VersaillesinNY

He is in NYC speaking at a conference: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102712411

Here goes Giverny’s 13F and its top positions. http://whalewisdom.com/filer/giverny-capital-inc In addition to Berkshire & Sequoia, their third source of ideas seems to be Markel (CarMax, Disney & Markel). AUM at $ 456 M, François & his team are doing well.

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. Bill Gates Experience is a comb that life gives to you when you have become bald. Ringo Bonavena Sex: the thing that takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble. John Barrymore A friend is one who sees through you and still enjoys the view. Wilma Askinas

Find attached a contrarian view on investing in Russia from Kopernik Global investors (1.5 Billion AUM). Russia - It’s not me, it’s you “Why would you have any money invested in Russian stocks?” “Why are you so bullish on Russia?” “Don’t you think Russia is risky?” “Is Russia un-investable?” “Are the risks there too murky and complex to even assess?” “Are there risks there that are unknowable?” Kopernik_Perspective_-_Russia_FINAL.pdf

The WSJ had a decent blog: http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/05/02/live-analysis-the-2015-berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting/#entry_60

Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own. Baron de Rothschild The five most expensive words in investing are, this time it is different. John Templeton The trade has increased so much over the last five years that everybody is now involved: women, old people, even children. De la Vega - Confusion de Confusiones The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool. Richard Feynman The greatest enemies of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge. Stephen Hawking

Stan Druckenmiller: Zero-Interest Rates Unnecessary Now - 40 min interview on Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-04-15/stan-druckenmiller-zero-interest-rates-unnecessary-now

Wharton Power Hour with Eduardo Luz, Zone President for Heinz North America

This thread reminds me a good story on Finland's kids accounts ;D. To Find Insider Trading, Follow The Kids' Money http://www.npr.org/2013/04/09/176579895/to-find-insider-trading-follow-the-kids-money [RESEARCHERS have discovered the investment accounts of extremely young Finns tended to have surprisingly good returns. Intrigued, they looked closer at their stock market trades and came to the conclusion that some of these accounts were being used for illegal insider trading. The study was undertaken by Henk Berkman of the University of Auckland, Paul D. Koch of the University of Kansas and P. Joakim Westerholm of the University of Sydney Business School. It is planned to be published in the Journal of Finance. The researchers studied the activity of half a million stock market accounts between the periods of 1995 and 2010. They specifically chose Finland for their study because of the great detail held by the clearing house Euroclear Finland. “We were very surprised when we first found this evidence,” Koch told the American broadcaster National Public Radio. “We were not looking for the result we found. The group from age zero to ten seemed to outperform all the others.” The unusually prescient trades were not made by the children themselves; instead they were almost certainly made by their parents. “Guardians are willing to trade on behalf of their children to earn these extraordinary returns,” Koch continued. “But they’re reticent to trade through their own accounts. One reason would be a fear of getting caught breaking an insider trading law.” Individuals who are privy to inside information know their own investments are closely monitored. A supposed way to get around this is to trade on accounts that are not in their own names, such as accounts set up for their children.]

How one trader made $2.4 million off a tweet http://fortune.com/2015/04/01/2-4-million-off-a-tweet/ "Someone made a big bet on a company minutes before news came out about a possible acquisition. Was it insider trading or a well-programed computer that placed the bet? [...]"

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. [...] "