txlaw

It is very interesting. Just a fact of life, I suppose. We all have our prejudices and biases towards the other peeps in the world. The rationale person doesn't claim that these prejudices/biases don't exist, but rather tries to understand them and act properly/rationally despite having them.

I would say blacks are doing ok down here. I mean there is no Aboriginal President anywhere around the corner. As a black guy, I think the Native Americans are a much cleaner comparison. Though all parties involved got screwed over in History. Having been to Oz, I will say I think the Aboriginals have it way worse. The things an Australian can say about an Aboriginals in a crowded room made me blush, and its hard for a black guy to blush. Again very similar to Native Americans, these things usually arent said about blacks due to fear and PCness. Myth, it depends on where you're at in the states, unfortunately. I was in Alabama about two weeks ago visiting my relatives, who were thankfully spared by the tornadoes, and they told me some stories that show just how much racial animosity is still bubbling under the surface in that particular part of the country, especially among older people. Specifically, between blacks and whites. Oddly, other non-whites (I think I've mentioned before that I'm Indian) are not subject to the same prejudices to the same degree. Having said that, I got a bit of it from a drunk white guy while I was down there, and I wasn't really in a position to respond in a manner that would have been satisfying. Ruined my freaking day.

The more I read about the details, the more disturbed I get regarding an increased chance of blow up or military action in the region. See http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/world/asia/03pakistan.html It's remarkable that Bin Laden was located in a secured compound that "sits virtually adjacent to the grounds of a military academy." The fact that the Times of India talks about the capture blowing Pakistan's cover is predictable. But the NYT is talking about US officals' distrust of what exactly is going on in the depths of the Pakistani government. Some serious questions are going to be asked to the Pakistani government now by everyone in the West and by neighbors in the region. How much in control is the government (versus the military and ISI), really?

The problem I'm having is that there are too many companies in the sectors I'm looking at -- large tech, telecom, pharma, insurance cos, the big banks, and housing-related -- that are trading at very attractive levels. Way too many. I like to concentrate my investments, so it's difficult for me to decide what to go with. For example, I own C, but WFC is also cheap, and the CFO just bought some stock. And both MSFT and GOOG are clearly cheap. I prefer GOOG, but those MSFT LEAPS look very tempting.

The President's speech was great. Today is a good day.

Enjoy. http://www.zerohedge.com/article/keynes-vs-hayek-sequel

I know you realize that. I just thought I'd use your post as a jumping off point to contribute a couple ideas, since Bronco has been bitching and moaning about not getting enough good ideas from the board.

I wouldn't worry about the spending. The 10% salary increase was expected and the additional SG&A is growth related. GOOG management really cares about ROI when it comes to growth-related spending, contrary to popular belief on the Street. In fact, across the board, there are many tech companies that are increasing their growth opex and capex because they're generating so much cash and because they see so many opportunities. GOOG, INTC, AMZN, DELL. Even OSTK had a big bump up in "tech" spending.

Not all REITs are stupidly valued. FUR is trading at a reasonable price. CXS, which is managed by Annaly, is arguably trading at stupid cheap levels. In fact, before the recent equity offering, Starwood Property Trust offered to buy up all the common at $14 per share.

Looks like it was a great dinner/meeting. I hope to attend some day. That's awesome. Sanjeev, your enthusiasm is infectious.

Good to know. I'll try to call tomorrow to confirm and post once I get the info.

Thanks, snailslug.

Does anybody know the logistics of the "Afternoon with Charlie" event? Would we present our Berkshire credential there to get in? Or would it pretty much be open to the public? And where the heck is it going to be in Pasadena? Can we call Wesco or Berkshire to get more details?

Thanks, netnet.

Haha, yeah. Note the ellipses in the middle of that quote. I wonder exactly what Cote said and what he was asked.

Very interesting that he said that the U.S mills are not for sale. I really like Sharper's idea. Sell off the Canadian plants to a willing consolidator. We're left with a recycling utility that creates product that will increasingly be used in a country where sustainability is finally being recognized by both producers and consumers. RBK is a differentiated product and we will own a large chunk of the US market for it.

Does anybody know when and where this is gonna be? I assumed it would be in Pasadena, but is it now going to be in Omaha? Also, have they announced the date yet?

I don't doubt you can understand it, but you'll definitely have to put a lot of time into it. Keep in mind that I've been immersed in tech from when I was in school (engineering degree, with concentration in tech and policy) to when I worked in Silicon Valley to when I practiced as a technology lawyer. I am very familiar with certain sectors of the "tech" industry, and I feel that I know enough how to assess the situation and when to throw things out as being too hard. Yeah, simplistic analysis about negative working capital and cash on the balance sheet isn't the right way to go about investing in a company like DELL, which some would even say is not even a tech company. I mean, when you read Hawkins/Cates talking about their investments, you can tell that they've done a lot of work. HWIC has certainly done a shitload of work on DELL. It is, after all, one of their largest US equity holdings.

On Dell, whats your thesis? Same as everyone else? It seems cheap but they are buying expensive things. Per the economist they have no choice. Them and HP are under-siege with the tablets and phone devices. I like the move into the cloud, but believe this area of tech is simply too competitive. It'd be too much work to rehash the simple thesis on this thread. Just do a search for DELL and you'll see that there has been a lot of discussion on it, and I've posted several times in these discussions. I even owned when it went all the way to $9 during the financial crisis, traded out for a nice gain, and have rebuilt a substantial position over the last year. In fact, it's my largest position at the moment. To be frank, people who say that DELL's acquisitions are expensive don't really get the business and are just going off current numbers without even giving a little bit of thought to the matter. They look at the financial statements of the targets and make snap judgment assessments based on past numbers. You have to really try to understand how DELL's business works, what the new business lines can be under the DELL umbrella, and then figure out what the real return could be given the competitive space and the size of the market. You also have to do what I suppose some would call a Porter analysis except that I don't really know what that entails -- I hear it's supposed to teach business school students how to think about strategy. Patrick Byrne just made an interesting comment about Overstock's competitive outlook and how people don't get that it's like swimming in Lake Michigan with the other guys. That's a very interesting way of pointing out that sometimes people don't really see the forest from the trees. By the way, in order to assess DELL, you also should have a good understanding of the "tech" business, and most value investors do not really have a good understanding of the "tech" business. They either think of "tech" on very simple terms and make big mistakes buying into companies they know nothing about or just throw the entire sector out as outside their circle of competence. Better to do the latter than the former. Also, it's better to realize that sometimes it's too hard to figure out how things will unfold no matter how in the know you are. I just read the Economist article (has been sitting on my coffee table). It's a pretty good article, but it doesn't really tell you whether DELL is a good buy given the competitive landscape, the actions that DELL has taken in that respect, and the price that the company is trading at. You have to figure that out yourself. Or just pass -- you can make money plenty of other ways.

Saw that article when it came out a week or two ago. I did the same thing, only with the LEAPS.

Was at 20% cash by Friday, and it probably won't stay there if we have a lot of high quality opportunities presented to us. But I'm fine where I am right now.

Man, this is horrible. Hopefully, they can get the nuclear meltdowns under control and get people out of those areas that are at risk to radiation leaks. I really hope that California wakes up to the dangers that are possible and that we are now seeing, unfortunately, in Japan. I was talking to my sister who lives in SF yesterday, and nobody in California seems to be prepared for something like this happening.

I like it. As Sanjeev and valuecfa said, "O.co" is easier to pronounce, easier to remember, and will allow them to market more upscale brands. "Overstock" just sounded too utilitarian and cheapo. I think it will also appeal to female audiences more, which they're definitely trying to do based on the commercials I've seen on TV. That's a good thing since online browsing/shopping at home and at work is becoming pretty standard among younger females (maybe older too) and since at least 50% of their sales currently fit in the home and garden category.

Yeah, I just upped my cash on my retirement account where I can only choose amongst index funds. Had already marked inflows to go to cash a couple months ago. I'm still more aggressive in my taxable portfolio, but I'm watching closely for when I can take positions off the table... Word. I'm at 16% cash. As Myth would say, my peashooter is reloaded!

Please. You're giving people on this board no credit. I'm still curious about the comment about "escaping to the hot summer cold winter Florida panhandle via a trust fund for insiders (St. Joe)." Where did that come from? And why do you still have money invested with him given the comments you made?