valuebull

Here is a story about how Henny Youngman earned money when he found himself unbooked on Saturday nights when he was home in NYC... He would take his fiddle and go to some hotel that had banquet rooms. He'd consult the daily directory in the lobby and find a party — usually a Bar Mitzvah reception — and he would go up to the room and ask to speak to whoever was paying for the party. "I'm Henny Youngman," he would tell that person. "I was playing a date in another banquet room here and one of the waiters suggested you might want to have me do my act for your gathering here." He would negotiate whatever price he could get — $200, $500, preferably in cash — and he would do his act for them.

"I want to invest in taxes, it is the only thing I know for sure is going up. " "I just made a killing on Wall Street. I just shot my broker." :D

If you are looking for more affordable access to OID, I recently learned that the Brooklyn Public Library subscribes. (And if you are out of the New York City area maybe the Brooklyn library would work with your library to do an interlibrary loan). And also, I see the most recent edition of OID is being offered on eBay.

Regarding Bruce Greenwald's real world stock picking abilities.... I took Bruce Greenwald's executive education Value Investing class in June 2008 and the stock that Bruce Greenwald focused on regarding being currently undervalued was American Express. This was a good call on his part, since June of 2008 the stock has increased by 50%, versus the S&P's increase of 4%.

And speaking of Mohnish Pabrai being featured by Forbes, I just ran across this link from his 2010 interview with Steve Forbes, in case you are interested... http://www.forbes.com/sites/face-to-face/2010/04/09/mohnish-pabrai-value-investing-buffett-munger/

Mohnish Pabrai is both a shrewd investor and a shrewd philanthropist! Here is a link to a couple page Forbes article on Mohnish Pabrai's philanthropic efforts. The article provides details on how Mohnish helps underprivileged kids in India get educated and for many, admitted to the Indian Institutes of Technology (which is the school Bill Gates said he would recruit from if he could only recruit at one school in the whole world!). At the end of the article, Mohnish calculates his philanthropic investments' ROI to be a 1,667 times return! http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/06/06/turning-slumdogs-into-millionaires-one-hedge-fund-managers-quest/

I just talked to Deborah at Outstanding Investor Digest, and she said they are working to a deadline to get the next issue out. She said they are working to get it out "by summer". I see that, officially, summer starts June 20, 2012. She said the website is being upgraded. OID's phone number is (212) 925-3885.

This article briefly describes Mark Sellers' whole life story so far: dabbling in music, discovering Buffett, then getting a business degree, writing an investing newsletter for Morningstar while getting an MBA, managing his own hedge fund, winning a proxy fight against Premier Exhibitions, and developing bars/restaurants in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. http://www.freep.com/article/20120521/COL06/205210376/1002/rss02 I have always been his fan since I read his newsletters at Morningstar, and he has certainly had an interesting ride!

Southern California

The book is hard to find, here are some suggestions... I bought the book on Amazon a couple of years ago. And prior to that I tried to get one via an interlibrary loan and had no luck (my library is usually great at getting hard to find value investing books, e.g. Seth Klarman's Margin of Safety). I would recommend monitoring Amazon and eBay, and I see one is currently available on eBay.... eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Memoirs-of-Walter-J-Schloss-Warren-Buffetts-Superinvestor-Friend-/160750024859?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item256d72b89b Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Walter-J-Schloss-Personal/dp/B000N490NQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331062132&sr=8-2

They are tough to get. I bought a copy a couple of years ago on Amazon. Prior to that I tried to get one via an interlibrary loan, which didn't work (and my library is great, I've gotten Margin of Safety, and some other hard to get investing books via interlibrary loans). Both Amazon and eBay have features where you can input a book's title and they will alert you if it becomes available.

Walter Schloss sure lead a full and productive life. Not only was he a fantastic money manager for his investors, he managed a non-profit endowment, came from a hard working family, volunteered for four years in the Army during WWII, and documented via his autobiography his lessons learned so his grandchildren and future generations could prosper. To discuss further, please go to the “Book Board” portion of the Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax Message Board and see The Memoirs of Walter J. Schloss: A Personal and Family History entry.

Walter Schloss was an amazing man. I have even more respect for him after reading his autobiography. Not only was he a fantastic money manager for his investors, he managed a non-profit endowment, came from a hard working family, volunteered for 4 years in the Army during WWII, and documented via his autobiography his lessons learned so his grandchildren and future generations could prosper. To discuss, please go to the “Book Board” portion of the Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax Message Board and see The Memoirs of Walter J. Schloss: A Personal and Family History entry.

[amazonsearch]The Memoirs of Walter J. Schloss[/amazonsearch] Walter Schloss was an amazing man. I have even more respect for him after reading his autobiography. Not only was he a fantastic money manager for his investors, he managed a non-profit endowment, came from a hard working family, and volunteered for the Army during WWII. Walter J. Schloss’ autobiography is revealing as to what he found important. In addition to writing about Schloss Associates (and including a few key letters from Ben Graham and Warren Buffett) he writes about his insights and philosophies and some financial misjudgments that his parents and grandparents made in hopes that his grandchildren and future generations will learn from the stories and prosper. He writes about his ancestry going all the way back to his great grandfather in 1798 in Bavaria, his grandfather coming to America in 1868, and his grandfather’s early textile related business that was a victim of a corrupt bookkeeper. Walter’s dad similarly got duped in 1920 with a crystal radio manufacturing venture when he partnered with a man with a prison record. He writes about growing up in New York and how the experiences he had shaped him. I enjoyed the stories about how, after graduating from high school, he discovered Ben Graham and took his classes. He said that many “Wall Street big shots – like Gus Levy, the head of Goldman Sachs” – would attend Graham’s classes, and buy the stocks he recommended…”Graham was giving away free stock tips”. He volunteered to enlist in the Army during World War II. He was sent overseas to Iran to develop a better way of getting supplies to the Russians since German airplanes and submarines were sinking American ships delivering aid to the Russians. His unit worked mostly on the communications part of the effort sending supplies around the Cape of Good Hope and up through the Persian Gulf. While he was in the Army, he made recommendations on training that impressed his superiors, and for that he was moved to a position in the Pentagon where he finished his wartime service. While in the Army, he corresponded with Ben Graham and went to work for Ben after the war ended. He shared when he worked for Ben that he was in Ben’s office when Ben got the call saying his bid for half of Geico was accepted. Ben said to Walter “Walter, if it doesn’t work out, we can always liquidate it and get our money back.” When Ben Graham retired, Walter started his own firm. In addition to sharing his approach to investing, he shared why he is a true value investor….”I type on an old upright Underwood typewriter. I like to buy suits on sale. I take public transportation. I shine my own shoes. I like iceberg lettuce. I buy stocks that go down before going up. I don’t lie awake at night trying to predict what the market will do. I get a haircut when the market drops precipitously. I bring my own Scotch tape to the post office. I think First Call means that lunch has arrived”. He includes vintage correspondence between him and Ben Graham, and Warren Buffett I like his life philosophy of doing what you want and not worrying. And that luck is a part of life, and in addition one needs to make their own luck. He also discusses that he has managed the endowment for Freedom House which is a bipartisan human rights organization founded in 1941 by Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt, among others. If you are a fan of Walter Schloss I recommend reading his autobiography. He writes in a style like he is talking directly to you, and you will benefit from the many insights he shares.

Warren Buffett is scheduled to be on CNBC Monday 11/14/11 6AM - 9AM Eastern Time, on Squawk Box.

S&P Industry Surveys are regularly published for over 50 industries. Each survey goes into depth and is usually 30+ pages long. Each of the industry surveys includes about a five page tutorial for analyzing companies in that particular industry. My public library, and alma mater's library provide free electronic access via a product called "S&P NetAdvantage". Your library may offer free access too.

Why is investing in hedge funds seen as a way to get “more bang for your buck?” Joel Greenblatt, founder and value investor at Gotham Capital in New York, sits down with WSJ’s Steve Eder to discuss. He also outlines some sectors and stocks worth a look for individual investors. The video is about 9 minutes long. http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/10/19/joel-greenblatt-on-the-resilience-of-hedge-funds/?mod=WSJBlog

Joel Greenblatt says the market cap weighted S&P 500 loses 200 bps of performance annually, because the S&P 500 Index by definition will overweight companies whose stock has risen, and underweight companies whose stock has gotten cheaper. Joel's mutual fund approach is the exact opposite - he underweights stocks that have risen, and overweights quality stocks that have gotten cheaper. I heard an investor say a funny comment - it is easy to beat the S&P 500 index, just buy all the stocks in the index and remove the airline stocks!

I agree, the major driver for high prices is "supply and demand". I remember hearing a comic at the Improv in Los Angeles (I think it was a young Jerry Seinfeld) that said "you know the candy at a movie theater is expensive when they sell it from a jewelry display case"!

Joel Greenblatt talks about his latest book, The Big Secret for The Small Investor. The "big secret" is that small investors have a longer time horizon than institutional investors, and can "time arbitrage". Most of the interview is Joel talking about his value weighted approach, and the 4 new mutual funds he has created. He believes they will perform at least 6-7% better annually over time than market cap weighted indexes like the S&P 500 Index. Here is the link to the interview (26 minutes). http://blogs.forbes.com/steveforbes/2011/07/05/joel-greenblatt-interview-transcript/

Just curious, how big was the attendance at Charlie's Pasadena meeting this year versus last year's? I remember going to the University Club in Pasadena 11 years ago and the attendance was maybe 400. I would have made a bigger effort to go this year if I had known it was going to be Charlie's last Pasadena meeting, darn!

FT.com offers the print edition (along with online access to the digital paper) for a good deal too, $99 for a year... https://www.ftnewspaper.com/FTUSA_LP002/index.php?src=/JIFBGS7 You have to be a new subscriber to get this deal which they define as not being a subscriber in the last 3 months.

I've been to several of Bob Miles' conferences and recommend them. As opposed to the other value investing conferences, he usually features Berkshire Hathaway CEOs (this year David Sokol of NetJets and MidAmerican Energy and Bill Childs of RC Willey furniture), value investing book authors (this year Bob Hagstrom), and Morningstar speakers (either Pat Dorsey or Paul Larson). The conferences are limited to a small number of people (100 I think) to facilitate networking with the presenters and fellow participants. I would estimate half the participants are from the United States and half are international (from Canada, Germany, Australia, South Africa, etc). The conference price (about $1,000) is among the lower prices that I pay for conferences. Bob Miles is also giving a free Buffett lecture and free authors reception the Friday night before the Berkshire meeting (see link in preceding post for more information).

This article provides a good update on Mark Sellers and Premier Exhibitions. I have been a fan of his for a few years, going back to when he wrote the Morningstar StockInvestor newsletter (and I was able to double my money on Premier Exhibitions in a year thanks to his efforts). http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/11/grand_rapids_bar_owner_mark_se.html

In the August 9, 2010 issue of Esquire, Larry King shares "What I've Learned".... "Michael Jordan is a great name. Easy to remember. Seven letters and six letters. Usually, if they combine to thirteen, they're good names. I'm into numbers." Interesting to me that both Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (and my name!) follow Larry King's suggestion that names with 13 letters are great names! To read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/larry-king-interview-0910#ixzz0wuxI3J7z