Parsad

I know I started this thread that technology will save the world, but technology is also going to allow us to blow each other up faster and spy on each other in much more sophisticated ways...maybe keep everyone in check! :D Take a look at this: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cyberweapon-discovered-iranian-computers-hit-144156143.html;_ylt=Ageq8LkNjGQG1zapxOP7RCmiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0ajU1djFvBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIFRvcCBTdG9yeSBSaWdodARwa2cDNGE4OGVlNDYtNjNiZC0zNmE1LTgwZGItNzNjNWQxN2Y3ZGE0BHBvcwM4BHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyA2JmYmU3M2QwLWE5YjUtMTFlMS1hZTNmLTM1MzZhMTJiMzgzOA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

I agree with that, other than the 2 additional quarters. I think it will take a little longer because of all of the legal overhang. Why wouldn't WFC maintain a premium vs. BAC, given that USB maintains a premium vs. WFC? Do you see a pathway for BAC to depart from historically inferior unlevered profit margins, and to compensate for the leverage handcuffs of Basel III? The only time I've seen premiums retained on a business over long periods of time, is where their is a lack of competition or a duopoly. In cases where a premium is retained in competitive industries, it is often a superb manager that retains that premium because of his/her abilities. In a highly competitive industry like the financial industry, I doubt that any business can retain a significant premium over a decade or longer unless that CEO remains in place for a long period of time. So while I expect WFC to maintain some premium over it's peers because of its cross selling, loyal customer base, and higher credit quality loans, I think that will narrow slightly over time. I don't think JPM will have a significant premium over BAC in 5 years. Especially if Dimon moves on as is expected. I've never owned JPM and own only WFC and BAC...I expect to hold both for many, many years. Cheers!

This is a very very important observation. I believe that the bank which embodies the principles of JPM or the image of Dimon that everyone subscribed to is actually BAC and Moynihan. What Moynihan is doing is going to be looked at every quarter with more and more appreciation. I dont believe JPM and WFC will retain their premium over BAC for more than 2 additional quarters. I agree with that, other than the 2 additional quarters. I think it will take a little longer because of all of the legal overhang. But yes, I think Moynihan is actually showing all the traits that any rational person would want in a CEO...humble, learns from his mistakes, making things more efficient, getting rid of non-essential businesses, restoring morale and reputation and creating a much stronger institution. The problem is that he's not as charismatic as Dimon, and has all of the crap to deal with from his predecessor. But this guy is the real deal and what he's doing is going to be recognized by his employees and the banking industry 10 years from now. He saved this bank and the hundreds of thousands of jobs still there! Cheers!

I have started to spend more, paying up in many areas for quality. Partly out of a change in philosophy in marginal utility of spending vs. savings (while I am still young, I have decided enjoying some of my money while younger is a hedge against death or divorce)... LOL! That was funny, but sadly true. Cheers!

What products do board members pay up for in order to have A better quality item and something that will last several years? Basically to save money in the long run. I rarely pay up for anything...in other words, I like to look awful and put myself through a lot of pain! :D Vehicles - I pay a reasonable price to get a High Quality Vehicle - There is nothing I hate worse than going to the repair garage and being forced to pay up when you dont expect it. I've owned very nice cars and I've owned average cars, and I've come to the stage of my life where I find that a car is simply a utility for transportation, and I couldn't care what I drive anymore. I had two cars, and a couple of years ago I sold one of them, and found that taking public transportation Monday to Friday was the best thing I could have ever done. I walk a hell of alot more, there is no stress Monday to Friday when going and coming from the office, and I save a ton of money on gas and parking, while using time that normally would have been wasted in traffic. Vacations - Prefer adventure travel to cruises, or beach vacations. Depends what I'm doing. I'll easily pay up for a nice hotel, because I like a good nights sleep somewhere clean, with a fitness centre and pool. If I'm doing adventure travel, I've found as someone else said that cheap is actually a good way to go...although I did this a hell of a lot more when I was younger! Home renovations. Our first couple of renos, I did all of the work myself, and selected materials largely on price. I wouldn't do that again in any place I planned to stay in for a long time. I would say this is accurate, but it doesn't mean the highest bidder does the best job. I think references are valuable, and just following up on the contractor regularly. Healthy food. This is mostly my wife's doing, but we now buy almost everything organic. I'll almost never pay up for organic. All the burger joints I've been to in my life probably did far more damage than organic broccoli could ever repair, so I go cheap on groceries. But my fridge and pantry are packed and I can pretty much make you anything you want, when you want it in my house. Tools- there is something to be said for quality hand and power tools. This is accurate as long as you use them somewhat regularly. Otherwise it is capital tied up in something that never gets used, and I've made it almost a religion since I started the funds to forgo things where I tie up capital with little utility. Having a Macbook and a good phone are also invaluable. I think a good laptop and phone are important if you use them alot. Doesn't have to be a Mac. I've never owned a Mac, but my laptops have all been great...actually the best single purchase I've ever made, since I use them more than my bed or tv. I buy them cheap on Boxing week sales usually. Never the newest model, but one step below that they are trying to get rid of. A high quality Mattress! I would say an incredibly important purchase for most people. Although for myself, I fall asleep 3-4 days a week on my sofa while watching Bloomberg at like 1am, so I sleep on my bed maybe half the time! Hair cut. For 6 years I ended up driving 120 miles round trip to get a haircut from a person who knows how to cut my hair just the way I like. Only if you have hair! ;D I shave my own head after losing most of it! Keeps me humble and I feel like a buddhist monk...studying the scrolls of Buffett. BBQ I bought the best charcoal bbq there is.A Big Green Egg.Use it at least 3 times a week.Ask Sanjeev he's eaten off it. Yes, definitely worth it if you BBQ as much as Stone19. Truly the best pulled pork I've ever had was at his house! And a high quality desk chair! Yes, this is definitely a good idea if you are sitting for most of the day. Cheers!

Leveraged loan defaults may surge in Europe over the next few years: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-28/leveraged-loan-defaults-may-surge-to-25-in-europe-moody-s-says.html Spain prays and delays on zombie debt: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-28/spain-delays-and-prays-that-zombies-repay-debt-mortgages.html Cheers!

I bet NormR subscribes to the Rothery Report! ;D Cheers!

I'm sure other magazines have eaten into their market as well...such as Value Investor's Insight and Manual of Ideas. Plus there are so many God-damn newsletters around now. It seems as though everyone is publishing a newsletter these days...nice recurring income stream I guess! Cheers!

Article on Boaz Weinstein, from Saba Capital, who benefitted from the trading mess at JPM. Cheers! http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/business/how-boaz-weinstein-and-hedge-funds-outsmarted-jpmorgan.html?partner=yahoofinance

What business would you buy, (Price does matter here) if you were looking for a starting point for a Berkshire Hathaway, Leucadia, Loews, Sears Holdings style company? You will be the controlling shareholder. You control capital allocation. You can buy anything you want with the excess capital or free cash flow that your business produces. I doubt there are too many on this board, if anyone, that could buy an insurance business and run it profitably, so the best idea is to hire the best insurance executive out there. There is only one way to be the next Berkshire Hathaway...hire Ajit Jain and start from scratch again! ;D Cheers!

I put Faber and Abbie Joseph Cohen in the same category. Like a broken clock has the correct time twice a day, Faber and Cohen's predictions are correct twice every 25 years. He's been a permabear for so long now, and briefly turned his opinion the other way in late 2010, once the markets had already moved up enormously. There is a significant chance of a global recession, but not because Faber called it. And there is significant chance of another bull market 2-3 years from now, not because Cohen called it either. Cheers!

Article on how home sales are improving dramatically in some areas. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-25/hoboken-homes-gone-in-60-minutes-signal-u-s-recovery-mortgages.html

Good article on the tough role Heins has taken over. Cheers! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/thorsten-heins-no-good-very-bad-first-100-days-as-rims-ceo/article2441702/

I love articles like this, because I love hearing what entrepreneurs are willing to put themselves through to make something (their dream) happen. You know this kid is going to be successful! Cheers! http://news.yahoo.com/meet-the-tireless-entrepreneur-who-squatted-at-aol.html

Another email...this one between Tim Geithner and William Dudley on separating Lehman into a good bank/bad bank to save it. Interesting stuff...historical stuff as it happened! Cheers! http://www.jenner.com/lehman/docs/frbny/FRBNY%20to%20Exam.%20034332-034333.pdf

I know, I know, many of you are going to disagree with this, especially after Warren has said such great things about him, but like Sokol, Dimon deserves all of the blame for what happened at JPM. I thought he deserved some of the blame, but after reading this article, he deserves all of the blame. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-25/jpmorgan-gave-risk-oversight-to-museum-head-who-sat-on-aig-board.html This is a corporate America problem with board selection and you would think Dimon would know better...but boards like to be very collegial...so you don't actually get the oversight you need. Happens from small companies like ITEX to large companies like JPM. How these three were the ones selected to sit on the risk committee, I don't know. And the fact that Dimon was ok with it, just makes it worse. Cheers!

I got the information only today about 73 making it to IIT-JEE rank. Fantastic effort by foundation. Just a quick information: 560,000 students appeared this year. All 73 might not get a seat in IIT even though they are in rank list. Rank list has almost twice the number of seats available in IIT. I do think that majority of them will get a seat because lot of students at Dakshana are from underprivileged class. There are reserved seats for them once they get a rank in IIT. I was trying to convince some one else to replicate this approach in different country. They wanted to set up a foundation but wanted biggest bang for money used. Problem was finding a leveraged set up like IIT, where only cost is to put the students there. Fantastic execution by Mohnish and team. It was not easy to pull it off. Once of the similar effort is done by another person. See below, http://www.super30.org/ Infact, Mohnish wanted this guy to scale it up and he wanted to give money to him but he did not take the offer. I think he did provide some help in setting up a process for identifying bright but poor students at Dakshana who can be further coached to join IIT. Hi Rranjan, Thanks for the updated information! Also, many of those that don't make it to IIT get accepted to other top universities, including full scholarships to some American and European schools. So that's still a significant improvement in their total lifetime income, and then the eventual trickle down effect it has on their families and community. Cheers!

Corner Market Capital supports two non-profits. One is obviously "The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada" in memory of JoAnn Butler. The other is Mohnish's foundation "Dakshana". Mohnish just released the results from this year's class, and 66% of his students were accepted by the various campuses of the "Indian Institute of Technology" or "IIT's". Both Prem and Ajit Jain are IIT graduates. These are extraordinary numbers! Some 400,000 students apply to the IIT's every year, and I believe they only accept 4,000...73 came from Dakshana, out of 110 that were enrolled in Dakshana's preparatory class! Every improverished student from Dakshana that eventually graduates from IIT, will change the lives of so many more within their family and extended family, simply because their income level would climb from the average income of about $1,200 a year to $25,000 a year...which would be the equivalent of about $125,000 a year in North America. This leverage is what attracted us to Mohnish's foundation. For more information, please go to www.dakshana.org. Congratulations to this year's class! Cheers!

Was that him refusing to buy Lehman, or was Paulson just telling him about investment banks needing cash? I remember the scene, but can't remember exactly what was said other than him telling his grandkids "They always think it's important!". Cheers!

Sorry Watsa, I thought they were talking about capital leases. Cheers!

Article on a memo Buffett wrote, saying they will probably buy more newspapers. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-eyes-more-newspapers-160801285.html;_ylt=AjpNkVvec1ULTUyLlOKwh6.iuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0dDNvMTlwBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIFRvcCBTdG9yeSBSaWdodARwa2cDNGI2YTQ0MDItZDBmMS0zMzE0LTg2MjQtZDc2ZTMzNDhjOGI4BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyA2Q3Zjc3YzEwLWE1YzAtMTFlMS1iZmRlLTU2MjE3ZjMzMTMxYg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

No. Leases are already on the balance sheet, and they are a liability. If the leasee does not sublease the property when not in use, then it is a liability, so there should be no offsetting asset unless it is under a sublease agreement...if it is not in use, then how can it be considered an asset? It's plainly understandable the way it is, and by putting an offsetting asset only gives the impression that liabilities are less than in actuality. Cheers!

The letter was actually posted at the website below first. That's where I saw it a few days ago. http://www.jenner.com/lehman/docs/debtors/LBHI_SEC07940_849386-849388.pdf Cheers!

A board member sent me the letter on the weekend. It looked like it was a draft, and they had not actually come to a full agreement or anything. There was talk that Buffett kicked the tires on Lehman, but there was no offer or agreement. Cheers!

Article on the donor who salvaged the charitable dinner auction at Buffett's childhood home. Cheers! http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/05/23/donation-makes-up-for-failed-dinner-auction-at-buffetts-childhood-home/?mod=yahoo_hs