netnet

That's pretty funny. You and I had almost the same trajectory, beginning, middle and end points. I started at 220, went to 1500 and now am down to 550 or so depending on the material. And it takes discipline to keep up the speed. I occasionally find myself lollygagging, reading an Annual Report or some psych non-fiction book as if it were Tolstoy! I don't think our mirrored trajectories were due to the book, Breakthrough, which was one of the ones I used.

I took a speed reading course early in university and doubled my reading speed. More importantly comprehension increased significantly. The training focused on reading in word groups with efficient eye movement. Practice tests proved the increase in comprehension. The course also taught to start with a quick review so you knew what to expect and it taught a useful skimming technique focusing on topic sentences and summarizing sentences found at the start and end of most paragraphs in good writing. During law school the increased speed and comprehension saved countless hours. I am glad I took the course while I was young as maybe a young and plastic mind is helpful the same way it is easier to learn a new language as a child. Yes, I agree Aberhound. Speed reading is absolutely not bunk. (Or should I just say that reading faster with excellent or improved comprehension is not bunk. No need to get lost in the words "speed reading".) Anecdotally, I read twice as fast as I did previously, since teaching myself to read faster. A lot of the claims are over hyped to be sure, but to say that you can not increase your reading and comprehension is completely wrong. There are mechanical limits to be sure-even an Olympic sprinter is not going to beat a cheetah! Any healthy untrained runner (reader) can learn to do better. The lifehacker article proves exactly nothing. It is an interesting data point; like saying, you are no cheetah. Okay, that is not really interesting, and I'm not Warren Buffett. The conclusion of the article is that the author finds it too hard. So what. There are graduate and advanced undergraduate students at top US schools, Ivies, UC's, Stanford, etc., who don't know how to skim, read ahead, read the conclusion, etc. (private conversation with friends and colleagues who teach there). It's a skill, it has to be learned and practiced. Interesting side note: once out of say 3rd grade in the US, no attention is devoted to teaching students how to read. That is a travesty.

Here is a lazy Sunday question (to answer I should look through all of Buffett's early partnership letters myself but I have not, hence "lazy Sunday") In the early years, did Buffett have look for catalysts in his investments? I think he did not, but I am putting the question out to the collective minds of the Corner! The subsequent question would be, if he did not, was that a wise decision. (In answering that question, let's just assume that his early capital was stable, which it seemed to be.)

That's a great rule of thumb.

I thought it was crack. Oh wait my dealer,, my UPS driver is dropping off a couple of books, right now. (I'm not kidding!)

He made his money in a flat to declining market gold market, but the gold he really discovered was the royalty business. One of the best business models ever. Not sure what you really mean to say. That is not how you buy royalty streams. You aren't really buying losers. Anyway, I am not a Lassonde acolyte, I did not like his gold book, but he is a sharp investor with a great record.

For those of you who don't follow the mining sector, Pierre Lassonde is one of the greatest investors of the last 40 years. (In 20 years his public vehicle Franco-Nevada grew >38%.) He and Seymour Schulich ran Franco-Nevada, which Lassonde bought back from Newmont and runs now. This article was mentioned in the Altius discussion (hat off to Williams406). Even those who stay away from resource stocks should read this. (hint, Great skills in investing translate across industries and in reality, his business, royalties are not the mining business, which he calls the height of speculation.) It would be interesting to ferret out what his other investments are, one of which is in high tech. He has patiently invested in companies with: [*]A great CEO [*] A great business model [*]A bullet proof balance sheet [*]An ability to opportunistically seize opportunities when others can't He is looking in the mirror, but that's alright. http://www.mining.com/web/pierre-lassonde-franco-nevada-very-few-get-this-but-its-worth-so-much-money/

Jason Zweig had an article in yesterday's WSJ and tomorrow's (Saturday) paper, plus a blog post here: http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/12/a-fireside-chat-with-charlie-munger/ During the meeting, Charlie mentioned that Warren (and he) were puzzling over BH's success AND that Warren will be devoting a lot of this year's discussion to the issue. Charlie also said, "BH's results were prodigious, but they were not produced by prodigies..." Well, Charlie in this case you are dead wrong. Both you and Warren are prodigies... from another short post on my blog; full notes over the weekend, I promise. http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

How old is your son? I've been trying to get my son go to BRK's annual meeting, but he isn't interested :( My son is 20 and except for a poor 10 year old that a dad dragged to the, I think my son was the youngest person there.

The Daily Journal Annual meeting was wonderful. It was great meeting Corner board members there. My son also enjoyed it. I will post my notes over the weekend. Here are a few quotes from the meeting, more on my blog: Charlie compared the Journal's old auditors, who held up the annual report by months, to a doctor he had (I assume as a child). The man was a surgeon skilled in fixing hernias, so he kept feeling around Charlies groin, when all Charlie had was a nose bleed. Speaking of the old auditors, CM said that "We get along with people we admire...[but] I'm old and I can't disguise that there are people I don't like" "...it was the audit from hell...which was red meat to the commissioned sales force of our competitors..." (The government software business that the Daily Journal has.) http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

Here are two The Art of Profitability and Basic Accounting Fresh from the Lemonade Stand. These two teach via a narrative format, which is easier for most people to digest. The $100 Startup is good too. Oh, and ideally if he has not worked in the industry he should.

Actually, I have seen private transaction trade for 2-3XFCF normalized. You just have to wait for the distress sale and be ready to buy. (This is a bit like some rich guy telling you to keep a spare 5 or 10 million around to buy something cheaply.) Although it generally takes more work in the private market to get to the normalized cashflow. In the old days of radio, you could buy from the lender at the bottom and sell when the market turned. I was not looking private market in 2009, but I'm sure there were some great bargains private market as there were in the public markets. How about buying four coin operated laundries in the same area and raise prices by $.25 or $.50 and have operational efficiencies of multiple sites? Higher prices, with (hopefully not too much of a drop off in customers) and lower labor costs per site.

There are a number of places within walking distance of the meeting. The best value seems to be the Black Fig--really good, five stars on Yelp and cheap ( with some vegetarian dishes for those who want it). The other places around are probably double to quadruple the price (those places with 14 dollar burghers) in the Art district. The Black Fig is small so I'll call ahead to see about seating. (They said that they could accommodate a party of 8 during lunch, but that may have been "marketing". ) A back-up could be Umami Burger, limited menu, with one or two veggie options. http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-black-fig-los-angeles The Black Fig 960 E 3rd St Los Angeles, Backup http://www.yelp.com/biz/umami-burger-los-angeles-11 Umami Burger 738 E 3rd St Los Angeles, CA (Eat Drink Americano is good but really, really crowded at lunch)

Extremely serious. that is what traumatic brain injury is. Have you been properly diagnosed? There are a couple of threads on longecity.org on concussions that might be useful.

I had not thought of the vending machine business. It's hard to start a government the capital requirements are rather high. ;) plus the returns aren't great unless... you are the dictator then it is a good business if you can die peacefully in your bed without too much blood on your hands. (Seriously though, there are some very high IQ folks in gov't work but that gig was not for me. I tried it and did not like it. A bunch of Goldman Alums are in the White House.) not quite the low maintenance I had in mind. And regarding the list from entrepreneur magazine, where are the software businesses? And equipment leasing in 3rd place. Munger's quote says it all, to paraphrase him, all the profit is sitting in the lot at the end of the year NOT in the owner's pocket!

Following this topic about local businesses, here: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/local-businesses/ What would be the best small business to buy. Being able to sell quickly is not a concern if I am making 20% return unlevered. Coin operated laundry in a decent neighborhood seem to be pretty good. Or websites with traffic that are relatively easily improvable and are not about to be destroyed by Amazon. My short list of requirements are Little cap maintenance Can run without close supervision Good cash cycle Some sort of moat Good cash on cash return

Carpooling would be great thanks.

Does the AM last for about 2 hours like the old Wesco meetings?

Angelenos, I'm trying to decide whether to get in at 7:20 or 8:20 into Burbank. With car rental, traffic and parking, etc., I'm inclined to get in at 7:20. At the worst how is the traffic to the Daily Journal? and what is parking like there? I can't tell from Google maps. now that I think of it I should call the Journal to see what they suggest for parking. Thanks

This book is good for anybody, unless you are the second coming of Gauss, in which case use it to teach others! You can also use the techniques learning for other domains.

[amazonsearch]A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science[/amazonsearch] My recommendation, if you are interested in learning how to learn (to be a learning machine, as Munger calls WEB) you MUST get this book. Strong on both the science (non-technical, so you cog sigh types, pun intended, get off my case.) and the tactics of learning. If you are in college or teach, buy it. If you have kids in college or high school, buy two, one for yourself and one for yourself. This could be the gift of a lifetime. The author grew up hating math and science but eventually became a professor of Engineering. She shows you how to learn how to learn. The rest is up to you. There is also a Coursera course based on her work. here: https://www.coursera.org/course/learning

The great owner-operators with tremendous capital allocation skills have delivered great returns over the years. Investing in the best have made many people reliably rich. (In a way this is a bit like reframing the question of who is the next WEB.) So in the major leagues (really the hall of fame) we have: WEB Singleton Malone Any nominations coming up from the minor leagues? I nominate Brian Dalton. ( more than 10 years of 20%) Others??

That is totally a new one to me. And I've seen a lot. I love this board.

To make the meeting and fly in the morning, Angelenos, which airport is the best? Glendale or LAX? Obviously LAX is way bigger and presumably harder to negotiate, but....? Also, does anybody want to have a late lunch or early dinner? Possibly missing some of rush hour traffic. Netnet

Excellent, excellent website. It's the UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center: marc.ucla.edu This has practical information as well as research. Here are guided meditations:http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=107 Here are beginning meditations:http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22 enjoy