LC

I'll disagree....slightly. Because I don't agree with your example. Visibility is the issue your example illustrates, not control. Can the store manager of a random McDonalds get free burgers? Surely. If a portfolio manager whose fund owns 8% of the company walks into that same McDonalds, will he get a free burger? Probably not because nobody working there knows who he is.

Thank you, here's the rapidgator link: http://rapidgator.net/file/39860413/Work_Flow_Management_For_Investors_-_Alex_Rubalcava.pdf.html

My apologies! I did not realize one had to sign up to download. I have the original PDF: It is 2.5 MB which I believe is too big to attach on this forum. If you can you suggest another method I would be happy to distribute it. EDIT: Here we are, this link should work: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bxf1UeW1kK_xaGRTMmcxLXVZV2s

I did a search which didn't show this as a repost, so here is a great guide which I use parts of to keep track of my investments in all regards: http://www.scribd.com/doc/98207906/ValueXVail-2012-Alex-Rubalcava Google docs link (to download): https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bxf1UeW1kK_xaGRTMmcxLXVZV2s It's especially helpful to me to have all the news coming into a central RSS feed so I can plug into all my investment ideas in one single place.

My issue with gold is this: if one holds gold as a hedge against say, the USD devaluation, wouldn't it make more sense to hold a basket of currencies? Or if one holds gold to protect against inflation, wouldn't a basket of commodities make a more useful hedge? Or equity of companies with pricing power? It seems that the only way gold increases in value is due to falling confidence in another currency. As an investor I don't want to invest in falling confidence: I want to invest in future production.

I am a new member here but I will say I have learned more reading this board in one month than in the past six months of digging through the internet for value-related discussions. Thank you all for the education.

Jeeze, sounds like you may want to find a discount broker, unless you are intentionally attracting the negative criticism to test your investment thesis.

At 5 times cashflow, do you really need a good idea of what the business looks like in ten years? If the cashflow is spent on buybacks and acquisitions at reasonable prices, isn't it hard to come up with a scenario where the investor loses here? What makes you say the cash will be spent on the shareholders vs being wasted trying to innovate within a shrinking business?

I had to google what life settlement was. I can only imagine what a terrible industry that would be to work in. It makes me queasy just thinking about the horror stories you probably have.

Yes

I love the idea- I didn't post because I did not feel I could add anything valuable, however I think it is an excellent idea and hope you continue.

I'm not sure...what happens when you invest in 8-track players? I'm OK with the tax structure the way it is in terms of short/long term capital gains. I think a tax on transactions is a healthier option.

What do you use to screen for these companies? I use the financial times screener but like to use 2-4 screener with the same criteria to make sure the companies I invest in are showing up in all, therefore removing any data/system errors one screener may have.