beerbaron

I wonder if Soros, still believes it holds true after the ECB comments. My guess is it's less likely. Also, would'nt it be fair to say that creating a 5% inflation environment by the ECB would be the equivalent of Germany transferring money to the debtor states? Regards BeerBaron

Please tell me if my logic is OK: If a trade imbalance happens for a long period and the currency cannot fluctuate. Then money must find it's way back or else at one point the spending country will end up with 0 dollars. Now there is only one way that I see the equilibrium between the two nations happening. -The thrifting country must give money away to the spending country. When we are talking about a single country it makes sense, Canada sends Billions from Alberta to poorer provinces. USA probably does something very similar. This is how the system maintains. For Europe I don't see why on earth someone would accept such a deal. If there is no redistribution happening, then two things will happen in the spending country that will delay the day of reckoning: -Collective debt is increased -Debt is transferred from one sector to the other (moving the pain) Now from what I read from ECB statement is that it's moving the pain, maybe Moore is right and that it's just another step in front of full flegde printing, but at this point buying securities of a troubled country to sell other securities. It also sounds like a great way to make money, being long the spending country's debt and short the thrifting country. So how does ECB avoid hedge funds from making a ton of money on this? BeerBaron

Can someone explain how it can purchase bonds of troubled countries but at the same retire money? Does it mean countries will need to put funds into the ECB? BeerBaron

Why don't you focus on what you know well? Stay in your area of expertise instead of trying for the home-run. BeerBaron

I find it's a horrible environment, on the macro side it's a freaking non-sense. The S&P 500 is higher then 9 months ago but the prospects are way worse, in January Europe was not in a total recession (it was heading there), the PIGS problems do not look better at all and the American economy has slowed down. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but spreads of all bonds have narrowed which implies a lower risk tolerance but on the other side stocks have gone up by a meaningful amount which means a high risk tolerance. It just does not make sense. Looking to sell Cisco pretty soon to add to my already excessive cash balance... BeerBaron

BB10 is a real time operating system, which makes it suitable for mission critical applications. Androids will be left to consumers market at this point. BeerBaron

He's right, the winner strategy is to host shows and sell books on how to invest your money. No risk all profit :) BeerBaron

I think the Phillips 66 shares were a spinoff of Conoco right? BeerBaron

Two years ago I started my Master in Engineering and I concluded that I would not have enough time to do a good job researching stocks. So I decided to adopt a guru copy of portfolios. I had no idea which guru's to copy tough. So I established the following criterias: -Must have a value approach -Must have low portfolio turnover (I'm 2 months late on their portfolio change so if I want to follow it needs to be slow!) -Must have outperformed the S&P500 on a 10 years timeframe -Must be capable of understanding their thesis -Must have concentrated positions The results of that selection are the followings: Berkshire, Greenlight, Fairfax, Fairholmes Each quarter generates 4-5 ideas. I find the lows of the quarter for each stock and buy 5% position if the stock gets below that (if the thesis still holds). So far it seems to generate 2-3 purchases per year. BeerBaron

Quote from Buffett: And once you’ve estimated future cash inflows and outflows, what interest rate do you use to discount that number back to arrive at a present value? My own feeling is that the long-term government rate is probably the most appropriate figure for most assets. That would mean a P/E of 36! And when Charlie and I felt subjectively that interest rates were on the low side — we’d probably be less inclined to be willing to sign up for that long-term government rate. We might add a point or two just generally. But the logic would drive you to use the long-term government rate. That would mean a PE of 21... much more realistic. Still, lots of room on the macro side judging from Buffett's simple equation. BeerBaron

Food for toughs... Would declining wage as % of GDP explain the high corporate profit margins? BeerBaron

Probably around 30-40% cash, I have been at that level since January. Not trying to time anything, just could not find a great deal to load up on. All I bough in the last 8 months was some additional ALS.TO at 10.30$ and BK at 20.20$. BeerBaron

I think I did something similar to what you seem to explain. http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/leverage-ratio-of-your-portfolio/msg59457/#msg59457 Of course my ratio is pretty higher today with BAC and BK added to the initial calculation. BeerBaron

Hi, since there is members all around the world I believe it would be great if everybody would put the main regulatory and sources of informations (annual reports, press release, etc...) of their respective countries. It would be a great tool for people to share their knowledge on where they get their information. I'll start off with my very limited list. Please post your own information and I will then edit my post to add it. Canada Corporate filings SEDAR http://www.sedar.com/ Insider transactions SEDI http://www.sedi.ca Stock screeners ADVFN http://www.advfn.com Globe Investor http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/ Press Releases Market Wire http://www.marketwire.com/ Business Wire http://www.businesswire.ca/ USA Corporate filings EDGAR http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml Stock screeners & Others Google Finance http://www.google.com/finance/stockscreener ADVFN http://www.advfn.com

I have trouble understanding how BB10 will be the Saint Graal of OS, I mean what can they do that is so great compared with iOS, Android, BB7 or Windows Mobile? The company is selling BB10 like a game changer but I don't see how it's going to be any but an incremental improvement at this point. I would be happy to hear the answer to the following questions: -What are consumens searching that Android or iOS does not already offer? -What are the strategic advantages of BB against it's competition? -What does BB10 give them the chance to provide that other OS can't? BeerBaron

I don't know, SEC seem to say it takes 3 days to settle... BeerBaron

Anybody has an answer to this question: Let's say a tender offer expires on July 10th and I buy shares on July 9th can I tender my shares or will I run into settle date issues? Regards BeerBaron

Nothing new here, margins are abnormally high. The article seems to point that high government spending is the cause for margins expansion. It sure makes sense to me, governments are supporting the economy, but governments are not know to be the hardest negotiators. BeerBaron

Sweet, thanks! BeerBaron

In Canada, credit cards and banks suck. Competition is so rare that rates are crazy high. I found this exchange bureau that seem to be using a somewhat acceptable spread: http://www.globex2000.ca/ 1.3145 CAD / 1 Euro Spot price as of 4:12 Eastern Time: 1.2856 Spread: 2.25% Still better then the banks at 4-5% BeerBaron

Hi Guys, I'm about to leave for Europe. Being the cheapo that I am, I was trying to find the best scheme to reduce the paper currency conversion costs. Of course there are the canadian banks that charge a spread of 5%, some exchange office that charge 2% but I believe there must be even more economical ways. For example I tough to buy Euro's in my IB account, ask for a check in Euro's and cash it at a bank in Italy. Do you guys use any clever ways to save on the currency conversion? Thanks BeerBaron

Umm... JPM :P I look at it this way. They can delever today, and relever anytime they like when conditions are more profitable. Better than reaching for yield. Not criticizing BAC deleveraging at all, I'm pretty neutral about it, up bottom line short term, no idea on long term. Just stating the facts about the current banking market and most importantly which company to avoid investing in! BeerBaron

That might be Buffett last cigar butt... There is still cash to be extracted, the conversion rate from newspaper to internet news is probably really low in the 40 and plus group of age. Below that age nobody has newspapers so there is no conversion to lose. BeerBaron

Is that me or deleveraging continues big time? Assets are shrinking and they are repaying LT debt at an astonishing rate but that does not seem to be their choice but the fact that they can't put that money to work and get returns on it. So if BAC can't put their money to work, who is, and most importantly... at what costs/risks? From page 7 The greatest opportunity to reduce funding costs is continued reduction in long-term debt as this expense is 5X the cost of deposits and long-term debt is one third the size of deposit funding. BeerBaron

Why would they bet 50/50 on a 750B$ mkt cap when they could buy Jan 2014 calls for a much better risk/reward for the longs? BeerBaron