Zorrofan

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/soros-calls-on-eu-to-start-joint-debt-fund-xSYKX9RWTyWTfWGlyF91TQ.html cheers Zorro

Bailout for the Spanish banks..... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/eurozone-agrees-lend-spain-100-002740709.html And for fun, some comments from Zerohedge..... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/spain-greece-after-all-here-are-main-outstanding-items And Ireland wants a "do-over" on their deal.... http://www.france24.com/en/20120609-ireland-wants-rescue-deal-negotiated-match-spains?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter cheers Zorro

It may be that each of you has one piece of the puzzle. Europe has a multitude of problems and no one issue is by itself the total cause of the current situation. Europe has a common currency but not a monetary union, a collection of 27 different countries - each with their own subset of issues, and no common government body with the power to deal with the problems they face, some countries such as Spain and Greece have high unemployment while others like Germany don't. Imagine how the US response in 08/09 would have differed if, instead of a Federal Reserve and Congress, each proposed solution had to be passed by each state government and all 50 states had to be in agreement. cheers Zorro

That's a 10% gain over April's number. We'll be adding over 500k jobs per month a year from now given this month-over-month pace of improvement. Not sure where you get a 10% gain from. Total nonfarm payroll employment in May was up 69,000, in April the increase was revised to +77,000. Here is a link to today's report... http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm cheers Zorro

I'll second that thanks! :)

Okay, just to give you something else to worry about, instead of the market ..... http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120408p2g00m0dm055000c.html Wouldn't this cause radioactive contamination to spread further? Cheers Zorro

Here are a few numbers that may partly explain why they are bearish.... In constant (2005) dollars: GDP in 2007 (pre-recession): $13.23 trillion GDP in 2008 (recession starts): $13.31 trillion GDP in 2009 (recession officially ends in mid-2009): $12.88 trillion GDP in 2010: 13.04 trillion GDP in 2011: $13.3 trillion In constant (2005) dollars, the economy is back to 2008 levels. That's after $6.1 trillion in additional debt and Federal spending. Federal revenues: 2007 $2.56 trillion 2010 $2.16 trillion Federal spending: 2007 $2.72 trillion 2010 $3.72 trillion In three years, Federal spending jumped almost exactly $1 trillion, or 36.7%. In 2011, the Federal deficit is approximately 11% of the nation's GDP and the Federal government borrowed 42% of its expenditures. Now Europe is in a recession, with most of the austerity backloaded for the second half of the year, so expect it to worsen. China's economy is slowing down. So U.S. growth comes from......... cheers Zorro

India wants to slow purchases of gold, and yet IIRC, China actually encouraged people to buy gold. Interesting, interesting..... cheers Zorro

is there a legal limit to how much of WFC BRK can own? I vaguely recall WEB wanted to buy a bank, back in the late 70's or early 80's, but was stopped at the time due to either banking or SEC regulations..... cheers Zorro

Nice call Dazel, any idea who is the interested third party? cheers Zorro

Thanks for the PDF link! cheers Zorro

FFH is hedged for a market decline, so a bad day for the markets means a good day for FFH cheers Zorro

I've learned not to second guess Prem - he seems to be able to "get" the big picture better than most. What worries me is not that he is so fully hedged, but what he sees coming that causes him to be so fully hedged...... cheers Zorro

Given how interconnected the global financal system is, i find that hard to believe..... cheers Zorro

I am not one to hand out advice especially not to Prem but this Buffett quote seems appropriate: "If I thought they needed my help in running the company I wouldn't have invested." That wins quote of the day! cheers Zorro

Thus turning them into FFH's version of SEE's? Interesting if they can do it, but the restaurant industry is more economically sensitive than a SEE's. I find it strange that they hedge their equity portfolio for a major correction and then invest in such an economically sensitive industry. cheers Zorro

If FFH is going to follow BRK down the path of purchasing of entire companies - something I fully approve of - I would prefer they also follow WEB's example and buy quality companies in essential industries, not cigar butts. Cigar butts are okay for the equity portion of the portfolio but the emphasis should be on quality if we are buying the whole company...... cheers Zorro

Merry Christmas and may 2012 bring peace, health & happiness to all! cheers Zorro

may be a done deal..... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/prime-settles-dispute-with-cara-signs-fairfax-takeover-deal/article2252011/ cheers Zorro

Imagine the impact on oil & gas prices - as well as the companies if this happens! http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/helms-says-epa-could-halt-fracking-in-oil-patch/article_fe9a3284-18b9-11e1-ba39-001cc4c03286.html cheers Zorro

http://www.cmegroup.com/tools-information/lookups/advisories/clearing/files/Chadv11-399.pdf Is this due to MF Global blow up? Any thoughts on what happens on Monday as, if I am reading it correctly, margin requirements for options etc would be higher? cheers Zorro

I think that is a very good point indeed..... cheers Zorro

True, but to a degree these countries are already implementing these measures. One shouldn't discount political pressure as well - home country taxpayers will be upset "Greece got a deal but we didn't". Merkel is already worried about this as she made a statement earlier today trying to discourage others from seeking a debt writeoff..... cheers Zorro

A big fear for Germany is that every other PIIG will want a deal like Greece now. Could Ireland be next?? http://news.businessweek.com/article.asp?documentKey=1376-LTRXIX0UQVI901-563C0GK2TCSTS7GP8C2NDFUO2F What happens if Spain, italy, Portugal and Ireland all want a deal? Perhaps 1.4 trillion euros won't be enough?? cheers Ziorro

thanks - sounds interesting!