shalab

He could easily take out much smaller targets, yet he chases after something more than twice his size, I think this was deliberate. He got lucky with SnS and look at the windfall he is reaping for himself. If he had won, it would have been even more lucrative than SnS. If he loses, it doesnt cost him much. It was an asymmetric bet and well worth the time. He tends to do one of these every year - I won't be surprised if put a tender for BRK or FRFHF one of these days. The guy doesnt lack chutzpah.

Australia does have what is know as the "age pension". The payment seems pretty low by U.S standards even going with U.S dollar parity. I am assuming the government pays for health care there too. http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/age_rates.htm

Eric - are you planning to move to Australia permanently? They have what is known as stamp duty which is paid when a property is bought and it is a surcharge to the buyer. This is an old world rule that is present in Europe. I suspect this dissuades property sales and mobility as it is levied on top of the property value. From the wikipedia article.. ---------- Australia also has stamp duty, applied at the time a property is sold, by the purchaser to the Office of State Revenue. In addition to stamp duty there is also a Land Transfer Charge under the NSW State Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (1 July 2010). The Charge will be levied as an ad valorem tax to be paid by the purchaser, for property above $500,000 in value, and is payable at the time a transfer document is lodged for registration with Land & Property Information (LPI).

What are the strategies the board members use for tax selling? e.g:, sell BAC that has gone down to balance the gains elsewhere? Buffett has done this where he sold COP to minimize his taxes even though he still has a large portion of his net worth in it.

>The adjusted book value (accounting for BH's investments in the LF and LF's holdings in BH that are recorded as Treasury stock) that is a fairer reflection of economic reality rose by 9.6%. The owner earnings will be much less as Biglari will take a cut above the hurdle rate.

Last I checked the Indian government ( and Chinese too ) controlled how much money can be taken out in hard currency. Is this not the case anymore?

Looks like one can get a greencard for 500K if this WSJ article is anything to go by. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704124504576118500940803720.html

Their prediction apparently should work out in 2-3 quarters not years after prediction. Essentially, their prediction should work out by Q2 2012 or they are off. http://www.businesscycle.com/news_events/news_details/3104

More than the rate itself, the growth in employment is what is critical. This will get the country off the funk eventually and if the Europeans can get their act together... Germany is not suffering as much as the others because they export a ton of stuff mostly to the U.S and the emerging countries and it is a problem. Not sure what the ECRI guys are saying now.

This is a country where inflation is higher than growth already and whose currency dropped by 15% against the U.S dollar during the ongoing Euro crisis. Let me conclude by suggesting that notwithstanding the short term effects on India of current global developments, the inherent strength of our economy will keep our long term success story intact. I would also like to emphasize that when the western world is suffering and adjusting to the shocks of global meltdown and the after effects of crisis in Greece, our industry leaders must consolidate and leverage their position for a better tomorrow http://finmin.nic.in/press_room/2011/FM_Global_Economic_Turmoil_BankSector.pdf

FWIW, the shops were overflowing today in my area. Looks good to the economy.

Amen. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/26/business/black-friday-shoppers-fan-out-in-the-dark-of-night.html?_r=1&hp

If this bloomberg article is right, looks like the ECRI guys got it wrong. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-18/u-s-leading-indicators-rise-more-than-forecast-in-sign-of-growth-into-12.html

Speaking of Biglari, he sure knows how to Say all the right things in his letters Yes, he cut the 401k for SnS employees and bought a fancy car for himself. How is this different from a third world strongman?

Interesting article http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703893804577024122523328762.html?mod=TWM_pastedition_1#articleTabs_panel_article%3D2

Interesting article, shows that you can have a successful business even though you may not have been a good steward of your own money: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/business/how-a-financial-pro-lost-his-house.html?pagewanted=1&ref=business&src=me

The disconcerting thing for me regarding debit card fee was the way it was rolled out by BAC - they misjudged the sentiment of their customers bigtime. Since they had planned to roll it out in the new year, a couple of pilots wouldnt have hurt.

Interesting - not sure if the analyst gets BRK model. http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/11/07/berkshire-hathaway-earnings-quality-worries-analyst/?mod=yahoo_hs

Despite all the noise, it seems the economy is doing fine. Since banks have started expanding their loan book, dont see another meltdown. Would like to know the bear argument why US economy will collapse.

The E.U drama never seems to end - what is the board's take on the most recent Greece issue?

Looks like the labor costs will skyrocket if this plan gets implemented. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/10/28/beijing-on-foreigners-pension-payments-trust-china/?mod=google_news_blog

Finally. Looks like Greece private investors have to take a write down of 50%. Didnt some one here mention FRFHF has greek bonds? http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/news/international/european_union_crisis_summit/index.htm?hpt=hp_t1

Looks like Schumer is trying to implement Sanjeev idea ;D. Apparently Canadians are the largest home owners now in the U.S followed by the Chinese and Indians. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/10/20/erin-schumer-residency-visa-plan.cnn?hpt=hp_t2

Just a view into the value investors of this board. How much does your household cost to maintain per year? If you live in Manhattan, the housing costs will dictate what your costs are. Then there is medical expenditure, travel and kids.

But exports grew 36% and imports some 17%. I will take this slowdown any time ;D. In addition, India's base is very small compared to China so there is room for a lot of growth in both imports and exports. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-12/india-s-september-export-growth-slows-for-second-straight-month.html