Zorrofan

thanks again for the help folks! globalfinance since you have had both - as PDFs are my main focus, although the ebook thing is appealing, which do you recommend - the ipad or the kindle dx? If I go with the ipad do I need to install a kindle app for ebooks? thanks Zorro

As you may have already guessed, old Zorro is not one of those new tech whiz types, so I need some advice from you young'ns. I am looking for a device which will help me read annual reports (PDF) and on-line materials (books, magazines) but at the same time will be easier on my eyes and allow me to do it from the comfort of my easy chair. My first question is am I better off with a laptop or a kindle? I know a kindle can be used to read books and PDFs but is it easier to read than a computer monitor? i.e is it easier on the eyes than staring at my computer? How hard is it to download these types of materials to a kindle and do you do it directly to the kindle or off of your computer? Any help is appreciated.... thanks Zorro

Since it has been a while since we last looked at this, here are the latest figures available.... Date 2010-09-08 2010-09-15 2010-09-22 2010-09-29 2010-10-06 Value 1987.560 1981.602 1928.937 1949.490 1943.934 Anyone looking at adding some hedges at this point, I know I am considering it? cheers Zorro

There was some talk Google had not yet decided if they would make their results public or not.... cheers Zorro

T-bone, Myth It appears the sale may have been as follows: "In a related transaction, existing rights held by a charitable income trust established by Kaiser were amended and restated as five-year warrants to purchase about 6.67 million shares from Ward for $5.62 per share, subject to certain adjustments." I would have thought Ward would have done some sort of a press release about this, wild action today! Anyone pick up some more? cheers Zorro

T-Bone CHK does seem to have the knack for unlocking value....SD may require a few more quarters to execute and for the results to start to show. Is the CHK event going to be webcast? cheers Zorro

Looks like Ward sold over 6m shares of SD. Curious as to why, given that SD releases 3q results in about 4 weeks. One would think that he would wait for that...if they are going to be as good as i hope! cheers Zorro

I haven't posted anything bearish in a while, so here is an interesting report from Meridith Whitney on the next potential crisis in the recovery.... http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/28/meredith-whitneys-new-target-the-states/ cheers Zorro

How do you set up an automatic search string? :-[ TIA cheers Zorro

That would be nice - I want to see the share count go lower. More likely Prem is raising cash for possible opportunities over the next few months, especially if there is a major sell-off! cheers Zorro

This has been a very informative - and profitable! - thread. The SD presentation was great. Production from the OK play seems steady at an average of 200 BOED per well, and SD has added 2167 BOED since July 1 from this play alone. They also upped the acerage to over 300,000. You guys are going to force me to check out CHK (nice pun). i know very little about the company so I guess I have some homework to do.... cheers Zorro

T-bone, Myth thanks for the "extra push" I needed to get into SD. It has had quite the nice run the last week. Maybe people are figuring out SD is now into oil in a big way (or just reading this board!!) Now Ward just needs to execute the plan...... cheers Zorro

No problem guessing which camp these folks are in! But the stats they present are interesting.... http://comstockfunds.com/(X(1)S(cjgxywzi1s43ob55onadfxr0))/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=MarketCommentary&newsletterid=1549&menugroup=Home&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 cheers Zorro

Thanks - it's good to see Ward has some significant "skin" in the game! (Is that the right slang?) Anyways, it seems like his interests are aligned with shareholders. He seems focused on building value, hopefully he will be successful. cheers Zorro

I can't see any need to issue more shares at this point - unless they do another major aquistion like Zenith. and that was a pretty decent move on their part....but I second your hope for net buybacks!! cheers Zorro

To Prem and everyone at Fairfax Financial, Happy 25th Anniversary! Please know that your honesty, hard work & integrity have not gone un-noticed and are appreciated by many! Prem - I can only hope you plan on following Warren's example and work until your 80! All the best Zorro

Very informative thread! As far as nat gas supply goes Bill Powers, he posts on both Powers Energy Investor & Seeking Alpha, did a write-up in January arguing that shale gas supplies were being over-estimated and depleting faster that many people realized. He did a field-by-field breakdown, showing a shortage by June 2011. I am not sure how accurate it is but it is an interesting read. http://www.financialsensearchive.com/editorials/powers/2010/0106.html Does anyone know off-hand how much Ward invested in SD? By this I mean his own money and not just stock he has received via stock options. I've been looking at swapping out of PWE and going into SD. I like Wards attitude - he seems focused on growing EBITADA and not just meeting production targets to keep the analysts happy. cheers Zorro

A national sales tax might be a good idea. Eliminate ALL corporate and personal taxes and put in a national consumption tax instead. The more you spend the more tax you pay. Thus the "rich" spend more and pay more tax. Give a rebate of the tax on the first $20,000 (or whatever) so that the poor are not hit as hard. You can reduce a massive amount of state and federal red tape, reduce the size of the tax department (i.e. IRS) and even exports would be more competative because the tax wouldn't apply on sales outside the country. Radical but maybe thinking outside the box is whats needed? cheers Zorro

thanks for the link! cheers Zorro

Omagh, I don't believe either of them have as well. But I do find it interesting that the diverse business lines held by BRK are giving WEB such a positive indicator that he can declare that there will be no double dip while the ERCI WLI which is supposed to monitor the economy is so negative. cheers Zorro quote author=omagh " data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="2935" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic" 25493#msg25493 data-ipsquote-timestamp=1284424500] I pay a fair amount of attention to the few public comments that Buffett makes. His rational comments are like a value investor's beacon while things like ECRI indicators are noise. Sorry Zorro, but I don't think that I've ever heard Buffett or Klarman talk about the ECRI indicator. -O

Pretty good reason! ;D cheers Zorro

Here for example is the latest ECRI WLI results... the Weekly Leading Index (WLI) of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) registered negative growth for the 14th consecutive week, coming in at -10.1, a fractional improvement over last week's -10.2, which was a downward revision from -10.1. So this index has essentially hovered around -10.1 for the past five weeks. The latest weekly number is based on data through September 3 Interesting to contrast this with WEB's comments.... cheers Zorro

Interesting that Buffett is so "bullish" while others like Prem & Seth Klarman are more cautious. I wonder if WEB is doing a bit of cheerleading to try and stimulate consumers to spend, create a more optomistic attitude and counter some of the gloomier media reports? cheers Zorro

Given that consumer spending represents 70% of the GDP here is a rather sobering view on what could (or is that will) happen as consumers begin to deleverage. http://www.comstockfunds.com/(X(1)S(ksdzn445kpwzwt45x2sosoiu))/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=MarketCommentary&newsletterid=1545&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 For some time it has been our view that the recent recession, unlike all other post-war recessions, was caused by a credit crisis, and that it would therefore be followed by a series of weak recoveries and frequent recessions until consumers successfully deleveraged their exceedingly heavy debt loads. That scenario now seems to be happening in accordance with our projections. A statistical economic recovery that was already far weaker than average has decelerated even further and the ECRI weekly leading indicator index strongly suggests that another recession may be in store. Consumers have only begun to cut back on their severe debt burdens, and the process will take a number of years. Household debt relative to GDP soared from a range of 43% to 49% in the 20-year period between 1965 and 1985 to a peak of 97.3% in 2009. As of March 31st (the latest data point) this dropped only slightly to 92.7%. To provide some more perspective, Ned Davis Research estimates the mean to be 54.2% over the past 58 years. The percentage climbed gradually to 65% in 1998, and then really accelerated to its recent peak. To be conservative, let's assume that the household debt/GDP ratio falls back only to the 65% level of 1998 rather than to the lower level between 1965 and 1985 or to the long-term mean. Under that assumption household debt would have to be pared back by about $ 4 trillion (from the present total of $13.5 trillion), an amount that constitutes about 40% of current consumer expenditures. While this could be accomplished over a number of years, it can readily be seen that the deleveraging would create a highly significant drag on consumer outlays for an extended period. Since such spending accounts for some 70% of GDP, this creates a serious drag on the overall economy as well. not very Cheery!! Zorro

I believe FFH holds a stake.... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/torstars-stake-sale-brings-a-strong-financial-foundation/article1703383/ cheers Zorro