Parsad

Well's continues their global expansion. Cheers! http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/06/25/wells-fargo-picks-up-6-billion-loan-portfolio-from-another-struggling-euro-bank/?partner=yahootix

LOL! That's pretty funny too. Although I would have only thought of Jurassic Park if Paul Allen had bought the island! Cheers!

I've read his blog in the past. He's kind of a douche and then sometimes he's pretty good, so it's a love/hate thing. His investment in Facebook and his past short in Fairfax make me wonder about his abilities...I'm prone to categorize him alongside Paul Allen as another "accidental billionaire"...and when you throw enough money around, you tend to get lucky. Regarding ESPN showing the video, I was also surprised. Bayless' colleagues certainly didn't step up to his defense, which was equally interesting to note. Cheers!

You can hear the Greeks in the bars tonight..."First they screw us financially and now they screw us on the football field!" Replace "screw" with you know what and you will get the right tone! :o Cheers!

Is that me or deleveraging continues big time? Assets are shrinking and they are repaying LT debt at an astonishing rate but that does not seem to be their choice but the fact that they can't put that money to work and get returns on it. So if BAC can't put their money to work, who is, and most importantly... at what costs/risks? This article should answer that: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/insight-wells-fargos-mushrooming-mortgage-201150179.html;_ylt=AgtzGQCsW5AwCpc4O7UiybiiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTNyYmNpcjA3BG1pdANGUCBUb3AgU3RvcnkgTGVmdARwa2cDYjExNmQ5MzctZDYxNS0zYzFiLWJmNjItNmYxNDY3Nzg3Y2E1BHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzQ2NDM5M2UwLWJjYjItMTFlMS05ZTdmLTQ4NDNhZDk1MTFjYw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3 It will depend on what happens I guess. If housing has stabilized and is going to be moving up, then Wells is going to make a killing. If things continue downhill, then Wells better have hedges in place and BAC's deleveraging would have been the way to go. Regardless, I think Moynihan is just doing the simple and smart thing by reducing debt until the costs are on par, or less than, their deposit investment returns. He's keeping it simple...which I really like! And they are keeping it relatively simple at WFC too...credit quality is high, costs are low, there is a vacuum they are filling presently and can shut it down pretty quick if things start to go in the wrong direction. I think they are both very well run banks...one is getting its health back, and one is exploiting investment oppportunities because it always had its health. Cheers!

Chalk up another newspaper...when he says something, he usually does it. Cheers! http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-57459240/buffetts-berkshire-buys-waco-newspaper/

I'm no fan of Mark Cuban, but I love the way he tore this sports reporter up. Cuban knows his basketball! Cheers! http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/mark-cuban-absolutely-destroys-espn-skip-bayless-air-202818568--nba.html

Not sure if anyone had seen this yet, but this was BAC's presentation from a couple of weeks ago. It's attached as a file. Cheers! BAC_Morgan_Stanley_Presentation_-_June_12_2012.pdf

I don't think we are that far off from Merkel relenting...it is coming...just exactly how much more pain and angst does she want to endure from her peers? And once they start down that road, the whole deleveraging process will take 3-4 years...but the primary wall would have finally been breached. We'll see what happens. Cheers!

Here's another one. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/47903627

As many of you know, one of the non-profits we support is "The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada". This year in Toronto, we raised $13,000 for the CCFC. Alison Obrecht, Chapter Development Coordinator For British Columbia, is spear-heading and coordinating the first ever fundraising gala in BC. I've been asked to assist her in any way possible and am more than happy to do so! The Gala is set for November 22, 2012 at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle. Corner Market Capital will be buying a table, and I encourage our boardmembers, especially those who live in and around BC, to try and attend. Individual tickets are $200 and tables are $2,000-2,500, with sponsorship all the way up to $15,000. They are also interested in any donations, including prizes for the auction. Everyone my age or older will also be happy to hear that Vancouver's own 54-40 is playing the Gala...one of Canada's best bands that disappeared too soon! Details for the Gala are below: http://www.kintera.org/site/c.4nJIJXPrEbKSE/b.7990773/k.DA83/2012_Vancouver_ICE_Gala__Home.htm Cheers and see you there! AllThatGlitters2012InviteNov.pdf

Article on housing and Buffett. Cheers! http://www.trefis.com/stock/buffett/articles/128178/further-evidence-that-a-housing-rebound-is-imminent/2012-06-21

What did they get right about the device? The design, the processors, useability, it's efficient, keyboard/cover, etc. Other than the display, which isn't on par with the retina display on the iPad3, it pretty much covers all of the bases. And the display is still on par or better than all Android tablets and the iPad2. They will probably have a retina option some time next year. Not to mention the fact that it will run Office efficiently and most gamers will probably prefer this machine to the Apple iPad. There definitely is a market for the Surface. Cheers!

Isn't that obvious? The promise of an iPad and a PC in a single device. If they do a good job of executing on this promise, then I think it's a clear win for customers. People who want an iPad will get a PC for "free", and people who want a PC will get an iPad for "free". I say "free" because we don't know the price point yet, but clearly without competitive pricing it's not going to work. Or they'll get device that is neither a good tablet nor a good pc. Never know. So far with the Surface, they've gotten the device right, but not so much the software. The Windows Phone 8 OS looks pretty darn good on the software side, and apparently there are rumours that they are working on their own phone. If it is anything like the Surface hardware, it may be pretty good. They are late to the game, just like they were with the video game console. Give them some time. They don't need to kill Apple, but just remain competitive and make inroads. It's Google that may need to worry more than Apple. Cheers!

Only about 2,600 shares traded hands...it's pretty illiquid still. Once the new shares are issued, you will probably start to see a little more consistency in pricing. They are raising $11M to pay down debt and fund the expansion of Hooters Restaurants internationally. Go to their website and they have a ton of information...www.chanticleerholdings.com. Mike, Joe, & Matt, have a good time ringing the Nasdaq bell on the 26th! I'll be watching the live feed. You guys have done a ton of work to turn this thing around over the last four years, and it's all up from here! Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/chanticleer-holdings-ring-nasdaq-closing-165500089.html

LOL! Very funny. Cheers!

I like Cnet better than alot of other technology media outlets. They have a couple of fair articles on the pros and cons of the two newly announced Microsoft products. Cheers! http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/microsoft-surface-rt/4505-3126_7-35332494.html http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57456648-85/windows-phone-8-os-opens-up-to-multicore-processors-nfc/

I heard Nick Cage has an island in the Bahamas. Craig MacCaw is selling his off the coast of British Columbia. And of course Richard Branson owns Necker Island. But boy, oh boy, they have nothing on Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison...he's buying 98% of Lanai...Hawaii's 6th largest island! I believe he's going to build his dojo there and train an elite squad of ninja assassins to go after Ballmer! ;D Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-21/oracle-ceo-ellison-bought-most-of-hawaiian-island-lana-i.html

Definitely one of Mark's better letters. Very good stuff! Cheers!

Berkshire subsidiary Lubrizol is buying skin care company Lipotec. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lubrizol-buying-skincare-products-company-111254083.html

Kiltacular, I agree with you. I was thoroughly impressed by the hardware and less so by the software. I think the whole tile thing is just more complicated and they are going with it just to be different, rather than actually useful and efficient. But software can always be updated and improved upon, whereas if they had gotten the hardware wrong, no one would have wanted to buy one at all. They aren't going to displace Apple, and probably not Android either, but it may add a few more years to their moat and that's all they are trying to do...keep the cashflows going until you hit it out of the park with something else. Who ever thought Microsoft was going to dominate the video game console market when Xbox came out? Personally for my work and daily use, an ipad or the ARM Surface wouldn't work for me, but the Intel Surface might work. So I'm looking forward to testing one out later this year and possibly buying one next year after the bugs are worked out. Cheers!

Article on Berkshire and Rescap. Cheers! http://seekingalpha.com/article/668131-how-to-bet-with-warren-buffett-on-a-u-s-housing-turnaround?source=yahoo

Some interesting insights into Phil Falcone's Harbinger and Michael Dell's family investment vehicle. The loan replaces the 24% annualized Jefferies loan. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-20/falcone-s-harbinger-capital-turns-to-dell-s-msd-for-loan.html

Not sure when it went back to normal, but the Berkshire site is working normal again. Cheers!

Some interesting comments by Hank Paulson. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-19/paulson-says-harm-to-u-s-from-europe-crisis-is-minimal.html