bargainhunter

I own all four of these... do we know each other? ;) BLX in particular very interesting here. BLX intrigues me. I don't see a thread on the company. What's your 30-second elevator pitch? :) Or can you point me to a decent writeup somewhere? I don’t do elevator pitches :-). There is a good write up in VIC from 2014. The stock is significantly cheaper now in termsmof P/B. The ROA improvements that the author eluded to never worked out. I have owned this several times in the the past and bought it below tangible book sndmit always worked out. https://www.valueinvestorsclub.com/idea/BANCO_LATINOAMERICANO_DE_COM/117860 Much appreciated. I will check out that VIC writeup!

I own all four of these... do we know each other? ;) BLX in particular very interesting here. BLX intrigues me. I don't see a thread on the company. What's your 30-second elevator pitch? :) Or can you point me to a decent writeup somewhere?

CSAL. Ridiculously undervalued at these levels. Now yielding 15%.

Added more WIN.

Both internationally and between the states there is no positive correlation between suicide rates and either gun ownership nor gun laws. Look at the suicide rates in Japan for an extreme example. Yes in the US people choose to use a firearm when they kill themselves, whereas in Japan they use other methods, but suicide isn't a gun problem, it is a person who wants to end his own life problem. Sorry, but this is demonstrably untrue, and there are MANY studies illustrating this. The easy availability of guns tends to result in higher suicide rates. See here for example. I could cite countless other studies. http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/02/daily-chart

This is brilliant. Many thanks!

I just went on a 10 day vipassana meditation retreat -- and I highly recommend it for anybody who wants to jumpstart their practice. That said, it is really hard work and you have to be prepared for a bit of mental and physical pain (no talking allowed, just two meals a day, and a grueling schedule of sitting cross legged for up to 10 hours a day). I have no doubt the experience will make me a better investor (although that is merely a byproduct - not the goal). I really believe that our biggest enemy as investors is not the Fed, the Chinese economy, Donald Trump or whatever -- it is our own mind. It is our tendency to do dumb things when we are feeling restless, bored or panicky. Meditation helps you slow down and pause before making the kind of knee-jerk decisions that routinely get us in trouble in investing -- and our everyday lives. Anyway, happy to elaborate if anybody is interested.

Automatization and robotization of other professions is ongoing. It's not a smooth process, but rather a stepwise process: you can't replace humans with machines until you suddenly can. All good points. I don't disagree, but I would argue that outdated regulatory frameworks and the litigious nature of our society are going to hamper some of the potential productivity gains. Think of all the pushback on Uber/Airbnb, etc from vested interests hiding behind the cloak of "safety concerns." As for driverless cars, the technology may be there but I can't imagine how we are going to get around the inevitable legal morass surrounding their adoption. (What happens when a driverless car hits a child crossing the road?) At the end of the day people are far more forgiving of mistakes made by humans than machines. I realize I have veered slightly off topic here...

Good comments Picasso and wescobrk. A couple of thoughts: - I think the "normalized" Fed funds peak of the future is going to be closer to 3% than the historical 5%. Demographics, slowing productivity, etc all argue for a lower potential growth rate and lower interest rates in the future. Interest payments will probably make up a smaller chunk of the budget than normalized projections suggest. - I worry about slowing productivity too (this is a global phenomenon). Have we already harvested most of the gains from the IT revolution? Despite all the hype about big data, etc, that is what the macro data would suggest. Robert Gordon is a good source on this stuff. - I also share the concern that in the US we are near peak earnings/margins and peak multiples. The only way to go is down. That said, rates are not going to go up in a hurry, and I have a hunch this economic upcycle still has a couple more years to run. Thinking about this stuff is fun, but I share the view of many on this board that trying to pick the turning point is a fool's errand. At the end of the day it's all about insisting on a solid margin of safety...

NVGS and SNMX.

Just significantly increased my position in SNMX. As per today's earnings release Pepsi commercialization is on track for mid 2015. Just as important, direct sales are ramping up. Look at the trend in sales wins over the past several quarters. 0, 1, 3, 6. We are on the cusp of a major ramping up in revenues here.