open to the public (thanks to wealthy donors). This is a healthy endeavor compared to building 180 foot yachts for personal enjoyment and the like. That said, I've never been on a 180 foot yacht and I might find that enjoyable, too. Clearly Bill Gates is spending his money in a more honorable way, but Berkowitz is not a bad person because he's failed to match Bill Gates in this area of life.

Yes, thank you for this great message board. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

He might be asking for a friend, client or just out of curiosity. Not sure he said he's asking for himself.

Indeed. Unless you're an entrepreneur, working 80-90 hrs a week because that's what the firm expects is a horrible idea. I'm of the mindset no one can really be productive working that many hours, and (particularly in banking) most of it ends up being wasted hours showing your face at the office because that's what is expected. I'll support this. Working 90 hours a week at an I-bank is one year I'd like to get back. Thankfully I didn't work I-banking more than one year. That said, I (personally, this doesn't go for everyone) am better off having been inside the beast so I could 'lift the veil' of Wall Street and see that the rainmakers, etc. inside the industry are just hard working people and not inherently smarter or better than anyone else. Though, they are willing to work longer hours than most.

I'm looking through small cap companies for investment ideas and just needed a place to post examples of what seem to be blatant overvaluation! (Though I could be wrong in my assessment). Hopefully others find this interesting. My first is TOF - Tofutti Brands Manufacturer of soy-based (think tofu?) food products. NYSE traded $33 Million Market Cap. $15 Million Revenue Over the past decade this 31 year old company has seen revenue decline from $20 million to $15 million and total cash flow from operations over the past decade essentially net out to zero. If I shorted stocks this would be a prime candidate.

So how much cash money did you give to Sears?

The new Restoration Hardware catalog came out and they're getting on the fake moustache trend! http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod2690586 "When the mission calls for stealth, be ready with this mix-and-match wardrobe of moustaches and eyebrows. Easy to apply. Convincingly fuzzy."

Was the Mr. King versus Mr. Mulliner reservation issue for tomorrow night resolved? I would go if people are interested.

I think buying a professional team has some similarities to buying a rare piece of jewelry or a piece of art. There's a limited supply, the investment might not be justified based upon the earnings of the item/team and much of the value is likely derived from the joy of owning it. How good do you feel looking at your Monet, your wife's 15 karat diamond ring or your team? This is just one perspective.

Donated!

That thread, and the clip mrvlad0 posted, is just awesome! Such good stuff in there.

The best part about this poll is that it validates how honest people are on CoBF. Good to see there probably not much 'grade inflation' going on here. Vast majority (~80%) said 0 - 50 hours when I checked.

I really don't need your or anyone else's sympathy. I'm better off in life than most. Agreed. You are definitely better off in life than most! Congrats, you seem very content and intellectually curious -- a fabulous combination in my humble opinion.

This type of stuff is taught in the streets, not the classroom. It doesn't have to be streets of the ghetto, but people that live only live in their bubble will get duped. Street smarts. Edit: That said, you are right that a 'basics of life' should be taught in the classroom.

I use it on my phone and like it. It's good to play when you're on a train, plane, etc. Though, flappy bird has been cutting into my Lumosity brain workouts!

Is this the sign of a market peak? Everyone is happy with their investment gains, or there are not enough bargains for us to discuss, so we are debating global warming :)

Can I go to the annual dinner if I don't own FFH? Obviously most people will be in town for the FFH meeting, but I'd come to Toronto just to meet some of you.

It says it's owned by Baker and Baker. Not Kmart or SHLD. Good example of valuable real estate, though.

That was awesome.

The more questions you ask, then more talking she will do...this generally makes first dates go really well!! Some self deprecating humor helps, too.

With all due respect to those smarter than me on CofBnF, I totally agree with ourkid8. Buffett often times mentions how Berkshire (paraphrased) "will write still write the check no matter what happens in the world between the verbal agreement and actual closing of the deal." Mr. Buffett seems to believe his reputation, including everyone's faith in his word, is more valuable that money lost on a deal. If he says he is buying a company, he will buy it.

Agree. The more variables one includes in his analysis, the more likely it is he makes a mistake.

In general, I think everyone is making this too complicated. Once you've grasped the concept of FCF and share buybacks vs. dividends you'll view all of this in a very simple manner. It won't require paragraphs of explanation, etc.

Smart. "What the company does with that cash afterwards I treat as a different story." What they do with the cash adds another opportunity for the company to either create, or destroy, value.

I think you've got it backwards. Return of capital by definition flows to shareholders, it's not a reinvestment in the firm. It doesn't flow to shareholders. When a firm produces cash from operations it goes to the firm's equity, if it's used to buyback, it is an outflow that continuing shareholders do not see. Then you admit, it is an outflow. To shareholders. Continuing shareholders, if they wish to "see" it, merely need to sell a few shares -- bringing their % ownership back to the prior level. It's value given to shareholders (essentially identical to a dividend). IF you think the shares are overvalued, and the repurchase is a bad capital allocation decision, then the shares are too expensive and you shouldn't own them anyways. If you already own the shares, then they're overvalued and it's time to sell.