roughlyright

Aberhound, How can a retail investor, invest in Prem's India fund?

My vote goes to Senomyx (SNMX). The company's patents and its market position sounds simply great. It has a small market cap today, at $300 Million. If they really execute on their plan and I can see this becoming a hundred bagger. At this point, it is lot of speculation. But the potential is certainly there. I cannot possibly see a 20 billion dollar company like Tesla becoming a hundred bagger. Size becomes a obstacle in itself, just like Berkshire cannot continue to grow at the same rate it did in the last 20 years.

Hello, I am looking to share a hotel room with anyone, who booked it with two double beds. anyone willing to share their hotel room? - Roughlyright

Rkbabang, What is your opinion on Mongolia growth group? The new CEO Paul J. Byrne seems to have a great reputation. He has built several projects going to tens of billions of dollars. He has now started working for such a small company. I thought this a major transformational event for the company. any thoughts?

;D That is so funny

stahleyp, This fund you were referring to sounds amazing. He has only 40% invested and his performance is phenomenal. Can you share more information and any other tid bits about the manager? - Roughlyright oceanfund.pdf

Jorge's company partnered with Berkshirehathaway. I found his speech interesting. I thought of sharing it with the board. 20131017-Jorge-Paulo-Lemann-What-I-Learned-at-Harvard.pdf

I have read this comments from Seth to some private business owners. I found the commentary very thought provoking, given how rational he is. Please note that these are his very recent comments. Seth_Klarman_Views_24_pgs_June_2013.pdf

Does anyone know how a individual investor can buy shares of Finbond? It is only listed on Johannesburg stock exchange. I have an account with Interactive broker account but they do not let you buy any stocks in South Africa.

Chanticleer which is followed by some board members has fallen by 46% today. I have seen the news that, they are raising more money in a secondary offering. Anyboday has more insights on this company?

This is a great find Txlaw. So far I have watched 3 of them and they all show great production quality.

I have one comment on Dell. Today's price of Dell is same as where it was on September of 1997. On September 1997 it was at 12.25, according to yahoo. In 1997, Microsoft was the king of the software area. Intel and Dell ruled the market with low priced computers and chips. Together this group provided formidable competition to world in providing low-cost PCs. Dell had a great moat because of the low-cost structure compared to Compaq, HP and IBM. With the information we had *at that time*, it was a rational decision for an investor to put their money in to Dell. Their cash-flows were growing. They had a float similar to insurance companies, because they were collecting money before delivering the product to the customers. Now 15 years later you did not make a penny on this investment, despite being right about the company and its moat in 1997, with the information we had at that time. What makes us think that 15 years from now the result is going to be vastly different? If you adjust the results for inflation, an investor lost lot of money even after 15 years. 15 years ago it looked like a rational decision based on the information we had, but now proven dead wrong, based on the facts alone. landscape has changed dramatically now, with pretty strong forces against it. What makes Dell's position so good now?

Anybody has a opinion on Bank of America Preferred shares? I am looking at BAC-PL, which is now trading at $689. The par value is $1000. This is supposed to pay $72.50 in dividends. Here is the text from the prospectus. "SECURITY DESCRIPTION: Bank of America, 7.25% Non-Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, Series L, liquidation preference $1000 per share, and with no stated maturity. Non-cumulative distributions of 7.25% ($72.50) per annum are paid quarterly on 1/30, 4/30, 7/30 & 10/30 to holders of record on the first day of the month in which the payment is due (NOTE: the ex-dividend date is at least 2 business days prior to the record date). The dividends are non-cumulative and if the board of directors does not declare a dividend or the company fails to pay a dividend declared by the board for any quarterly dividend period, the holder will not be entitled to receive any dividend for that quarterly period and the undeclared or unpaid dividend will not accumulate. Dividends paid by the preferred are eligible for the 15% tax rate on dividends under normal holding restrictions and are also eligible for the dividends received deduction for corporate holders (see page S-40 of the prospectus for further information). The preferred shares are convertible any time at the holder's option into 20 common shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), an initial conversion price of $50 per common share (a 25% premium from the initial price). On or after 1/30/2013, if the price of the common stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price for 20 of any 30 consecutive trading days, the company may, at their option, force the preferred shares to be converted into common shares at the then prevailing conversion price. In regard to the payment of dividends and upon liquidation, the preferred shares rank equally with other preferreds and senior to the common shares of the company." Any comments?

SouthernYankee, That is simply a great reply! you nailed it on the head. I see that people are more focused on giving a label to a position, than discussing the actual content of the issue being raised. As a private individual, I don't manage my personal financial affairs as badly as the government. I wish our government acted million times more prudently than I do. It needs to do so, because it has quadriplegics and seniors depending on them to cover their living expenses. It is horrible crime, in my view, to mismanage the country and solve a debt problem by adding more debt. There are lot of soldiers loosing their arms and lives for this country, and the least we can do is to have a government that has the fiscal strength to pay their salaries. I wish Obama came up to the American people and apologized for spending like a drunken sailor, before asking for more money. If a drunken sailor spends $1.5 trillion dollars, I will be very kind to him because, he is spending his own money, unlike these thuggish politicians. -Roughlyright

ECCO, I am curious. Why did you choose TVA-B? It does not seem to have a high return on equity (i.e 16%) It does not have lot of cash, only 3 million. Obviously, I am missing something.

I agree with Munger (the poster), that the trend now is deflationary. Fairfax has been in business for a long time, but never purchased the derivatives to protect against deflation. Today's WSJ news shows Prem thinks this is the trend going forward. So, indirectly Prem supports Munger's position :)

I am planning on being in Omaha this weekend on Friday night , Saturday night. I have not booked a hotel room so far :( Any one willing to share a room and split the cost? please email at jaysrao at gmail.com

Thank you Uccmal and pof4520, for your replies. Now I am clear about this. I will simply let them expire instead of buying back.

I have a question related to Naked Puts sold. I have sold 30 put option contracts of January 2011 American Express Strike Price 7.5, at $2.50 when the price was under lot of pressure. Right now the same Put Options are priced at $0.40. I understand that if these were calls, I could have exercised in 2011 and own stock in its place. However, I sold naked puts. If the stock of American Express remains above say $10 in January 2011, can I still exercise my options and own stock instead? I wish I actually bought calls as opposed to selling puts. My intents is to convert these 30 contracts into shares. Is this possible?

I have a double-bed room in La Quinta Inn located at 1201 Ave H, Carter Lake, IA 51510. The price I got was $190 per one night. I have it booked for two nights (5/1 and 5/2). Anyone interested in sharing the room for two nights? This hotel runs a shuttle to airport as well to the Qwest Center. Only 2 miles from the Qwest center, I believe. If interested email me at jaysrao at gmail.com