Hawk4value

There are several problems I have: Public sector employees expect to be uneffected by macro events. In a severe crisis that we now have, they still expect 100% job protection (no layoffs), and salary increases, even though state governments are in horrible fiscal shape due to rediculous spending mandates put in place during the credit bubble which falsely inflated tax receipts. Why should they not expect to tighten their belts like the rest of us. They consider themselves a protected class. This is arrogance. Why should taxpayers be on the hook 100% for their pensions plans. This eliminates moral hazard. If they hire a terrible asset manager and the pension becomes underfunded due to terrible management, their attitude is: So What, the taxpayers will bail us out. Gee, that's a great postion to be in. Many corporations years ago converted their defined benefit plans to 401Ks and IRAs. We should mandate this for public employee pension plans as well.

Just a few thoughts: Unions started outbeing a benefit to society. Now the pendulum has swung to the other extreme and they are basically destroyers of companies and industries in order to grab as much as they can in the short term. All defined pension plans need to be outlawed and transformed to 401ks and IRAs. Everyone needs to be responsible for there own life. Personally, I think you have to be nuts to cede control of your retirement funds to company mgt, particularly an airline company. This is an industry that has been in and out of Chapter 11 for years. What makes the employees think the company can responsibly handle there pension plans when they can't run their own businesses.

The arrogance of gov't employees is outrageous. Why should they be any different than any other person during a recession. We can get fired or have our salaries reduced in order to adapt to the changing economic environment. Why should they have guaranteed employment and salary increases when the people paying their salaries and benefits are being hurt. The irony is that gov't was one of the institutions that caused the crisis in the first place.

Just curious. Since you are already a holder, and if you say you will be adding to your position soon, is there a particular price that makes sense to you, and why.

In my opinion Greenspan takes a lot of the blame, and I think it is good that he is testifing at these hearings. I think we can also agree that Fannie and Freddie were a huge part of the problem as well. However, what is grossly unfair is the complete obfuscation of responsibility on the part of our congressmen. What role did congress play in the debacle?? No one seems to want to discuss this. Well, below is a link to a 2004 congressional hearing where OFHEO, the regulator of Fannie & Freddie, is grilled for raising the issue that the GSEs are cooking the books, and being dishonest in their reporting. You can see and hear what our congressmen thought about the GSEs, at the time, in their own words. In my opinion some of these people should be prosecuted. Be forwarned that this video is biased in favor of a particular Party---but we all know that both sides made big mistakes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

My big concern is that it seems Ward is making this move to primarily increase cash flow so he can continue to service SD debt, oil cash flow being much higher than gas cash flow. Someone already said he is selling cheap assets to buy expensive assets. Couple this action with the $100mil headquarters he is building, and I have some real problems with this guy. :-\

Julian Robertson and Francis Chou have both talked about hedging against a raise in Treasury rates: Juilian: The former hedge-fund manager has been buying "curve caps," an investment that acts like leveraged put options, on long-term government bonds, he said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "They would insure us in the event of massive rate increases," Robertson said. Chou: "...we wonder what financial instruments we can use that will protect us if inflation takes hold. We want an instrument similar to an insurance policy whereby the most we could lose is the amount of premium we pay upfront but get all the upside if the interest rate rises. We have identified two such instruments: Constant Maturity Swap Rate Caps (CMS RC) and Constant Maturity Swap Curve Caps (CMS CC). Comments.

The $64,000 question is how to convert your IRA to a Roth and not pay taxes. What if one personally owned a company with NOLs. Can the benefit of the NOLs flow thru the business and shelter the income from the conversion??? Any other ideas on how to do this??

Marty made the statement in his 10/31/2009 Fund Report. Do you know where I can access and read about the favorable court ruling you mentioned???

Marty Whitman, in a recent quarterly review, stated that the recent transfer of over $5bil of liquid assets, as well as the profitable municipal insurance business, from MBIA Corp. to MBIA, Inc. amounts to asset stripping and is illegal. Basically, MBIA, Inc. (the Holding Company---publically traded) is stripping assets from its principal insurance subsidiary, MBIA Corp., in order to "ring fence" the holding company from all structured finance obligations. Since Marty owns $362mil of insurance subsidiary Surplus Notes, he is suing MBIA, Inc. in an attempt to reverse the transfer. He further states that if his lawsuit is successful then MBIA, Inc. common is worthless. Does any Board member have an opinion on this, or know the status of the lawsuit??????

I have noticed that PALISADES MASTER FUND LP has been unloading large quantities of shares for quite some time. Maybe Prag has bought from these people. Does anyone have any scuttlebutt on this entity, and/or why they have been a seller of shares???

Just read that Robert B. Prag has filed a 13G stating he has a 7.2% position, or 90,000 shares, in CCLR. Anyone know this guy???? His bio states "......Robert B. Prag,...... age 47, founded Del Mar Consulting Group (DCG) in June 1999. He has spent the past twenty-four years in senior active roles in various areas of investment, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, reverse mergers and investor relations. He is also an active private investor primarily in microcap public companies......... From 1983 through 1992, Bob was a Senior Vice President with Corporate Investment International ("CII") in Maryland. At CII, Bob concentrated on mergers & acquisitions and business strategies.........From 1993 through 1998, Bob was the Senior Vice President at a west coast-based financial public relations firm. He directed all efforts in assisting client companies in strategic management planning and capital formation, and during his tenure, client companies completed capital raises of more than $250 million..........Bob's name and reputation as a highly competent and ethical professional is very well-known among the nation's leading micro-cap and small cap money managers, hedge funds, analysts, investment bankers and retail stock brokers........"

Have been following Loews for years. Saw the opportunity to buy it on the cheap early last year so opened a modest position. The Tisches are honest operators with their money on the line. They run a conservative balance sheet with a good amount of cash to support their member companies as evidenced last year during the dark days. Am a long term holder. Will add more during the next downtown.

Last year when spreads on High Yield Corporate Debt widen to rediculous levels I did not buy enough. The resultant high yields and capital gains will probably not be repeated in our lifetimes.

Great post. I follow Bob Rodriquez as well. I agree with his point that the Federal gov't will become a larger share of our economy and deficits and total debt will continue to grow and become a larger % of GDP. I believe he also implied that this would cause Treasury debt to explode and interest rates to go up. He indicated that the New Income fund was 25% cash, and that 99% of their bonds were AAA and short term. Is Rodriquez keeping the fund liquid and short term, waiting for the debt crisis to hit and interest rates to explode upward before he goes further out on the yield curve.?? Feel free to comment.

There was a time when winning a Noble Peace Prize was a reward for a lifetime of dedication and work for the betterment of humanity. Now its been reduced to a political prize awarded on the basis of ideology. Its significance is insignficant.

CCLR exploded to the upside today. The only piece of news is "Remodel Auction Retains Chanticleer Holdings, Inc. as Business Advisor". Part of the retention is a 3% interest in the company. Does anyone have any further info on why this arrangement might cause such a change in market value.

Unionize Walmart!!! Is that Nadar's solution for America. I guess Ralph has already forgotten that Unions played a big part in bankrupting GM and Chrysler.

Does anyone have a transcript of the article??

In order to reap the rewards of compounding and to keep your friction costs to a minimum (taxes, etc.), a 10 to 20 year holding period is certainly advantageous. Under these circumstance I prefer a great "jockey" to a great business. Someone that has integrity, believes in bottoms up value investing, has a lot of skin in the game, and is a passionate and brilliant asset allocator. To wit my top holdings are BRK, FFH/ORH, LUK, SNS/WEST, Loews, Fairholme. Thats not to say that good businesses with capable mgts are not worthwhile, which is why AXP is also a top holding. But one must keep a careful eye on mgt.

Does anyone know if FFH will also take-out the ORH preferred shares outstanding as part of the proposal for the common??

Unfortunately, I cannot make the Pabrai AGM or the meeting with Chanticleer asset mgrs. I would be most interested in what the Chanticleer mgrs have to say about CCLR. Can someone provide a brief transcript of that mtg, questions and answers etc.

Ay my laddies, these are fine and true words. Unfortunately, the ruling class is too intent on mollifying the masses with freebies in order to assure their re-elections. Massive deficits are fueled by self interest at the expense of the national interest. Term Limits would help eliminate this distructive behavior, and also encourage more responsible people to run for office rather than career politicians whose prime goal in life is to get re-elected. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks farnamstreet, very helpful.

Does anyone have new information regarding Chanticleer Holdings. Lately the stock price has been sinking like a stone. Can't seem to find any new info out that would cause the latest swoon. Thanks.