OracleofCarolina

A new day at Maxim http://www.maxim.com/corporate/statement-maxim

Not so fast...from Buffett 1965 One story stands out. This, of course, is the saga of trading acumen etched into history by the Manhattan Indians when they unloaded their island to that notorious spendthrift, Peter Minuit in 1626. My understanding is that they received $24 net. For this, Minuit received 22.3 square miles which works out to about 621,688,320 square feet. While on the basis of comparable sales, it is difficult to arrive at a precise appraisal, a $20 per square foot estimate seems reasonable giving a current land value for the island of $12,433,766,400 ($12 1/2 billion). To the novice, perhaps this sounds like a decent deal. However, the Indians have only had to achieve a 6 1/2% return (The tribal mutual fund representative would have promised them this.) to obtain the last laugh on Minuit. At 6 1/2%, $24 becomes $42,105,772,800 ($42 billion) in 338 years, and if they just managed to squeeze out an extra half point to get to 7%, the present value becomes $205 billion. So much for that. Some of you may view your investment policies on a shorter term basis. For your convenience, we include our usual table indicating the gains from compounding $1,000,000 at various rates.

Wachovia buying Golden West

http://centman.com/insights/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/inflation-june-2014.pdf Arnold Van Den Berg has a great way of simplifying macro talk for knuckle-dragging folks such as myself. Cheers!

http://mad.ly/1c48c4?fe=1&pact=22264074499 More color on Ross and Fairfax

Hi Oracle, It seems that there is a bug if you are using Explorer. Open the link with Chrome or Firefox, and then select United States...it will then bring up the respective states. Cheers! Ok, thanks...got it. jason

I tried but it seems like it would not let me use a USA address

[amazonsearch]How to Be Rich[/amazonsearch] I decided to pick this book up after attending an annual meeting in NYC. The CEO seemed to know this book cold and was quoting specific page numbers. With a somewhat silly title, I didn't think I would get too much out of the book, but oh well, I dug in. I enjoyed the book. You think Biglari is having a drawn out proxy battle with Cracker Barrel....well Getty tells a story of trying to gain control of Tide Water Associated Oil Company, it took him 20 years! Highly recommend..

Sheesh..I guess he really likes GM...that is a nice depreciating asset though...one day I'll get rid of my bus pass and buy me a Caddy too!

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1568820/000160658714000094/xslForm13F_X01/form13InfoTable.xml latest 13F is out...I see a new position in Alleghany

[amazonsearch]Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises[/amazonsearch] I am looking forward to reading this, as you may recall Buffett highly recommended a couple of weeks ago. Geithner is supposed to be on Charlie Rose for the full hour tonight 05/12/2014. Cheers!

Good stuff...hope she writes that follow up...

Andre Young seems to be very confident that the deal closes http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2014/05/07/dre-reportedly-talks-buy-brady-mansion/mC0EoDQ27cf2WdQqvUCmLO/story.html

This one was excellent, almost makes me wish J Crew was still public. A Conversation with Mickey Drexler, CEO of J.Crew

H/T to valuewalk.com http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2014_Conference.htm

http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/04/michael-lewis-malcolm-gladwell/ Interesting conversation between malcolm gladwell and michael lewis.

New interview with Mr Diller http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/312519

H/T to @BoydRoddy http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1113303/000114420414021429/v374248_dfan14a.htm

I am really enjoying the book..it's a great read so far for my simple mind :)

I hope the Colombia business is where the value lays..it sure was not in Argentina On March 28, 2014, SED International Holdings, Inc. (“SED”) and its wholly owned subsidiary, SED International, Inc., sold all of the outstanding capital stock of Intermaco S.R.L., a limited liability company organized under the laws of Argentina, to individuals in Argentina for a purchase price of $1.00. Intermaco S.R.L. is the indirect subsidiary of SED that operates the company’s distribution business in Argentina. In connection with the transaction, SED also agreed to pay $410,000 to the purchasers’ broker on their behalf, conditioned on SED receiving the benefit of $310,000 in vendor credits. The board of directors of SED determined that it was in the best interests of SED to dispose of the company’s distribution business in Argentina on these terms, as opposed to continuing to operate the business or winding-down and dissolving the business, due to the greater financial losses that would be expected to be incurred in connection with either of these alternatives.

That was one heated debate..I guess that's what happens when somebody's business is about to get disrupted...definitely worth taking 20 minutes and watching http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000263252

Sure, if people want to tweet it live, that's fine. I'll set up a Twitter account for Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax, and you guys can tweet directly onto there if you want. Cheers! Yes..please do this! i wanted to go this year but couldn't fit in.

Haha..I see those type of shorts a lot in Charleston, SC...maybe Mohnish has been hanging out there..lol

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93859/000092189514000600/form8k07428007_03192014.htm Noticed this yesterday, new term loan facility. If i read this right, another $50 million for Biglari to use however he deems prudent. " Approximately $118.6 million of the proceeds of the Term Loan Facility were used to repay all outstanding amounts under Steak n Shake Operations’ former credit facility and to pay related fees and expenses, $50.0 million of such proceeds were used to pay a cash dividend to Biglari Holdings, and the remaining Term Loan Facility proceeds of approximately $51.4 million will be used by Steak n Shake Operations for working capital and general corporate purposes."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/biglari-holdings-inc-acquires-first-202500206.html