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ragnarisapirate

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Posts posted by ragnarisapirate

    Buying debt that isn't traded

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    This is one of the most round about ideas I have had.

     

    I am curious if anyone here has any ideas for buying debt that a company issued about a decade ago. It isn't traded in the market (including OTBB, literally, it doesn't trade, it isn't that it's illiquid). The debt I am seeking to purchase is convertible into the stock of the company, which is something I would buy if it weren't so rarely traded... This seems like an interesting way to sidestep that.

     

    I have read the debt prospectus filed with the SEC, but have no clue who owns the debt now (I am guessing that it is a physical note)- I basically just know the firm that sold the debt for the company, but that doesn't do me much good as it seems out of business. Another problem is that the company delisted since the debt was issued....

     

    Any suggestions for finding some of the buyers of this debt to potentially buy from?

     

    Maybe contact bankers or financial advisors in the area who might have been associated with it?

    Finding assets that are worth more than recorded

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I agree with Nate for the most part. LOTS of reading and research is the only way that you are going to do this. Develop your own skill set and then share it! Tax records are often a good place to start once you find the company that you find might have cheap items on the books. If you are looking for RE assets, think about the business and your research on it much as a RE investor would. One of those "I am a better investor because I am a businessman and a better businessman because I am an investor" sorta things.

     

    I will add... Be weary of land trust type companies- this can extend to retailers as well, which can often be pretty "land trusty" in and of themselves.

     

    I have often wondered how many companies there are out there that have REALLY odd assets on their books that are undiscovered.

     

    *Cash is too obvious, and there are still A FEW companies trading for less than net cash. A few years ago, they were quite common.

    *Real estate is the obvious goto, but that seems too easy.

    *Some firms have more securities on hand than their market cap, but those are exceedingly rare.

     

    FARM has/had a ton of coffee on their books that gave them a ton of hidden value due to LIFO reserves. You could do some sort of scan based on FIFO/LIFO or even cost average styles of accounting, depending on what kind of environment you are looking at.

     

    When reading about Buffett, his arbitrage style of investments (with, say, soy warehouse receipts) just seem all too easy. Some sort of hindsight bias, I suppose. I wonder how rare those things actually were back in the day, especially when compared to now.

    Premier Exhibitions

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Am I crazy, or did I read something on here (maybe elsewhere) that said that Sellers was now distributing the last remaining holding of PRXI to the individual partners in his fund? I seem to remember him saying that he would be holding onto his own shares, but that this was said in a letter to his partners...

     

    For some reason I am having trouble finding it? Any clarity?

    The 100k Cash question

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Thanks for the kind words. :)

     

    Oddball's suggestions are great.

     

    I would also consider a pawn shop (here in KY, you can lend money at 22% PER MONTH) or buying real estate liens. You can get 12% on those, if you buy them at face and don't screw up by buying something that is inherently worthless. Plus, you can add in reasonable fees if you force a sale...

    Multi-Family Residential investment case study

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Reading between the lines, you were being asked for a bribe. 15 minutes of inspector time on site?, sudden appearance of a new 'code' book?, very uncomfortable with your taking notes?, town where you need friends? 

     

    The smart thing is to walk, & never do business in this town again. Somebody will have been hurt because you wouldn't play, & they may well have a long memory.

     

    15 minutes in the building, probably an additional 30 outside the building, and it was like pulling teeth... I kept asking questions about what we needed to do (as in "hey, here is this thing we noticed, are you guys concerned over it?) and it just didn't seem to go over all that well. I like to think better of people than to have them expect a bribe, so, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say that we just had different personalities. :)

     

    The beauty of this, is that it all took place in my state's capitol city... literally, a 5 minute drive from where our notoriously strict licensing laws are made. Regardless, I have no plans on EVER buying real estate in Frankfort.

     

    Buffett Death Arb

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I am to the point that from where this is so widely discussed (and seemingly, accepted as a fact that there will be a drop as a result of his death), that I am starting to think that there WON't be a significant drop in the share price. Sure, there will be one after his death at some point, just because that's how stocks work... Look at Apple. When Steve Jobs died, the stock didn't really go down- it may have been below that point for a week (which was well after the fact), but only by a very few percent at most.

     

    I mean, really... does anyone not expect him to die? Buffett himself has been talking about it for years... It's almost like he is a tortured artist or something. At this point, are there any shareholders that aren't relatively value based? If so, shouldn't they be comfortable with the succession plan by now?

     

    The talk of this being discounted in is a good point... After all, the markets are generally predictive.

    Buffet's view on charity

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hey all:

     

    I thought I heard that W.E.B's stand on charity had changed a bit, can anyone confirm this?

     

    It was my understanding that WEB would NEVER give ANYTHING to charity while he was living, but that charity would get over 90% of his wealth when he passed away.

     

    I have heard that the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation is going to get most of it.  However, has he changed his stance on charity while he is living?

     

    If not, it seems to me kind of selfish.  Good that he is giving to charity, but very bad that he did not do anything while he was living and that he deferred it for so many years.  How many people are suffering tremendously and need help NOW?

     

    Any news/thoughts?

     

    This is roughly along the lines of what I think I remember him saying:

     

    Think of this as a compounding effect- how many people can compound capital at 20+%? Do we really want the best money growers to give their war chest away? I would argue that society would be better off with him growing it until he gets so big (or mentally incapable) of growing at such a great rate AND THEN giving it away.

     

    If someone can only compound at say, 3%, then society would probably be better served by them giving their money away to people who can effectivly allocate to do something such as rid the world of Malaria. (unless you want to have a discussion about money flowing through the economy and employing everyone).

     

    This said, a lot of rich people have given money away their whole lives. I think Ford was one. Carnegie obviously... Even Icahn and Ackman are united in their giving money to causes they like... ;P

     

    Is your portfolio ready for war?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    What book is that?

     

    BTW, I wasn't implying that a war would drop prices, but could displace things. There is always money to be made some where. And I have been thinking this is an interesting thought exercise.

     

    As examples:

     

    If we went to war with Iran though, I probably wouldn't want to be long a company that exclusively sells persian rugs (not that there is one that I know of).

     

    If war does or doesn't happen, I am fascinated by things like LGL, IEHC, MPAD, SODI and the like. In some capacity, they are small, making money, trade at a discount to book, have hidden assets, etc.

    Illiquid stocks

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hey! Thanks guys!

    I'm glad to say after sitting the order for more than a week, it has finally executed when I got back on Friday.. it must be the power of the board that answered the call..

     

    Anyway my broker charges per day as well but the reason why I did an all or nothing is most of the time I see 100 or 200 shares trading everyday and the occasional 10k shares - I don't want to pay daily transactions to pick up only couple hundred shares! I guess I had no choice but to sit my order there and wait for the occasional big lot to sell into my order...

     

    Now that you have the shares, care to share the name of the stock? There are a few of us who find these illiquid ones really interesting. ;P

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