LC

I just want to add: nobody gains anything by degrading the level of discussion. Not you, your opponent, not those watching from the sideline. It's just a poor showing!

If anyone is interested on the principles-based approach (PBA) to reserve calculations: http://www.actuary.org/content/principle-based-approach-pba-project

Ah, the ole' osmosis method! :D

Same! If any of the more experienced members of the board would like to throw tidbits of advice out to us struggling minnows regarding a career as a value analyst, it would be much appreciated to say the least!

Regulated utilities to provide power to the variety of BRKs businesses. Airspace for Netjets. Trade regulations and customs examinations for import/export. There are a host of other services provided by the government which some citizens are use to benefit them (on an absolute basis) much more than others. Are these aspects difficult to quantify? Yes, absolutely. Which is why income is used as a proxy for utility. Is it perfect? No but it is more accurate and fairer than any "flat-tax" systems. Frankly, a "per-capita fee" sounds nice in theory until you're making $40,000/year and are now living at or below the poverty line. In practice it is oppressive on lower income classes, which is why a progressive system was instituted in the first place.

Hell no (pardon my french)! Tax should be levied based on utility. Let's say I own a courier service. I get a lot more utility from roads/bridges/tunnels/mass transit than an employee taking the bus to/from work. Therefore I should be liable for more of the upkeep of those services. Warren Buffett has utilized through his businesses many times over the services our government provides free of charge, and he should be liable for more than those who utilize less.

It's a NY Times article...the author is more concerned with criticizing the government rather than potentially uncovering illegal financial transactions.

Buffett disciples apparently can't stand unloved, out-of-favor, depressed stocks in booming industries.

My uneducated guess is the risk involved. And I believe it was mentioned elsewhere that various rating agencies will rate/discount the investments differently (i.e. T-bills are given a much higher rating than equity investments) which could affect regulatory levels of capital and future business. However I am an insurance noob so this is just my armchair analysis.

I wish I was knowledgeable about the subtleties of the insurance business to ask an insightful question, but alas I must pass. Enjoy the island!

Well the two go hand-in-hand, don't they? The Margin of Safety is the magnitude of the difference between the two (Price & What You're Paying For)

To be fair those deals are a lot less scarce than distressed businesses. That's where management comes into play: when to hold cash and wait versus when to invest it in less-than-ideal ventures.

every cent counts...

Well from a infrastructure damage standpoint this is looking like the worst storm to hit NYC. Our subways will be offline for at least 4 days to who knows how long. The tunnels are the same. The amount of water damage to downtown Manhattan is unheard of.

I think for most of these the the best bet would be capital structure arbitrage.

I should be ok in the middle of Brooklyn but my parent's home in Westchester will probably flood. We've got pumps & sandbags set up but we'll just have to see at this point!

Has your snooping uncovered anything you're willing to share? I'm always on the lookout for large caps with a moat trading around fair value. Outside of AIG/BofA/Berkshire/Fairfax I'm having trouble finding any. If the market had a serious haircut of ~30-40%, I'd love a chance to buy high quality very large-caps at "fair" value, so that would be like KO, WMT, JNJ, KFT, MMM, etc. However, for most equities, I'd need a serious haircut to start a new position. For now, I'm still snooping around for the few large-caps that are obviously trading with a good margin of safety... SJ

i think the investments per share question misses the point gio was trying to make. which is simply that, ex the short hedges & the associated short term unrealized losses & ex the rimm losses fairfaxes long only equity portfolio has appreciaTED ABOUT 20 ANNUALIZED FOR THE 9 MONTHS ENDED 9-30-12. not too shabby on the long side. timing on the short side has obviously hurt. ( and my kitten just stepped on my CAPS key, which i'm not inclined to edit... :-\ Ugh...I can't stand this type of argument...it's like saying, "Well if I didn't have a large portion of my portfolio in Enron, I'd be up 40% for the year!"

How do you go about finding trustworthy information & financials for international small-caps? It's a space I'd love to get into but am not sure where to begin.

Thanks. Going mostly to Spain. Guess that's the bargain-hunter in me ;) Then taking a trans-Atlantic ship and landing back in Florida. I'll have to ask you about your ship back, the girlfriend and I were thinking of something similar. Enjoy the bargains in Spain! :)

Not trying to derail your conversation here, but I was pretty concerned about Greenblatt's magic formula reported results and that study as well. I still don't understand why Greenblatt didn't post specifics on the formula--I was worried he cherry picked the best day/month specific date combo with the highest results. Warning: anecdotal evidence ahead. I spoke to a person who will remain nameless who worked on Greenblatt's magic formula website, they said it was both difficult working with him (the person managing the job made it hard to contact Greenblatt for feedback, etc.). Additionally their opinion was that the "magic formula" didn't quite work so well in real life. Relatively meaningless information on its own but just to add another dimension to the debate from someone who actually worked on that project.

Victimless crime? Would you take the opposite side of one of Raj's insider trades?

Everyone on the other side of his trades? Would you have taken the other side of a trade with someone who had inside information? Of course not. What about large pension fund managers who are fiduciaries to people's financial well-being in their non-working years? If they depend on pension payments and the fund cannot meet them, then either the company has to increase pension contributions which will hurt their shareholders, or cut pension benefits which hurts retirees. All so Raj and Gupta can make another buck. Now what if that retiree cannot make rent or bill payments because of their lowered benefits.

Exactly, politics is a game and you can break it down mathematically. If 51% of people hold most dear a common ideology, and you can convince them you will fulfil their ideology, they will elect you. Then you can go from there.

Glad the system is working...for all potential members I can say the $10 price is an absolute bargain to the discussions you will take part in here.