shalab

MSFT record with acquisitions: http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-15-biggest-acquisitions-and-what-happened-to-them-2011-3?op=1#ixzz1LyNOSqAa Microsoft employee reaction - seems pretty negative: http://minimsft.blogspot.com/

Looks like Skype has ( or plans to have ) > 1000 employees http://www.businessinsider.com/you-could-work-here-tour-skypes-beautiful-new-offices-2011-2?op=1

One has to congratulate the Skype investors who made a good chunk of money. There was an article about Marc Andressen in WSJ today on how his venture company has changed the landscape in silicon valley - he invested in skype. I have used Skype on iPhone and it is nifty. Having such an app on windows phone would be advantageous - my guess is that Skype would have done the app for a token amount. I have used other IM clients from the desktop and I dont see a huge advantage for skype in comparison to others. Then the next thing is the number of users. Skype has the mind share which is a plus. How it pans out is anyone's guess.

>It looks like we're in agreement that the search share is worth more to Google than it is to Microsoft. But what we're still missing is a better estimate of what that 30% is worth to Google. I used a quick and dirty baseline of $10bn to illustrate a point I think it is worth about $4B in revenue at current rates. However, the net profit would be much lower as one has to pay up for third party sites that generate the content.

It will take a while to get this right. My guess is these guys are paying Yahoo! a bunch of money to get traffic and Yahoo! is not doing well. They will eventually get it right - it may take another five years for it to be profitable though. There will be split market between Google and Microsoft for this stuff - it could end up being 90-10 (revenue/profit) or 70-30 or 60-40. The profits you see before came from MSN competing with AOL.

And Sanjeev is right...

Just thinking out loud since this board has the most knowhow on FFH. Float => 23 billion From Watsa's talk. I put the float at 10B but had clearly underestimated the actual amount Market cap => 15 Billion Price/Book => 1.14 FFH future returns => underwriting gain + investment gains on float Growth in float is another factor for increased value Recent acquisitions should help grow float but given it is already at 1/3rd the level of Berkshire. Also, Berkshire has this much float in early 1999 after GenRe acquisition. If they grow float at Berkshire rate, FFH should have 50B in float in ten years. Also, if it earns like berkshire, it should earn about 2B/year from the float alone in ten years. The market cap would be substantially higher if FRFHF can achieve that kind of growth.

Ericopoly, interesting thought process. BTW, it seems you are fully in to the "non-deflation" camp ;D

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/04/21/warren-buffetts-profit-on-ge-investment-1-2-billion/

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/04/27/david-sokol-responds-to-criticism/

BRK is a better bet than MSFT at the moment. Eric is right with both his points. In addition, Microsoft pays most(all?) of its dividends in dollars and the majority of shareholders are in the U.S. However, there are some cons with MSFT as well: 1. Increase in compensation going to cost $400mil more per year 2. MSFT balance sheet is not as pristine as it used to be, there is 10B in debt and 40B in cash and equivalents 3. Desktop, office, server levelled off 4. Emerging businesses consuming huge amounts of cash. Kinect, though a success, not enough to move the needle

Sounds like a great get together. I couldn't make it myself but looking forward to the notes like BRK/Wesco meeting.

it takes a lot of courage to do what this shareholder is doing When did ambulance chasing got equated with courage? It is pretty clear why the plaintiff is suing. Awarding to Berkshire damages and restitution from Sokol, and orderingdisgorgement of all profits, benefits and other compensation obtained by Sokol; C.Awarding to Plaintiff the costs and disbursements of the action, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, accountants’ and experts’ fees, costs, and expenses; and D.Granting such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper. Dated: April 18, 2011 ROSENTHAL, MONHAIT &GODDESS, P.A.By:Carmella P. Keener (Del. Bar No. 2810)/s/Carmella P. Keener 919 North Market Street, Suite 1401Citizens Bank Center P.O. Box 1070Wilmington, DE 19899-1070(302) 656-4433 Counsel forPlaintiff Mason KirbyOF COUNSEL:GARDY & NOTIS, LLPMark C. GardyJames S. NotisJennifer SarnelliCharles A. Germershausen560 Sylvan AvenueEnglewood Cliffs, NJ 07632(201) 567-7377HAROLD B. OBSTFELD, P.C.Harold B. Obstfeld100 Park Avenue, 20thFloor New York, NY 10017(212) 696-1212

The lawsuit is frivolous - the entire case is noted below. Munger, Buffett and the board of BRK is held as the defendant. http://www.scribd.com/doc/53362856/kirby-v-sokol

ericd, would you mind sharing your spreadsheet.

This is from FT: Country 2010 GDP 2011 real growth Brazil 2.09 trillion 4.5% China 5.9 trillion 9.6% India 1.54 trillion 8.2% Russia 1.47 trillion 4.8% South Africa .357 trillion 3.5%

If you die at <85, you died young for a value person. I think 95 is the par.

Interesting... http://www.businessinsider.com/pimco-short-treasuries-2011-4 The thesis seems to be that there won't be buyers for treasuries once QE2 ends pushing up the interest rates. However, the reduced government spending and increased social security taxes next year will reduce the government deficit as well which can trigger the deflationary scenario we have been talking about.

There was a discussion about reducing fat and weight earlier in the year. Would the contributors mind sharing their current status. I found this book - a recommendation by a friend interesting - though some of it may be misleading. http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X

Interesting article in NY Times, an action we have seen at BH and few other places recently. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/business/10gret.html?_r=1&ref=business Whatever is your sentiment, it is hard to argue with the closing paragraphs of the article: “There has been a massive wealth transfer from middle-class America’s retirement accounts to the bank accounts of the privileged few. The social consequences of this wealth transfer bear scrutiny.”

Once you get what you want, you can change the terms so that B shares get less dividend than A shares.

Since there are many fans of Biglari in this board but not as many fans of Sokol, just wanted to contrast these two folks. Both are hard charging people that are very smart and very driven. As for ethical behavior, I think Biglari ranks lower than Sokol. Sokol is definitely richer of the two with a networth of about ~100 million or more whereas Biglari is probably in the range of ~7-10 million. I am surprised SEC didnt go after Biglari as everyone was probably busy clapping. I dont think what Sokol did is illegal. Sokol will look like Mother Theresa at SNS but doesnt pass the ethical bar at Berkshire.

Strictly from a capital allocation standpoint, I subscribe to what Parsad says - capital will do good for society if it is allocated efficiently. Heriditary inheritance does a disservice to society. I think Buffett is right about inheritance tax...

Let us do a poll to see how much position the board members have in FFH. Russell 2000 index is up 7.6% this year and SP500 is 5.5% up. But the one quarter doesnt an year make. It is a given that FFH book value declined for the quarter after dividend payout and the decline in indices. The only question is how much.

Not that Barrons credit is newsworthy, I am not sure of some of their choices but anyway here it is: http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970203296504576223573436157008.html