Josh4580

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704538404574541923917766450.html Ackman is up 600% on the GGWPQ equity as of now, which equates to a ~$400 million gain. Not bad at all. I think the current price of the equity is a base price going forward, with upside near the $20-$25 range. Any thoughts?

The US dollar is a bubble. Profit from it by buying gold bullion

Yea sorry it was in a hard copy I read and I dont have that in front of me right now. It was definitely from this past summer though. Just goes against all the smart money going into GE like FFH, BRK-a

James Grant does not like GE due to their potential losses which could wipe out the equity. Any thoughts?

I agree with eric, the best way to learn about gold is from Nathan Lewis. His book is a must read and shows how easy it is to have a gold standard, without all the usual problems people bring up.

Valuegeek, very nice allocation. Can give a brief description as to why you own Clarus? Is it a special sit? Thanks

target raised to 50 cents at TD target raised to 35 cents at CIBC

Up to $1, moving fast, a couple of upgrades also from banks

Not to mention Nobel prize winners Myron Scholes and Robert Merton were on the board of directors of Long Term Capital Management and managed to single handedly sink the economy in 1998.

dealing with less than 20k (college student) here but here goes: 26% GGWPQ 22% MCF 20% SNS 15% Cash 10% SFK 8% TXCOQ up around 300% in 09 mainly from gains on current positions, KIRK, PTFC, MPG-A, HURN, FUR, ORH, BBEP

Natural Gas is in large contango. Further contracts are priced higher than current contracts. This is why UNG etf is getting hit on rolling over near term contracts. MCF is presenting on thursday, and Ken Peak should give us some insight on future natural gas prices.

The lack of interest on this board in Contango Oil & Gas (MCF) is surprising. It is by far the best vehicle for investing in natural gas in the US. Its trading around 50% of a very solid NAV +$20-$30 hidden in their Gulf leases. I agree with Myth on MCF and EVEP/LINE.

Gold by Nathan Lewis. Best book on history of gold as store of value. http://books.google.com/books?id=m82jozV3Qw4C&dq=gold+nathan+lewis&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=YVWnSoDVLdGDnQfLl9ywBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Is this a joke? Also are these results audited?

I disagree with Buffett's assertion that gold is a waste of time. Gold might seem to have no value, but its value is in its reputation as a solid store of value. This store of value has held up pretty damn well and Buffett should reassess his viewpoint given that his reputation is so important to his investment performance. At this point, anyone managing large amounts of capital should have GLD or GDX as a 5-10% inflation hedge. IMO

Praetorian Value Fund likes MCF. Their valuation follows: http://seekingalpha.com/article/149248-victor-fasciani-likes-contango-oil-gas?source=yahoo -$1.3B or $78/share intrinsic value of proved reserves only (based on net present value of after-tax income assuming $7 per Mmbtu natural gas price and $70 per barrel of oil) -Other assets and free options add up to an additional $30-40/share (MCF bought more than 70 lease blocks in the Gulf at $35M cost basis; Victor thinks this is worth $100M today because of seismic data and the company's successful drill track record of 67%) Also, they have $50 million left on their stock buyback. This could reduce S/O from 16.5 million to 15.4 million shares. They are scheduled to drill another prospect in November at a cost of $15 million and one in early 2010.

Contango Oil & Gas (MCF) should be your best play on natural gas. Read the latest PR and check their website out. CEO has compounded initial investment over 40% per year. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Contango-Apparent-High-Bidder-bw-753346750.html?x=0&.v=1

From the last annual letter (http://www.leucadia.com/C&P%20Letters/C&P2008.pdf) “Fortress Leucadia” is a draconian look into the future and a basis for defensive planning. It assumes we will not make any more investments, continue watching our expenses, keep only assets that are promising and slowly turn everything into cash which will be used first to retire or pay down debt, while always maintaining at least $500 million in cash or liquid assets. 2Q Book Value is $15.53 and the stock currently trades around $25, or 1.61X book value. Given that they are in lock down mode and cannot really take advantage of the market opportunities, why is it trading at such a high multiple?

Any opinions on LXP preferred stocks (C,B,D). I know Winthrop Realty is buying these up and someone just did a VIC write up on one of the preferred stocks. -Josh

Michael Ashner (Of Winthrop Realty) wants to buy up to 25% of MPG (Maguire Properties) pref series A stock. Does anyone have an opinion on MPG or its pref stock?

Why does management own almost no stock or stock options. It looks like the CEO and other management get paid a salary in cash and have no incentive pay. Does this concern you?

No LEAPS on ORH traded as of yet. I see August 2009 as the latest options being traded. Just buy some FFH LEAPS to make that convertible trade with ORH-A

Is the main point of getting a CFA to instill confidance in potential investors or to actually learn investing principles?

How can we profit off of this alleged Ponzi Scheme? On Yahoo Finance, it shows the current insider holdings of this Stanford International Bank http://biz.yahoo.com/t/38/952.html http://biz.yahoo.com/t/38/952.html Looks like they own large stakes in ELAN.OB (40% ownership) HSSO.OB (20% ownership) DGC (25% ownership) If this bank is forced to liquidate, wont these stocks essentially get clobbered? It seems as if only DGC is shortable and currently there are 44K shares shorted Any opinions?

Not yet posted to his website...any way I can hear a replay? Thanks