Grenville
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Posts posted by Grenville
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And I think that Barra probably is the right person to make sure that this change occurs. She's like the Moynihan of GM -- at least, that's the hope.
Not a ringing endorsement some in this board would say (not me as you know).
I actually think Mary Barra is behind the ball. She better start doing a better job.
Thanks for those links Plan! It does sound like she is behind the ball on this big time, and selling cars is not like getting people to deposit money in a bank. She needs to be good on the PR front whereas Moynihan didn't need to be good at PR to turn BAC around, he needed to get them out of their legal issues. I don't know if I'd be buying a car from a company with endless recalls.
Give her some time. Let's see how she proceeds after all of the recalls have been vomited out. We're judging her too quickly.
Fair enough.
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And I think that Barra probably is the right person to make sure that this change occurs. She's like the Moynihan of GM -- at least, that's the hope.
Not a ringing endorsement some in this board would say (not me as you know).
I actually think Mary Barra is behind the ball. She better start doing a better job.
Thanks for those links Plan! It does sound like she is behind the ball on this big time, and selling cars is not like getting people to deposit money in a bank. She needs to be good on the PR front whereas Moynihan didn't need to be good at PR to turn BAC around, he needed to get them out of their legal issues. I don't know if I'd be buying a car from a company with endless recalls.
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Yes. I hope they set it up so we here in the US/CAD can directly invest.
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For those of you that did not make it to Omaha - here's a little taste:
Great stuff - how many CEO's do this kind of thing?
that was great. thanks!
+1 Awesome!
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Interesting interview with the author of Dream Big in The New York Times.
It hadn't struck me until reading the interview that one of the more important aspects of the BRK relationship with 3G might be to expand the geographic footprint of the BRK's deal. As Warren remarked at the annual meeting, the phone isn't ringing from outside the United States. With their brewery work, they strike me as having a much broader world view and, more important, a substantial set of contacts.
Nice little interview. I didn't realize Warren recommended the book during the AGM!
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Nice color and good stuff. I like Fairfax building its portfolio across the globe in various niches like this where they can build a platform to invest more in a region.
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Thanks for the update and clarifying with him!
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From a Forbes article below:
"Seeking Shelter, Warren Buffett Limits Receivables From Major Banks"
“Someday,” he tells Forbes, “it won’t matter how large the level of assets on J.P. Morgan’s balance sheet. There is no risk control system that is effective if the numbers get big enough. I don’t believe the reserves they set up against loss in their derivatives. All that netting stuff doesn’t mean anything. I don’t want to be intertwined with any bank as to significant amounts of receivables. I can’t get that intertwined.”I'd definitely like to see this interview if there is video or a transcript.
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there is a good chance Coke alters the plan voluntarily, quietly on a friday afternoon with an 8k. :)
+1
I hope you're right. I'm glad the media isn't letting this one go. Should add pressure on KO.
I don't know if they have to revote if they want to reduce the numbers and lengthen out the time.
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More color from Warren.
Interview with Betty Liu
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"Ultimately the votes are not binding when it comes to compensation. Coke does know that he's not happy. Even if he voted against it, would that have changed the vote…The approval level would be a bit lower."
Actually, the vote to approve Executive Comp is just advisory (non-binding), but the votes for the equity plan (to issue more options and shares) must have shareholder approval to get issued.
And I think if Buffett took a public stand before the vote, there is a decent chance he could have affected the outcome.
From Coke's recent 8-K just filed.
Item 2. Advisory Vote to Approve Executive Compensation. Votes regarding the advisory vote to approve executive compensation were as follows:
Item 3. Approval of The Coca-Cola Company 2014 Equity Plan. Votes to approve The Coca-Cola Company 2014 Equity Plan were as follows:
You are right regarding the equity plan. You need votes for it to pass. I should have remembered that based on the interview with Buffett and Becky.
update:
just looked at the 8K results
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/21344/000130817914000200/lcocacola_8k.htm
Buffett approved executive comp but abstained on the equity plan. Yeah, it does change my opinion against Buffett given that he could have voted against the equity plan and been vocal that he want's fewer shares authorized and released over a longer time period. If he did this openly, Coke could have fixed the plan. Instead we have what I'm sure are compensation consultants driving important decisions regarding the company.
He can also be quite clear that he's ok with executive compensation just not the equity plan as structured.
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I would like to hear what Charlie really had to say about it.
I hope someone does ask him…maybe at the BRK AGM!
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It is a bit puzzling, but I do appreciate the fact that Becky questioned him about it and he expressed his disapproval on television for Coke management & BOD to hear.
Ultimately the votes are not binding when it comes to compensation. Coke does know that he's not happy. Even if he voted against it, would that have changed the vote…The approval level would be a bit lower.
I think Buffett hints in the interview that he doesn't want to alienate the board and I'm sure to him he cares more about keeping Muhtar focused on growing Coke than having him kicked out over compensation. Buffett's been around the block and he took the Dale Carnegie courses. Buffett doesn't want to sell any coke ever, so he cares more about the business being managed well versus causing a big stink on compensation.
I would have preferred him voicing his opinion before the vote, but I think he didn't want to alienate management. He wants them to continue talking to him and not do something stupid with the business like the folks at Kraft. He was vocal about Kraft and he voted with his feet.
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Very nice pix, Sanjeev!!!
+1
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Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing.
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Largest single one-time investment ever at roughly $550 million. FFH has added to positions to eventually be larger investments (e.g. Blackberry), but not this large of an investment in one step to my knowledge. $550m is a huge investment and no one on the board seems to have blinked.
Ahh…that makes sense, I was thinking in terms of overall investment. I didn't realize this was their largest initial investment, thank you for pointing that out!
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I guess Roger Lace and company were finally comfortable with their DD, or a least enough for FFH's largest single equity investment to date (at least from my memory). Roadshow pitch attached.
Cheers
JEast
JEast, do you mean the largest investment this year or ever? Or is your comment in reference to them investing that much this year given their current macro outlook?
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I second that. Thanks for your summary! Glad to hear that all the weeks events went well. I'm glad you made it through all the events with flu.
It's great having three days of packed events. I missed out this year.
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Very nice! Enjoyed the read and analysis. I'm glad he decided to write a post with his thoughts. Thanks AZ Value!
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It is worth it. By about 2/3 through it, it becomes very clear what the problem with HFT is, where they describe the HFT strategies but also how exchanges works behind the scenes, will all kinds of hidden staircases and trapdoors that most people don't know exist (brokers selling their own customers' info to HFT firms so they can be front-run; 150 different order types, some described by 20 pages of inscrutable legalese, with no obvious purpose except to allow a HFTer to not do the trade that he publicly appears to want to do or to get a kickback without providing the liquidity that the kickback is supposed to incentivize? yeah, that's just random luck that all that stuff is there and that the exchanges make most of their profit from HFT..).
Interesting! Hopefully all that information will lead to real changes at the exchanges or a push by customers to places like IEX.
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I thought this anecdote from the book about IEX was pretty funny.
They called their exchange Investors Exchange. They shortened it to IEX because when they registered the website, they realized there was a problem.. See for yourself:
www.investorsexchange.com
;D
That is funny. Looking forward to reading the book.
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This is hilarious. It's in regard to the interview with Brad Katsuyama from Tuesday.
BATS Forced to Correct Statements by President O’Brien on How Its Exchanges Work
BATS Global Markets Inc., under pressure from the New York Attorney General’s office, corrected statements made by a senior executive during a televised interview this week about how its exchanges work.BATS President William O’Brien, during a CNBC interview Tuesday, said BATS’s Direct Edge exchanges use high-speed data feeds to price stock trades. Thursday, the exchange operator said two of its exchanges, EDGA and EGX, use a slower feed, known as the Securities Information Processor, to price trades.
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It's free now for me.
If You Find You Are Unintentionally Banned From This Forum...
in General Discussion
Posted
Sweet, it now works from my wife's phone. Haven't been able to browse from her phone in a long time. It was the only way I could keep up with the board when on trips.
Thanks!