cubsfan

Merkhet - thanks or the detailed post today. The Bloomberg video with Jim Millstein was excellent.

More on the POS LifeLock for you: http://web.archive.org/web/20100521030228/http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2010/03/lifelock-will-pay-12-million-settle-charges-ftc-35-states “In truth, the protection they provided left such a large hole … that you could drive that truck through it,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, referring to a LifeLock TV ad showing a truck painted with Davis’s Social Security number driving around city streets.

Lifelock is a joke. The CEO who puts his SS# on the side of those trucks has had his accounts hacked 12 times! He doesn't report it or prosecute because he doesn't want investors to figure out what a scam his company is. But he was repeatedly the victim of identity theft so the FTC almost charged them with false advertising.

Excellent video - thanks for posting.

Along those lines - here was a slide from Guy's presentation at Tilson's Value Investor Congress - in regards to "Building a Better Investment Process": 1. Stop Checking the Stock Price 2. If Someone tries to sell you something – don’t buy it. 3. Don’t Talk to Management 4. Gather Investment Research in the Right Order 5. Discuss Investment Ideas Only With People Who Have No Axe to Grind 6. Never Buy or Sell Stocks when the Market is Open 7. If a Stock Tumbles After You Buy It, Don’t Sell It For Two Years 8. Don’t Talk About Your Current Investments I really enjoyed that presentation.

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/warren-buffett-believer-idolizing-the-oracle-of-omaha-sGRvKqpHSY~3C8CPkSoYJg.html Short clip with Guy.

This is definitely last years.

Might tell him to watch this a couple of times. I think the first 20 minutes is helpful in terms of understanding you need to withstand losses after you have laid out your capital and can get to scale. For people unfamiliar with accounting, it pulls in some of the concepts.

Yes, Greenblatt has talked about the adjustments they make to the financial statements and building the database with his team. In addition, he made a point of discussing how poor the international databases were. From what I remember - he didn't want to go into too much specifics and completely give away his edge. I assumed plenty of the performance edge is due to his superior data.

Hellsten - nice paper, thanks for posting.

Here's a book on selling that is the best I've read: http://www.amazon.com/What-Great-Salespeople-Emotional-Connection/dp/0071769714/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409594197&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+bosworth I spent 13 years selling enterprise software to the F1000, and another 15 years managing/training software sales people. The Bosworth book is all about doing what is right for your customer - understanding them, listening to them, shutting your mouth and stop turning buyer's off. Selling is not that hard - but like investing, your emotions get in the way. When you finally figure out that it's all about what your customer needs - and not what you need - then you can become a great salesperson. Surprisingly, a large number of salespeople never figure that out. This book is especially good with selling complex intangibles (software) - but certainly investment plans would fit the bill as well. Edit: The Spin Selling books are great as well.

Last fall Guy did what I thought was one of the most insightful interviews I've ever read. At least, it had an impact on me - as it was just as much about how to live your life as it was about investing. If you're interested, the interview was with Columbia Business School: http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/filemgr?&file_id=7314104 I don't know Guy at all - but he has a very impressive track record (read his annual report if you need proof). Just as importantly, he's a willing and able teacher - much like Monish. So I'm looking forward to reading his book.

Norm - really enjoyed this interview - nice job. I just ordered the book.

You guys are cruel! I'll be looking forward to your critical reviews.

Last year Charlie spoke for a little over 2 hours.

You won't have any problem parking. They have a lot, and there is plenty of street parking.

Amazon goes into the "too hard pile" for me, but I must admit I became more interested after reading Nygren's , Chad's and Arnie Alsin's take on how they value AMZN: Nygren under "You bought what?" http://www.oakmark.com/Commentary/Commentary-Archives/2Q14--Bill-Nygren.htm?rf=dr http://www.peridotcapital.com/2014/06/profitless-amazon-myth-lives-on-thanks-to-lazy-financial-media.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PeridotCapitalist+%28Peridot+Capital+Blog%29 http://alsincapital.com/blog/2013/10/24/is-amazon-a-500-stock It starts to look more like a Tom Russo investment, where the "capacity to suffer" is playing out.

"You make your most money in bear markets, you just don't realize it at the time" - Shelby Cullom Davis "You can either have cheap stocks or you can have good news, but you can't have both" - Joe Rosenberg "In investing, if you are good, you're right six times out of ten. You're never going to be right nine times out of ten" - Peter Lynch

But 80 children killed - how awful is that.

If I understand Joel Greenblatt correctly - I believe he says 2 years. If you do good work, and your analysis is solid, the market should agree with you in 2 years. So I've tried to be much more patient in that regard and my preferred hold target is 2 years. If it appreciates a lot before then, I'll reassess the time period. If it's a wide moat stock with great compounding potential, then I think you need to be much more careful about selling.

I think you might need to dig a little deeper on Calamos. The insider buying under "John Calamos, SR" is really the company buying back shares under it's already announced buyback program. This fooled a lot of people, including me. I sold my shares as the company performance is pretty awful (losing assets under management) - and the company is still run as a personal piggy bank for the Calamos family. The insider buying had drawn me in originally - but it's an illusion. It may turn around - but I find it interesting that a company that should be concerned about "stewardship of capital" for companies it invests in - may not be run for the benefit of all of it's shareholders with it's current shareholder structure. Here are a few old comments re: it's dual shareholder structure: John Calamos Sr. founded his eponymous firm in 1977, serving as chairman and CEO as well as co-CIO. His nephew, Nick Calamos, serves as the other co-CIO and as a member of the board of directors. Although Calamos is now a publicly traded firm, it continues to resemble a private company in many respects. Much of this is because the Calamos family holds 97% of the firm's voting rights, leaving it with complete control over not only the operating and investment strategies employed by the firm, but also the makeup of the board of directors. Holders of the company's Class B shares, which have 10 times the voting rights of the firm's Class A shares and are held entirely by the Calamos family, have the right to appoint two of the six members of the company board. The family's dominant voting position also ensures that the remaining board members are to their liking. As with many family-controlled firms, we take issue with some of Calamos' related-party transactions, which include leases on aircraft and buildings used by the firm, catering services, and other dealings with businesses privately owned by the family.

Nice presentation, thanks for posting video.

Norm - very insightful article - as Buffett would say - "better to be approximately right, than precisely wrong".

Also, are there sites to pull the 10 year financials like Morningstar or Valueline (free or paid)? For the 10 yr financials, I use Morningstar and GuruFocus. GuruFocus does a decent job with Asian companies: http://www.gurufocus.com For the 10 year data, you need a premium membership with an add on for Asia. But I'm pretty happy with it.

Chai - thanks for posting the Barnett you-tube clip - really enjoyed that.