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claphands22

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    Leon Cooperman in Bloomberg Markets

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'd be curious to know as well.  My only information about him comes from a friend who interviewed with him.  He said Cooperman belittled him and went on a rampage during the interview.  The friend declined working there.  I'm leaving out details, but that story has stuck with me whenever I see the guy's name.  Of course none of these guys are saints, but this was over the top.

     

    Barton Biggs's Hedgehogging had a thinly veld profile on Leon Cooperman of Omega -- Greg of Mega.  Described him as a screamer.

     

    I like his picks and generally gives good reasoning behind his picks. He once mentioned Tetragon Financial, which looks like a cheaper version of Annaly.

     

    http://books.google.com/books?id=DgAv6GaGUjoC&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=greg+mega+hedge+hogging&source=bl&ots=pjpSMbrlLY&sig=Cp-Sm3sZd_FnZ-TdwqcbzLLTZMY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0mHJU7CzJ5CnyAThtYHQCA&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=greg%20mega%20hedge%20hogging&f=false

    Warren Buffett Interview on his Relationship with Benjamin Graham

    in Berkshire Hathaway

    When is a completely free market bad?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

     

    Just curious, what laws are protecting Comcast from competition?

     

     

    Planet Money had an episode called The Last Mile that talked about a FTC ruling that allowed the companies to control the cable they installed. This is unlike long distance in America which got opened up and competition drove down the prices.

     

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/04/04/299060527/episode-529-the-last-mile

     

    Maybe this doesn't answer your question fully, or isn't a great answer -- best one I can give.

     

    Collection of e-mails John Hempton wrote regarding accounting issues at Fairfax

    in Fairfax Financial

    Posted

     

    He's a dick!  He would actually call shareholders and try to convince them Fairfax was going to fail.  Why would any analyst do that? 

     

    When you discuss Wall Street behavior and how things like "The Wolf of Wall Street" occur, it is because you have unethical conduct that occurs beyond what would be considered within the duties and job description of specific occupations. 

     

    These guys took way too much upon themselves and the lines they were willing to traverse to prove they were correct were scary and absurd.  Combined with the zeal of certain Wall Street's more famous retards...Herb Greenberg and Jim Chanos...you had a very dangerous mix of slander and libel targeting a specific stock.

     

    My personal opinion is that there were participants in the short attack that were fortunate to have escaped incrimination, unlike their insider trading colleagues who were hunted down in the last couple of years.  How Stevie Cohen was taken down, and not these dipshits, I have no idea.  All I can say is that the government went after the biggest fish, even though many smaller fish deserved to be gutted and fried as well!  Cheers!

     

    Hey Parsad,

     

    I got a feeling we would never fully agree on this subject.

     

    Hempton seems eccentric but I would never say he is a dick. If I genuinely believe someone is holding a stock I believe has accounting gimmicks and could go to zero -- I hope I would do exactly what Hempton did. I think it's the right thing to do.

     

    Definitely wouldn't consider Hank Greenberg or Jim Chanos "retards". They both have a long history of uncovering frauds and warning investors about bubble'ish stocks.  I know you know this.

     

    The foreign subsidiaries (Fairfax Gibraltar, nSpre Re in Ireland) and NMS Cayman transaction + all the characters involved make it a fascinating story. 

    Anyone Have Experience with Fraudulant Companies?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi randomep,

     

    Check out Quality of Earning by O'Glove the book does a great job of showing potential signs of fraud in the balance sheet. The Art of Short Selling is great as well, but I would suggest Quality of Earnings first.

     

    Just because you have a Big 4 auditor doesn't mean the company will be fraud free. If it is a smaller accounting firm, research them -- often times they are fine but if they have worked with other fraudulent firms it is generally best to stay away.

     

    I would heavily discount inventory of a small cap (or large company for that matter) if you are taking a balance sheet approach to valuing a company.

     

    I don't know if I have answered your question. Reviewing financial fidelity can be tricky, it takes three measures of skepticism for each measure of optimism.

    The Art of Short Selling

    in Books

    Posted

    The Art of Short Selling is a great book, which is why I started the thread.  The main takeaway from the book is the general pattern of short selling. Find a great short candidate, watch it run against you for a year(s) but with patience you should get rewarded. Short candidates have repeating themes: fads, frauds, accounting gimmicks and obscene valuations. You'll need to watch the short interest as a percentage of float because of squeezes; Staley recommends staying away from shorts where the short interest, as a percentage of float, is higher than 15%.

     

    She gives lots of case studies of good shorts, some that were stressing to short, some that were instantly rewarding. No way to tell before hand how a short is going to go. The book was published in 1997 so it might seem dated to some people but I enjoyed the aged case studies, it reinforces the cyclical nature of the markets.

     

    I am rereading it again before I have to return the book, I'll try to type up some notes for whoever is interested.

    The Art of Short Selling

    in Books

    Posted

    [amazonsearch]The Art of Short Selling[/amazonsearch]

     

    The Art of Short Selling is written by Kathryn Staley.  The book covers the risks of short selling, the personalities of professional short sellers, bubble stocks, high valuations, gobbledygook business plans, industry obsolescence, Crazy Eddie, the shortcomings of short selling, the history of short selling, and the fundamentals of finding shorts.

     

    The book sells for 40USD+ for a new copy or the kindle edition. Looks like used copies can be purchased for 24 dollars at the moment. I got mine through the interlibrary loan system at my local library. 

     

    "The corollary to the disclosure dilemma is that most analysts are afraid to admit that hey do not understand accounting or accounting terminology. So the cycle is self-perpetuating: Chief financial officers do not explain; analysts do not ask."

     

    Interview with Alice Schroeder

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/235292-behind-the-scenes-with-buffett-s-biographer-alice-schroeder

     

    I encourage this read. It may seem long but well worth it. Alice makes it quite clear how ruthless Warren can be and how well-versed he is in manipulation, if you want to call it that.

     

    *From 2010 as Liberty pointed out. Thanks :)

     

    Posted this on reddit a day ago, I am guessing you saw it there.

     

    Miguel Barbosa, who did the interview with Alice Schroeder, does fantastic work.  He writes at www.klevr.org and www.interviewsforinvestors.com and occasionally at www.simoleonsense.com

    For love OR money?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    America is absolutely funny about regulating investments.

     

    Lack of consumer debt regulation allowed the founders of Youtube to start a company with massive credit card debt and sell out for a winning lottery ticket, but our same lack regulation also causes penny stock scams, payday loans and (currently) massive unforgivable student loans with low ROI attached.

     

    There needs to be massive student loan reform in the US.  Most people are familiar of the problems associated with Law schools, but the problem has also started to trickled down to other professional programs: pharmacy, osteopathic medicine, optometry and dentistry. DTEJD1997's lawyer friend is definitely in a bad situation but to give an example of how school cost have become menacingly high, check out USC's cost of attendance for dental school, $426,523! Of course that number doesn't even include the 4 years of opportunity cost, the additional year of a probable residency and the cost of buying a practice.

    Planet Money: if you are not listening, you are missing out

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    If you enjoy all things money related, there is no better program than Planet Money. Listen to a couple episodes, you will wonder how you lived without it.

     

    I suggest subscribing to the Planet Money podcast on iTunes. While subscribing to Planet Money, subscribe to Manual of Ideas for some great value interviews.

     

    Planet Money: http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510289

    MOI - Value Investing Podcast: http://beyondproxy.libsyn.com/rss

     

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