kiwing100

Here are some other blogs of the BRK 2013 AGM for those unable to attend - more direct transcript here than Wall St Journal which summarised Buffett and Munger's comments. Motley Fool http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=901d66a989/height=600/width=580 Omaha World Herald http://dataomaha.com/berkshire

thank you

In case you missed it

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130428/MONEY/704289987/1697 Book: http://marketplace.omaha.com/shop/product.php?productid=80338&cat=3&page=1

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Having been on both the institutional buy side and the investment bank sell side as an analyst, I can offer you some perspective. This is not the most ideal way of getting experience, but if you think it is your only opportunity of getting experience then by all means take it. It will give you an insight into the way sell side works and some of the shenanigans that goes on there. The most ideal experience would be to get into a buyside institution with a value bias and absolute return orientation but I understand that this could be very competitive. The sell side associate position tasks will consist of updating excel models, formating and writing research for publication, powerpoint presentations, attending to client requests / questions and other support for the lead / marketing analyst. They will also want to use you for your industry knowledge, and industry contacts. You will also get to go to morning meetings where sell side research pitch their ideas to the internal sales force. You can learn by just listening / absorbing everything you can not only from your lead analyst but other lead analysts for other sectors / industries. Remember the investment bank / sell side is in the business of generating revenues, the lead analyst is interested in getting ranked number 1 (as this raises their compensation). The investment bank wants their analysts to be "commercial" - a euphemism for reducing hold ratings as they do not generate commissions for the investment bank. This is the reason they generally prefer buy ratings, because all investors can buy. Sell ratings are only available to a smaller investor population - those who already own the stock and those who can short sell the stock. You may also want to investigate if your analyst is known for promoting IPO's - such sell side analysts are basically stock promoters masquerading as analysts - their analytical ability may not be strong but their marketing / presentation skills are very good. Being a highly ranked analyst is a popularity contest (there is an Institutional Investor magazine survey which is conducted each year and it has been known to have been "influenced" in Asia) - more a function of how much marketing the analyst has done and not about the quality of their analytical rigor. If your analyst is highly ranked they will generally be on the road marketing to clients and you will be doing a lot of the work for them. I would call sell side analysts "market analysts" - they are trying to correctly guess the short term market price movement of the stock and less concerned about the longer term intrinsic value of the company. This is due to the fact that most of their clients are institutions who have short term investment horizons - mutual funds which report monthly performance, hedge funds which report monthly performance to their investors etc. Some analysts have a great following from buysiders that they can influence the stock price. If you decide to take the position, you must be aware of the shortcomings of the sell side and discount these when becoming a true value investor. I took the sell side job as an opportunity to learn everything in sight, but I discounted a lot of these when I joined the buyside such as sell side ratings, sell side valuations. Something that you will unlikely hear when a sell side analyst is asked a question is the following response "I don't know"- they are more likely to give some BS answer to appear knowledgeable to the client - trying to sort out fact from fiction can be difficult, which is why I tended to discount their verbal answers. The sell side do not search for the investment truth which is what you are looking for when you are on the buyside or investing money. There is definitely more spin on the sell side, trying to find new ways to pitch the same stock idea, trying to find new valuation techniques to justify their ratings .... It's all part of the game ...

Did anyone catch this on the interview? http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2013/03/04/warren-buffett-sees-hair-trigger-when-fed-shifts-stance/tab/print/

Article with video snippets of Buffett on CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/100515743/page/1

Good clarity on dividend policy with a simple mathematical example - maximisation of intrinsic value to shareholders is still his focus.

here is how ratings agencies look at P&C insurers http://www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology/BCAR_UNDERSTANDING_PC_Insurers.pdf

I would like to go back to BargainHunter's original comment. How do we take advantage of high yield corporate bonds being highly priced? Short sell high yield bonds? Very hard to borrow for a retail investor.

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Oaktree Capital's Howard Mark's most recent memo titled Ditto http://www.oaktreecapital.com/MemoTree/Ditto.pdf

thank you very much for posting

thank you for posting ...

Ericopoly, what does HWIC mean? Thank you.

http://www.oaktreecapital.com/memo.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Thank you for posting the link

fyi, this guy is 107 (and he is still going), and he's been investing in markets since 1928. - that's 84 years of being involved in the markets. In terms of experience, he personally experienced the 1928 crash, and was an early disciple of Ben Graham. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-12/how-to-play-the-market-irving-kahn

Here is a lecture / Q&A session by Buffett at the University of Georgia, Terry College of Business in 2001. Although its over 10 years old, it was relatively recently uploaded (compared to the lecture date), and it is the first time I've seen him explain clearly what he means when he says he "doesn't understand a business" ...

Article on FFH's portfolio based on recent 13F filing http://www.valuewalk.com/2012/08/fairfax-financial-increases-stake-in-rim-hold-usb-jnj-rfp/

latest key portfolio disclosures of BRK and changes as reported http://www.marketwatch.com/story/buffetts-berkshire-exits-intel-buys-more-banks-2012-08-14?dist=afterbell

FYI, here is an analysis of the portfolio of T2 partners.. Interesting that they had 37% of their NAV in call options and warrants .. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/t1-not-t2-goodbye-whitney-tilson

FYI, for those who of you who trade futures contracts, you might want to note counterparty risk exposures, if you are relying on SIPC for protection. This is has come from a WSJ article from the Peregrine Financial Corp bankruptcy http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577523373688714462.html?mod=WSJ_PersonalFinance_PF15 When a securities firm becomes insolvent—such as in the case of Lehman Bros. Holdings or Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities—the Securities Investor Protection Corp. makes sure customers' cash and securities are returned to them. Customers can be reimbursed for up to $500,000, of which $250,000 can be in cash. But SIPC doesn't cover futures trades, except in rare cases when a customer has a "cross-margin account" holding both futures and securities, says Stephen Harbeck, chief executive of SIPC. "We have an extremely narrow role," he says.