cubsfan

SAAS companies - Software-As-A-Service as opposed to perpetual licensing. Most of these SAAS companies do revenue recognition month by month. License agreements are generally 2-3 years, cash up front (net 60 days), then rev rec as services are performed. Much more predictability for forecast. Key indicators are the bookings backlog and the renewal rate. The hockey stick of pertual licensing was tough to deal with. Many people talk about CRM - don't forget about NOW, which has come on strong.

Some people are full of shit, some people are sincere. Looks like you made your own choice. I tend to think Dimon leans more to the Buffett & Munger camp in terms of wanting to do what's right.

Fantastic

Greg Warren claims Buffett did confirm to us during the company's last annual meeting that he would aggressively buy back stock if it dipped below 1.2 times book value, even if the firm had not yet reported its end-of-quarter book value per share to shareholders.. This is a topic that was discussed on this board earlier. I don't believe WEB said that at all at the meeting. To be honest, I've thought in terms of them doing this sort of thing to make me wealthier. So I listened carefully. This was a question from Greg W and Buffett indicated that the buy back was not intended to wrest away shares from existing shareholders. It was more to fully inform shareholders what they were giving up @ 1.2 BV, should they decide to sell. As a shareholder this was a great lesson for me that they fully abide by the spirit of the Owner's manual. Anyone who listened to this at the AGM, please correct this if incorrect. Longinvestor - you might want to listen to this again. "The odds are extremely high we will buy a lot of stock at 1.2X or less" He's going to buy back tons of stock if we get there - but he won't "prop the stock" - and he is eager to do so... Relevant section is 4:15:00 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrulcIBe3Z0

I spoke to one of the managers at the Berkshire meeting. He rose through the ranks under Donegan. Mark is widely admired by many, but he confirmed that working there is not for the faint of heart. Performance culture is everything - so it's not for everybody, as it gets rough.

Now THAT was entertaining. I can't stand Hillary, but if this article is half true, I can't stomach Trump either. And I was just starting to come around....

He eats like that all the time, it's pretty well known by those around him. I was at a meeting a few years ago with Susie Buffett. She talked about her dad's diet. It was fascinating. "I've never seen my dad drink a glass of water. I've never seen him eat a vegetable other than french fries or sometimes corn. I've never seen him eat fruit other than banana pie. He knows exactly how many calories he can consume a day. My dad eats exactly what he wants. His typical dinner at home is a ham sandwich and a bowl of ice cream. He used to try to motivate us kids to lose weight by offering us cash per pounds."

If i'm a shareholder in Canada, when should i expect to get mine? i imagine they don't just come automatically. You'll get an annual report. I just got mine on Monday. Mail in the postcard attached for up to 4 passes. Plenty of time.

Move to Canada. If Trump gets elected Canada will have to build a wall to keep all the fleeing Americans out.

Then you have your answer! For some reason I paid $33...

There are complete transcripts out there for free. Is there a value-add to your notes? Not trying to rag on someone looking to make a buck, just curious. I'll just chime in, having purchased these notes 3X before (in addition to one meeting which i attended). I'd say this - it's the best transcript available - and almost like being there. I missed so many things in my own pages & pages of notes in 2013 meeting. All the other notes I've seen are fairly condensed - and very good - but not the same in my book. Too many nuances and fine points to capture. And if my small fee - allows me to not travel and incur much expense - I want the best notes possible. JMHO

I've always been impressed by First Pacific Advisors process, which is detailed here: http://www.fpafunds.com/docs/fpa-crescent-fund/2015-09-contrarian-value-policy-statement.pdf?sfvrsn=2 A "go anywhere" strategy that focuses on the downside first. They are disciplined investors that will carry a large cash balance if they can not find bargains.

It is if you read it.

IBM - at 10X PE, and good capital allocation - I'm comfortable that management won't do anything stupid like a major acquisition to torch cash. But if the company just continues to buyback $7B in stock per year - and revenue/profits stay flat - in 3 years, a 10PE would be $185, a 15PE - $275. Company generates a huge amount of excess cash flow. IBM has a pretty sticky offering, and having competed against them, I think they're somewhat underestimated. Market looks pretty expensive - IBM looks safe and cheap to me, unless you think the business is completely falling apart. Company has proved to be very adaptable and financially very well run.

Unless you're a Berkshire junkie, it's more than you will ever want to know, at 1000+ pages. Personally, I do enjoy referring to it from time to time.

And Tim wrote what I thought was an excellent book on investing: http://www.amazon.com/Pick-Stocks-Like-Warren-Buffett/dp/0071357696/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449537903&sr=8-1&keywords=timothy+vick

What do you think the odds are they come up with levels of formaldehyde that are Cali Phase 2 Compliant standards? From valuewalk: http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/12/whitney-tilson-thinks-martin-shkrei-g-ds-work/ Anyone know how to get onto Tilson email list. I would enjoy reading it strait from him. Here is how you get on - email Leila, his assistant and ask to be added: If someone forwarded you this email and you would like to be added to my email list to receive emails like this one roughly once a week, please email Leila at [email protected].

Ditto on VRX

I think his average is a little over 5. He started buying much earlier than 2014, Q4.

Yesterday, I thought I heard Monish explicitly state that he will not invest more than 10% in any one position. But if it grows well beyond 10%, that's ok, as long as the security is well undervalued - he will hold it. There were several other COFB members in attendance - so please correct me or elaborate. Perhaps the entry % skew is due to international holdings that are not listed and their ommission distorts the final math.

Great stuff Phil - thanks for posting!

Nasty title, but surprised at the quality - thanks for the link.

Wow. Who is he cloning on the FCAU and ZINC positions? He has mentioned that ZINC is his first original idea, and FCAU was from a Columbia student's presentation. So you are saying he is cloning Columbia students? So I also heard on this thread he goes into positions where he expects 2x 3x gains; so how does Brk BAC fit? he seriously expected Brk to triple? Pabrai is so full of contradictions I wonder how anyone can follow what he says..... I don't know his results last year or this year... but it can't be good, GM has gone nowhere and Horeshead....well that's a disaster..... He paid $5-6 for BAC, so looks like a 3X. Most of his GM common was below $20 before he switched to the warrants, so nothing wrong with 50% gain in 3 years. He still may get his 2-3X.

Try page 586 of The Snowball. Actually, it's on 616-617 regarding the arbitration hearing for Gutfreund of Solomon Brothers.

They are usually in February.