SmallCap

Thanks for sharing, long read but good. I know Lewis is a great storyteller and all but I really came away disgusted with Goldman Sachs.

I just met Jordan Belfort last last week talking about his amazing rise and fall and then post jail time rebirth as an "Ethics" lecturer. Fascinating guy, mesmerizing, I can see why he could do such an amazing job of selling whatever he wanted.

There is a entire chapter on Taleb that Gladwell wrote in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ROKQGA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002ROKQGA&linkCode=as2&tag=businmaste-20">What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures</a> It was a great story.

Just came across this. http://mashable.com/2013/09/23/blackberry-acquired-for-4-7-billion/

Good Question: RE Tax Liens - I did very well in this area with my home state of Michigan until they changed the laws, I would start looking at another state Invest alongside of some locals who are launching franchises in the Emerging markets of South Africa (why there, because I have the best connections) Slightly different take on Sanjeev's answer I would provide seed capital to selected entrepreneurs who are developing ideas through the Entrepreneurship program at my local University where I teach and mentor the students through the development of their ideas. Other then that I periodically get opportunities to lend money out with good assets backing the note for 8%+ interest, but I don't know how to find those situations on a regular basis. Again a good question that made me think.

Just curious, who on this board is on Twitter? Here I am:

Warren Buffett Joins Twitter and after just one tweet he already has 55,435 followers - this is as of 2 minutes ago. http://on.mash.to/105g5Bc here is his twitter account Ok it is now up to 68,484 since I wrote the above sentence

Rukawa, I had the same experience that you did. I saw them in the mall and thought what a great business with excellent margins and thought I might have stumbled upon the Peter Lynch style growth company. But I could never get comfortable with what I saw in the financials. I am still not fully sure why they aren't doing better.

Any good way to short ammunition? http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/04/09/the-bullet-bubble-is-ammo-the-next-bitcoin-or-gold-in-the-1970s/?partner=yahootix

Why haven’t I thought of spending my way out of a lower salary? Krugman would claim that governments are “different” because they can borrow and print money at will. Of course, I can do the same, giving Credit card swipes as payment for goods. If I can get people to accept my plastic, then I have “stimulated” my personal economy. Right?

This is Satire. but I thought it was funny and made a point. http://bit.ly/WPtZqv

Here is a thought for the long term. I don't have much to say that hasn't been said already about dealing with the time around the tragic death of a child. But I would like to throw this into the mix. The pain doesn't go away in 3 month, 6 months or a year. My suggestion is that being the friend that you are that you be the one to remember the childs birthday and to come back and ask the mother and father how they are doing and just be there for them to talk some more about their child on the day that they will obviously remember but most others will forget. The Birthday and the anniversary of his death are 2 days where they will be reminded and the days that they will want to talk to someone about their child. Be the friend who for years to come gives them the chance to talk about their child on the days they remember him.

Is this the same group that said that we peaked in the 70's and then that we peaked in the 80's and then that we peaked in the 90's and that we... well you get the idea.

I have followed them and read them since the late 90s (shareholder for a small portion of that) but in the last two years the quality seems to have gone downhill. Marty's section seems more like an old professors rant then as educational as it use to be and the others have become more mainstream and less candid or informative. Am I missing it and they stayed the same but maybe I have changed.

Southeastern's Letter http://bit.ly/126NKkf Value Walks article http://bit.ly/1564KGW

I found the book fun to read and while I didn't take it very serious It did bring up some interesting points to consider. I found the section on The US municipalities interesting food for thought. Has anyone read this article on states in a Death Spiral based on their ratio of makers to takers? http://onforb.es/SEO72l

I have read most of the other books by DK but I haven't seen this one yet. I will check it out. DK has some excellent Business sense.

I am very cautious regarding all things relating to China because of some of the things posted here. Not that i think I have any real amazing insight into it but everything I see gives me an uneasy feeling around it. But it is interesting ready 3rd Avenues (Marty Whitman) quarterly reports and see them concentrate more and more on the Hong Kong and china real estate related positions. Has anyone else been reading the same thing and wondering about it? I wonder if I am missing something about his positions that makes them safer then they appear.

This is a really bold and courageous stand for him to take. :P

This thread worries me... :D

Is this good news for Katy Perry or Russell Brand or for the rest of us?

So isn't this the first time in over 50 years that we have had a negative stock market return in the third year of a presidents term?

I read it and found it very difficult to understand what he was trying to communicate. I was hoping that someone else who is smarter then I am would explain what he was trying to say. Guess not. really surprised by how difficult it was to understand, I have enjoyed reading him in the past because he was so understandable.

I would argue that with Gold you need to be an amazing market timer. it is easy talking about this the way you do when Gold has had an amazing run in the last 5 years. But what if you bought Gold because it is the best store of value in 1980, you are just getting back to even now. From 1980-2005 (going from memory, didn't look it up) how did it do as a store of value? that period makes the lost decade in stocks look rosy. I can't see buying Gold right now as anything more then working on the greater fool principle and hoping that fear will drive someone else to pay me more for it in the future. If someone can tell me the value (not the current price) of an ounce of Gold and back it up with some good logic then we can have a discussion of the merits of holding Gold.

a group is putting together this book: Moats : The Competitive Advantages of Buffett & Munger Businesses and it appears like they are looking for additional input into the book http://www.frips.com/book.htm