berkshire101

How much does it cost to produce a barrel of oil? I read that it cost the Saudis $30 per barrel. Oil kind of reminds me of gold a while back. It cost around $1000 to mine an ounce, but it was trading for like $2000. So they produced a lot of the stuff and supply met demand. They even had a reality show about it. Maybe that's what happening to oil. Everything I read says that the US will be the #1 oil producer going forward. Or maybe electric cars will take over the world soon. Those Tesla fanboys maybe right after all.

Ended the year with a 20% gain. I'm happy. I only sold two positions during the whole year too so I'm glad to have kept my turnover low. :)

Let be fair though, he probably bought it used. ;) And when he sells it, it'll probably be worth more if he autographs it.

Move up into management so I can play out my dream of being the pointy-haired boss in Dilbert.

Wished I bought more OBCI at the beginning of the year. I talked with management over the phone and came away impressed. But I thought I could buy more shares at a cheaper price, even though it was already cheap.

Same here, UFC did a really good job of hyping up the Jons and Cormier fight. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint with a lot of hugging.

Is anyone else here a big of the UFC or mix martial arts in general? This Saturday will be a big fight!

Thanks. I'll definitely check out what Donville Kent is up to. I usually skim through their letters and such, but not in detail. Maybe this time I will. Thanks again.

There are some great GARP businesses here in the states. But I'm wondering what are some abroad. I found some great ones like Constellation Software (CNSWF) and Computer Modelling Group (CMDXF) in Canada. That's about it. They're pretty difficult to find, especially using a screener. Any other hidden gems floating around out there? Thanks. :)

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm adding it to my watch list! I like the idea of moats around a business. I think we should also be adding a moat around yourselves too. It's only natural as the world is becoming more and more competitive.

+1 "Someone will always be getting richer faster than you. This is not a tragedy." -- Munger So true. Envy is one those sins we should learn to remove. As long as we reach our goals, who cares what others do right?

There's CTC Media (CTCM). It's a Russian based company though. But the industry is fairly stable. Even if Russia goes into a recession, people will still watch TV and get bombarded with ads. Half of the earnings are distributed as dividends so you do get paid while waiting for things to get better. Of course, you have to put up with a crazy dictator so there's that risk. But it's cheap, profitable, good balance sheet, and growing.

+1 welcome! :)

IRG - Think they'll finally turn a profit and be appropriately valued at 1 times sales, which is comparable to other restaurants. Joe's Crab Shack is already worth more than the market cap alone. QIWI - Return on capital is well over 100% and they have the largest network of payments in Russia. It's just too cheap! Plus, you have a very smart Billionaire backing it. RAVN - They're going through a restructuring that'll hopefully bare some fruits. Think Ag production will eventually pick up since people will eat more in the coming years. It's been a brutal 2014 for these stocks.

It'll be Bush's fault when it happens. Just saying.

I just picked up a copy of Poor Charlie's Almanack as a Christmas present to me. It's going to be an exciting Christmas this year! :)

I did achieve 90% return this year in my fake virtual account that's 100% margin and highly concentrate. I don't have the balls in real life to attempt such a thing. But it's fun making all the mistakes with paper money than with the real thing.

18-19% at the moment. But who knows, it could go up or down from here. I would prefer up! But I also have some cash. So maybe down would be better.

It's not Christmas yet, but why not right? Just wanted to say that this community is really awesome! I wish I could get everyone a gift, but I'm no Warren Buffett. So I just got you guys this card. This is a special Christmas card. I found it on the internet. Wishing you guys a holiday season filled with stress, cold, and anger. Hey, at least this is realistic. Just kidding. Maybe if we're nice, Santa will provide some nice bargains in the markets. ;D Happy holidays and investing! http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71UhBnrm5rL._SL1500_.jpg

Just want a cool story to tell.

;D Rule 1, don't lose money........... Rule 2, don't forget rule 1. 8)

One can dream right? :'( I thought it would be fun to toss around ideas of where we could find that one company that could potentially return 100 times our initial investment. Nowadays, a lot of small companies raise capital through private funding. But I still believe there's hope! The best idea I came across is Ocean Bio-Chem (OBCI). They're basically the Clorox for the boating industry and expanding into other areas such as auto and housing. They're about $41 million in market cap. So to make 100 times, their market cap needs to be $4.1 billion. Their market potential is fairly large. Any other ideas?

Irrevocable trust? Most of the wealthy folks I know have their assets held in a trust. But the best way to protect yourself is to learn to be a good and loving husband. If the wife leaves with half, it'll only take a savvy investor about 5 years to make that back assuming he can compound at 15% annually. So I'd would let the wife take half if the marriage is going south. You'll probably end up fighting in court for several years too. Not worth the time and stress in my opinion.

Interesting video about returns and taxes. Warren Buffett wrote about the same thing in one of his letters too.

That's true randomep. I rarely turnover my portfolio because I dread paying taxes. The long-term capital taxes in the United States aren't too bad, they're around 15%. It's the short-term that sucks. Let's say I want to achieve 15% annually, I would have to return 25% before taxes. That's a pretty high hurdle rate in a year. I guess the bright side is that you wouldn't be paying any taxes if you didn't make a profit. The thing with retirement accounts is that there's a limit on how much you can contribute. But it's tax deferred so can't complain I guess.