LC

Given the risks associated with operating an online store which has been this publically advertised, as well as my own lack of knowledge, the most I would pay is about 75k

Oh boy, some of these are really funny: Will the firm explore new markets, like selling candy-backed securities to babies w/o disclosing the lack of chocolate in the bonds? Heck, I think it's good for people to release their frustration with the financial industry. And I guess since JPM has been the government's whipping boy of late, they just decided to throw caution to the wind and open it up to the general public as well?

I think the second there is one accident involving self-driving cars, we will go back to buying insurance. And given human nature, there will most definitely be an accident...(and the obligatory lawsuit naming Google as a defendant).

I think people ultimate make their own prospects and I think running away from your problems generally compounds your problems. I generally agree but I think there are exceptions. Sometimes you are born into good prospects (Buffett being born in America) and likewise sometimes you are put into an insurmountable situation. Now, if the question is choosing to take out hundreds of thousands of debt...that is a whole other issue. So what are her insurmountable odds? She lives in the richest country in the world, she's healthy, she has shelter and food, she has a source of income however meager it is, and she has huge debt that will probably leave her with negative net worth for a while. Right now, she just needs to increase her income enough to where she can start chipping away at that debt a little at a time. I assume zero prospects...Im not sure what her situation really is. I was speaking more in a hypothetical case, not specific to this woman.

I think people ultimate make their own prospects and I think running away from your problems generally compounds your problems. I generally agree but I think there are exceptions. Sometimes you are born into good prospects (Buffett being born in America) and likewise sometimes you are put into an insurmountable situation. Now, if the question is choosing to take out hundreds of thousands of debt...that is a whole other issue.

If I had that much debt and zero prospects...I would probably leave the country as well. Morally suspect, but otherwise you are guaranteed a life of constant financial stress and poverty. That is no life.

Be kind but strong.

You know, one of the things that attracts me to the investment field is the fact that personal issues (or however you want to classify this interaction) are relatively unimportant. Customers don't care when business owners fight. Love of Watsa, hatred of Biglari, in the end it doesn't really matter if you can go to sleep at night and earn an adequate return on capital while you catch some ZZZs. All the back-and-forth on the Apple thread, for example, is just a fantasy that people buy into rather than researching any of the tens of thousands of publicly traded companies. Just my two cents.

Kind of a simplistic article...most people know there are multiple uses for derivatives...it works well until everyone abuses the embedded leverage and it blows up. Buffett's point in my opinion was that the EMBEDDED LEVERAGE is the destructive part of derivatives: this leverage causes people to make poor decisions.

Hi everyone, I would like to make a hopefully small request of the board. I am representing my school in next year's CFA valuation challenge and the target company is Colgate. If anyone has access to analyst reports and would be willing to forward them to myself either via PM or email ([email protected]) it would be much appreciated! Of course, I would keep any information sent in the strictest of confidence. Thanks, Louis

I believe dataroma only lists his equity securities The full filing is here: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1096344/000119312513413006/d553329dnq.htm

Does that loophole work? Or will the SEC force a manager to file who controls 100+M even if not in a single fund?

Very interesting. I think it would be naive to think Buffett was caught offguard by this. That said, I wonder what his endgame is...

Asked a friend...attached is the report Do_Wonderful_Companies_Remain_Wonderful_Full_Report.pdf

No, don't keep a zero cash balance, you might have some fees to be paid to IB and then you might get liquidated if excess liquidity is not enough (IB do not issue margin calls, they just liquidate). It's less of an issue with p.margin due to how excess liquidity is calculated but anyhow just play it safe if it's something you are worried about. You might also have payable interest from previous trades or on foreign currency etc. Fair enough...I think though they would just take the fees on margin. That is how my broker handles it. Usually the fees are pretty small AFAIK...not enough to trigger a margin call/liquidation I wouldn't think. I may be wrong, though!

Not a bad idea! I would say, I am sure a google hangout meeting would garner many more attendees...it could be difficult to follow. Perhaps a useful idea would be to "register" times to present an idea, pose a situation, etc.

We have cable: my girlfriend's choice more than mine...I will say I do enjoy the educational channels (Nat'l Geo, Nova, etc.) but everything else is pure trash.

Also a good exercise is to think about the business connotations when this question is inverted. As well, when this "self-fulfilling" trend breaks down and reverts.

I think at some point, competition will eat into their margins. I don't think the LEGO brand is all that important...especially for parents who don't want to pony up for "premium plastic blocks". I think their only defense of their castle is the licensing deals with popular brands.

I think great historical records are only useful as a gauge of whether management and operating structure can properly monetize favorable business/industry conditions. Take two companies, both with equally favorable future business prospects. One has a ten year track record of exceptional operations. The other has only been in existence for two years. That situation is when the track record is important. But the most important thing is having favorable future prospects. "If past history is all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians"

You can do it in the same poll... 1mm and under 25 1mm and 25-40 1mm and 40-50 Etc

lot of 'bam' usage in that post :)

Cheers to all my fellow Canadians! I am missing you all! :)

I agree. "Value" investing is simply the rationalizing of why one should buy low and sell high

I'll throw my hat in the ring: I ignore buybacks in "modelling". I just calculate FCF or Owner Earnings or whatever you want to call it. What the company does with that cash afterwards I treat as a different story. So I separate the analysis into two sections: what the business operations generate, and what management does with those proceeds afterwards.