LongTermView

Thanks, notorious. I just sent you a PM.

Thanks, Travis. Yeah, it's hard to get info on many of these companies. I wish there was at least something for free that could filter on ROE.

Does anyone use a free screener that covers otc companies? I like http://finviz.com/screener.ashx but it doesn't include otc companies. http://www.marketinout.com/stock-screener/flexible.php?screen_id=1 is mentioned in another thread but it doesn't seem to let me go through all the result pages unless I sign up.

valuechaser, I just finished listening to the podcast and it is a nice resource. Thanks again for recommending it.

This is fascinating. If my future car drives itself such that I can read a book or watch a movie then I won't be as worried about being stuck in traffic. I was talking to a Tesla owner the other night and she said she feels like a kid on Christmas morning after each software update. I think she said there have been two in the last six weeks. The article says lane changes still have to be initiated by a human: It sounds like Tesla has some advantages over other companies because of all the data they're collecting:

valuechaser, I'll be sure to check out the Rangeley Capital podcast, thanks. scorpioncapital, Thanks for the book link - I just ordered it.

Yeah, this is good stuff.

Buffettology mentions that Buffett did a lot of workouts in the early days. It says Graham talks about arbitrage in Security Analysis and that he taught Buffett about the subject. Are there any newer arbitrage books out there that folks recommend? The 2009 http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/merger-arbitrage/ thread mentions "Risk Arbitrage" by Guy Wyser Pratte but that book only has 1 review on amazon.

I like the BNSF and BHE discussions from pages 34 to 39. The BNSF cash flow statement shows cash distributions of $4 billion, $3.5 billion, and $4 billion for 2015, 2014, and 2013 respectively. BNSF is generating a lot of cash for Berkshire to spend in other areas. BHE is different in that they're using its cash for more energy acquisitions as opposed to areas outside of energy, right?

Me too. It's surprising that none of the major sources have it.

I like the part about risk, including driverless cars:

Reading: The King of California by Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman Recently finished: How Asia Works by Joe Studwell Union Pacific: The Reconfiguration by Maury Klein The Gervais Principle by Venkatesh Rao

I liked the movie.

I have the same type of setup. The framed print looks awesome on the wall!

I liked this book, definitely a different perspective than I'm used to reading Same here. I love the idea of aiming for a monopoly. Not the usual, "If we can gain 2% of that $2B market share........", along with the other dozen competitors doing the same thing. Yeah, I liked the way he looked at Google from different angles: Now I'm reading How Asia Works by Joe Studwell.

The question was whether it was a buy. Like John Hjorth and scorpioncapital pointed out, Buffett said the following which was pretty much saying yes indirectly: I think Buffett's answer was better than just saying "yes" directly for several reasons: 1. Buffett didn't know what the stock market would do in the short run. 2. There were other great companies out there that might have been even more undervalued.

Zero to One by Peter Thiel

feynmanresearch, Thanks for the link, that's a great video. Hearing about his 20% in Fox News and his part in Time Warner was interesting. Cable Cowboys talks about how Malone has been efficient with taxes over the years in part because of interest. This video provided a lot more information about his tax expertise. These types of statements helped explain his thought process:

I don't have a position yet. This seems like a good point:

Yeah, this was a good one.

Birds of Prey - Boeing vs. Airbus by Matthew Lynn

From 2005 to 2008 it looks like this involves cash and investments from the "Insurance and Other" portion of the balance sheet less some minority interests. How is it calculated from 2009 to present? I see orion asked about this but it wasn't answered: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/berkshire-hathaway/calculating-per-share-investments-and-pre-tax-earnings/ The http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/berkshire-hathaway/brk-intrinsic-value/ thread has some general info but I don't see specifics in terms of balance sheet components. Here is how I see it from 2005 to 2008: 2005: ### On an equivalent Class A common stock basis there are 1,540,723 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2005. 74,129 per share * 1,540,723 shares = 114.2 billion balance sheet in millions: 40,471 Insurance Cash 27,420 Insurance Fixed 46,721 Insurance Equity ------- 114,621 114.6b less about 0.4b in minority interests = 114.2b. ### 2006: ### On an equivalent Class A common stock basis there are 1,542,649 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2006. 80,636 per share * 1,542,649 shares = 124.4 billion balance sheet in millions: 37,977 Insurance Cash 25,300 Insurance Fixed 61,533 Insurance Equity ------- 124,810 124.8b less about 0.4b in minority interests = 124.4b. ### 2007: ### The first is our investments: stocks, bonds and cash equivalents. At yearend these totaled $141 billion (not counting those in our finance or utility operations, which we assign to our second bucket of value). On an equivalent Class A common stock basis there are 1,547,693 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2007 90,343 per share * 1,547,693 shares = 139.8 billion balance sheet in millions: 37,703 Insurance Cash 28,515 Insurance Fixed 74,999 Insurance Equity ------- 141,217 141.2 less about 0.4b in minority interests = 139.8b. ### 2008: ### The first is our investments: stocks, bonds and cash equivalents. At yearend those totaled $122 billion. On an equivalent Class A common stock basis there are 1,549,234 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2008 77,793 per share * 1,549,234 shares = 120.5 billion balance sheet in millions: 24,302 Insurance Cash 27,115 Insurance Fixed 49,073 Insurance Equity 21,535 Insurance Other Investments ------- 122,025 122b less about 1.5b in minority interests = 120.5b. ###

Just finished The Man Who Fed the World by Leon Hesser. Good book.

Thanks, notorius! I like the part where Lou says the market can be like the weather. If anyone knows where we can get these for other years then I'm very interested.

Yeah, the pdf format is key. Many times it is available in the investor relations section.