jberkshire01

Book on the topic: http://www.amazon.com/Corrupt-Cities-Practical-Guide-Prevention/dp/1558155112

Compilation attached. The_Best_of_Charlie_Munger_-_1994-2011.pdf

Chris Bloomstran's follow-up interview with Kate Welling: http://www.valueinvestingworld.com/2016/04/kate-welling-talks-with-chris-bloomstran.html

I've found some of the most useful bit of history, in the context of becoming a better investor, are in books that are essentially business biographies. Some are specifically a biography of a certain business, and some are of the founder of the business that go in depth about the business. I've been collecting good titles at the following link, and if anyone has any others that are worth adding, please let me know: http://astore.amazon.com/valuinvewor0c-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=54

Oldie but goodie (need to buy a cheap used copy since it's out of print): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671228498?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0671228498&linkCode=xm2&tag=valuinvewor0c-20 Insurance accounting book (PDF): https://www.dropbox.com/s/rxspk05oanhkey7/Insurance%20Accounting%20Book.pdf

I didn't go through this whole thread, so I apologize if this Munger clip from CNBC a year ago has already been posted, but as always, Charlie is to the point: http://www.valueinvestingworld.com/2014/04/berkshires-munger-high-frequency.html

And if you haven't seen the biography by Carl Van Doren, I highly recommend it too (also available as an audiobook): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140152601/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller= Of the biographies, it is 1 of the 2 (the Isaacson one being the other) on Franklin that Munger has recommended.

I think high valuations (largely because of Nifty Fifty thinking) and high inflation expectations were two big culprits. Sequoia specially pointed those things out in the attached letter (from April 1974). Sequoia_Fund_-_April_1_1974_letter.pdf

Dylan Grice's latest: http://www.edelweissjournal.com/pdfs/EdelweissJournal-014.pdf Edelweiss_November_2013_-_The_Language_of_Inflation_–_By_Dylan_Grice.pdf

For those interested, attached are the two letters Grantham wrote on resource limitations from a couple of years ago. The second one especially gets into potash, phosphate, etc. Jeremy_Grantham_2011_-_Resource_Limitations_Parts_1_and_2.pdf

Grice's Latest "On the intrinsic value of gold, and how not to be a turkey" http://www.edelweissjournal.com/pdfs/EdelweissJournal-013.pdf Edelweiss_-_31_July_2013.pdf

Hussman with a related comment this week: "In nearly every effort worth pursuing, I think the secret to eventual success is the same. Find a set of well-informed daily actions that you’re convinced will produce good results if you follow them consistently. Then follow them consistently. In a world where randomness, frustrations, and events outside of one’s control play an enormous role in day-to-day outcomes, the best measure of day-to-day success is whether or not those daily actions were followed. Over time, the results take care of themselves. But Arnie was right. There’s not a single road to easy street that doesn’t run through the sewer at one point or another." And this Steve Jobs quote which I came across this weekend is kind of related as well: “That’s been one of my mantras—focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Mark Hanson thinks so, and has some interesting thoughts on the subject: http://mhanson.com/archives/1329 The conclusion: In closing, during the “Bubble-Years’ of 2003 to 2007 not everybody took out an exotic high-leverage, stated income, 100% HELOC, 5/1 Interest Only or Pay Option ARM. But it doesn’t matter, as real estate “prices” using the “comparable sales valuation methodology” are moved at the margin. And when the incremental buyer has the firepower to pay whatever it takes to buy the house using high-leverage, exotic loans, as homeowners and speculators did from 2003 to 2007; or the cheapest money in history thanks to the Fed like PE firms — who regularly paying 10% to 20% over appraised value/list price using other metrics like UST yields, cap-rates, and “forecasted” house price appreciation as guides — they push up the prices of ALL houses. Again, all it takes is 3 comparable sales to change the value of all houses within a one square mile area both lower and higher. Based on the data presented above on the typical homebuyer that must use a mortgage to buy US housing is back in bubble territory. Obviously, some regions like AZ, CA, FL, NV are extremely over-heated, back in bubble-territory relative to 2003-07, and will correct sharply on the “surge” in rates and some regions may just slow down. But make no mistake about it…a 150bps jump in rates — or 43% increase — will have serious consequences to house sales and prices in Q3, Q4 and beyond to a market that has been completely reliant on the lowest rates in history for the past 2 years. Just remember what happened to housing when the 2010 Homebuyer Tax Credit sunsetted in June…sales fell over 30% month-over-month in July…the middle of the busy home buying season! And the “surge” in rates took far more leverage out of this housing market than the loss of the $8k tax credit…that’s a certainty.

http://www.amazon.com/Nontechnical-Petroleum-Exploration-Drilling-Production/dp/1593702698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369342234&sr=1-1&keywords=Nontechnical+Guide+to+Petroleum+Geology%2C+Exploration%2C+Drilling+%26+Production%2C+3rd+Ed.

Great post and comments: http://www.viewfromtheblueridge.com/2013/05/17/dumb-dumber/