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dcollon

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Posts posted by dcollon

    new purchase from Philips 66

    in Berkshire Hathaway

    Posted

    If this is the work of Berkshire's "next generation", what other operating businesses could Berkshire receive in exchange for stock? If Ted Weschler adopts the Liberty Media mindset (which he has owned and followed for a long time), this could get really interesting.

     

    Some quick comments from Seeking Alpha:

    Phillips 66 purchase a "great transaction" for Berkshire, but what about PSX?

     

    For Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B), the purchase of Phillips 66's (PSX +2.9%) specialty products unit has a lot to do with the tax treatment; the financial terms of the deal look like the cash-rich spinoffs used by Liberty Media when it acquired interests in businesses such as the Atlanta Braves and DirecTV.

     

    The cash-rich split is a way for a holder of appreciated stock - PSX has gained 45% YTD - to dispose of it in a very tax efficient way, tax expert Robert Willens says, calling the acquisition a "great transaction" for Berkshire.

     

    But Barron's Ben Levisohn wonders what the purchase might say about PSX: BRK chose to pay with ~19M PSX shares it already owns and not with cash - is it a sign Warren Buffett thinks PSX has run too far?

    Your 2008/2009 Experience

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    bg2008,

     

    There are probably much more efficient and better ways of doing it.  However, I started out simply using binders with the year inserted in the sleeve on the outside for ease of reference.  I simply have printed everything out.  The problem I will have over time is storing the binders then worrying about them getting lost/damaged, so I will likely have to scan everything at some point and store it on a drive.  It will be much easier to access it.

     

    You just need to figure out what works best for you.  I would definitely try to utilize the cloud and or a large external drive.  Unfortunately, when I started doing this those options weren't available.

     

     

    Infinite Vision: How Aravind Became the World's Greatest Business Case

    in Books

    Posted

    [amazonsearch]Infinite Vision: How Aravind Became the World's Greatest Business Case for Compassion[/amazonsearch]

    by Mehta, Pavithra K. and Shenoy, Suchitra

     

    I have always enjoyed reading books about how people in the medical world do things differently.  I also really enjoy when I find one of those books where someone or a group of people have really challenged the system and made a significant impact. 

     

    Dr. V has did it and in the process changed the way the world thought about many things.  I would highly recommend reading this book.

    Your 2008/2009 Experience

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    It's actually fun to look back at my notes and the comments/discussions that we were all having during the time. 

     

    I particularly enjoyed looking back at the discussion on preferreds.  It's amazing to look back at some of the yields we were getting and the upside that came along with it.  What I'm most impressed with is that no one in the thread was panicking or acting irrationally.  We were just trying to systematically go through the facts as we knew them at the time. 

     

    One thing I have done every year is keep a investment journal.  I have random comments, thoughts, feelings, etc...typed up in word documents since I started in the business.  I wish I could remember who told me to do it, but it's fun to look back on my behaviors/feelings/questions/opinions.

     

    I also have binders for every year going back over 15 years now with print outs on economic data and market news.  It provides me a time stamp of topics/data/etc....that I thought was interesting at the time.  I'm trying to prevent any revisionist thinking from entering my process.

     

    One of  the many reasons I enjoy this "community" so much is the ability to have a very rich data source to access over time.  It's truly priceless.

     

     

    Fund Management: An Emotional Finance Perspective

    in Books

    Posted

    [amazonsearch]Fund Management: An Emotional Finance Perspective[/amazonsearch]

     

    by Richard Taffler and David Tuckett

     

    I read an interview that briefly highlighted this book/research and thought I would take the time to read it.  It's a fun read and provides a glimpse into the behavioral struggles that most fund managers face. 

     

    The best part is the kindle edition is free. 

    What do you want for Christmas?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I want to be able to read as many books as Shane at Farnam Street.

     

    I would also like to have half the intelligence as some of the posters on this board.

    Parsad, Ericopoloy, Giofranchi, Kraven, Luke,Bmichaud, Uccmal, muscleman, racemize, Cardboard, jeast, oddballstocks, packer, liberty, plan maestro, onyx, hyten, SharperDingaan, myth, valuecfa, merkhet, bargainvaluehunter, berkshiremystery, MrB and many more….

     

    Thanks for all the help this year. 

     

    Khan Academy: Hour of Code

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Off topic, but I thought some might find this interesting.

     

    "When I first started Khan Academy I managed to pull the website together with some pretty rusty coding skills I had picked up in college. I realize now that I was one of the lucky ones - 90% of students don't get the opportunity to learn any type of computer coding while they're at school. That's crazy when you consider how much of our lives require technology.

    This week over 5 million students will participate in the Hour of Code - and try out coding for the first time. I want to ask you to check out our pre-built lesson and send your students there to try it out - at the end of the hour, they'll have coded their very own greeting card to send to someone this holiday season"

     

     

    https://www.khanacademy.org/hour-of-code/hour-of-code-tutorial/v/welcome-hour-of-code

     

    "Macro" Musings

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I enjoyed this quote from Gen-re's commentary:

     

    Highlighting investing in Twitter, “Following such a crowd is an excellent hedge against ever being financially independent,” he said, citing past plunges in technology stocks. “Gravity wins in time.”

    FNMA and FMCC preferreds. In search of the elusive 10 bagger.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    From SeekingAlpha

     

    Fannie bets a puzzle to many

     

    "When you talk to anybody in Washington, there is an almost universal view that Fannie (FNMA -3.1%) and Freddie (FMCC -1.5%) should be a part of the past, that it is a broken model, and also that private investors in Fannie and Freddie shouldn’t realize any returns from those investments," says PIne River's Colin Teiccholtz, scratching his head over anyone owning stock in the two as a play on them being privatized.

     

    "We've looked at it," says Avenue Capital's Marc Lasry. "I think you’re making a bet that you’re going to be able to force the government to do something.

     

    ”It's "a puzzle to me," says an investor in Bill Ackman's Pershing Square. "If you think the Target board is hard to convince of a policy change, you have got to believe you’re really taking on a tall job to try and influence the government.

     

    "Taking a break from talking Herbalife, Ackman - who recently disclosed near-10% stakes in the common of both Fannie and Freddie - says he's not supportive of Bruce Berkowitz's recap plan (which would be of benefit to preferred owners like Berokowitz, but not so much for owners of the common)

     

    MBS trader Deepak Narula calls the common stock of Frannie an option which should rise any time chatter about privatization picks up. "Whether the option is worth anything in the short run is immaterial.”

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