VersaillesinNY

Thanks JBird!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/phildemuth/2015/03/26/quote-of-the-year/ “This has basically never happened before in my whole life. I can remember 1½ percent rates. It certainly surprised all the economists. It surprised the people who created the life insurance industry in Japan, who basically all went broke because they guaranteed to pay a 3% interest rate. I think everybody’s been surprised by it, including all the people who are in the economics profession who kind of pretend they knew it all along. But I think practically everybody was flabbergasted. I was flabbergasted when they went low; when they went negative in Europe – I’m really flabbergasted. How many in this room would have predicted negative interest rates in Europe? Raise your hands. [No hands go up]. That’s exactly the way I feel. How can I be an expert in something I never even thought about that seems so unlikely. It’s new territory…. “I think something so strange and so important is likely to have consequences. I think it’s highly likely that the people who confidently think they know the consequences – none of whom predicted this – now they know what’s going to happen next? Again, the witch doctors. You ask me what’s going to happen? Hell, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I regard it all as very weird. If interest rates go to zero and all the governments in the world print money like crazy and prices go down – of course I’m confused. Anybody who is intelligent who is not confused doesn’t understand the situation very well. If you find it puzzling, your brain is working correctly.” Charles Munger

The Plot to Free North Korea With Smuggled Episodes of ‘Friends’ http://www.wired.com/2015/03/north-korea/ Recommended documentaries Crossing the line - available on Netflix streaming & youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY0Wlk1BtXA Money And Power in North Korea: Hidden Economy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mmq3NW_FQg

Another glimpse of the meeting while we wait for some serious notes. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-25/munger-mocks-greece-s-idiotic-idea-you-can-vote-yourself-rich

Charlie Rose: Remembering Don Keough - March 19, 2015 http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60534467

A fascinating interview. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-03-24/soros-says-greece-now-lose-lose-game-after-missteps

Nice French-Canadian investors who have found their yardstick in the Graham-Buffett-Fischer-Lynch approach. Francois Rochon was an “early” investor in Fairfax from 1996-1999 and again in 2002. He is a friendly guy and a great networker who has met Prem Watsa, Francis Chou and more recently legendary investor Peter Lynch. From its track record, we can appreciate talented skills in analyzing and picking the right companies in order to build a concentrated portfolio. AUM seems to be $80 M about three years ago, definitely higher now. The fund’s management fee is undisclosed. Like many of us, Giverny seems to get ideas from Berkshire. Here are some companies (past & present) in both “partnerships” portfolios: => Wells Fargo, M&T Bank, Union Pacific, BNSF, Wal-Mart, P&G, BYD and American Express. The second important idea generator for Giverny is Sequoia Fund. Here are some companies (past & present) in both equities portfolios: => Valeant, Precision Castparts, O’Reilly Automotive, Fastenal, Mohawk, Omnicom, Google and Wal-Mart. I’m not taking away Rochon’s credit for cloning the right companies at the right time and outperforming the indexes over the long term. Rochon and his team are also innovators who have generated their own investment ideas: => Berkshire, Fairfax, Bank of the Ozarks, Disney, Buffalo Wild Wings, Resmed and many more. As a fund trying to grow AUM, Giverny doesn’t publicly disclose: - its current top 5-10 positions - its returns net of fees - its cash level Therefore, it’s difficult to evaluate the percentage of Giverny’s portfolio originated from in house ideas versus cloning strategy.

RIP Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Creating Singapore: The life of Lee Kuan Yew http://qz.com/365559/creating-singapore-the-life-of-lee-kuan-yew/ A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew - Council of Foreign Relations http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/49691/fareed-zakaria/a-conversation-with-lee-kuan-yew Munger praises Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew HBS_Remaking_Singapore_class_2009.pdf

Here goes another interview: Mohnish Pabrai and Guy Spier in Conversation with Saurabh Madaan | Talks at Google | March 16th, 2015

Thanks globalfinancepartners.

This year, I have a hard time finding an electronic way to request the paper version of the annual report with the colored cover. I can't do it via the proxyvote nor via the BRK minimalist website. Although, I can order BRK activewear online ::)!

Does anyone know where to find a proxy link for ordering a paper version of the "Annual report" :o?

It's not simple to receive a paper copy of the Annual Report this year. BRK is probably trying to save some paper by discouraging shareholders to make the written request. Annual Report The Annual Report to the Shareholders for 2014 accompanies this proxy statement, but is not deemed a part of the proxy soliciting material. A copy of the 2014 Form 10-K report as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, excluding exhibits, will be mailed to shareholders without charge upon written request to: Sharon L. Heck, Secretary, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., 3555 Farnam Street, Omaha, NE 68131. Such request must set forth a good-faith representation that the requesting party was either a holder of record or a beneficial owner of Class A or Class B Stock of the Corporation on March 4, 2015. Exhibits to the Form 10-K will be mailed upon similar request and payment of specified fees. The 2014 Form 10-K is also available through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Web site (www.sec.gov). Notice_and_Proxy_Statement.PDF

Liberty, That's because Altice's IPO only took place 13 months ago ;).

Altice’s savvy ‘playbook’ fuels rapid growth at telecoms group http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5cf6cd60-bc18-11e4-b6ec-00144feab7de.html#axzz3TSsVJzp6 "Apart from a Nespresso machine, there are few frills at Altice’s office in Geneva. Jeans and open-necked shirts are the standard dress code and easyJet is the airline of choice for the 15 staff members of the Amsterdam-listed, Luxembourg-registered telecoms group. “These guys don’t even have secretaries,” says one investment banker. If Altice were a struggling start-up, this would seem perfectly normal. But in the past 12 months, the group has put up €28bn to transform itself from a relatively small-scale cable group into one of the continent’s leading telecoms operators that oversees 35,000 employees. The pace of expansion has wowed investors: since its initial public offering just over a year ago, Altice’s share price has risen 197 per cent, giving it a stock market capitalisation of more than €20.5bn. The company’s rapid growth — recent acquisitions include Portugal Telecom and a controlling stake in SFR, France’s second-largest mobile operator — has led some analysts to wonder how far the group can go. In just over a decade, the business set up by Franco-Israeli billionaire Patrick Drahi has evolved from a project to roll up French cable assets into a burgeoning media empire. And Altice has no intention of stopping. “It’s not that we sit down with a map every day, but we are very open to a lot of projects and we go very fast,” says Dennis Okhuijsen, chief financial officer. Altice is a holding group that draws on the experience of Mr Drahi and his team in the cable sector. Many of them honed their skills either as an employee or a banker to Liberty Global, the world’s biggest cable company. Mr Drahi sold a regional French business to John Malone, founder of Liberty Global, in 1999. Like Liberty Global, Altice relies on its savvy use of capital markets to fund its growth. Mr Okhuijsen, for example, used to be treasurer at Liberty Global. While there, he built a stable of relationships with leading banks and learnt how to use debt and equity issuance to minimise costs. [...] "

Well, talking about the wolf, the timing couldn't be better; let's take a look at his recently published annual letter. http://www.wintergreenfund.com/downloads/wintergreen_fund_annual_report_20141231.pdf wintergreen_fund_annual_report_20141231.pdf

David Winters had a good start, he was mentored by Max Heine and Michael Price. One of the problem is that he opened his Wintergreen fund prior to the financial debacle. From 2006-2008, you could spot him on Consuelo Mack wealthtrack and cnbc preaching his optimism on the stock market. Winters was clearly raising funds and got burned like most of the value shops during the crash. At Wesco’s annual meetings, he used to ask his lollapalooza questions and played the faithful Munger-Buffett fan. He seems to be a nice guy although he also seems to have lost it during the Coke compensation drama. David Winters took it to a personal level and openly criticized Buffett for abstaining during the Coke vote. After that, his fund sold its entire BRK position. In retrospect, Wintergreen's shareholders got negatively impacted by the sale given BRK strong performance. Even if Winters doesn’t advocate smoking; I couldn’t invest in his fund due to its permanent large exposure to tobacco companies (18.2% of the portfolio as of Jan 2015) and comfortable management fee. I think he is making too much noise about Coke while only having 5% or $105 million of his fund invested in the company. Buffett’s recent comments will adversely impact Wintergreen fund's ability to grow its shareholders base while under performing the market. David Winters should focus on delivering performance to its remaining shareholders instead of being a pain in the neck (excuse my French).

Attached is Warren's recent interview with a German newspaper. It seems that Buffett is starting a PR campaign in order to buy more businesses in Europe. Warren_Buffett’s_German_To-Do_List_·_Handelsblatt_Global_Edition.pdf

My mistake sleepydragon. Journalists like alarmist tones in order to increase their audience. As a BRK shareholder, I feel that management is transparent and the Newsweek article goes to the trash bin.

It's clear to me that Newsweek is often alarmist and wrong.

The Brazilian judge and Porsche driver has a curious definition of Batista's insider trading case: "Eike had insider information that he used to obtain profits. He is like the woman who cheats, and the shareholders are like her husband: By the time they found out it was too late.”

Aswath Damodaran - "Valuation: Four Lessons to Take Away" - Talks at Google - Feb 17, 2015 This guy is just great!

LC, Are you suggesting to set up the next Cobf meeting at a NY cigar club?

Mark Mobius on investing in Cuba - Feb 17, 2015: http://t.co/GTraYHHTTA

It seems that Batista has now lost 100% of his fortune... and a Fabergé egg. "Authorities raided billionaire Eike Batista’s mansion in Rio de Janeiro this morning, impounding seven vehicles, his mobile phone and 90,000 reais in cash, among other assets, according to a police spokesman. The action came after Brazilian federal judge Flavio Roberto de Souza this week ordered the seizures of financial assets of Batista, two of his sons, his ex-wife and the mother of his third child in his trial for alleged insider trading and market manipulation. The police raid comes as the 58-year-old struggles to pay down debt he owes to banks and sovereign-wealth fund Mubadala Development Co. and threatens to plunge the fallen magnate further into the red. Four of the startups he founded as part of his EBX group have gone bankrupt, beginning with its flagship OGX -- now known as OGPar -- in October 2013, followed by shipbuilder OSX, miner MMX and energy firm Eneva, formerly known as MPX. Batista, whose fortune peaked at $35 billion in 2012 before his commodity and logistics empire collapsed, is $1.2 billion in the hole, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, giving him the rare distinction of being a “negative billionaire.” “All he has left now is debt,” said Marcelo Battisti, a former credit manager at Banco Itau who now heads his own consulting firm. “In normal conditions, becoming a negative billionaire is almost impossible, because most billionaires don’t tend to take on a lot of debt. Do you think Bill Gates has a mortgage?” [...]" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-06/brazil-s-negative-billionaire-batista-faces-asset-seizures http://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-authorities-seize-cars-documents-from-eike-batista-1423231189