matts

What do you mean by account? The OP is about a fund which would have an account in its own name. Investors would have units of ownership in the Fund. What you are talking about is a managed account. Yes IB can give someone visibility, but you will have real problems convincing anyone outside your family and friends to invest like that. No audit, no administration, just look through into their account. Again, that's not a fund.

It's not all about the work. You are paying a premium for the trust implied by the audit and 3rd party administration. The bigger the name, the higher the premium even though the work is essentially the same. Sure, I can pay my cousin Sal 30 bucks to do my audit, but what value is that for my investors?

I agree with Jouni1. The buyer pays for an item to be delivered, so that becomes part of the seller's responsibility. Does it suck that the US only has 3 carriers? Sure, but what is your solution? If the seller was not responsible, how many sellers would claim that they shipped an item when they really didn't? And I don't think that many big sellers will leave under the new rules, at least not the global ones. Ebay is very profitable for sellers that can get items wholesale. The Chinese and HK sellers make a fortune in aggregate. Will Jane from Wisconsin stop selling her homemade jewelry on ebay? Maybe, but the market will survive and even thrive. Ebay takes out a whole whack of middlemen, and that business model is working in many sectors of the economy.

Has to be? Not so much when the shares are bought back above intrinsic value. You are then spending a dollar of company cash to buy something worth less than a dollar in value. Thinking all buybacks are good is not much different from thinking all dividends are good.

"It is impossible to know how much of the price change is due to activists' own trading or other factors." Doesn't this say it all about the scientific integrity of these findings? You would think a hedge fund would have to actually buy the stock before it files a 13D....

One of the best rational takes I've read on the current situation: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/03/25/why_the_west_isnt_isolating_russia_over_crimea_walkom.html

MGG is doing some roadshows in April if anyone is interested. http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=66450010&qm_symbol=YAK New York City Monday March 31st at 5:30 PM at the TKP New York Conference Center in the East Village Room, 109 West 39th Street, New York City For more information on TKP New York Conference Center, visit http://www.tkpny.com/ Los Angeles Monday April 7th at 5:30 PM at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown in the California Room, 711 South Hope Street, Los Angeles For more information on the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel, visit http://www.sheratonlosangelesdowntown.com/ Chicago Thursday April 10th at 5:30 PM at the Crowne Plaza Magnificent Mile Hotel, 160 East Huron Street, Chicago For more information on the Crowne Plaza Magnificent Mile Hotel, visit http://www.avenuehotelchicago.com Toronto Tuesday April 15th at 5:30 PM at the King Edward Hotel, 37 King Street East, Toronto For more information on the King Edward Hotel, visit http://www.omnihotels.com/toronto If you wish to attend one of the presentations, please email Christy LeCuyer at christy@mongoliagrowthgroup.com and note which presentation you will be attending.

My theory is that wages are local markets and are facing competition from globalization. Why would anyone pay someone a high wage to someone when they can pay a lower wage to someone else to do the same job? Technological advances are only making working remotely and globally easier. The wage differential between developing and developed markets will continue to narrow over time. I do not think I am saying anything insightful, but I feel developed markets will continue to face wage headwinds even after a recovery. If it was that easy to replace jobs with cheaper personal offshore...most of us would un-employed by now! Yes, but it is easier to work remotely now. And aside from the very top schools, you don't think the gap between american and global education is shrinking? I'm sure people working Berkshire in the 40s thought they were irreplaceable too because they were just so skilled.

Margin interest rates are typically floating, but can be fixed. Interactive Brokers uses Fed Funds Effective (Overnight Rate) as the benchmark rate. https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=interest&p=schedule2

Definitely sounds like it. And why pick AT&T?

If the West takes such drastic action what is stopping Russia from retaliating? Iran had nothing the world needed. What's stopping putin from turning off the gas in response? How does Europe replace 30% of their gas needs in the short term? over the next 2 years? how about over the next 6 months? How much do heating costs spike in Germany and France and what kind of pressure would that put on the politicians?

So what do you think the West should do with Putin right now, and how does that scenario play out over the next 5 years?

I'm sure energy independence will become the biggest priority in Europe, but significant LNG bandwidth is still years away. Until then, Putin has a strong hand which he is now playing.

China wants no piece of this. Ya they are concerned because they border Russia. But isn't it LESS likely that the Russians cause any trouble with the Chinese while they are engaged in crimea/NATO? Another 5 years and the Chinese military will not have much to fear from a Russian invasion (sans nuclear weapons of course). China will issue the usual boilerplate language that they have concerns over any violation of sovereignty to appease the global community, but it will have no teeth. China knows the two biggest things they need in order to become a global power is time and their own internal stability. I don't think they want to be drawn into tension with Russia.

what specifically should USA do? stuff "happens". I am pretty sure Russia was not crazy about USA unilaterally invading Iraq and installing a puppet regime. The history of our empire reveals these kind of activities are par for the course. this is why we don't have a lot of credibility on this issue. a paper tiger. miltary action is off the table. after all the Russian Bear is no Iraq. if Russia declared a war . I wonder , doesn't this declaration of war against US , as we had garanteed Ukrainian sovereignty. I hope putin just bluffing, I think he wants to create tension in the region, sort of frozen conflict. So Russia can be a "peacemaker" in Ukraine Russia has not declared war, and Ukraine is not a part of NATO. What CAN the west do? That is the key question. I think the vast majority agrees that this is an aggressive move by the Russians. But it's the so what that matters. The west won't go to war over this. Unfortunately for the pro-EU Ukrainians, the west has made Poland the "Red Line", not Ukraine. My guess is that one of two things will happen: 1) Putin is using his control of Crimea to have leverage during the talks that will establish the new political reality in Ukraine but will then leave Crimea. 2) Crimea will end up just like South Ossetia. Part of Ukraine in legal terms only, but in all ways controlled by Russia. There is precedent for this with both Ossetia and Abkhazia. I don't think the west would take military action to stop 2). Any potential economic sanctions will play a big factor in determining what happens next.

The article has been updated. Update: The SEC says it has an explanation. "Each of the transactions was individually reviewed and approved in advance by the Ethics office," said John Nester, spokesperson for the SEC. "Most of the sales were required by SEC policy. Staff had no choice. They were required to sell." Nester explained that before staff can work on an issue that involves a company, they have to sell any holdings of stock in that firm. As a result, he said, there shouldn't be any surprise that a sale would precede the announcement of an enforcement action. This makes sense to me, at least to a certain extent.

I'm looking forward to his attempt at plagiarizing Buffett to justify this acquisition...

I believe almost all investments in RRSP are also eligible for TFSA if it is set up at a broker. Not saying you should buy US leaps in a tfsa, but you can. What do people think about the attractiveness of a RRSP if you are planning to retire in another country? my marginal tax rate right now is 40%+ and if I ever become non-resident I can withdraw my whole rrsp with a one time 25% tax. I know the 25% will also apply to any growth but it still seems like a good idea to me.

Large Canadian Bank on the dealer side. Global prime brokerage/securities lending risk management. I'm young so I don't have much relevant experience before that.

I second that. I'm already a shareholder so maybe a rights offering? Although I'm not sure about the costs for such a small company. Also, I've noticed the properties up for sale/rent (at http://sitestar.com/properties/) have not changed very much in several months so I hope you help with some more activity or explain to investors why it has been slow. I thought the plan was to flip them fairly quick. matts

Thanks for sharing. Very insightful.

Why is Chapman making personal attacks at Leob? could someone please summarize the background, if any? Chapman is pretty harsh in his dealings with management as well.

I can't provide too much info as my firm has a business relationship with Orbis, but I can confirm they are smart operators and make great use of leverage. The performance is public at www.orbis.com

I also think everyone should do a bit of filtering on their own. Don't like it, don't click it. As was said, some may be also annoyed with the giant BAC thread ect. An ignore thread option sounds like a good idea.

Cardboard, let me ask you a question: have you ever managed a business of your own? If you have, you know at least as well as me that most technical aspects are beyond the man at the helm (furthermore, Mr. Watsa hasn’t ever been at the helm of BBRY!). I manage my businesses finding good and reliable technicians, whose work I can barely evaluate and judge... It has always been this way, it has worked pretty well, and it will always be so. Believe me: Mr. Watsa doesn’t know anything about new phones… And has never pretended otherwise… He might have made a mistake judging BBRY’s management, but I am not sure... Imo, the error here is much easier and plainer to see: he was tempted to invest in technology, when technology is so hard to predict. Period. Why did he stay on the board for so long and said nothing? Simply because he didn’t know what to say! I wouldn’t have known what to say, you wouldn’t have known either… giofranchi You don't have a reputation of being the Oracle of Canada, I think that is Cardboard's point. If Prem doesn't have better understanding into BBRY than you, then I don't want him doing this deal (no offense to you of course). We should at least try to consider the deal on it's own terms and merit, and not be so colored that it is Prem. If you change the name Prem to Matts in the media, this deal looks A LOT less prudent from a business/operational perspective, we all know Prem has the skills from a financial perspective. That's my point at least.