calonego

Sanjeev - that’s deep buddy. Pretty amazing… My WEB story is shockingly similar to yours in some ways. My father was my boss, mentor, idol and best friend. He passed a couple weeks after my 16th birthday. I had been reading about business and purchased a bond really young (9) and knew the price of a pile of stocks when I was 10 or 11 (anything my father owned), but had little understanding of business or value. When my dad passed I was lost, I ended up looking for people to “look up to” and liked how Warren thought/how he spoke about things on FNN/CNBC back then. He said to read Professor Graham and I picked up Security Analysis at 16, that changed things. As archaic as SA was/is - the principles are pretty valid still. SA made tremendous sense to me and led me to read Intelligent Investor, Graham lectures/notes/other theories of his and eventually everything on his protege. I’ve since been lucky enough to spend some time with Warren too. Much like Sanjeev’s heroes, and Warren w/r/t his own father and Prof Graham, my dad and Warren are my two idols, heroes and greatest mentors. Northern stars - guides. I mean - I don’t know who I’d be had I not studied this guy or spent time with him, but I’d certainly be a very different/inferior person. In many ways. He’s taught me most of what I know by teaching me to constantly read and understand things on my own - all from an interview he did with Maria Bartiromo in 1998 or 1999. He’s been the greatest teacher I’ve ever had - half my friends are a product of studying him, any wealth I have/will have is a product of his teachings. I love the guy. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of how my father and Warren would think of some situation. Going to Omaha every year for 20 years was some sort of grounding/pilgrimage and it’s hard not being able to go the past two years. Jordan

Charlie was very interested in Seritage recently and has owned a few equipment leasing businesses (Cort, Xtra). I personally think the nuance/detail here may be interesting. He’s certainly owned businesses that look similar at surface to the one he has referenced so many times as being less than ideal…

Does anyone know if this is in reference to John E Anderson from TOPA Equities, the donation/name behind UCLA Anderson? If so - I don’t see which business of his this would be in reference too. Heavy equipment dealers and rental agencies are highly capital intensive, as is some/most construction, and yet numerous fortunes have been made in both industries. It’s very cyclical - but a business like Ashtead Group is super interesting (Sunbelt Rentals, it’s certainly not cheap however). I get where CM is coming from (I think), but the specifics would help to understand why in this particular instance (what type of business Mr Anderson had exactly).

I doubt there’s interest in Boeing - that’s a real schmozzle. Much of it self-inflicted too. Think of all the negatives of that business (foreign competition that’s highly political, incredible leverage, low ROA, highly political without the built in regulated margin of the political businesses BRK owns, etc). Oil? Maybe some, but I can’t see them buying a whole oil company. Who knows. Anything manufacturing they’ve bought has been highly specialized and with better embedded margins. A) Tie-in acquisitions? Always happening. More likely pop up (think Marmon and the Auto dealers). Doesn’t tie up lots of cash though. B) PIPE type deals (prefs/debt with a warrant, etc. Like ‘08). I would bet money the phone is ringing off the hook with deals like this. C) Big Game. A generational buy - like ties up additional capital for a decade. BNSF/Berkshire Energy style. I’d say 100% A happens (keeps happening, but doesn’t move the needle) and more volume than recently (less PE completion). B almost certainly happens, hopefully enough deals to move the needle. The government handouts are complicated - there were tons of government handouts in ‘08 and BRK still did phenomenal deals of this type. Fingers crossed they do a HUGE “C” type deal - I like DIS at some price. Almost too big - but rates are zero and maybe you can issue some stock for the best entertainment franchises on the planet. Stuck in a relative’s basement with Disney+ (National Geographic) on for the kids...

Warren and Charlie know the Permian. Very well. This is about swapping some regulatory capital Tbills into something with a yeild and then getting the kicker - the warrant exercised eventually once they're right about OXY/Permian. Charlie in particular knows it inside and out (I'm sure Warren does to...) - plus CM knows the engineering... and the pipeline changes coming online and OXY's unique ability to operate well in the basin. If you listened well to the interview on CNBC on Monday AM - Becky tried to get Charlie to speak about the Permian and what the future looks like down there and he wouldn't bite. They were speaking about this very thing on the weekend. He just didn't want to be on the record IMO.

I thought it was great as well - I used to work in a former USSR satellite state and had some near-dealings with Russian nationals and organizations. Although things have changed a lot - it's spot on. Charlie Munger read it last year and really enjoyed it too. ; )

"What rate does Buffett use" argument - not to beat a dead horse... but he's stated many times that he doesn't use one. I bet he spends more time learning about an industry and a business and where the competitive advantages are - where the one or two "secrets" to that business lie - and buys at a fair valuation according to that. Jim Pattison was at the BRK AGM and some of the ancillary events last year. I bet their relationship has more to do with buying Van Tuyl than a discount rate.

The book is interesting - he had a quick/intense career in the super-large macro HF world... Confessions of a Street Addict is better, but McCullough's book is a quick read and a more recent snap-shot of the non-value, take no prisoners, monthly performance, HF world. He also tried to buy an NHL team a year or two ago. I don't know him, but he's a Canadian and from my town... Must be an alright guy! ;)

I've been bugging Andrew about publishing it again for years... to no avail. :'( He's either started, or in the process of starting a fund.

For the Yanks here: Walmart came into Canada in '94. They expanded and concurred like mad during the late '90s... Zellers tried to compete by... buying K-Mart Canada! Walmart was just far, far better. I take it by the price that Target is really committing to this. Walmart is going to have a rude awakening in this country when Target gets to a full stride. Even Liquidation World did really well until Walmart, Dollarama and (Loblaws/Weston's) The SuperStore started eating their lunch 5-10yrs ago! The thing about this newer HBC guy is that he doesn't even care about this Zellers "morsel", if you will. Look at his Lord and Taylor!

I have 4 "go to retailers"... when I need something in the US. In order of preference: 1 - Trader Joe's (wow - just wow - their grocery and wine are phenomenal... Two-Buck Chuck anyone?!?) 2 - Costco (good quality and prices on food/consumer goods) 3 - Target (everything) 4 - Sak's off 5th (for work clothes) Target is similar to Walmart; they sell everything. That's about where the similarities end. It's just far, far cleaner, with much better products (Archer Mills products are a great value proposition). I grew up (and now live again) in what I like to call Canada's mid-west... spent much of my youth in Minneapolis/St Paul (if there are any members there, please send me a message, would be good to meet for coffee). Target is based in Minneapolis and I feel, as a retailer, the company exemplifies many of the mid-west qualities I admire. On a side note, I was in SoFlorida 2 weeks ago and had a long discussion with an HBC exec's 30yr old son (father was a former CFO as well as some other positions, but didn't want to talk shop, the son did). I was a shareholder a while back (had a $600mln market cap, $500mln or so in debt... and some really choice assets), so I was familiar with him and the company... told him that it would be a great day when Target finally swooped in and saved them from Zellers - he just looked at me weird.

Good articles, thanks guys! XYZ is best found by looking up Robert J Morrison on Sedi.ca. He's listed on 2 boards, one is a data company, the other was sold in Q1 2010 and in a manufacturing biz.

TWA, I subscribe to a trade rag on underwriting and for a little extra they send an annual industry table edition. It had profitability by type and line, volumes, etc. I just assumed it was the same thing in other underwriting locales as LRE has many of these lines.

NetNet, Please check your "My Messages".

My best idea/investment in 2010 was either marrying up... Or an 8 acre piece of highway front land in a $90k income/household community in Ontario (purchased at $7k/acre). It's about the 2nd or 3rd best piece in the area and I'm not using it for it's highest utility, but it's still a 20-40 bagger. And very low risk. I got back 25% of my capital in 2 days work selling top soil from it to contractors. The land is money in the bank... Worst was a company that I won't mention (out of embarrassment) that's business continued to crater and their debt load is coming home to roost. I was lucky to get out at a 20% loss when I realized the '07-'08 period wasn't going to come back for them, even though they're in food and it should have! Best idea for 2011? Haven't had it yet! Truthfully I have three but they hardly trade and I'm the bid! One is semi-private (sort of trades) and at 1x aftertax income, no debt.

I've spent time doing DD on Vertex for a friend... Met with John Thiessen and spoke to Matt Wood a couple times on the phone (the two PMs there). They seem very smart and capable - they also have a great mid-term track record. Their ideas have tended to be smart and well thought out. Not bullet-proof, but very good.

But you can't use YouTube.com in China (I think Facebook too). At least I couldn't use youtube...

Very touching... I've been through a pile of cities in China, their "haves" may not be as wealthy as American "haves", but the the life of a "not" in China would make the news if someone had a similar existence in America or Canada... The difference between a have and a have not over there is very shocking. You can measure health in decades of life expectancy and cleanliness in whether someone cleans themselves after an excrement (and if they do, by what method). I've spent a lot of time in depressed parts of Canada and the US, there is very little similarity. How did this get through? They don't have YouTube... How do people comment on it if there is no YouTube in China? The person that posted it is in HK...

Has anyone on here spent much time in China? I've toured 4 cities, but hardly understand it. The more you try to understand it, the less it makes sense.

I bought on LSE and it shows up in my TD accounts as pinks, go figure... I asked Ajit Jain about these guys in May and he knew them but didn't really have anything to say... just that it's impossible to write that well for a very long period. I rebutted with their history in Lloyds, the Philadelphia Consol story, etc... he kind of shrugged his shoulders.

He doesn't own Wesco. His holdings in BRK, which owns Blue Chip, which owns Wesco, are substantial. It's highly probable that he owned Wesco and Blue Chip personally or through his LP a long time ago (one of his original LPs still exists BTW) and to clean things up swapped the shares and only owns BRK now. Warren likely did the same. I think some of this may be documented somewhere.

There are a ton of people on here that bought those LEAPS and calls. I remember being 30 or 40 % of the open interest in the 120s and about half the interest in the 140s when they started printing those (back in early '06?). I called a buddy of mine (he's on this board) and between him and his cousin, they were almost the rest of the interest! There may have been 10 or 20% that I couldn't account for, but it was likely people from this board. We had a higher base so the % returns aren't as crazy, but dollars are dollars. Buying was easy, holding it was so difficult (I kept rolling it to deal with my fear of an implosion). That was one of the most exciting times of my life. I remember being in Florida that winter or fall and seeing a "Sanjeev's out for lunch" squeeze on my blackberry... That one squeeze was a small house!

That's a great idea Packer! I've been trying to come up with a way to teach high school kids about business, finance, personal finance... but couldn't come up with a good hook. That would probably work!

I live on Lake Superior, it's the biggest lake in the world and an inland ocean (personal experiences, I grew up on it). Have tried to surf a pile of times is 40-60 degree water... not for the faint of heart! I have a 10footer. Sounds like Northern Nor-Cal is good surf, same conditions! Sounds like you live in a really cool place - I just love California. The agriculture, surf, wine... cars... etc. The macro scares me... Too frickin hard with the state issues - how high do taxes have to go? What else do they have to do???

I've passively followed it for years. Interesting concept, good to see they're making money again. I live near many of their stores, and it's grown a ton since I first went there in '95 or '96 (in Minneapolis)... They have really good BBQ - but not great. They talk with a southern accent, but it's based in MN. I really like the place, just saying... Never owned the stock. They have a few in Omaha, one in the market area (just saying for anyone that's never been the Dave's, but may be in Omaha once a year...). But I like the "Smoke Pit" around 25th and Farnam for some authentic "que".