orthopa

Was just going to post the link but I'm a day late. I think we are finally seeing a bit of a shift in public opinion of the actions that took place, or maybe a better way to put it is more wide spread questioning. Those that will be most interested would be those with skin in the game of course. That may limit the uproar a little unless your really anti government or fraud. I cant image the "common citizen" caring too much about what took place as they are likely ignorant to what FnF does and if it helps them at all. I dont know how much accounting will or is usually discussed in court but if questionable accounting has occurred I cant see how it wont help the cause against the gov.

Exactly, that is the difference here. The net sweep was done when FnF was not going to be bankrupt.

Nice find Luke thanks. I may add to my FNMA holdings as I think it makes clear the sweep was illegal especially in light of the fact that FNMA was profitable at the time it occurred.

Looks like the perfect ruling for AIG and FNMA shareholders. Greenberg wins, good for FNMA/FMCC as gov found wrong/acted illegally. No damages so AIG not going to pay out. (It would'nt have anyway as AIG was not responsible for damages if govt acted illegally, ie loss as they did). As a shareholder for both I am happy, bet Berkowitz is too.

That would be my que to load up more AIG as AIG is not liable monetarily if Greenberg wins.

Just ordered my book and print. Looking forward to it. ;D

Do you have the link to the thread this was discussed in?

NY, NJ, & MA are some of the bigger markets for resi. solar. snow typically is not a huge issue for solar production (they price this into your rate typically, and solar irradiation is much lower in winter anyway, so you'll still save money). Finally...typical solar leases come with warranty on roof penetrations. They won't install if your roof is too old/wrong material/poor condition. I live in NY too and wanted to add while NY does have brutal winters with short days, summer days are very long, 14+ hours and the angle of insolation is beneficial during the long summer months.

If the stock is truly undervalued I don't see how you could go wrong buying stock. Especially when you almost assuredly know you will be paying a premium with an acquisition.

FWIW the "solar roads" you tube idea is fascinating. May not happen in my life time (34y old) due to costs but i would love not having salt and shoveling up north where I am.

Just saw this thread. Reading through this comments seems like most everyone was stuck on the valuation back in 2010 when the thread was started and right fully so. Split adjusted it was trading between 15-20 a share. Now at ~68. Seems like the valuation was fair for the growth Visa was going to experience. I hold some (not as much as I would like) and still struggle with the valuation to add being a value investor but this appears to be a wonderful business at a fair price scenario. Pure value investors are likely going to sit and watch this continue to become more valuable as they wait for the valuation to come in outside of a big stock market contraction. Especially with China on the docket and Visa Europe likely to get purchased.

If Brady co operated with the investigation I bet the punishment would be much less. Why hide your phone calls, emails or texts. Either your doing something you shouldn't on the field, or your cheating on Giselle. Not to mention he lied in the media afterwards saying he had no knowledge when the text messages with the equipment personal showed he basically bribed them to change the balls. In a game where its cold, wet and one teams balls are all inflated to the correct pressure, and an others is noticeably different its purely to gain an advantage. Not to mention the text messages/emails that showed intent to do so and the refusal of the player requesting the alternation to co operate. Sure sounds like cheating to me.

At the risk of sounding ignorant why is this exactly? Thanks Take Fairfax cash flow statement, in 2014 they reported Net Earnings of 1.66 Billions but if you look at their cash flow statement you see that their Operating Cash Flow statement is -70 Millions. If you look at the constituents of the cash flow you can see 1.74 Billions from investment gains substracted from their Cash Flow. That is because those investments are earnings but since they have not sold them yet it's not a cash in flow. It's also the same when they make an investment, it takes out their cash flow but really has not much to do with their operation. So why are these investments appear in the cash flow part and not the investment part... because investments are part of insurance companies operations. BeerBaron Great explaination, thanks.

ISTJ. Reading these write ups on personalities are freaky bc it sounds just like my....um....personality.

Do you mean self adjust to inflation via multiple expansion or contraction?

At the risk of sounding ignorant why is this exactly? Thanks

With Howard Marks and Buffet coming out on Cnbc and Fox news recently commenting that there is little value in the market currently or Marks puts it, on the high side of fair. Does this bring anyone down to earth or help "reset you" as a value investor? Not that one would act exclusively on passing comments but does anyone take these to heart? I say that because I find myself, in a market like this say "well, this company isn't exactly cheap, but at this market multiple" or "if they can continue the most recent growth this multiple is fair". 5 years ago, some of the multiples of stuff I look at would be considered in no way value. After letting these comment resonate a little I find that I would be making the mistake of letting some sitting cash burn a hole in my pocket as the market continues to grind higher. Its a conundrum as always, let cash build up earning nothing, or invest in a fairly valued to slightly over valued environment to not get left behind so to speak. As a youngish investor (34) Ive never invested in a maturing bull market as I didnt have any real money in 06-07. How do you guys go about this? Are you still willing to buy fairly valued to the high side of fair companies at this time? Thanks.

I wrote some April 40-strike puts on FAST today. In a week I'll either have a starter position in FAST at a basis of $39.15 or $0.85 per share profit. Im watching fast too, do you think the multiple premium is still justified at these prices?

+1 cant find much. Looking at what I can find with google search very asset rich company. Have nightmares though of holding it for years/decades with value never being monetized. Here is an older annual report. https://www.amstock.com/proxyservices/Files/AR16728.pdf

A broker like Tradeking or Sharebuilder does not have any minimums I believe. As long as you put a couple bucks in every once in a while they shouldn't charge you any maintenance fees either.

WNY? Nice, I live in Clarence, are you still in WNY? I have thought about real estate also as my father in law is in agent and has ~15 units. He has done ok but is by no means wealthy and is nearing 60. He has been doing it for ~30 years also. I'm sure his capital base was small and no idea on his return over the that time. I think the issue with RE too are all the frictional costs. Taxes every month (very high in my area). Turnover with tenants can cost you money. Damage costs by tenants. Last fall when we got 7 feet of snow in WNY my father in law had to find a way to clear a big parking lot with 7 feet of snow. People were price gouging big time to clear the snow as a loader/bobcat was needed and Im sure some with rental properties paid a couple months profit because of that. Then when you sell you pay 6% etc etc. The 1031 exchange is attractive but if you have a couple properties you are trying to unload it makes it hard to transfer all of your equity. Not liquid enough for me.

I have read Intelligent investor twice, enjoyed the second time much more. Still working my way through Security Analysis. I'm determined to finish and will feel guilty if I put it down but as mentioned it is dry.

Nice thought, thanks for the update.

Like others have mentioned I hate buying cars, dread it actually. Last car I drove had 205k miles, was 14 years old and rusted to hell. Wife hated it but got me to where I going. The idea of spending money on something that defeats the entire purpose of why I work my ass off/invest makes me mad. Last car I bought 12 months ago now was used,6 years old, and less then 1% of my net worth. Already has rust on it :o

I know it was touched on before but the legalization of Marijuana I think will be a boon to big tobacco, mostly because of in place advertising ability, convenience for consumers, and in place distribution channels. Here is a copy/paste of one of my comments on another forum. "Interesting discussion regarding the MJ. I have no absolute knowledge but believe all of the branding, advertising (if allowed), distribution is in place for big tobacco to start selling MJ. I would expect a similar roll out to MarkTen. I also don't believe full legalization is that far way (less then 10 years) as 25 states already have some form of relaxed marijuana legislation. In regards to usage I have a couple thoughts. 1. If the "market" price is set by a combination of taxes, profit etc, say the price of regular cigs. Why would the home/private marijuana seller price their product much below market? ie if a pack of marijuana cigs costs $10, why would the private guy sell his product for much below? One would think he would raise his prices and get an instant increase on his margins. Hell may even charge more for a better type of bud, etc. 2. If number 1 becomes true and prices and quality similar my next thought would be convenience. Whats easier, growing your own including WAITING for it to grow initially, buying the equipment to grow it indoors in a cooler climate, drying it, rolling 20 MJ blunts/cigs...or just going to the convenience store and buying a pack and paying a little more? If you just want to party for a weekend or every once in a while are you going to grow your own? Prob not, so whats easier, finding a dealer, rolling your own, etc or just going to the gas station and buying it. My guess is the latter. A corollary would be with packs of cigs at $10.00 a pack why aren't people just rolling their own tobacco cigs? My guess is BC its inconvenient and the handful of dollars saved isnt "worth" it. 3. One would also then think a marijuana e cig would be available with a THC hit whenever one wanted. 4. My guess is once legalized more then anything it will finally open up convenience, (read no more sneaking around) and people will take advantage of it. " Internationally the marijuana legalization wave will take longer BC of all of the different countries involved. International operators such as PM, Japan tobacco, BTI, could benefit eventually. Marijuana is much more tolerated worldwide then I thought before I googled this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_cannabis_by_country#/media/File:World-cannabis-laws.png Take a look at this and tell me Altria does not have this ready to go. ;D http://static.businessinsider.com/image/545f98d9ecad040b2463393c/image.jpg