biaggio

I had mentioned this in another thread, but thought (and maybe still think)was only wishful thinking at the time. I hope the guys at at Fairholme are thinking the same. It would solve the redemption problem. I have a small position unfortunately bough prematurely at a much higher price..

Norm thanks for posting your web site...looks good/a lot of info, look forward to reading it.

like holding cash, not having to worry about paying your mortgage helps you to sleep well. Taking out a mortgage with these extreme low interest rates may be good for the really smart guys here, but not for the average investor (like myself).

Geez, I dont get it. rranjan, maybe you should talk to alph23's bank rep? This does not sound good for shareholders of WFC

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenkam/2011/09/01/the-oracle-of-manitoba-is-buying/ Never heard of this guy. More positives on global/macro issues.

Thanks for posting. Good to see (read) that Martin Whitman backing, investing in U.S. investment because of multiple strengths of the U.S economy, U.S system. Though it should be not a surprise, as he has been very successful vulture investor, investing in things that few would go near- being able to see the opportunity in environments of fear like we have today

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/09/13/ge-to-buy-back-buffett’s-financial-crisis-stake/ The company said in a regulatory filing it would pay $3.3 billion, plus unpaid dividends, to cash in famed U.S. investor Warren Buffett’s stake, which paid a 10 percent dividend.

do you ever worry about why they would do that? Just good business practice of taking good care of your customer? Maybe there is some sort of incentive for your bank rep? How does that compare to the variable rate?

Thanks for posting. Good to be aware of this when we re making important decisions,but also when we re seeing people for their advise +counsel i.e maybe don t see your doc late in afternoon, early in am would be better (I think there was a study on this as well)

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44452871/ A Greece bankruptcy would actually be a good thing because "it's time for people to acknowledge reality," well-known investor Jim Rogers told CNBC Friday. Rogers said that if Greece defaults, some other countries will default too—Italy, Spain, Ireland and a few others. If this happens "the euro will go down a far amount. But I would buy all the euro I could at that point because then that would mean that Europe is going to have a very strong, sound currency," he explained. "People can not lie about their finances anyone, people have to run a tight ship." "It would be a lot of pain between now and then, but boy if that happened in the next month or so, buy all the euros you can," Rogers said. Rogers went on to say he was long the U.S. dollar. “The only reason I’m long…is because everybody in the world, including me, has been terribly pessimistic. And whenever that happens you should take the other side of the trade.”

what is a Walter Schloss type position?

MA -4.7% BAM-4.3% MCD-4. % MYGN-4%

90% less cancer in Africa I tried to be a vegan for ~ 3m couldn t do it, now I try to limit my animal protein to a few , 3-4 oz per day

The medical profession calls it "the dipstick of life"

was the yield on 1 year greek debt 90% today?

you get burned when you become complacent about the risks or you don t recognize the risks

"Not sure why Japanese corporations are so willing to keep on employees who could probably be cut. Is it just different business ethics? Does the homogeneity of the society have something to do with? Anyone have any insights?" Many years ago I read the book The Machine-That-Changed-World- http://www.amazon.com/Machine-That-Changed-World-Production/dp/0060974176 Good book by the way Book based on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's $5 million, five-year study on the Japanese Auto industry in the 70's + 80's I be;ieve. If I remember correctly it is a basic premise of how they set up their businesses = workers, managers, corporation work together for greater good, and profit + loss. Workers are encouraged to share their best ideas to save money, make better products etc in return the worker is promised not to get fired because his job is made obsolete by theirs or others ideas. Local japanese owned steel company as a example has never layed off workers because of decreased demand for product-instead from the start of the business they have been promised + agreed to work overtime + work hard when times are busy (they get bonuses/profit sharing)...when times are slow they take extra time off, work shorter work week (3 day work week) etc.

"If I owned some gold, other than my golden personality, I would be selling. " Uccmal, price of gold $1888/oz, price of golden personality...priceless. Have a great labour day everybody.

http://www.gurufocus.com/news/144435/niall-ferguson-interview-with-consuelo-mack

Moore_capital, thanks for the references.

I briefly looked at Pinetree Capital (PNP) Selling at <50% of NAV http://www.pinetreecapital.com/_resources/financials/fs_pnp11Q1.pdf CEO has been buying shares http://www.canadianinsider.com/coReport/allTransactions.php?ticker=pnp and apparently has been buying all year long. I like their investment themes. http://www.pinetreecapital.com/_resources/presentation/Pinetree-Q2-2011-final.pdf All their NAV is in many junior resource companies. Rick Rule indicated that 90% of junior resource companies have a net present value of zero. For those who invest in junior canadian resources, how can you reconcile this? Market seems to be expressing this disbelief. Management taking the opposite view, as they are puyting their own money in. Value of common cut in half since the spring http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?PNP.TO

SCP is managed by a subdivision of SII. SII charges 2% of assets plus 20% of profits over a hurdle rate (based on long term interest rate of some sort-I forget exactly)

Thanks for posting interview. What's your opinion on SII? I looked at it a couple years ago but missed the boat. With SII you would have managers like Rick Rule, and Eric Sprott (who owns most of the shares I believe) on the team.

Original Mungergille, How much cash are you holding? On another thread, Rick Rule (interview) indicated that if you had tax losses to take, to take them now as he expects a lot of volatility + a lot of people to sell their losers in October + November. He will be buying in Oct Nov when he expects another downturn due to tax loss selling. Mr Rule advocates having Cash + courage when this occurs. Personally I am not smart enough to know what is going to happen in the future. I have been pessimistic + wrong in the past. I hope to be prepared if + when severe market down turn . I have been slowly buying owner operators, + am lookimg at buying some undervalued dividend paying companies.

Just finished watching Enjoyed it very much. Thanks again