Shawn

Ok hello Community ! I've been thinking of this for some time now and it has me curious so I just wanted to hear some of your opinions. My question is why not use a bank in the same manner as how Buffett & Prem use insurance to invest in businesses ? And assuming FDIC deposits are out the questions what are sources of capital Banks can also use ? I'd like to hear the pros and cons of using a small bank as a form of float to invest in other businesses.

Most of Eike's net worth rising the way it did was a result of wild stock rises anyways. I don't think he was every truly worth more than $2 or $3 billion . Either way it's unfortunate, and goes to show you - man leverage kills.

LOL Buffett, Munger and Prem can't help that they've influenced a lot of people and have fans. Maybe it would be nice tho if a list of the similar names came up too when people signed up to possibly deter them from having the same name as another poster could work.

My Curve 9360 just broke a few days ago :( my battery just blacked out on me :( I'm upgrading to the BlackBerry Z10 this week.

Research In Motion/BlackBerry I'm also trying to generate more cash to put to the side in case a buying opportunity arises. My average cost on BB right now is $11. Haven't found anything else outside of EXOR and Henderson Land Development companies (which I think people should look closer at, especially Henderson).

Did I read that right ? Buffett was a teacher for 10 years at Omaha University ? I had no idea lol, that's pretty cool. In the video he doesn't look a day over 25.... Long live Warren Buffett 8) I'll definitely check out the documentary.

Ok here's the repost. Here are some securities I've been researching - I have not read their annual reports yet, I have just recently found them. These are securities I narrowed it down to: Symetra Financial Holdings (SYA) - it's an American insurance company - 0.46x P/B , 9x P/E - 1.65B is the price (market cap) , Equity is 3.6 billion - steady earnings with no deficits as far back as 2005 - huge book value growth representing something like 1200% growth in 5 years - good Returns on Equity (definitely enticing at half of book) - dividend yield of 2.1% (interesting) - minimal debt (close to half a billion in long term debt) - I think the investment portfolio is/was run by value investors I don't know yet - what pulled me in ? White Mountain insurance & General RE each own 14% (20% consolidated for WTM), what made me look a bit closer is that WTM has warrants in Symetra that are exercisable at $11.49 (the stock is currently at $14 as of Friday). And they expire August 2014. WTM currently owns 17 million shares and has warrants to buy another 9 million shares and there are 138 million shares outstanding - I think WTM is going to acquire Symetra (and no I'm not betting on this idea but rather the fundamentals and pricing of the company) Homex Development Corp (HXM) - Mexican home builder - 0.2x p/b , price is $255M - $271M cash , 1.7B in working capital, 3.9B in total assets, must investigate debt levels - strong steady profit growth - tremendous revenue growth - high ROE - what makes me curious is housing in Mexico (won't really change my opinion though), & the debt levels Banco Macro/Macro Bank - Argentina Bank - 2x P/E, 0.7x P/B - 20% profit margins - avg. ROE is roughly 22% over 10 year period - never lost money in a decade, good revenue growth - $1 B in cash, price is 864M, Equity is 1.2 billion - managed to grow at a very satisfactory pace over a 5 year period Silver Standard Resources (SSRI) - Silver mining company - 0.6x P/B , 9x P/E - earnings are poor IMO - less than stellar ROE - balance sheet looks good - $650M is the price , Net worth is $1B - Now I rarely if ever touch mining (only time I ever invested was with Inmet and that was pure luck it had the outcome it had), and although long term I wouldn't hold it - in the short term it might prove successful... but I ehh I'm not sure.... As you can see I've been looking outside North America *shrugs* there's some attractive companies internationally... If anybody has additional information on them please share your thoughts, criticisms would be greatly appreciated as well.

Oh man I thought I was going crazy LOL, I raced up & down and couldn't find my thread. It's ok I'll make another later tonight and post it in the right section this time !

Happy Birthday Tim McElvaine !! Thank you for attending the shareholder dinner, I got to listen and learn some interesting things about Rainmaker Entertainment and your journeys in the movie business. Stay positive and healthy, I wish you the best !

I've had a white Blackberry Curve 9360 for 2 years now (maybe a bit longer) and I love it. I was waiting on the Q10 but I like the design of the Q5 better. I'm looking to upgrade to a red Blackberry Q5 when it comes out. However, if I don't like the Q5 I figure I'll just change to the Z10. I like that the Q5 comes in different colors. It'd be awesome if the rest of the Q5 phones could come in many different colors.

I can't even lie I got one of my best ideas from here *shrugs* Posco being one. The board has helped me learn smaller details and point of views I wouldn't have seen or wasn't thinking about. Maaaann it wouldn't surprise me if he was taking ideas from on here LOL. It's a small world after all....

I'm writing my level 1 in December, this would be my second time writing it. I failed it the first time but I was congested with work & school (bit off more than I could chew at the time). Level 1 is not very hard, most of it is 1st to 2nd year finance, economics, business courses. Are you writing yours in June ? If so I wish you the best of luck brother.

Mayweather is going to go down as one of the Greatest Boxers of this era.

Wow congrats, good move lol

Awesome Thanks, friend !!!

Apologies I don't know how to resize pictures on here :( I didn't think it'd be that huge. It was much smaller from my phone.

Apologies but I felt compelled to make this thread.... 5 Days later I'm still wrapping my mind around what happened lol.... I want to thank you all, I had the time of my life, both at Norm's & Sanjeev's dinners. It was incredible, I learned more about value investing in 2 days than I have in a very long time. I got to meet Francis Chou & watch as he educated a crowd on every topic & stock that came his way till midnight. I got to meet Tim McElvaine & I learned some very important facts about the movie business & a company called Rainmaker Entertainment (which has been on my list for some time). I even got the chance to meet Mohnish Pabrai which was cool as hell. I MUST thank Keith & Doug Smith for educating me about community banks & Doug for pointing out some incredibly fascinating things about technology. I wish I could have spoke with Keith more about the community banks I have some very interesting ideas in regards to them. Norm is an awesome dude, great sense of humor & overall just a good person. I wish I could have spoken with Alex Li, I didn't get the chance to hear his ideas. Overall, Sanjeev man you & Alnesh are a rockstars for putting together the whole ordeal. It was a treat to meet all of you. I'm STILL trying to wrap my mind around everything lol. I shook hands with and had a conversation with Francis Chou, it felt so surreal - I hate to sound like a groupie but I've only dreamed of such an occurrence but to actually see, meet and speak to the man ? Just surreal... I want to thank Doug & Keith Smith, Sheni, Jack, Chris Tsai, Tobias, Yuri, Norm, Tim McElvaine, Sanjeev, Alnesh, Trevor, Wilson, Ali, John Pfeffer, and many others (apologies if I spell any of your names wrong :( ). I chase after bargain stocks & opportunity & love value investing with all my heart & soul. It's my way of life. I look forward to going again next year. But mark my words, there will come a day where it will be my shareholder meetings you guys will come and visit. Oooooh & one more thing.... the highlight of my night at Sanjeev's dinner ? http://i.imgur.com/8mLLOUD.jpg That picture made my year..... Yep.... incredible, at my very first major social outing I get to snap a picture with Prem Watsa. It is 4:45am EST & I'm STILL having problems sleeping cuz everything was so overwhelming lolol. Thank you guys a million times over. Regards, Shawn

I like the boards as is but another good one is vanilla forums, they have some pretty cool features & stuff.

Is there a limit to the number of people allowed to go ? I was wondering if there are still spots left and if possible - would I be able to bring a friend as well ? Sanjeev no matter the amount of people who may not go please don't cancel it ! I think it'd be a great trip & opportunity to see these organizations from the inside.

And the markets will give ZERO cares on that day while the bull market rages on ! (but if it does, I will be ready with coin to take advantage of opportunity)

I would like to go, should be a lovely event.

I tried to get one during first week of release but it was sold out :( maybe next month

btw how do the rest of you guys feel about areas like Australia, Brazil & Canada's real estate markets ?

Fascinating.... So that's Canada, South America (Brazil), Australia, New Delhi and China..... And so I will sit piling on cash for when the inevitable happens......

IMO this dude has some of the best interviews, I love how he holds no punches & speaks his mind.