giofranchi

Packer, why??? As soon as England got off the gold standard in the ‘30s, its economy blossomed rather than falling off a cliff… The same happened to France a few years later… As I have always said, I am not sure I would compare something so small as Sweden’s economy during the Depression to something so big as US economy today… When the Fed’s actions have inflated asset prices so much more than they have improved the economy, I guess the final outcome is still unknown… But here is the old debate between Austrians and Keynesians, right? We all know that, and it is totally pointless to resume here a diatribe that probably would never be solved… Actually, I have my own solution: they both are right! What the Austrians suggest will come to pass sooner or later… but it is much better later than sooner! That’s why what the Keynesians suggest is also so much useful: because it is helpful to spread the pain over the course of many years, instead of concentrating it in a short, and therefore unbearable, amount of time. But that’s only my opinion and is totally inconsequential. What really matters is that Europe is different: we have a common currency, without a political nor a fiscal union… this simply cannot go on forever… and you very well know what Herbert Stein had to say about things that cannot go on forever! ;) Gio

No. He is saying that prices are information. When prices get distorted for a very long time, like we have had in Europe since the Euro was ill-advisedly introduced, information get to be very misleading. When information are misleading, people make very bad decisions. And bad decisions have the nasty habit of compounding their nefarious effects. We all agree Italy and Spain , also France I guess, must clear their own houses and start behaving responsibly and reliably. But what doesn’t work must be fixed: a monetary union, without a political and fiscal union has never worked. Show me one single example in history… By the way, I am not saying what Draghi is doing will work… In fact, I think it is only a palliative… Gio

Unfortunately, since Draghi announced a negative Deposit Rate, the Euro has actually appreciated against the USD… Now that is really amazing!! Go figure!! ::) Gio

Thank you, ni-co! I really appreciate this! We are suffocating here in the south… and it is not just because of the summer heat!! ;D ;D Gio

I agree. Try also “Competition Demystified” by Bruce Greenwald. Gio

You can always count on the fact that, when something goes up, Gio is somewhere else instead! ;) ;D ;D Gio

Another book I would surely recommend is “Fooling Some Of The People All Of The Time” by David Einhorn. Gio

Well, Margin of Safety taught me the importance of always leaving some room to average down, when I start a position in a public company. And I don’t remember to have seen this discussed in any other book that I am aware of… probably I am mistaken, but Margin of Safety surely is the place where I first encountered this imo very important idea. Through the years I have greatly benefitted from it, and any book with at least one idea we can truly benefit from is worth mentioning! ;) Gio

1) Autobiography + Poor Richard by Ben Franklin 2) The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason 3) Economic Articles And Correspondence Investment And Editorial by John Maynard Keynes 4) Berkshire Hathaway Letters To Shareholders 1965-2012 + The Intelligent Investor 5) Fairfax Financial Letters to Shareholders 6) Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charles Munger 7) Margin Of Safety by Seth Klarman 8 ) The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks I would add: 9) How To Read A Financial Report by John A. Tracy (the best guide to understand how the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash-flow statement are linked together, that I know of) 10) Accounting For Value by Stephen Penman (a great book on valuation) 11) Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre (such a fun to read! For the trader that is inside all of us!) 12) Assorted biographies of great entrepreneurs Hey! What was the title of this thread?! ;D ;D Gio

Hi Liberty, No, actually I have never dug deeper than this first very superficial analysis about ONEX… therefore, of course I have never pulled the trigger… sincerely, don’t know why! ::) I guess something else might have interested me more, I simply didn’t find the time to do more work on ONEX, and after a while I just forgot about it… Gio

Crip, I really wish I knew how to jump in and out of stocks… But I don’t think I can… I sell a great business (...to correctly recognize a great business is already hard enough!) only if it is wildly overvalued… at 1.3 – 1.4 x BV FFH imo is still undervalued… ;) Cheers, Gio

--Mr. David Hay Gio EVA+5.30.2014_NA.pdf

Hi shalab! Yeah… You are right… The website is a bit dated… But we are in the midst of completely renewing it, with the implementation of an e-commerce platform. Through our master courses over the years we have created a good library of technical contents, that are updated each year and that I think might be very useful to a lot of professionals in the civil engineering field. The e-commerce platform is supposed to address those professionals who don't have the time nor the willingness to enroll in a master course which lasts a full year... This way, instead, they will be able to access and download only the contents they are really interested to dig deeper into, and which they know might have a practical use in their daily working life. Of course, the new website will have an English version! ;) Cheers! Gio

Don’t mind at all! Why should I?! Wasn’t Ben Franklin who said “Be just and truthful to anyone, and don’t worry what people know or think about you”?... Anyway, something similar! ;) I have nothing to hide. And therefore don’t bother to. Actually, you find the link to both my operating companies (for profit education and civil engineering services) in my Forum Profile. Then I have a third company that gathers the free cash of the first two and invests it (or at least tries not to throw it away!! ;D ;D). Gio

constructive & Andy Dufrense, thank you very much for your kind words! :) Until now, just a “poca favilla” with no “gran fiamma” in sight… But you never know, right?! ;D ;D ;D Cheers, Gio

I value invest not because I love the process but because I love the results. I value invest because I'm competitive and value investing is the best, easiest process for me to use to produce above-average results. In terms of the question "Do I have enough"...I would interpret this similarly to how I would expect Buffett would. I will keep my competitive drive for more long after recognizing that I have enough. For me having enough is only part of it. I want to do the best I possibly can and earn the most I possibly can, and see how well I can do. I will probably end up donating much of it in the end of life (similar to Buffett), but I still have a competitive drive to see how well I can do in the interim...And viewing the results of a NW poll is part of measuring how well I am doing so far. Well, not everyone can be as competitive and successful as you are… I started my company 10 years ago with $25k. Through savings, investments results, and operating earnings, my firm’s equity right now is worth $2.38 million. I am 37 years old. How would you judge me?… I tell you: just an average guy! That’s the plain truth. Period. But I guess most people are in my situation (that's the definition of "average guy" after all, isn't it?! :) )… though we cannot boast great achievements… we can certainly enjoy what we do on a daily basis, and we can try to get better and better at it… And you know what? I don’t envy all the multi-millionaires out there, precisely because I tap-dance to work each morning: any cure for envy that truly works shouldn’t be overlooked! ;) Gio

;D ;D ;D I agree. And your comment reminds me of my last post on the VRX thread about Mr. Kozlowski… or the exact opposite! ;) Gio

Wise words! I agree! And words that also have much to do with investing! 1) How much better are the results of people who enjoy the whole process of investing, instead of only seeking a financial reward! 2) How many times we have asked ourselves: “if almost nobody succeeds in getting a 15% annual result consistently, why should we expect to achieve it instead?” Gio

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europe-bubble-grows-as-markets-ignore-vote-against-euro-2014-05-28?link=MW_popular As I am repeating for some time now, Europe is still a mess... ::) Gio

Much like the game of investing! It seems to hear the late Mr. Singleton speaking! Doesn't it?! ;) Cheers, Gio

+1 I agree wholeheartedly! Great book! :) Gio

[amazonsearch]Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen[/amazonsearch] --Tao Te Ching Ok, this book might have very little, or nothing at all, to do with investing, but: 1) It surely has a lot to say about healthy living: and, if a snowball needs a very long slope to grow bigger and bigger and assume gigantic proportions, I guess we all can agree on the fact that healthy living might be very important for everything we do, investing included. 2) It is a truly amazing story!! 8) I highly recommend this book. ;) Cheers, Gio

+1 We have already seen a lot of stress among real estate institutional investors in Italy… I work with IDeA Fimit Sgr, Prelios Sgr, Hines, etc. … and it has already been very ugly for them! Somehow, though, prices have not yet come down as I would have expected… Maybe LongTerm explanation is right on spot! ;) Cheers, Gio

Thank you for posting, Sanjeev! :) In my very humble opinion Europe is still a mess... Gio

A Return To Old Faithful by Mr. Charles Gave Gio Daily+5.21.14.pdf