spartansaver

Good title :) it definitely got me to read the rest (initially had me pissed off).

Thank you very much for doing this! Has anyone found the "Sixteen Lectures on Modernization" that he refers to in the lecture?

Jurgis, I just want to double check that I'm calculating the Kelly formula right. Odds of being right 40% Actual odds 1/30% (bp - q)/q b = 1/.3-1 = 2.33 p = .4 q = (1-.4) = .6 (2.33 x .4 - .6) / 2.33 = 14.2%

Outside of getting better prices for employers/insurers, is there much value that these guys really add? It seems very tough to actually see the value they provide as prices are so distorted and there is room for manipulation of what they actually save the consumer. Correct me if I'm wrong as I have little to no experience in the industry.

What is either side trying to get/learn by winning this debate? There were probably 50 other questions and the best thing you can debate on is the coke question. I really enjoyed hearing Buffett's reasoning behind minimal due diligence. Essentially you will not go wrong in getting the minor details wrong, it is your view of the industry economics that will determine whether or not you do well. WB also mentioned pattern recognition multiple times, which seems to point to the value of watching these industries for 50+ years.

The TLRD one seems tough to me. I can understand why the company wrote off Jos. A Bank. The psychological effects of taking away people's discounts (discounts of buy 1 suit get 3 free) likely may have killed that side of the company. It's funny that they didn't learn from JC Penny and Ackman. At this point you have a levered Men's Warehouse with an option of whether or not their Tuxedo concept will work in Macy's. If you feel they haven't killed Jos. A Bank it could be very cheap.

Anyone know where to find Akre's old letters to shareholders?

I have been pondering today whether a person who does average research can achieve above average results? Do the great investors of our day know companies better than others through in depth research, or is it their inherent investment skills that make them above average?

I change my mind every two days, so just ignore my picks. I am clearly not smart enough to pick a concentrated list of stocks that perform well 1-2 years out. But funnily my 60 picks outperform the market. Fair enough, seems like they are definitely trading cheaply. My paranoia is likely priced in a bit although it remains to be seen whether it is enough of a discount.

How are you getting comfortable with the increasing threat of e-commerce? Taking Wayfair as an example, they have 23.5% GM versus BBBY at 38.5%. If you assume BBBY is forced to cut margins down to 30%, you've cut their operating income in half. Seems like a fair amount of risk this company's earnings could be materially negatively impacted in the future.

Little Book That Still Beats the Market was a great one. I read the first few chapters to my gf and she got nearly all of it. Some stuff had to go back over, but for the most part he did the perfect job of simplifying the concepts.

Working my way through and noticed something that struck me in chapter 2. Often we are taught to think about a project as having an expected cf where you take the average of the different cf's based on probability and work them out. In Valuation they point out that sometimes a project with a small probability to produce a negative cashflow can have a much greater effect on the entire organization, that project should not be undertaken. I believe that Buffett over the years has made a strong case for this by constantly reminding us of how even under the worst circumstance of a Supercat the company would still operate healthy. Sorry for the rambling, but I thought it was important to point out.

I'm all about Monopoly although my family refuses to play with me. Settler's of Catan is pretty fun. I like board games try and keep consols out of my place, I know how much time I can spend when I start a new game. It's also fun playing board and card games because you are interacting with real people around you. Also I have recently been learning bridge and will teach my friends once I understand the concepts.

Just started reading some of his wisdom. Very easy read with some great quotes to remember. Only .99$ on kindle. :) I'm sure there are plenty of places for it for free out there, but I like all of my books together on my kindle.

A little ridiculous to expect this to drive growth in your portfolio. You are taking ten companies that likely hold anywhere from 10-100 companies each and expecting equal weightings in those holding companies of 2% each to outperform the market. You probably will end up owning 150 companies that only represent 20% of your portfolio. This will likely mirror the market as you are diversifying holding companies. Might as well just buy a low cost index fund.

Waiting on it in the mail. I'm in the industry, but feel like I know so little. Will post my thoughts when I finish.

The way I recommend books for audible is to typically choose long autobiographies. I also purchase with credits so I feel like I am getting the biggest bang for my buck. Examples are Titan and Snowball. Two extremely long books that are normally north of 30 dollars(Snowball right now is showing as 60) and can be purchased for one credit at 14 dollars.

For those of you that manage money, does the stress of possibly losing others money ruin the enjoyment of investing at all? Buffett seems to always talk about how much he loves it, but he's also the exception to trailing an index at certain times. How do you handle it when you get behind and you hear clients complain about your choices? It seems easy when your ahead, but how do you not change your game when you get behind? I love investing, but it worries me that as I try and get into the field as an occupation the stress will kill the enjoyment.

UG although heavy insider selling scaring me away lately.

http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/02/joel-greenblatt-class-lectures-and-videos/ not sure if they work, my work blocks em :(

I've been taking a coursera course Computer Science 101 that gives a nice overview of coding and computers. It's only six classes long, but I've enjoyed and learned a fair amount from the first two.

What if you don't have a house?

It's not a blog I frequent very often, but if I'm in the mood for a quick biography I think they're decent reads. At least this is his first complete biography so it can't be like any of the others :).

Figured I would shares this, stumbled on it at 25IQ. Iv'e enjoyed reading some of the articles on there so I hope it's good. http://www.amazon.com/dp/023117098X

About 75% through based off of what my kindle tells me. Have enjoyed it a lot although some of it seems hypocritical. The parts where he talks about any time you have a decision ask yourslef whether it builds or destroys the brand, and then accepting the deal with United was a plain example of destroying the quality of Starbucks and he tried to play it off like it was building the brand because they would get more customers. I'm reading it because of the Art of Profitability and I definitely see the parallels to Wal-Mart building out from a distribution center/major city is a gleaming theme as well as reinvesting in great ideas without testing them and just going at it. I also thought it was funny how Howard defends Starbucks that they are not like Wal-Mart yet I was reading it for the soul intention of comparing the two. Personally I love going to Starbucks, I would rather read around people than being at home alone. Complaints: They are ice-boxes, every time I go in now I dress for winter. There coffee is nothing special and I wonder how long that brand will last.