berkshiremystery

Hilarious !! ;D

Some people seem to be unaware of this, because the stock had a nice pop today. Don't worry i have seen the pop. ;D They probably purchase always around book value, which should be higher with recent bond gains.

Well, there is nothing unusual with their normal course issuer bid. They always release this news each year. Under the last bid they repurchased 109,480 shares.

Thanks for sharing the info ;D

I'm a subscriber of OID for over 15 years and I have never bothered with their slow publishing schedule. That's their credo, less is more. They just follow Buffetts words: "We don't get paid for activity, just for being right". You only need 20 punches over a lifetime and they will never follow in the footprints of a Business Week, thus print a weekly magazine only to receive subscription and advertising revenues. I even would be very, very happy, if they would only publish one issue every 5 years. ;D I love OID, they are probably one of the best investment magazines out there.

Smazz,... I found your edge walk at CN Tower awesome, i would try it ;D Damn, I'm not in Toronto... sighs. I always wanted to parachute jump once in a lifetime, but have never done it,... and this edge walk on a leash would have a good margin of safety. ;) And for Sanjeev, this would be some good idea to lure more board members for his annual fairfax dinner, and all shareholders might get a free peek into Prem's office window at Wellington St ::), ... oh just kidding. But this new walk seems fun. Hahaha..., I would be scared of bungee jumping or any other dangerous stuff, but this CN Tower seems fun, just walking around on a leash. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YuSvn1K-ms http://www.notable.ca/thumbnail/9jo25sjahcEdgeWalk-Nabs.jpg http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jul2011/5/8/the-edgewalk-on-the-cn-tower-in-toronto-pic-reuters-343628145.jpg http://designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/edge_walk_cn_tower_01.jpg http://designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/edge_walk_cn_tower_02.jpg http://designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/edge_walk_cn_tower_03.jpg http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/ca/1b/5c3b4b6a4a3fba8685acdd188d61.jpeg

The book is probably half a statistical journal, with the other half of some interesting reads and a collection of anecdotes deeply researched for the pure Kelly nerd. So it depends on your point of view, if the glass is half full or empty. Yes, at least over half the book is occupied with pure math formulas, very dry, and the other pages enjoyable, so readers with non-mathematical backgrounds have to step dance through the pages. You have no other choice. Here is an earlier version of their work from the year 2005 as a PDF file (63 pages), so you can get a feeling how the real updated book would look inside: Hope this helps. Cheers! Capital Growth: Theory and Practice Leonard C. MacLean†and William T. Ziemba‡ September 29, 2005 http://stevanovichcenter.uchicago.edu/seminars/Handbook.pdf For registered Amazon.com members there is also the free "Search Inside This Book" feature !

European stocks in general, cheap, yes, like Munich Re, currently almost at their 2008 and 2009 level's again, but seriously would i touch Deutsche Bank. They seem cheap relative to book value,...currently about half, but seriously I never could figure out their leveraged balance sheet. About 38 times leveraged - equity vs assets. Huh :o DB always looks to me as leveraged as hell compared with the current major US banks like WFC, BAC & JPM, which are leveraged around 10x. American banks are the brave ones, European the naughty ones, balance sheet wise. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=DB+Balance+Sheet&annual No wonder Josef Ackermann has memories of 2008, thus European governments are in a sort of prisoner's dilemma. But good times to buy stocks. Ackermann Says Market Reminiscent of 2008 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-05/european-banks-under-assault-in-markets-that-remind-ackermann-of-late-2008.html

The German Bund yield declines to a record low as Euorpean stocks slide and Italian bonds tumble. Ten-year bund yields fell 16 basis points to 1.85% as of 5:15 p.m. in London, after earlier declining to an all- time low 1.844%. I guess what yield's we get tomorrow in the US. Credit-default swaps according to CMA soared on Greece 182 basis points to 2,532 Italy jumped 44 basis points to a record 446.5 Portugal climbed 46 to 1,026 Spain rose 28 to 420, Germany increased 5 to 84 France was up 14.5 at an all-time high of 186. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-05/german-bund-yield-falls-to-record-low-as-stock-slide-spurs-safety-demand.html

Probably owned it on the TSE, wouldn't be reported in his 13F. Well, Í'm not sure about the TSE or american pink sheet listings. I studied his 13F filings minutes ago. Last time I saw him holding them in 3rd qtr 2010. 2011-08-15 - 13F-HR for 2nd Qtr 2011 Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: June 30, 2011 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1327388/000139834411001849/fp0003288_13fhr.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2011-05-11 - 13F-HR for 1st Qtr 2011 Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: March 31, 2011 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1327388/000139834411001100/fp0002918_13fhr.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2011-02-14 - 13F-HR for 4th Qtr 2010 Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: December 31, 2010 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1327388/000139834411000370/fp0002541_13fhr.txt ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2010-11-15 - 13F-HR for 3rd Qtr 2010 <----------- Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: September 30, 2010 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1327388/000139834410001467/fp0002250_13fhr.txt ---------------- Anyway, I should go to bed. I'm already late and have to go tomorrow to some exhibition. --- Night folks

Guys & dolls,... this seems to me like a Gödel contradiction, i.e. Tilson latest letter to partners vs his quarterly 13F filings to the SEC. I haven't followed Tilson lately, but I just looked 5 minutes ago into his last 13F filings @ the EDGAR database. I can't see there in last quarters any ffh holdings. ::) Thus to me it seems like T2 Partners rather owned them temporally inbetween, or he might have been trading them in and out in the recent market volatility. ;) This seems to me not to be value investing, rather pure Vegas like speculation about short term swings. :o Cheers! http://holdings.nasdaq.com/asp/OwnerPortfolio.asp?FormType=OwnerPortfolio&CIK=0001327388&HolderName=T2+PARTNERS+MANAGEMENT%2C+LP http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001327388&owner=exclude&count=40

I just saw yesterday the pics of him with Mohnish and Shai from Oct., 21, 2009, not sure.... but to me it seems as if they were standing on times square in NYC. Hmm... Not sure what they have done there. ::) I'm just surprised that Spiers moved to Zurich, Switzerland.

[amazonsearch]Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger - Peter Bevelin[/amazonsearch] "Seeking Wisdom", by Peter Bevelin, currently in it's third edition is a great book on how to use simple mental models to make good decisions. Describes all the big ideas from Newton, Ben Franklin, to Charlie Munger. No equations or math required. http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/8212/17478118094572861327970.jpg Seeking Wisdom @ PoorCharliesAlmanack.com http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/seekingwisdom.html Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, 3rd Edition @ Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Wisdom-Darwin-Munger-3rd/dp/1578644283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314857937&sr=1-1 Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, 3rd Edition @ Google Books http://books.google.com/books?id=7iQlAQAAIAAJ&dq=isbn:1578644283 -------------------------------------------------------- Interviews with the book author Peter Bevelin http://www.valueinvestingworld.com/2009/06/second-interview-with-peter-bevelin.html PDF-file of interview---> http://www.chanticleeradvisors.com/files/107293/Peter%20Bevelin%20Interview.pdf

This book is naturally one of the best investment books ever written and an easy read for the novice investor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligent_Investor Here are some excerpts from the book appendixes: "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville" is an article by Warren Buffett promoting value investing, published in the Fall, 1984 issue of Hermes, Columbia. The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville @ Columbia Business School, NYC http://www7.gsb.columbia.edu/alumni/news/hermes/print-archive/superinvestors PDF-file of "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville" @ Columbia Business School, NYC http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/null?&exclusive=filemgr.download&file_id=522 "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville" article @ Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Superinvestors_of_Graham-and-Doddsville "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville" reprint @ TilsonFunds.com http://www.tilsonfunds.com/superinvestors.html

Here you go, I have presorted for you by publication date, the latest on top of the table: just buy the latest edition of 2011 :) http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Andrew%20Kilpatrick#/ref=sr_st?qid=1314831263&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAndrew+Kilpatrick&sort=daterank ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 2011 Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett - 2011 Edition - Travel and Adventure Edition http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Value-Warren-Buffett-Adventure/dp/1578646456/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314853879&sr=1-1 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Eb20A2TeL._SL500_AA300_.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 2010 Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett - 2010 Edition - A Trilogy Edition (three-volume set) http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Value-Buffett-Trilogy-Three-/dp/1578645999/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314854227&sr=1-2 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512ultiqwXL._SL500_AA300_.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- April 2009 Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett - 2009 Edition - Woodstock Edition (two-volume set) http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Value-Warren-Buffett-Woodstock/dp/1578645298/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314854227&sr=1-3 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YaeKhEjUL._SL500_AA300_.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 2008 Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett - 2008 Edition - Cosmic Edition (two-volumes set) http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Value-Warren-Buffett-volumes/dp/1578644550/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314854227&sr=1-7 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51I%2B9v-oHsL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are currently only two major books about the Kelly Criterion on the market that I am aware of. http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/3160/fortunesformula.jpghttp://cache0.bookdepository.co.uk/assets/images/book/medium/9789/8142/9789814293495.jpg 1) "Fortune's Formula" by William Poundstone 2) "The Kelly Capital Growth Investment Criterion" by Leonard C. MacLean, Edward O. Thorp and William T. Ziemba Fortune's Formula, written by William Poundstone is the easier read. The second book, "The Kelly Capital Growth Investment Criterion", that got just recently published is a much bigger workload to read. I would compare this duo of books with the twin sets of Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" and "Security Analysis". Whereby the "Intelligent Investor" is a easier read for the novice investor, and "Security Analysis" for the more advanced financial reader. The two available Kelly books should also be read in the same order, Poundstones book for the starter as an appetizer and William Ziemba's book as the main and advanced course. Fortune's Formula - web site for the book http://www.fortunesformula.com/ William Poundstone's - homepage http://home.williampoundstone.net/ Kelly explained @ William Poundstone's homepage http://home.williampoundstone.net/Kelly/Kelly.html William Poundstone's page @ Amazon http://www.amazon.com/William-Poundstone/e/B000APFI2K/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

I always thought that the board should have a book corner. ::) Well,... finally Sanjeev got struck by the idea, and a book corner has been set up.... ;D I just sorted last month my real life bookshelf, didn't knew how many I had accumulated over the years, damn was I shocked...lol -------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Kilpatrick's book is indeed one of the best. I remember the first time I got to know Buffett was in 1989, while I had accidently bought into the same two companies he held. Around that time I didn't even knew him and that he held these same companies. Back then, I would have considered myself a novice investor without much knowledge,... ::) ... Around the year 1989, it was also the first time that I got in touch with a glimpse of the Value Line Investment Survey. My broker had mailed me accidently some sample pages of Value Line. From that day I was hooked on them and treasure it like a holy artifact. So I only had bought these shares, because i found them relatively cheap compared to the general market back then, and they were great brands. Suddendly in the following months (late 1989), it was reported in USA Today that a guy named Buffett owned them too, so I started to read more about him. But these days back then were the days without the internet, as we know it how it is today, it was hard to keep track. Almost no books had been written about him. Amazon was still unknown to me. So not sure, but some years later, maybe starting in the early 1990's,.. I wrote a letter to his office address in Omaha, asking to get hardcopies of the annual report and the two compilations of letters from earlier annual reports (1977 through 1993). Hahaha,... he wanted to get reimbursed with money for the two compilations booklets, so I put some real dollar notes in the return envelope. Damn....lol,... how i forgot those things...lol. I just remembered about all this stuff. Oh,... I almost have forgotten, but the very first time my eyes ever came over the name Berkshire, was in July 1988. I had gotten a hold on a copy of the annual "NASDAQ: Fact Book 1988", published by the NASDAQ investor relations department. Eye-catching was back then the NASDAQ listed Berkshire (BKHT stock symbol), that traded in the thousands of dollars per share ("1987" high: $4050, "1987" low: $2635 and "1987" closing: 2820). I still have that booklet, and just looked into it. I didn't knew Buffett back then in 1988, but that was probably the very first time, my consciousness came in touch with his investment sphere, even not knowing, who is behind that company. The first 3 books about him, I had bought in the mid-90's were from Kilpatrick ("Warren Buffett: The Good Guy of Wall Street (~1995)), Lowenstein ("Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist" (~1995)) and Hagstrom ("The Warren Buffett Way" (~1995)). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Kilpatrick - web site Of Permanent Value - The Story of Warren Buffett http://www.andykilpatrick.net/ Andrew Kilpatrick @ Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_at_ep_srch?_encoding=UTF8&sort=relevancerank&search-alias=books&field-author=Andrew%20Kilpatrick Andrew Kilpatrick @ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1169586801 Marlin Stockwell page about Andy's book http://marlinsweb.com/andy_kilpatrick_new_book_2011.html

Great read about Mohnish Pabrai. He talks about Prem & Fairfax, also on Munger & constructing a portfolio. Enjoy! Mohnish Pabrai on Avoiding Commitment Bias, Fairfax and Constructing a Portfolio 2011-08-07 <snip>... In fact, I brought this up at a lunch I had with Charlie Munger in 2009. I said, "You know Charlie, I made this change in my portfolio where I've gone from ten percent to five percent." He stopped me. He didn't even let me finish. He said, "You know, you're going to ask me something which goes against all my natural tendencies. I'm a guy who likes to own three stocks in a portfolio and that's it. There's no need for a fourth stock." I said, "Yeah, but let me finish my sentence." I explained to him how we had these big blow-ups with these things going to zero, etc. I said, "I'm not going to 100 stocks but maybe pushing it to 20 seems to be more effective." He then changed his mind. He said, "Well, if you look at Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B) and if you think of every holding as a stock, … if you think of See's Candy as a stock, Geico as a stock or even Coke as a stock …." He said, "You can look at our top 20 holdings, and by the time you get to the 20th holding, you'll get into about 75, 80 percent of capital." ...</snip> read the full article at GuruFocus.com: http://www.gurufocus.com/news/141334/mohnish-pabrai-on-avoiding-commitment-bias-fairfax-and-constructing-a-portfolio

Good article about Buffett, Berkowitz & Chou on BAC. Cheers! http://seekingalpha.com/article/290667-buffett-berkowitz-and-chou-can-t-all-be-wrong-on-the-banking-sector

hey guys and dolls, Warren has two b-days today....sort of a twin celebration ::) he also celebrates his 5th wedding anniversary with Astrid Menks, how could you all forget ;D HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all grown kids.... :)

For me the same thing around the migration time on Saturday, but currently the site runs smoothly without any problems.

I also compiled in this post two great articles, one written by Mauboussin, the other by Peter M. Lupoff . Size Matters. The Kelly Criterion and the Importance of Money Management. by Michael J. Mauboussin mmauboussin@lmfunds.com Legg Mason Capital Management February 1, 2006 http://www.capatcolumbia.com/MM%20LMCM%20reports/Size%20Matters.pdf --------------- Edge/Odds – The Kelly Formula and Maximizing Returns 2010-03 by Peter M. Lupoff of Tiburon Capital Management LLC, NYC http://tiburonholdings.net/uploads/Kelly_Formula_Letter.pdf

Great that you enjoy the book. It's not only your impression that you have of Samuelson... ::), also mine. But haven't we known that Samuelson also hedged his opinion by doing the opposite what he arrogantly teaches. He made a sizable investment in shares of Berkshire Hathaway. We can only assume that his conscience was salved by the profits he made. So weird. ??? ----------------------------------- Anyway, here's another great video that explains the Kelly Criterion: Understanding Kelly Criterion 2008-08-02 (6:10min) The Kelly Criterion has applications in gambling and stocks. This video explains the concept and how to use it in a variety of situations. There are 4 examples, including coin flipping, stock investing, football betting, and lotteries. http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/2646/understandingkellycrite.jpg

ValueDan38,... I can assure you, that you don't have to worry about your memory. We all had a bad memory of him. He came through his aussie nickname b*****boy to the Canadian StockHouse boards and was also on the Yahoo boards. He attacked all of us, Sanjeev, bsilly, cardboard and lotsofcoke. I felt sorry specially for Prem and his folks, but somehow bsilly was too strong for him, he always was wrestling his allegations down. Here's an article from the DeepCapture about JH: Introducing JH: the Plunderer from Down Under http://www.deepcapture.com/introducing-john-hempton-the-plunderer-from-down-under/ Google had shut him down, after he published some controversial post. http://www.businessinsider.com/google-shuts-down-popular-blogger-john-hempton-after-publishing-controversial-post-2010-1 Just for curiosity, he still maintains his flat in Paris website.

Unbelievable what our strange aussie bird chirps :o I put it in extra small letters so Sanjeev don't have to read it ::) ... just teasing him... ;) I think it will make Buffett a fortune.