dcollon

It's likely Weschler since he owned DaVita in his old partnership http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-12/buffett-hires-weschler-to-help-manage-berkshire-s-portfolio-3-.html "Peninsula had about $2 billion in the stock of nine companies as of June 30, the firm said in a regulatory filing. The holdings included investments in satellite television provider DirecTV, specialty chemical-maker W.R. Grace & Co., and dialysis facility owner DaVita Inc., the filing showed."

Thanks for posting

Thanks for the heads up. I'm hoping since Carol put the book together it will be a good one.

Awesome video. Thanks for posting.

Take a look at the link below. The fourth video is a discussion between Ackman and Clayton Rose. The discussion about the GSE's start about 7:15 mins in the video. http://www.gurufocus.com/news/121785/michael-porter-bill-ackman-and-clayton-rose-interview-with-cnbc I hope that's what you were asking about Green King.

News headline this morning on SHLD: FTC grants antitrust clearance for transaction between Ed Lampert's ESL Partners and Sears Holdings Monday, September 24, 2012 09:04:31 AM While the FTC does not disclose the nature of the transaction, StreetAccount notes that antitrust clearance is required when investments reach certain thresholds based on the size of the target company. StreetAccount notes that Lampert has been active in buying the stock in the last month, disclosing a 2.4M share purchase on 6-Sep.

There is a See's stand in an upscale grocery store near my house, so instead of taking wine or some other useless trinket to parties, a few months ago I started arriving with something from See's. Most people don't recognize it, but they end up loving it. My favorite recently was chocolate covered peanut brittle. And the best part about the whole thing is that the store always has a 50% off sales table to move whatever is about to hit "expiration". I bought a one pound box (that usually costs $20 at the store and $17ish at See's online) for $10.

Thanks for posting the article. I always enjoy reading his stories and commentary.

I know it's mentioned in the article, but how long do you think it will be before commentators stop saying that "buffett bought" this or that when it really isn't him. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/berkshire-posts-25-intel-gain-by-shunning-buy-and-hold.html

Could be Rimm. It has been very hard to keep track of all the changes.

There was a second Form 4 filed the day after the original one and it looks like the shares weren't really bought they were just moved. Comment below is from a different release. The second form 4 is attached. "Following the transactions reported herein, the aggregate beneficial ownership of Shares by Mr. Lampert, Partners and their affiliates remained unchanged. As previously disclosed, Partners and Mr. Lampert have no pecuniary interest in the Shares held by ESL Investors L.L.C." SHLD.pdf

Form 4 from ESL attached ESL_Form_4.pdf

giofranchi, I have attached some charts with fund flows in the hedge fund area. Hedge_Fund_Flows.pdf

giofranchi, I haven't seen numbers recently on hedge fund flows, but I will try to find some.

I thought the attached was an interesting chart. The continued money flow out of US equities is interesting to see. Chart_of_the_Day.docx

Interesting story. Thanks for posting it. Regardless of intent/legality, I'm always impressed with peoples ability to opportunity.

Those are fantastic. I can't stop watching them. Thanks for posting.

Einhorn family in the VC business (see attached from NYT) Far_From_Wall_Street_and_Silicon_Valley_a_Focus_on_Family_Ties_-_NYTimes.pdf

Warren Buffett increases stake in Lee Enterprises Thursday, August 16, 2012 01:52:00 PM Aug. 16--Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has nearly doubled its stake in newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises, the parent company of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee's shares jumped nearly 20 percent on the news Wednesday, closing at $1.59, up 26 cents. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, disclosed that its stake in Lee Enterprises has grown to 3.23 million shares, about 6 percent of shares outstanding. In June, Berkshire's ownership stake in Lee totaled 1.7 million shares, according to regulatory filings. Buffett, who three years ago said he wouldn't touch a newspaper stock, has recently has been beefing up his investments in them. The famed value investor favors small-city newspapers that he feels have deep ties to their communities and more limited competition. Except for the Post-Dispatch, all of Lee's 52 newspapers are in small cities and towns. Newspapers are selling at a third of the price of a few years ago, depressed by continuing declines in print advertising and circulation. But newspapers still turn out operating profits equaling 10 percent or more of revenues, notes long time newspaper industry analyst John Morton. "There are industries that never expect 10 percent margins in the best of times, and newspapers are doing it in their worse times," he said. That combination of low stock prices and respectable margins are what attracts Buffett, says Morton. Lee Enterprise's operating margin is 14 percent, according to a recent SEC filing. Would Buffett like to own Lee? "It wouldn't surprise me," said Morton. Lee spokesman Dan Hayes says Buffett has not contacted management nor made a purchase offer. "Warren Buffett is a very welcome investor," he said. Buffett's stake in Lee stock is worth about $5.1 million, which is small potatoes to Buffett and his company. Last November, he bought $85 million of Lee debt, paying 65 cents on the dollar, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Lee has been paying down $926 million in debt, most of it taken on in its 2005 purchase of Pulitzer Inc., which included the Post-Dispatch. The stock price has fallen from the $45 range in 2005 to $1.59 on Wednesday. The company refinanced its debt through a "pre-packaged" bankruptcy filing last winter, in which its shareholders retained 87 percent of company stock. The company lost $13.3 million through the first nine months of its fiscal year, compared to a $140 million loss a year earlier.

Article in Barron's over the weekend. Hidden_Value_at_Edward_Lamperts_Sears_Holdings_SHLD_-_Barrons.pdf

From NewYorker http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/08/13/120813fa_fact_gawande?printable=true

Cort is mentioned in this Bloomberg article http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-08/recession-generation-opts-to-rent-not-buy-houses-to-cars.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-03/berkshire-profit-falls-9-percent-on-buffett-s-derivatives-bets.html

Major Shareholder Bolsters RIM Stake By WILL CONNORS One of Research In Motion Ltd.'s biggest shareholders has nearly doubled his stake in the struggling BlackBerry maker, providing a modest boost of confidence as the company works to claw back its rapidly dwindling share of the U.S. smartphone market. Research In Motion disclosed Monday that Prem Watsa, through his Canadian investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., now owns just under 10% of the company's shares after buying stock earlier this month, according to a regulatory filing. The purchase makes Mr. Watsa the largest shareholder by far, surpassing RIM's founder and former co-chief executive, Mike Lazaridis, who has long owned a little more than 5% of the company. Mr. Watsa, a well-known value investor in Canada, already holds a seat on RIM's board, having first acquired a sizable stake in the company ahead of joining the board earlier this year. He started buying RIM shares last September, acquiring 2.2% late last year and bumping that up to 5.1% early this year. Mr. Watsa now holds twice what RIM's next-closest shareholders—Primecap Management Co. and Mr. Lazaridis—each hold. Former co-CEO Jim Balsillie also held a big stake in the company, but since he stepped down from the board earlier this year, he is no longer required to report his holdings. In January, Mr. Watsa joined RIM's board during a major corporate overhaul. The company's longtime co-chief executives stepped down and a little-known insider, Thorsten Heins, was named CEO. Mr. Watsa is often referred to as the "Warren Buffett of Canada," and many investors were heartened by Mr. Watsa's appointment to the board, hoping he would help RIM to regain some of its stock value. But since then, RIM's stock has continued to fall, sinking more than 50% on a run of profit warnings, product delays and underwhelming public presentations. The company said last month it would delay the release of its newest BlackBerry until after the holiday season and disclosed plans to cut 5,000 jobs by the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Watsa's new stake didn't encourage shareholders immediately. RIM's shares were trading Monday in New York as much as 2% lower but ended the session 1.3% higher at $6.86. Its market capitalization is about $3.5 billion, off from more than $80 billion five years ago. Mr. Watsa doesn't have a history of shareholder activism and is known to place long-term bets on otherwise unheralded stocks. One of his most prominent moves came near the end of the most recent decade when he bet against rising U.S. housing prices and eventually earned more than $2 billion in gains by buying and selling credit-default swaps between 2003 and 2007. He has long maintained that he is confident in RIM's long-term prospects and said the company is undervalued. RIM has a cash cushion of more than $2 billion and no debt, along with 78 million existing BlackBerry subscribers. RIM's share of the U.S. smartphone market has fallen from about 50% to less than 10%, according to several tech-industry surveys. But the company's shares have fallen more than 90% since their peak in 2008, and many investors and analysts have said they have little faith that RIM's new CEO, Mr. Heins, can turn the company around without outside help. Mr. Heins has said he is considering all strategic options and hasn't ruled out a sale of the company. A spokesman for RIM said the company "does not usually comment on the shareholdings of individual investors." Mr. Watsa is one of two new directors at RIM. At its recently concluded annual shareholder meeting this month, RIM voted Timothy Dattels, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner, to the board. At the meeting, Chairwoman Barbara Stymiest said RIM is looking to make additional board changes in the coming year.

Thanks for posting. It always seems like the anchor is yelling at the guest. That must make it more appealing to the audience, but it would annoy the hell out of me if I was trying to respond to their questions.