DooDiligence

My first comment was in regards to hybrid investing (didn't even watch the other vidi & could care less about your mindless rant.) I've been avoiding the Presidential thread for this very reason (or rather; lack of reason...) You guys would probably enjoy the Yahoo Finance forums a lot more (plenty of derailed threads there.) Hack away; you'll get no further response from me. Oh & thanks for the original post ValueBull!

Ahem...

I watch her show regularly too. Always varied & interesting!

Could you provide some names of the small PBM's? From what I can read, in some circles PBMs have a bad name, but I can't really put my finger on it why this would be justified. I've seen how my Mom got PO'd when Express Scripts dropped a drug from their formulary & refused to provide it for her (this was a year or more ago & I can't remember the drug but it was some kind of antibiotic - she has a stoma with a gastro pouch that gets infected periodically.) They didn't even inform her of a substitute (just a "nope" can't have that any more.) I did some research & we got her Dr. to prescribe a substitute but I found it kind of odd/distressing that they didn't seem to care about outcomes or patient engagement even though their literature says they do. Long customer service waits/runaround won't endear you to them either...

May I come out of the corner now?!? (I promise to be good from now on...)

The pleasure of working with permanent capital - from very patient, long term investors. You meet in at the office, every day, stating to your secretary: "No calls to me today about WFC, please - thanks!". WEB has plausible deniability when things go bad (disclaimer: I don't believe this was by design.) From a May 2014 New York Times article: "By the standards of the rest of the world, we overtrust. So far it has worked very well for us. Some would see it as weakness.” I doubt Buffet is an Ayn Rand fan like Greenspan was (he overtrusted management too) although in WEB's case I tend to believe that it's because he's basically an honest guy whereas Greenspan was just deluded...

The story of Morey Fry (Uber Consumer) is not only an entertaining read... Written by Frederik Pohl; this book may be "just" scifi, but I found it to be a wonderfully cynical view on consumerism. While the postulate of an "unlimited source of power" was the prime catalyst in the book; I look at the parallel between advances in technology & robotics in the book & in our times, coupled with consumer led economies & have to wonder how sustainable all this is. (the following is an excerpt from Wikipedia because I'm too lazy to write a synopsis myself.) The lower-class "poor" must spend their lives in frantic consumption, trying to keep up with the robots' extravagant production, while the upper-class "rich" can live lives of simplicity. Property crime is nonexistent and the government Ration Board enforces the use of ration stamps to ensure that everyone consumes their quotas. The story deals with Morey Fry, who marries a woman from a higher-class family. Raised in a home with only five rooms she is unused to a life of forced consumption in their mansion of 26 rooms, nine automobiles and five robots, causing arguments. Trained as an engineer, Morey modifies his robots to enjoy helping to consume his family's quota. He fears punishment when his idea is discovered, but the Ration Board—which has been looking for a way to abolish itself—quickly implements Morey's idea across the world. ----- In the midst of all our heavy reading we need a little thought provoking entertainment (kind of kills two birds with one stone...) (Not that I'm advocating killing birds or getting stoned)

Lafittes Blacksmith Shop for an awesome intimate Hurricane!

Wow & those 2 guys made almost as much as Jain. WEB praises him in nearly every letter & never mentions them. Guess we know why no praise (wonder if there's a clawback?)

Yes, most of us knew he was originally a Pepsi drinker. But the disclaimer is in the fine print when you sign up. Right below, Thou shall not speak ill of Buffett, Munger, Watsa, Pabrai or Chou and above Thou shall not get sucked in to political discussions even if it involves Under Armour or Nike. ;D Mos def! I learned my lesson on that one...

In WEB's Ground Rules the author includes the following from the partnership's letter dated January 24, 1968 "Our overall gain was $19,384,250 which, even under accelerating inflation, will buy a lot of Pepsi." Holy guacamole Batman! Who knew? (besides probably the majority of COBF's members except me...) Seriously; someone should have told me about this (like, when you sign up here you should be made to execute a confidentiality agreement or something) - (too late now; the cat's out of the bag!) Next thing you know, someone's gonna tell me WEB uses Progressive, buys jewelry from Jared & has a belly ring!

Sounds like fun (not being sarcastic; I really mean that!) So the credit analysis would involve? a) Chasing down customers & discovering if product is piling up on generous terms. b) Ditto on creditors, vendors & employees (are they getting paid?) c) Is capex getting ignored by neccesity in order to serve all the above? And of course as you mentioned franchise power, which would probably negate a, b, & c even happening unless management was living large at the expense of the business which seems like the best opportunity (or the worst if they are big owners and or there's no big chunk of leverage...)

If you don't buy UA that is a vote for Nike. ... Sorry... Hahahahahaha! I'm not gonna rise to the bait (I don't have a dog in that fight anyway...)

There have been a lot of roll ups over the years which have kind of consolidated the industry but now it appears as if the insurers who separated themselves from the PBM's now want them in house again. The CVS thread has some good discussion: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/investment-ideas/cvs-cvs-health-corporation/ I particularly like one of the later posts by ABM which gave a nice little history of the industry.

It also takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to hold a concentrated portfolio of what appears to be dog vomit. I'm definitely not criticising by flinging out the "dog vomit" moniker; I'm saying that I admire anyone who can analyze, understand & value these situations & then sleep soundly while waiting for them to revalue...

This thread is much better than that who's gonna be president thingy (I think I'll stay here!)

I've got a pair of Converse high tops (black) that I've been babying for a decade or more (got another pair new in the box for when these finally go.) Most of the time I wear flip flops. Love my Tommy Bahama shirts (got a deal on closeouts at an outlet a few years ago & stocked up.) I'm not particularly fashion forward...

The last time I walked into a mall was a year ago +/- to look at Gap & after a complete stroll through the whole complex I was bored to death & couldn't believe how many clothing stores there were (before I did the walk through I was hot for some Gap shares but after - not so much...) I'm gonna look again next week just to confirm whether retail is still not a good investment (I usually make the pilgrimage to Best Buy just to go look at stuff I may or may not wind up buying online - oh & to meet women although I have better luck in Lowes garden center!)

Speak for yourself, Speech Policeman. I appreciate DTE's anecdotal evidence. I too have found DTE's thoughts to be useful for many years!

I liked his comment about railroads & the Cubs (I guess he was counting on them & BNSF to win.) Was the investment banker who he let get the last nickel out of him on the AEL deal Lazard? (I love the way he's taking former divs at the former AEL & plowing them into CAPEX (does this significantly change the competitive landscape & can we expect to see slower dividend growth in utilities as a result?) My biggest takeaway (besides seeing a good human being talk) was the way he spoke of writing a story about a company as part of the research process. Oh; and that someone should get him an iPhone for Christmas...

Your post re: Guess & many others are the very reason you should NOT leave this board (where you gonna go to discuss this stuff intelligently Yahoo Finance? Not...) I may have been guilty of a bit of snarkyness on COBF myself & if so I apologize. I've been reading here for around 3 years & only recently joined to start posting. Up until now I've been an active poster on Yahoo Finance (fighting the constant short term stupidity there is much more frustrating than the occasional sarcastic comment here!) Personally; I'm still learning how to separate myself from the atmosphere on Yahoo Finance & the one here. I'll try to lay off the snark (should probably quit posting on Yahoo but what used to be an attempt to convert speculators into investors has morphed into the guilty pleasure of teasing a bunch of douchy day traders.) To summarize - don't leave here! As to Guess (I have some ideas about another company that fits the attractive quantitative look of Guess but I need to go look at both stores & I don't crew change until 9 November - the mall will be my 1st stop & questionable qualitative comments about both will arrive that evening FWIW...)

Do you think there's more bad news coming and/or just more pain due to what's already out there? I have no clue, but if there is more coming then it will be an even better buying opportunity and I'll buy more. Edit: And I am writing puts, so I am trying to get a lower basis than where WFC is currently trading. I've backed into positions the same way before...

Nice!

Once again; I point to an AWESOME little cartoon originally posted by Liberty which does a beautiful job of explaining why these a55h0les who run our country act as they do. The film is agnostic & can be appreciated by lefties & righties. Understanding doesn't get rid of the anger but it sure helps... P.S. I almost voted "Just shoot me" but I don't wanna die (that was a great TV sitcom BTW!)

Do you think there's more bad news coming and/or just more pain due to what's already out there?