lessthaniv

I recall sitting at $.70 wondering how things were going to play out. Fairfax organized a transaction that allowed me to sell my FBK stock at > 50% premium to FBK's previous trading value and use the proceeds to reinvest with the acquirer at a 20%+ discount to the terms Fairfax got. In addition those shares were also undervalued and have since closed that valuation gap. Fairfax did right by their shareholders to remove them from the FBK mess and I'm grateful they provided me with an exit strategy too. FBK was the mistake I made. The ABH acquisition was the way out.

I think it changes every year. Level 2 sucked for me. :) Best of luck compoundinglife!

Glaze em with sugar free jams. Ed smiths. Apricot is great.

Any thoughts or opinions on the current level of net profit margins? Do you see current aggregate net margins (on the S&P 500) as being sustainable?

good video;

Baaaahhaaaa

Not quite the hamptons fire pit i imagined 18 months ago, but ... http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/vanity-fair-piece-on-bill-ackman/25/?wap2

Just was reading on this today. Crazy. http://www.businessinsider.com/cynk-technology-2014-7

Nice move in the currency has helped out and together with above transaction + some additional purchases, FBK has finally worked out well for me. Corking a bottle tonight... Now about that FTP stock ...

A new Czech nymphing fly rod! 8)

It's cut/paste (insert a few changes) from his letter to the Girl Guides.

Set up a donor advised foundation in your family name and support a bunch up them!

some interesting podcasts there too.

Gio, Beware ... she may just be a Berkshire/Fairfax board member herself!!!

True, I am being lazy with the definitions. I would say the relevant metric for DCFs should be "Adjusted FCF" = FCF - Buybacks. In your scenario, if the firm suddenly stops buying back, then Adjusted FCF = FCF, and then growth becomes 0, which essentially is the pre-buyback state, although now with higher FCF/s due to the buybacks. Now if the firm returned all its FCF to shareholders via dividends, and assuming that no other cash was returned, then in that case, I would not revise the FCF figure downwards, as all FCF immediately flows to shareholders, and more importantly that cash is not reinvested to create growth in FCF/share. Therefore Adj. FCF = FCF, and growth is unchanged. That still fails my code review. I would suggest you merely add back in the number of shares repurchased. After all, you are willing to ignore a dividend. So why not ignore the share repurchase? This is more straightforward. You can then think of the share repurchase and dividends as the same thing -- cash return yield to investors. That's what they are. This. First, understand the companies ability to generate FCF. Place a value on that FCF independent of dividends/repurchases. Then, in a secondary step, adjust your view for managements capital allocation choices. If management is making smart decisions allocating this FCF it's worth more to you as minority shareholder than the same FCF being generated by a company with a management team who is making poor decisions in allocating it.

I thought this 15min video was interesting. Gary Aguirre on the SEC. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjN1_SM50yw&feature=player_embedded

valuecfa, the Hoisington letter is excellent if you haven't already discovered it. I'm thinking along the same lines.

Patrick has been having some fun! http://www.businessinsider.com/overstock-ceo-ad-mocks-steven-cohen-2013-7 http://www.businessinsider.com/overstockcom-ceo-explains-anti-sac-ad-2013-7 "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing to it. Someone I know very well can count every card in a six deck shoe and compute a ratio of remaining cards to others. :) Blackjack anyone?

apparently somebody reading the board likes it! 25+% today

it hurts beyond belief to cheer for either. i went to game 7 against Boston and i'm still trying to recover. thought was going to be there to witness the first cup.

read the lyrics in the context of him closing the doors to outside investors ...

Sidd Finch. I can remember as a kid warming up for a game and talking about Sidd with the guys on my team. Awesome!

Stay tuned ... http://www.alterrus.ca/verticrop/the-technology/ The chief supply chain officer from Lululemon got together with Steve Fane from Hot House Growers ....

I've done great with FFH Bonds employing this over the last few years. ;D Sanjeev, It's an interesting time. On the one hand you have Buffett and Wilbur Ross saying long term bonds are the worst thing to own. On the other hand, FFH is quoting Gary Schilling about "the great disconnect" and both warn a possible "event" on the horizon. Schilling continues with his long bond strategy suggesting in a recent interview they can hit low 2's. Two incredibly respected groups with diametric view points. Personally, I've been struggling to decide where I fall. One the short term I could see stocks appreciating more (much like 1925) only to widen the disconnect and make the ultimate move to equilibrium even more painful. Seems like this is what Prem is warning about. <IV