Hawks

Believe I saw in Fars that they were modern Russian missiles. Whether they came from Iran or Russia directly I have no idea.

Uccmal Thanks for the "Yemeni attack on SA oil depot" info. That helped me find the Fars News Agency (Iran). That newspaper definately has more detailed news re the ME than found in North American media. Worth reading their take on events and then compare it with the American.

goldfinger Re "Yemeni attack on Saudi oil depots", do you have the article or reference for that? never saw that in the mainstream media.

Having seen the media headlines of the last few days, and crude oil market pricing yesterday, my gut tells me we may be close to or at the point of "maximum pessimism". Anyone else thinking the same?

tombgrt Agree with your last point re Euro companies. I own Vivendi, Philips, Sanofi. Any you own or would recommend?

Congrats Sanjeev. Every day, I look forward to the postings on this board. Quality discussions and recommendations, thanks to you.

+1

I seem to remember, from years ago, that there were lots of people (maybe some on this board) who criticized Prem for NOT having a dividend like other insurance companies. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I'll invest with the likes of Prem, Warren and Sanjeev anytime.

Just added to my holdings in FFH. Company becoming stronger and well protected every day.

Yes, and I still remember not so long ago, the day that FFH crashed to about the $50-60 range. That's when the shorts were all over the company and the false reports were being published. Remember those days? Prem and company sure "have come a long way baby" since then. Hats off to them and to those investors who continued to believe in FFH.

Added to my position today. Good entry point into India imo. Can't wait for Prem to make his picks.

Assuming further devaluation of the Euro vs U.S. dollar, European exporters should stand to benefit from this tailwind. Given what the Swiss National Bank did, don't see Swiss exporters winning here. One European company which could benefit might be Sanofi (France). What companies would you nominate? P.S. I do not own SNY.

Added a little to my positions in bac, c, ssw, phg, ffh.

SYF

+1 Cevian

GSK

west I would say that Morningstar's book is not overly heavy in statistical analysis (although the chapter on "The Importance of Valuation" does have that emphasis). I like how they identify the characteristics of moat status using different actual companies to illustrate their point. Also, they deal with different sectors (energy, consumer, financial, etc etc) re what makes a moat in that sector; I found that section particularly informative. I think you would enjoy it. I bought it on Amazon.

Schwabb711 Appreciate your comments and companies you mention. Will do some research on them. I may have found a new company that might grow into wide moat status, but still too early to tell. It is PAH (Platform Specialty Products). They are a specialty chemical company, accumulating light assets in niche fields, and in multi-industries. Crude oil up or down really is no factor in their business as I understand it; therefore different that some "chemical" cos. Ackman is a main driver and owner getting this co going. I have a small position and still evaluating and researching whether to accumulate more. If you know PAH or have any comments, would be interested in what you think.

Have been reading Morningstar's book "Why Moats Matter". For example they mention JNJ in the healthcare sector and Stericycle in the industrial sector. So I would like to ask board members 2 questions: 1. which companies do you consider to have wide moats and why? 2. are there new companies like spinoffs which may have the potential to be wide moat in the near future? Looking forward to your comments.

FFH below $600.

Not discovering Buffett, Templeton and Cundill until my mid to late 30's.

With the crude oil decline, are refiners like TSO VLO an opportunity in the making? or does their lower input costs get offset by declining fuel prices at the other end? Is anyone into these stocks and has some expertise and experience with the refining business?

1.Contrarian Investment Strategies - love Dreman and "reversion to the mean" 2.Moneyball - talk about value investing in baseball! 3.One up on Wall Street - read it years ago 4.The Most Important Thing 5.The Big Short - expose by Michael Lewis was insightful and love his writing style and wit

atd.b in Toronto should benefit handsomely from increased margins on their gasoline sales at their convenience store operations throughout the world, especially in North America where more customers then pick up treats and snacks, newspapers, etc after filling up. They also are into Europe in a big way and China too. Do your own research however.

Re Pabrai the person and investor: I came to admire and respect him just by reading Spier's book "The Education of a Value Investor". Definately worth a read.