Parsad

Baron Rothschild when asked how he makes so much money: "I have found an easy way and I stick to it. I simply cannot help making money. I will tell you my secret if you wish. It is this: I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon. Excellent quote! Cheers!

I can't stand Rush. Congrats nonetheless to a Canadian band! Cheers!

In the last few days, I made one of the greatest trades of my life...perhaps one of the greatest trades on this board ever. Five days ago, I bought Overstock May '13 $12.50 calls. The stock was getting killed because of the markets, I thought they should make at least as much money as they did last year. They killed the earnings instead! I sold my options for five times the money in four days after buying them. Today, the god-damn thing is up nearly another $3.50, and those options are now worth 15 times what I paid...I'm crying right now...really it hurts like a bitch! :-X I had bet reasonably big too...1.5% of the fund in the options! Whhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Cheers!

So are you saying there is a tangible reason why women 35-60 are turned off by amazon? I'm assuming that almost everything that is offered on Ostk can be bought on amazon. Or if not, amazon seems to be willing to sell anything and everything. I get what you're saying about this board and how it thrives even though there are much bigger boards out there. But I'm having trouble seeing how this applies to retail, particularly Internet retail. What attracts the niche customer to Ostk? and if amzn provides the same goods currently or eventually with cheaper or faster service, why would people stick with Ostk? You tell me? They sell $1.2B of products a year...someone is buying it. Investors often get wrapped up into how a smaller business will survive around other retail giants. They do survive...not always and not all circumstances...but generally they create a niche market that the larger retail giant cannot adequately serve. How do smaller dollar stores survive with Walmart around if this isn't possible in retail? It's possible in any industry if the smaller business is serving a very specific need. This is how Blackberry will end up surviving. How Five Guys or In&Out compete against large chains. It's how See's sells so much chocolate and has a very high ROI. Overstock.com can survive and thrive if they focus on servicing their market, rather than the broader market Amazon serves. Cheers!

Same here, we cancelled cable before Christmas. I really miss hockey but can stream it online sometimes. We use Netflix instead for shows and it's got plenty to watch. Yeah, see that's the problem. I cannot forgo my Canucks games. I watch every single one...whether live or PVR'ed. I watch alot of NFL too and a fair amount of basketball. I also watch all the majors in Tennis usually from when they start. $125 for the full cable package (including the Indian channels and specialty sport channels) each month just to get that stuff is worth it for me! Then add high speed internet...$40...and the landline...$45...taxes...comes to about $235 per month. Sorry, the $285 number was incorrect...it's about $235...still alot in my opinion. Cheers!

Munger is donating some stock to his alma mater! Cheers! http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/munger-pledges-110-million-to-the-university-of-michigan/?partner=yahoofinance

$1.00-1.20 a share in 2013 earnings. Give it a 15 times multiple and you get $15-18 for this year. Adjust that number based on how you think they can grow it...if better than 10% annual growth in revenues, give it a 20 times multiple. If less, give it a lesser multiple. I think if they focus on the direct business, keep costs low as they are doing, they can grow at 10% annually for at least 10-15 years...that's relatively conservative considering the size of the market and how small they still are. But they have to keep the retail aspect fresh year after year...very difficult unless you are the dominant player like Amazon where people go to you regardless. Cheers! Do you still hold your position? We had trimmed the position last time it hit $16 to a 5% position. It's still there and we won't sell any of that stock, as the cost basis is very low and we have a ton of gains. Cheers!

Parsad, most of these shows are available online now on the network websites. Simple S-video cable solution along with a laptop. New TV's can even do this on wireless or through the built in browser. As for the cable internet. I am still paying them on that. Thanks Blaine! I'm going to look further into it. We spend $285 a month on high-speed internet, the full-package of Telus Optik TV & a land-line with free international calling. I haven't been able to justify it other than my family enjoys it, but I've always been keen on trying to get the cost down or eliminated. In the past, my only solace was to get Telus to throw in a free laptop and two new PVR's every three years. My renewal is coming up, and I would like to cut the chord. Cheers!

Unfortunately, my family is hooked on shows on channels like HGTV, Food Channel, various sports channels, and Indian programming channels. Is there any way to get those on AppleTV and Netflix...in Canada? I want to watch my Canucks, NBA, NFL & Tennis through the year. And we would still need wifi in the house. We all have cell phones, I have an office phone and we could probably use Skype for long-distance, so we don't really need a landline. It's mainly those channels and the wifi that we need. Cheers!

Glenn, don't you know that this company has no moat and is not a very profitable business! ;D That Patrick Byrne is one crazy mofo...it will never make money. A couple of guys from the Motley Fool OSTK board can kiss my ass, along with Sam Antar, Gary Weiss and Tracey Conen. Five straight quarters of profitability! Cheers! Hi Parsad. I used to own this stock when it was extremely cheap at $5 and sold prematurely between $7-10. Would you be able to expand on what the moat here is? I am having trouble seeing how OSTK will be strong and thriving 10 years from now as Amazon gets larger and larger. Thanks. Their margins and operating costs are lower than Amazon's. Like Costco, they will make money and exist even though Walmart is the dominant player. Cheers! Do you mean to say the margins are higher? I haven't done much research on Amazon, but one concern I have is: what about them willing to expand at all costs; so you said that their operating costs are higher, but it seems as if they don't really care to make much income at all in the short run. And in the long run, if they are large enough, are you afraid of them having the scale advantage over OSTK? Also, AMZN is building distribution centers in major metropolitan areas, so I'm wondering what are your thoughts on them providing quicker shipping than other internet retailers in the future, which may provide a threat for OSTK. Thanks! No lower margins. They should really be running at 2-2.5% net profit margins since they are not the dominant player. They will also have to focus on the niche market...specific age brackets...women 35-60 is ideal for them. If they do that they will grow market share in a very specific area and they will not have to concern themselves with Amazon. You know a very good analogy would be this message board. There are so many message boards out there correct...far bigger than this one? But we've grown readership about 40% a year for the last four years on here. If we tried to be all things to all people, it wouldn't work and we would lose our niche. We have a very specific mandate and that allows us to build our base of members. Overstock has to do the same...they do not want to take on Amazon head on...it would be a very short shelf-life. They need to focus on a niche market, keep margins and costs low, and appeal to a very specific demographic. Cheers!

$1.00-1.20 a share in 2013 earnings. Give it a 15 times multiple and you get $15-18 for this year. Adjust that number based on how you think they can grow it...if better than 10% annual growth in revenues, give it a 20 times multiple. If less, give it a lesser multiple. I think if they focus on the direct business, keep costs low as they are doing, they can grow at 10% annually for at least 10-15 years...that's relatively conservative considering the size of the market and how small they still are. But they have to keep the retail aspect fresh year after year...very difficult unless you are the dominant player like Amazon where people go to you regardless. Cheers!

Continues to go up! Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/natural-gas-surges-fresh-2013-162642127.html;_ylt=AjMP0Ni2Vbn0b_DmG4hXWraiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ4MjFiZ3VnBG1pdANDTkJDIFRvcCBTdG9yaWVzBHBrZwM0OGY3NGU3OS1iNTY3LTM4M2EtYjEzZC1iMTNhOTE1NDZlMTEEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgNmY2ExNGNmMy1hODQ3LTExZTItYmZlZS0xZDFiNTgxMzUzOGQ-;_ylg=X3oDMTFkcW51ZGliBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

Two years ago I had surgery on April 4th. Didn't walk again for a couple of months. Last year we were in California house hunting April 1-15th. This year I turned 40 on April 10th (day of the meeting) Perhaps the right time will come along. Toronto is a good place to spend you 41st birthday. Eric, if you come I promise to have a birthday cake ready for you as well. The whole crowd will sing Happy Birthday! ;D Cheers!

Glenn, don't you know that this company has no moat and is not a very profitable business! ;D That Patrick Byrne is one crazy mofo...it will never make money. A couple of guys from the Motley Fool OSTK board can kiss my ass, along with Sam Antar, Gary Weiss and Tracey Conen. Five straight quarters of profitability! Cheers! Hi Parsad. I used to own this stock when it was extremely cheap at $5 and sold prematurely between $7-10. Would you be able to expand on what the moat here is? I am having trouble seeing how OSTK will be strong and thriving 10 years from now as Amazon gets larger and larger. Thanks. Their margins and operating costs are lower than Amazon's. Like Costco, they will make money and exist even though Walmart is the dominant player. Cheers!

Glenn, don't you know that this company has no moat and is not a very profitable business! ;D That Patrick Byrne is one crazy mofo...it will never make money. A couple of guys from the Motley Fool OSTK board can kiss my ass, along with Sam Antar, Gary Weiss and Tracey Conen. Five straight quarters of profitability! Cheers!

Two years ago I had surgery on April 4th. Didn't walk again for a couple of months. Last year we were in California house hunting April 1-15th. This year I turned 40 on April 10th (day of the meeting) Perhaps the right time will come along. I think you should make some time and come next year. I'd like you to present and do a short Q&A if you are up for it. Cheers!

Too bad I didn't go because he didn't reply to the email I sent him. Actually when are you going to come? Alot of people were asking if you were coming this year. I said I don't think so, but we're all waiting for him to show up one year! Cheers!

Gary actually came to our dinner with Prem this year. Cheers!

These guys are not futures traders. Their incentive is to help the gas producers. By saying that the gas price will stay low, they can convince the government more easily to approve LNG export, which will benefit gas producers. Export or not, I think gas price will unlikely stay this low. There are only a few producers with all in cost around $4. Most producer's all in costs are around $6. A proof is that even the gas price has increased to over $4 now, the dig counts are still dropping. Yes, you are correct here. I think you will see $5-5.50 natural gas by the end of this year. I don't see it staying below $6 for a decade...darn near impossible as conversions ramp up, large exports begin...even if you have rigs increase again, the pendulum has already started to swing the other way. I think I said a couple of years ago on here that natural gas will turn in a couple of years...we are pretty much there! Cheers!

Because he hired Alan Greenspan as an advisor! ;D Cheers! Gold remains a long-term position for Mr. Paulson. In 2008 he hired Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve and a fellow alumnus of New York University's Stern business school, as an advisor. According to people familiar with the fund, Mr. Greenspan argued that the huge expansion of the Fed's balance sheet would ultimately lead to rapid growth in credit creation by the banks, sparking higher inflation.

The bubble is starting to burst at the seams. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/100646465

Article on Francis Chou. Cheers! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/canadian-managers-us-bond-fund-posts-dramatic-results/article11239431/

From his comments on TW, I'm guessing it was a bet on Tom, as well as the fact that there is a discrepancy in thermal unit value of North American gas relative to all other forms of energy. Cheers!

True. Don't know. I guess we'll have to ask him at some point. ;D Cheers!

Yes, great name! Cheers!