valuebull

Kiplinger Magazine has posted a 14 question multiple choice quiz regarding Warren Buffett. Scoring 9 out of 14 is average. (I got 14 out of 14 and expect that many of you will too). kiplinger.com/links/buffettquiz

The 2 phone numbers I had for OID are useless. I sent editor Henry Emerson a letter to the address shown on OID, and it came back undeliverable. I'm owed $100 in undelivered newsletters, I would think OID would be classier than just disappearing with the subscriber's money.

I just got the DVDs in the mail, and can hardly wait to watch them! Does anyone have comments on the lectures?

Thanks Nebraska

Here is an interesting letter to the editor in today’s issue of Barron's (5/27/17). Prof Murray retired after 25 years of lecturing at Columbia, preceding Bruce Greenwald, and was a co-author of the fifth edition of Security Analysis. I was surprised (in a good way!) by the last sentence of the editorial, and think many of you will be as well! To the Editor: Leslie P. Norton’s May 13 interview with Bruce Greenwald: (“Bruce Greenwald: Channeling Graham and Dodd) told only part of the story about Greenwald’s introduction to value investing. There’s more. After 25 years of lecturing at Columbia University, Prof. Roger Murray retired in 1978. No new course in value investing was offered. In 1968, following the release of the fifth edition of Security Analysis (which Murray co-authored), Mario Gabelli sought to memorialize Murray’s teachings. This resulted in Gabelli & Co.’s sponsoring four lectures on value investing in January 1993. Dean Meyer Felderg attended Murray’s second lecture and brought with him a new faculty member, Bruce Greenwald. We have Murray’s Lectures on DVD. To obtain a set, email murray@gabelli.com and we will gladly send it free of charge. Douglas R. Jamieson Gamco Investors Rye, N. Y.

I tried I am also wondering what happened. This morning I tried calling and there is no answer at their two phone numbers (212 925-3885 and 212 777 3330) and OID.com is not available. The last communication I had with OID Customer Service was on 2/1/14 when they sent me an email saying I have 3 issues remaining on my subscription.

Since many value investors like to get bargains on everything, if you are a fan of McDonald's Big Macs, here is how you can get an excellent deal.... Order a double hamburger, NO ketchup, ADD shredded lettuce, ADD Mac Sauce. They automatically include pickles and onions. I did this at my local McDonalds, and the burger tastes like a Big Mac and cost $1.49 (versus $4.49 for a Big Mac)! You're saving $3 by just not getting the middle layer of bun that separates the two patties on a Big Mac. Thanks Bottomline newsletter for this tip!

The team that won shrewdly knew Warren Buffett favors peanut brittle and dark chocolate, so with See's help they designed and packaged a new variant.....cashew brittle topped with dark chocolate. The episode featured lots of good shots of See's candy production, and a See's retail shop, great publicity for See's!

KinAlberta - Your cable company may let you turn on HBO just for a day (I do that with some ESPN channels and it is inexpensive to do)

The celebrity teams will compete to win over Warren Buffett with their candy creations. The "Candy for a Billionaire" episode will air on 1/16/17 on NBC. I hope he makes many shameless plugs for See's candy!

HBO is airing a new documentary on Warren Buffett on 1/30/17. Here is the trailer: http://www.marketwatch.com/video/documentary-trailer-becoming-warren-buffett/BF8DA321-428E-4A0A-8B14-D494DF827CF3.html I've heard there will not be a lot of new insights for long time Warren Buffett fans, but I won't let that stop me! I like the trailer where Warren Buffett is picking up his order at a McDonald's drive thru!!!

Interesting interview of Joel Greenblatt by Consuelo Mack on 11/4/16... In this 27 minute segment he talks about his new fund "Index Plus". Investors get all the stocks in the market cap weighted S&P 500, along with an actively managed overlay which goes long the cheapest S&P 500 stocks and goes short the most overpriced of the S&P 500 stocks. http://wealthtrack.com/greenblatt-hybrid-investing/ In this 2 minute segment he talks about the election and his optimism for America no matter who wins. He also talks about the success of the charter school system in NYC that he is heavily involved in. http://wealthtrack.com/election-education-impact/

That is the one I missed too!

Try your hand at this 15 question Warren Buffett quiz, it takes 5 minutes or less (Source: Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2016) www.kiplinger.com/links/buffettquiz I answered 14 out of 15 questions correctly. Good luck and have fun!

The attached flyer shows the books being sold at the annual meeting. These books were approved by Warren Buffett to be sold at the meeting. The books new to the Annual Meeting Selections for 2016 include: 1. All I Want to Know is Where I’m Going to Die so I’ll Never go There: Buffett and Munger—A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin ($28 list price, 2016). 2. Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin ($24.95 list price, Columbia Business School Press, 2015). 3. Getting There: A Book of Mentors by Gillian Zoe Segal ($24.95 list price, Abrams, 2016). 4. Habit of Labor - Lessons from a Life of Struggle and Success by Stef Wertheimer ($29.95 list price, Overlook, 2015). 5. Limping on Water: My 40-year Adventure with One of America’s Outstanding Communications Companies by Phil Beuth ($24.95 list price, 2016). 6. My Warren Buffett Bible: A Short and Simple Guide to Rational Investing: 284 Quotes from the World's Most Successful Investor by Robert Bloch ($14.99 list price, Skyhorse, 2015). 7. Uniquely Omaha: 101 Things to Know about the Big O by Mike Kelly ($29.95 list price, Omaha World-Herald, 2015). 8. Warren Buffett's Ground Rules: Words of Wisdom from the Partnership Letters of the World's Greatest Investor by Jeremy C. Miller ($29.99 list price, Harper, 2016). 9. <New Edition> Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders: 1965-2014, collected by Max Olson ($34.99 list price, 2016). 10. <New Edition> The Essays of Warren Buffett, Lessons for Corporate America, 4rd Edition, collected by Lawrence Cunningham ($32 list price, 2015). 11. <New Edition> Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett- 50 Years and Beyond Edition of 2016 by Andrew Kilpatrick ($75 list price, 2016). 12. <Charlie's Pick> The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and the Future of the Global Economy by Mervyn King ($28.95 list price, Norton, 2016). Source: BookwormOmaha.com BerkshireAnnualMeeting2016Flyer.pdf

Yahoo!'s press release said a video on demand will be available on Yahoo Finance for 30 days following the meeting.

For the first time in its history, Berkshire Hathaway is planning to webcast its annual meeting, people familiar with the matter said. (Source: Wall Street Journal U.S. print edition dated 1/30/16) The article goes on to say the webcast likely will cover only the 6 hour Q&A (not the opening movie). The article also said "Mr. Buffett declined to comment. It is unclear if a final decision has been made to webcast the event, and the company could change its plans." I think maybe Warren Buffett wants to use his annual report to officially announce a webcast option.

Wednesday, 2/10/16 @ 10AM Los Angeles Time 949 E. 2nd ST Los Angeles, CA Source - Daily Journal proxy dated 12/29/15

I submitted these 2 questions for Warren & Charlie to the journalists that will be asking questions at the upcoming annual meeting... QUESTION 1 It seems that value investors traditionally avoid companies with high debt levels. And although I am very much in favor of Berkshire’s position in IBM, how did you get comfortable with IBM’s debt situation? IBM has a debt to equity ratio of 3 (with an industry average of 1), increasing long term debt over the last few years, and a low interest coverage ratio of less than 50%. I am hoping you can share some insights to help investors better understand debt when analyzing companies. (These figures are from Morningstar’s website, 4/23/15) QUESTION 2 Do you view inflation or deflation as the biggest looming threat? (I went to the Fairfax Financial annual meeting recently and they think deflation is the looming threat, so much so Fairfax has invested significantly in deflation swaps.)

The Fairfield Inn in Council Bluffs still has a few rooms available, as of this writing.

Charlie Rose is having Warren Buffett and Carol Loomis on his show tonight (11/26/12) for the hour, to discuss the book "Tap Dancing to Work". If you miss the show, you can usually download prior shows on Charlie Rose's website: www.charlierose.com

Thanks eclecticvalue, hope you enjoy the webinar. I liked the "prerequisite" SEC filing presentation on the webinar registration page too, had some good nuggets!

This five minute medley of promotional pieces featuring the CEO of Oriental Trading Company Sam Taylor, along with Kristi Yamaguchi and her figure skating friends, gives you insight on Oriental Trading's products and business model...

The 12/5/2009 Wall Street Journal had a fascinating article about the Oriental Trading Company founder’s son, Terry Watanabe. Terry Watanabe worked very hard to run the company from 1977 until 2000. By 2000, the revenue was $300 million and he sold the company to Brentwood Associates of Los Angeles. After the sale of the company he took up gambling in a big way, losing nearly $127 million in 2007 alone. He was known to lose up to $5 million a day, and “gravitated toward games with low odds, including roulette and slots”. The Las Vegas casinos lavished him with all kinds of perks. Harrah’s demanded the $14.7 million he still owed them, and his defense was that the casino was responsible for the loss since they plied him with alcohol, etc. In July 2010, shortly before the case was to go to trial, a confidential settlement was reached between Harrah's and Terry Watanabe.

I am a big fan of Michelle Leder, she is a good person to follow in order to increase your ability to spot red flags in SEC filings. Her website footnoted.com and her book Financial Fine Print, Uncovering a Company’s True Value provide many valuable insights. She is giving a free webinar on SEC-document sleuthing. The webinars are one hour a day November 13-15, 2012. This free webinar is sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. http://businessjournalism.org/2012/06/05/sec-filings-master-class-online-nov-13-15/