VersaillesinNY

Here's Bill Gross' First Letter As A Fund Manager At Janus http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bill-gross-only-dance-twice-153815259.html

Charlie Munger and the 2014 Daily Journal Annual Meeting - Part Four http://www.forbes.com/sites/phildemuth/2014/10/08/charlie-munger-and-the-2014-daily-journal-annual-meeting-part-four/

Warren Buffet On Investment Strategy | 38 min - Full Interview Fortune MPW with Carol Loomis

Published on Oct 7, 2014 Paul Anka and Warren Buffett give Carol Loomis a musical sendoff at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit.

Thanks ajc. As a complement: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/investment-ideas/ge-general-electric/msg178581/#msg178581

Pretty impressive [Edit: FAKE] email from Bill Gross... And the Greek tragedy continues :( http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-03/bill-gross-s-investor-outlook-on-palace-coups I can add colours to the chameleon, Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, And set the murderous Machiavel to school. -- Henry VI, Part III Dear Friends, Colleagues and Co-workers, For the past 43 years, Pacific Investment Management Co. has been my home, as well as my pride and joy. With great sadness, I must bid her adieu, not because I want to leave, but because I must. It is the natural order of things for all seasons to change; for the next generation must be given its chance. A new epoch is upon us. Ashes to ashes . . . . All those reasons -- plus truth be told, an imminent palace coup -- meant it was time for me to go. Before I depart, however, I offer you this final Investment Outlook, my last IO for you to consider. No cats, no "Man in the Mirror," just a few thoughts for you to reflect upon as the next era -- a newer new normal -- begins. I co-founded PIMCO in 1971, starting with a mere $12 million in assets. Who could have imagined what the company would become during the ensuing 43 years? After four decades as founder, fund manager and mostly as CIO, I guided this firm to managing more than $1.97 trillion in client assets. When I sold the 70 percent stake not held by Pacific Life Insurance Co. to Allianz SE in 2000, the company had a value of $4.7 billion. Not too shabby a track record. I daresay I must have gotten one or two things right during that period. Not that you would know it by the recent press coverage, nor by the whispers in the hallways of Pimco. The immense wealth I helped to create for my colleagues, partners and clients over all that time meant nothing, once Machiavelli’s stratagems were put into play. There is a standard sequence of events for all insurrections, and this one was no different. It included the favored tactics: A public character assassination, the quiet intimations that I had lost it (erratic behavior, dark glasses at a presentation, an elegy to my cat Bob). Add to that a break with a trusted associate, which implied something nefarious about that behavior (How did Mohamed manage to resign from Pimco, yet stay employed at Allianz? I couldn't pull that one off). These hints and allegations were easy to make, especially given my natural eccentricities. But I put this question to you: Was I so different from any other California billionaire? The TM and yoga, the occasional head stand, a well-deserved bark at a wayward underling -- these and all manner of behavior that no one ever thought about before suddenly took on all sorts of dark implications once the coup was under way. Never underestimate the impact of a whisper campaign. On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. Translation: "One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye." I must point out that these idiosyncrasies have been on display for decades, and were never looked on askance. At least, not while the alpha was piling up and the assets under management were rolling in. But alas, that chapter has come to an end; it is now time to look forward. The future of Pimco is now in your hands, a dozen or so managing directors. You represent the future of the firm. You are the new BSDs, and to you I put the following questions: • Some Pimco funds are generating what I call “perceived” alpha. This seems to be nothing more than “leverage-enhanced” beta. Discuss. • I cautioned against the wholesale expansion into equities, as fixed income was the asset class upon which the firm made its bones, built its reputation and acquired almost all of its AUM. How is that equity thing going? And whatever happened to that Kashkari kid? Seemed like a nice fellow. • Many of you seemed to resent my annual compensation (Mohamed's too). I suspect you believed that a few hundred million dollars would be better placed in your collective hands. Query: Is splitting up the big dogs’ comp among yourselves worth the fallout of a smaller asset base in the years to come? Is that in the best interests of the firm? • Speaking of assets: Who among you is going to be the firm’s rainmaker? Which of you can raise a trillion dollars? How about a $100 billion? How will you compensate the people who raise that money? Best of luck managing the resentment for whatever compensation system you arrange. • Many of you are in your 30s, 40s and 50s. How long do you plan to work here, and how much are you willing to sacrifice? I was married to this place, and gave it my all. What are you prepared to give? • Now that you have your new-found authority, what are your plans for it? As for me, I am off to my newer new normal. There will always be a special place in my heart for Pimco. I wish all of you all of the luck in the world, as I leave you in charge of her. She’s your baby now. Try not to screw it up too badly. William H. Gross Managing Director, Retired

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-17/buffett-s-salty-steak-draws-warning-from-wells-fargo-ceo.html?cmpid=yhoo Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf talks about the role of financial services in the real economy at a National Press Club luncheon on Wednesday, September 17. Wells Fargo is the U.S. top home lender and also world's largest bank by market value. Video link @ NPC Luncheon with John Stumpf, CEO, Wells Fargo & Co. http://press.org/events/npc-luncheon-john-stumpf-ceo-wells-fargo-co Full transcript: http://press.org/sites/default/files/20140917_stumpf.pdf [...]But once I became CEO, we started doing a home and home dinner or lunch. So, my first time to Omaha to have dinner with him, we went to-- I can't remember, it was Piccolo Pete’s or Gorash’s [?], and Warren eats a full meal, let me tell you. He has a T-bone steak, medium rare, side of chicken parmesan, mashed potatoes, cherry Coke and when the food comes, Warren grabs a saltshaker in his left hand, one in his right hand and it’s a snowstorm. And I know a snowstorm when I see one because I'm from Minnesota. And I said, “Warren, what does your doctor say about all the sodium?” He looks at me like, “Doctor, really?” No doctor, no directions. So I said, “Warren, seriously, this is not good.” I said, “Is health a strength in your family? What's your genealogy like?” He said, “Well, really,” he said, his father I think passed away early, I can't remember exactly what the time was. But we started talking about colon issues and colon cancer. And he said-- I said, “Warren, that's really important. You got to get a colonoscopy. That's an absolute requirement.” He said, “Well, I did. A few years ago, ten years ago.” He said, “And they actually took a foot out.” He said, “I'm great now,” but he said, “I went into the hospital with a colon, I came out with a semicolon.” And he laughed at that, so Warren had me. Now, how much of this is all true, but he had me going the whole time. But here's about Warren. I remember another story, we were at an event last fall where we had 500 of our bankers together and he was kind enough to come, which is a rare occasion. And we were sitting next to one another on the stage. We were doing an hour, hour and a half, side by side-- if you're old enough to remember Huntley Brinkley, we were kind of doing that side by side thing. And one of our team members, these are all of our team members, somebody from the audience says to him, “Mr. Buffett, how do you decide what companies to invest in?” Because Warren is very disciplined about-- he’s got an in basket that says yes, one says no and one says too difficult. So he says you only do what you know. And without missing a beat, Warren-- I'm sitting right next to him-- and Warren says, “I like to invest in companies that are so simple to run even an idiot can do it because sooner or later one will.” (Laughter) But Warren, what's so special about Warren, he takes the long view. And he understands culture, he understands risk, he understands the human nature. And we are so fortunate to have him as our largest investor and for us to be one of his largest holdings, from the best investor the world’s ever known. And for those who don’t know him, the best person the world’s ever known. So I can't be objective, he’s that good a person.[...]

I attended the meeting; it was excellent. The analysts, management and directors are la crème de la crème. Answers were sharp, Sequoia's investing standards are high. They covered Valeant a lot; too bad that Greg Alexander didn’t talk much. The crowd was composed of fund managers, analysts, veterans investors and old money from the Upper East Side. I couldn't find Tom Murphy’s three hours long video interview. Any luck out there?

He will be missed! RIP.

Thanks for sharing. 2011 Horatio Alger Award Winner - Byron D. Trott http://www.horatioalger.org/members_info.cfm?memberid=TRO11

GoodHaven Fund 2014 Semi-Annual Report‏ GoodHaven_2014_Semi-Annual_Report.pdf

Burger King Is Run by Children http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-07-24/burger-kings-ceo-daniel-schwartz-is-33-years-old#p1

The world is changing and commercial airliners too: Opinion: Commercial Airliners Need Antimissile Protection Speaking at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, former CIA director and Gen. (ret.) David Petraeus issued a serious warning about the international threats posed by shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles (SAM), also known as man-portable air-defense systems (Manpads), in the hands of Al Qaeda and other terrorists. Petraeus referred to the Jan. 27 downing of an Egyptian military helicopter by a Russian Strela-2 missile (a.k.a. SA-7) by Al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Beit al-Maqdis in the Sinai Peninsula. “Shooting down a helicopter with an apparent shoulder-fired missile is a big deal. . . . Our worst nightmare [was] that a civilian airliner would be shot down by one,” he said. “ . . . The concern over an attack on civilian aviation flows not only from the loss of passengers' lives but also from the likely economic consequence that would follow: a worldwide grounding of air traffic that might bring the global economy to a screeching halt.” http://aviationweek.com/awin/opinion-commercial-airliners-need-antimissile-protection The 7th Annual INSS International Conference - 2014 Conference held at Museum of Tel Aviv - Date: 27th Jan 2014 Participants: Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, Director, INSS Gen. (ret.) David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA Harvard University - Israel, Iran and the Arab Revolution | Institute of Politics Published on Apr 10, 2014 Former Director of the Mossad, Meir Dagan, Former Director of the CIA David Petraeus, and current Belfer Center Director Graham Allison discussed the possibility of peace in the Middle East with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran's nuclear program, and the changing nature of national security organizations. Israel retrofits passenger planes with anti-missile defense lasers http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/27/israel-to-outfit-passenger-planes-with-laser-anti-missile-defense-system/

James Metcalf wants to make USG less cyclical http://www.institutionalinvestor.com/Article/3356447/Banking-and-Capital-Markets/James-Metcalf-Wants-to-Make-USG-Less-Cyclical.html?ArticleId=3356447&p=2#.U8cG3PldWSp

http://www.valueinvestorconference.com/2014presentations/ 02 VIC 14 NEW Vinall Mistakes of Omission - May 2014.pdf 31-May-2014 14:39 141K 05 VIC 14 Van Den Berg Value Investor Conference May 2014.pptx 31-May-2014 14:39 2.8M 08 VIC 14 Ellen Adams - 36 Year Old Recipe for Humble Pie.pptx 31-May-2014 14:41 23M 09 VIC 14 Stacey Value Investor Conference - 2014.pptx 31-May-2014 14:39 770K 10 VIC 14 Seibels Lessons Learned the Hard Way from Sir John NEW.pdf 31-May-2014 14:39 56K 11 VIC 14 Muhlenkamp Natural Gas.ppt 31-May-2014 14:41 14M VIC 14 Gayner Transcript.pdf 10-Jul-2014 08:04 421K

What an amazing semi-final! Congrats to Germany.

China’s cult of Warren Buffett draws pilgrims to Omaha http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-cult-of-warren-buffett-draws-pilgrims-to-omaha-2014-06-03?pagenumber=1 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-cult-of-warren-buffett-draws-pilgrims-to-omaha-2014-06-03?pagenumber=2

Thanks, I couldn't find the second part. http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/valueinvesting/resources/interviews

https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/html5/html5lib/v1.9.0/mwEmbedFrame.php/p/24852/uiconf_id/15401271/entry_id/1_fi06rgf3?wid=_24852&iframeembed=true&playerId=kaltura_player_1400007160&entry_id=1_fi06rgf3&flashvars[streamerType]=auto

Interesting video on Greg Abel from the University of Alberta

Beer Fight: AB InBev vs. Guatemala's Brewing Dynasty http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-08/beer-fight-ab-inbev-vs-dot-guatemalas-brewing-dynasty#p1

WEB might have mentioned these notes: http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/FOMC20081007confcall.pdf

Tweedy, Browne 1st Quarter 2014 Commentary See attachment Mystery buyer snatches East Hampton mansion for $145M http://pagesix.com/2014/05/02/mystery-buyer-snatches-east-hampton-mansion-for-145m/ Architect Andrew Gordon gets control of late boyfriend Christopher Browne’s $260 million estate http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/architect-andrew-gordon-control-boyfriend-260-million-estate-article-1.1267194 CHRISTOPHER H. BROWNE: 1946-2009 A Career Spent Finding Value http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703438404574598442025375858?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703438404574598442025375858.html FundCommentary_Q1_2014_-_Final.pdf

View From The Top: Carlos Brito, CEO, Anheuser-Busch InBev Stanford Graduate School of Business Dec 2, 2013

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/3538085981001/liz-claman-interviews-warren-buffett-charlie-munger-and-bill-gates/#sp=show-clips