rogermunibond

Similar in vein to 1491 and 1493 is the book The Retreat of the Elephants by Mark Elvin. Kind of an ecological or nvironmental history of the Chinese mainland. Pretty amazing when you consider that the areas around Beijing were once forested and elephants roaming the woods.

If online users paid something would we see lower overall subscription prices? Or would News Corp just pocket the profit. My solution is to pay for the online WSJ, costs less than print and is quite easy to read from an ipad.

Greek yogurt is a craze. At the Wegmans near me it has overtaken regular yogurt in retail space. Chobani is just one brand, bunch of old line brands Dannon, Yoplait sell Greek yogurt, as well a brands like Fage, Oikos, etc. Fage markets that Chobani isn't even "true Greek yogurt." Downside is highly acidic liquid byproduct. Apparently causing problems in upstate NY where Chobani has its facilities.

Big fan of Lewis and of Moneyball, BUT... A lot of his narrative is something of a just-so story. Do sabermetrics confer an advantage in drafting, yes, but it's really just a percentage play like traditional 5 tools scouting. Of the players detailed a number were big busts, some like Swisher (1st round) or Youkilis were hits. Was the rate of success higher than that of traditional scouting, no, but given the resource constraints Oakland faces it allowed hm a different way to value players. Where sabermetrics has more advantage is picking through other teams mior league or journey men player. Picking up guys like Scott Hattebeg or Chad Bradford fit the bill. Better data st fom mior league stats thn h.s. or college. Some of the issues aren't data related but biases, like how teas don't like short pitching prospects. As for Oher, a few seasons of watching him not do much at LT has me thinking that Joe Flacco might question whether "The Blind Side" is an accurate title. Despite Mike's protective instincts, his footwork and lack of reach make him really awful as a LT. No surprise that the Ravens playoff push coincided with McKinnie finally starting at LT.

http://www.sirona.com/en/company/about-sirona/ The Sequoia fund has a decent size stake in SIRO. Spun off from Siemens. Digital CAD/CAM systems replace the old plaster impressions for bridge, implant, and orthodontry.

I like his thought experiment of what half century of innovation would you want to live with. But it's entirely possible we are in an innovation lull, to be shortly followed by another burst of innovation driven productive growth. Punctuated phase changes.

http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2013/05/16/usa-obama-to-visit-ellicott-dredges/ President's visit to Baltimore includes Ellicott Dredge.

Does anyone have KBW's most recent bank M&A list? Appreciate it if you can send by pm or email. Thanks.

In my local area we have Wegmans, WFM, and TJ, and I find that Wegmans (which is privately owned) by far seems to draw the strongest shopper base. Wegmans gives both the pscale high end organics and gourmet products as well as good store brand values. We still go to TJ for some of their special items, but overall Wegmans is dominating our household shopping dollars.

Don't blame Adam Smith. He laid out good thinking on society and morality in "The Theory of Moral Sentiments." Too bad more capitalists don't read that in addition to "Wealth of Nations."

http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2013_Conference.htm THE BEN GRAHAM CENTRE'S 2013 VALUE INVESTING CONFERENCE The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing at the Ivey Business School at Western University held a conference on Value Investing on April 10, 2013 at the Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto. The mission of the conference was to promote the tenets of value investing as pioneered by Benjamin Graham, to expose conference participants to the various value investing methods used by practitioners, and to encourage and support academic research and study in the area of value investing. The conference provided a forum to explain, discuss and debate the principles, practices and various applications of value investing from a global context. Corporate executives offered an industry perspective of how to look for value creating opportunities and how to create value. Video coming soon Media Coverage “Buy natural gas, Jeremy Grantham says,” Globe Investor Magazine Online, April 10, 2013. “8 areas to invest in, 7 to avoid,” Advisor.ca, April 101, 2013. “How to play resource scarcity,” Advisor.ca, April 11, 2013. Conference Program (Click to see full program) Morning Keynote Speech Gary Shilling, President, A. Gary Shilling & Co., Inc. Topic: Investment strategies for a changing world View PowerPoint Presentation Luncheon Keynote Speaker Jeremy Grantham, Co-founder and Chief Investment Strategist, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo (GMO) Topic: Living at the intersection of 3 crises - Energy, food and climate PowerPoint Presentation not available Value Investor Session Tom Russo, Partner, Gardner Russo & Gardner Topic: “Global value” equity investments View PowerPoint Presentation Tim McElvaine, Founder and President, McElvaine InvestmentManagement Ltd. Topic: Value investing without Pepto Bismol View PowerPoint Presentation Robert Robotti, Founder and CIO, Robotti & Company Advisors LLC. Topic: Has contrarian investing become conventional? View PowerPoint Presentation Francis Chou, President, Chou Associates Management Inc. Topic: Bonds vs. stocks in a value portfolio View PowerPoint Presentation Corporate Executive Session Thorsten Heins, President and CEO, BlackBerry Topic: Beyond smartphones - The future of mobile computing PowerPoint Presentation not available Executive Panel Topic: Looking for and creating shareholder value – Industry perspective Richie Boucher, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Ireland Group Chris Fowler, President & CEO, Canadian Western Bank Terrence Leon, President & CEO, Leon’s Furniture Limited Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Limited PowerPoint Presentation not available

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reynolds-american-completes-acquisition-of-conwood-56588657.html Smokeless tobacco, Kodiak and Grizzly brands. American Spirit cigarettes.

netnet - yes, I agree and pointed that out in my post. I would love to see some early study of edX, Udacity, Straighterline and the like. I think right now they are more self selective and so that skews the results. If California goes through with the proposed legislation in the state senate to require UC/CSU system to use MOOCs, we'd have a better answer.

Agree. Really impressive talk. One thing that he doesn't address is how much CO2 could have been released through desertification of grassland and how much could be locked up using his holistic management technique. We may yet see large herds grazing across the grasslands of the world. But they will be beef cattle managed across multiple property owners lands.

Before everyone gets too excited about online courses... Obviously, the Courseras and EdXs of the world have better professors, content, tools and processes for online learning than what existed in Wash. state community colleges (2004-2009). That's a big difference. But still the first study to look at this, as far as I know. Having taken an online course back in 2004 or 2005, I could see a lot of problems with the class and imagine that Coursera et al. have lots of nifty bells and whistles that Blackboard did not have back in 2004. http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/adaptability-to-online-learning.pdf Adaptability to Online Learning: Differences Across Types of Students and Academic Subject Areas By: Di Xu & Shanna Smith Jaggars Abstract Using a dataset containing nearly 500,000 courses taken by over 40,000 community and technical college students in Washington State, this study examines how well students adapt to the online environment in terms of their ability to persist and earn strong grades in online courses relative to their ability to do so in face-to-face courses. While all types of students in the study suffered decrements in performance in online courses, some struggled more than others to adapt: males, younger students, Black students, and students with lower grade point averages. In particular, students struggled in subject areas such as English and social science, which was due in part to negative peer effects in these online courses.

One needn't wear a hair shirt to recognize Grantham's points. There may be points of optimism (Allan Savory's TED presentation on holistic management of grasslands is one such example, but I wouldn't swallow that pill from Ridley.

That same Matt Ridley was chairman of Northern Rock from 2004 to 2007. Though I do like some of his writing for the Economist, I hope that most people take his judgment with a grain of salt. Would you trust similar pronouncements from Dick Fuld? I think not.

http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/featured-news/are-concerns-over-inflation-inflated Highly recommend. Basically, in certain circumstances, monetary finance is okay. In other circumstances, watch out. Too many of the macroeconomic principles used by today's commentators apply only to certain specific "stable periods." Applies much more to the UK, where austerity policies are creating problems.

http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/awards/2009/brazilians.html#lemann Some good bio on the fellows at 3G Jorge Paulo Lemann, A.B. 1961 Carlos A. Sicupira, OPM 9, 1984 Marcel H. Telles, OPM 10, 1985 Directors, Anheuser-Busch InBev Co-Founders, Fundação Estudar Former Partners, Banco de Investimentos Garantia S.A. Former Partners, GP Investimentos Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Sicupira, and Marcel Telles have been primary figures in Brazil’s economic development for more than 30 years. The three friends and business partners have much in common: remarkable business acumen, a strong commitment to education, and world-class athleticism. In 1971, Lemann founded Banco de Investimentos Garantia and soon recruited Sicupira and Telles to join what would become the most successful investment bank in Brazil. As they acquired diverse assets, the trio transformed the Brazilian economy, opening it up to outside investors while creating stability for those at home. Jorge Paulo Lemann, A.B. 1961 Board Member, Fundação Estudar Chairman, Lemann Foundation Jorge Paulo Lemann is the leading force behind Banco Garantia, Brazil’s most prestigious investment bank. His own commitment to hard work inspired an incentive-driven culture at Garantia, where he was a senior partner for more than 25 years before selling the firm to Credit Suisse First Boston in 1998. At Garantia and later at GP Investimentos, Lemann invested in management talent and diverse acquisitions, including a retail chain, textile manufacturers, and a brewery. He transformed the national economy, bringing access to consumer goods, jobs, and global markets to Brazil. Having helped build Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev into one of the world’s leading breweries, Lemann now divides his time between corporate boards, family, and educational causes, including supporting cross-cultural initiatives at Harvard. Committed to enabling young people to reach their potential, Lemann co-founded Fundação Estudar to provide scholarships for Brazilian students. He also heads a family foundation that supports education, health, the environment, and medicine in Brazil. Education: A.B., Economics, Harvard College, 1961 On Leadership: “Create a big dream. Keep it simple, easily understood, and measured. Attract the right people who work well together. Measure results consistently. You can create, run, or improve anything with this formula.” Carlos A. Sicupira, OPM 9, 1984 Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev Chairman, Lojas Americanas In the 1980s, early in his career at Banco Garantia, Carlos (“Beto”) Sicupira agreed to take the helm of a new acquisition, Lojas Americanas, a Rio de Janeiro department store. During his 12 years as CEO, followed by the last 16 as chairman, Sicupira has grown the concern into one of Brazil’s largest nonfood discount retailers with some 500 stores and a powerful Internet presence: Today, half of Lojas’s sales take place online. In 1993, Sicupira, Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Marcel Telles, longtime business partners from Garantia, founded the private equity firm GP Investimentos, which Sicupira led for eight years. After a decade of investing and building assets in the telecom, retail, consumer goods, and railroad industries, the trio sold the partnership to their younger partners. Sicupira’s remarkable contributions to the Brazilian economy are matched by his commitment to promoting education, government efficiency, and entrepreneurship in Brazil. He is the founder and a director of both Endeavor Brasil, a nonprofit that helps entrepreneurs in emerging markets, and the Brava Foundation, an organization working to improve management in Brazil’s state and local governments. Earlier Education: B.A., Business Administration, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 1970 On Leadership: “A good leader creates results by giving opportunities to those who are younger and better than himself and by working in the right — ethical — way.” Marcel H. Telles, OPM 10, 1985 Director, Anheuser-Busch InBev Marcel Telles joined Banco Garantia as a trainee in 1972 and immediately proved his business acumen and entrepreneurial finesse; he soon became a director of the partnership that grew into what many regard as the Goldman Sachs of Brazil. In 1989, when he and partners Jorge Paulo Lemann and Carlos Sicupira gained control of one of Brazil’s largest breweries, Telles agreed to run the company. Using strategies that had proven successful as an investment banker, he dramatically expanded the scope of the firm, which under his leadership evolved into AmBev, merged with Belgium-based Interbrew to become InBev, and eventually partnered with Anheuser-Busch. Today, Telles and his original partners sit on the board of Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of the top five consumer products companies in the world. Together with Lemann and Sicupira, Telles founded Fundação Estudar with the goal of helping educate the future public- and private-sector leaders of Brazil. He is founder and chairman of the Instituto Social Maria Telles, an educational foundation in Brazil, and a member of the HBS Board of Dean’s Advisors. Earlier Education: B.A., Economics, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 1973 On Leadership: “The most effective form of leadership — and the toughest — is leading by example.”

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323511804578296293058057484.html MCO employees were told to avoid IM, email, etc when discussing sensitive issues like MBS ratings gaming. Face to face only.

Actually the Albrecht brothers split up Aldi many years ago, Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud. Aldi Nord is the group that owns Trader Joes. Aldi Sud owns the Aldi stores in the US. They don't operate closely as far as I know.

I'm a big fan of America Revealed too. Great 4-part series. I think the paper product export was recycled paper/cardboard. Much of which ends up back here as packaging for the goods we import.

Water is an energy problem. With renewable unlimited energy, then desalination is a great option.

http://professional.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324595904578122822013974826.html?mod=WSJPRO_hps_MIDDLESixthNews Francis Chou profile in the WSJ, talks about his small but top performing bond fund

That's right. He'd tell women purple would get them noticed by men more than black shoes. He'd tell voters that BLS stats are cooked for Obama rather than discuss facts of how BLS works. With shoes he had a commission incentive, with the election he has taxation incentive (income, capital gains, dividends).