dcollon

The main thing that bothers me is the little white dog sitting on his desk. Sorry if any of you are reading this with your little white dog on your desk.

Why retire? Even if you aren't in the financial services industry right now, start a new career in the business when you decide to leave your current career. The fun never has to stop or at least doesn't have to stop until our brains get too soft.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-06/obama-agrees-to-extend-bush-tax-cuts-for-2-years.html

Myth, Thank you for sharing your write-up.

Thanks for posting the commentary.

http://wealthtrack-appletv.blip.tv/file/4406653/

I enjoy reading M&T and BB&T's k's/q's. Both banks did a reasonably good job of managing through the crisis. As for not so good, grab a dart. I think you could start with RF, ZION, FITB, HBAN, etc...

I'm not sure I want to even click on the link. :-X Hope everyone who was celebrating it had a nice Thanksgiving.

The conversion ratio from trial users is close to 50%. I spend a decent amount of time in my car, so it's been absolutely worth the cost.

Q3 Results http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/FUR/1056962867x0x415411/B20A5096-9A51-49EC-B06F-ED88CDFB3B4E/Q3_2010_Supplemental_Package.pdf

From dealbreaker.com http://cache.dealbreaker.com/uploads/2010/11/Greenlight-Q3-2010-Letter.pdf

FMR is in Michigan too...wow...I guess not all the management teams in Michigan are challenged. Then again maybe it has something to do with working for/with FFH & Prem. Probably a little more appealing than the alternative. :)

PSW Settles Litigation Regarding the Foreclosure of Peter Cooper Village/Stuyve Globe Newswire 5:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time Oct 26, 2010 Winthrop Realty Trust BOSTON, Oct. 26, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PSW NYC, LLC, a venture between Winthrop Realty Trust (NYSE:FUR) and funds managed by Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., has settled the outstanding litigation with CWCapital Asset Management LLC ("CWCAM"), acting as special servicer on behalf of the Trusts that it represents, relating to PSW's foreclosure on the Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town Mezzanine 1-3 loans. The settlement provides, in part, for the payment to PSW of $45 million and the transfer to CWCAM, on behalf of the Trusts, the Mezzanine 1-3 loans previously owned by PSW. Winthrop is entitled to receive $10.125 million of the settlement payment on account of its 22.5% interest in PSW.

BRIEF-Cwcapital reaches agreement with Ackman venture on Stuyvesant Town 4:22 PM Eastern Daylight Time Oct 26, 2010 Oct 26 (Reuters) - Winthrop Realty Trust <FUR.N>: * Cwcapital, representative of holders of the mortgage on stuyvesant town/peter cooper village says settled its litigation with joint venture between Winthrop Realty Trust <FUR.N> and pershing square capital that holds junior loan * Cwcapital, on behalf of mortgage holders, says acquired junior loan on stuyvesant town/peter cooper village * Cwcapital says also cancelled the foreclosure sale that was scheduled for Friday October 29th * Cwcapital says also cancelled the foreclosure to focus on ensuring a stable transition of the property and maximizing recovery of the $3.7 billion owed to the bondholders of the mortgage

Very nice spreadsheet. Thank you for sharing it with the board.

It speaks volumes about the people you have been able to attract to this board Sanjeev. Although the cynic it me would love to see who among those saying they outperformed have verifiable results. It would still probably be a very high number.

From Columbia Business School

http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-jim-grant-2010-10

Kind of a fun article... http://tinyurl.com/22s9z3r

dowfin, I think his suggestion is that Berkshire was destroying capital and if instead he would have started immediately with an insurance company they would have been growing capital/float while also compounding the capital they had. It would essentially serve as a multiplier to the number you highlight. Maybe others feel differently.

UPDATE 1-Buffett ups Munich Re stake above 10 pct, eyes more 4:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time Oct 19, 2010 * Buffett held 10.24 pct stake in Munich Re as of Oct 12 * Buffett plans to raise stake further in next 12 months * Munich Re - Buffett says stake financial, not strategic * No plans to influence Munich Re policy, strategy, dividend * Share rises 1 percent, insurance index <.SXIP> up 0.6 pct (Adds detail, background, Munich Re comment) FRANKFURT, Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. investor Warren Buffett raised his stake in reinsurer Munich Re <MUVGn.DE> to above 10 percent and plans to further expand the holding, Munich Re said on Tuesday. The world's biggest reinsurer said in a statement that Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc <BRKa.N> <BRKb.N> had repeated its assurances in a letter, dated Oct. 15, that the investment was financial, rather than strategic. Berkshire also did not aim to influence Munich Re's management, its direction or the company's supervisory bodies, Munich Re said. "It is not intended to significantly change the capital structure of (Munich Re) ...in particular not with regard to the equity/debt-ratio or the dividend policy," Munich Re said in a summary of Buffett's letter. Berkshire intends to acquire further voting rights within the next 12 months, Munich Re added. Reinsurer Berkshire has been steadily raising is holding in its Munich-based rival since crossing the 3 percent threshold in January. Munich Re welcomed the continued investment. "We rejoice at every investor," a Munich Re spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Jonathan Gould)

txlaw, Thanks for posting. It was interesting to hear his comments on the "moratorium" in mortgages.

Here is an updated research piece just recently published http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/rauh/research/NMRLocal20101011.pdf

Interesting research from Kellogg (Northwestern) on Pension liabilities http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/rauh/research/JEP_Fall2009.pdf

Valid point Bronco and probably the reason bookie pointed out that Berkshire is not necessarily the preferred vehicle. Sanjeev, that's a great story. You have to love that invite. :)