MVP444300

Why is CNBC stopping it? I would have let the guys continue arguing on national TV for ratings!!!

Man this is great!!!! You can tell these guys can't stand each other. lol

Thank you for posting the interview. :)

Here is the SEC filing for those that are interested in reading it. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1408356/000119312512480916/d229977ds1a.htm#toc229977_1

http://www.socaltech.com/elon_musk_s_solarcity_sets_ipo_pricing_range/s-0046419.html I avoid IPOs like the plague but I like to follow Elon.

To answer your question, and probably to the dismay of many here, total govt spending as a % of GDP shouldn't exceed more than 5% of GDP. That is if it follows exact wording of what is in the constitution. I personally think 5% of GDP is too much. lol

The number is actually much worse than the 41% when you take into account regulation. Its probably closer to 60% of GDP. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total_2011USpt_88ps5n Total Government Spending in the United States -5yr -1yr Fiscal Year 2011 +1yr +5yr Federal Gross Spending 24% GDP Intergovernmental -5% GDP State Direct Spending 10% GDP Local Direct Spending 11% GDP Total Spending 41% GDP

Tax rates are not the problem its the spending. Instead of asking for a tax rate increase on the wealthy I would ask that they receive less in benefits from the govt. For example, anyone with an income of more than $250,000 (outside of SS) should not receive Social Security or Medicare benefits. Why should someone as rich as Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, etc receive these entitlements? Another way the wealthy could be asked to pay more of their fair share is by reducing the foreign aid for wealthy dictators overseas or what about reducing the number of bases we have overseas to cut defense spending. Poor Americans should not pay for rich foreigners. These are just a few examples of the rich helping with our deficit without having to raise taxes. More money would be saved this way than can be gained by taxing.

Hi Frank, anyone would be upset when someone calls your friend a crook which is what Chanos did with Prem when he said Fairfax was a fraud.

For whatever it's worth, it was under $9 in 2009. Opps you're correct. My bad I looked at the chart wrong, I hope it falls below that again. lol

I see that Mohnish mentioned http://www.manualofideas.com/. Is this site really worth the money? What has your results been from the ideas generated?

Dell is under $10 per share for the first time in over a decade. Anyone making any purchases at these levels or are you waiting to buy more at lower levels. Sure hope Dell is buying back a lot of stock at these prices.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-13/elon-musk-the-21st-century-industrialist Enjoy! Has any considered investing in these 3 startups Musk founded or provided the funding for? SpaceX, Tesla, and Solar City. Tesla is the only company that is publicly traded with an IPO expected soon on SpaceX and Solar City. I must admit it is tempting to invest a small amount of money into a company that has a proven jockey on creating a company from scratch, has a significant portion of net worth in each, and possibly a chance to make a contribution to society with a different approach to use of space transportation or energy usage.

34 I was on the MSN board as well as this one but rarely posted as I learned more by reading than I do by speaking.

It's a shame Mr. Magoo, aka Ken Lewis, didn't do what Wells Fargo did with Wachovia several years when they got it basically for nothing.

I concur Racemize, I have no plans on selling my commons or warrants until its more reflective of IV. I'll go out on a limb with closer to $30 over 7 years. I hope the price stays below TBV for a number of years while the company buys back a ton of stock and issue nice dividend. :)

That wouldn't be enough to get me off the elevator. lol This would be me after the third step I climbed. Thank goodness for tethers.

Ever wonder what Sanjeev's does for consulting work. Take a look! Value investor by night, astronaut during the day. lol

So forcing someone who is against say abortion or birthcontrol to pay for it for someone else, is not using the state to enforce their morals upon others. There are plenty of people who disagree with social security, the military and even the utility of public education...should we stop paying for these things if a minority within a party (rhymes with pea) force the majority to cowtow the party line and they win the election? There are plenty of things we all pay for in a shared manner that we may not fully agree with...that's why we live in the countries and society that we live in...where people can speak their minds, have choices, and are given the opportunity to succeed. Cheers! Sir just let me opt-out of these programs like social security, medicare, food stamps, education and all the others lol No I'm not anarchist so I would pay for a small military to protect America, courts to settle disputes, and police but thats about it. If whoever choose remain in these programs I'd say let them.

It has never made sense to me why the govt is involved in the issue of marriage unless its a way to divide and conquer. To make an issue out of something that otherwise should be left to the individuals joining in a union.

Lets say total GDP of US is $15.5 Trillion in 2012 with total federal, state, and local spending at $6.3 trillion you have govt at roughly 40% of the GDP. You can't stop there though, you have to count in the total cost of regulation which I believe is at 2 trillion for the 3 layers of govt. That brings the cost of govt to 53.5% of GDP. When govt accounts for that much of our nation we are not a free people. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total Total Government Spending--Federal, State, and Local in the United States Federal Gross Spending $3.8 trillion Intergovernmental $-0.6 trillion State Direct Spending $1.4 trillion Local Direct Spending $1.7 trillion Total Spending $6.3 trillion

I just can't bring myself to vote for either major party I'm for following the constitution exactly as its written under Article 1, Section 8 (http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec8.html) which if followed we would have a govt much, much, much, more smaller than today. These people take an oath to uphold the constitution, but everyday they break it when they vote to add a new entitlement program or to spend money on things that are not specifically authorized. In my opinion, we shouldn't have troops station in over 100 countries protecting some of the wealthiest nations on Earth or the most corrupt authoritarian regimes in the world. In total, the US spends over $1 trillion on foreign relations when you count military, foreign aid, intelligence agencies, Veteran Affairs, and etc. One would think this could be reduced to cut spending enough to begin cutting into our deficit but neither party is talking about it. Furthermore, we shouldn't go to war without a declaration of war issued by Congress--both parties are guilty of going to war without seeking a declaration over the past 6 decades. Secondly, Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, unemployment, and all other welfare or entitlements programs are not authorized under the constitution. Neither party supports doing any dramatic cuts to the welfare or warfare aspect of our spending as I would like to see. If the people wanted these programs they should do it legally by going through the amendment process to the constitution to add a line to allow for whatever entitlement program they wanted implemented. I don't like the idea that a simple majority at whatever time in history can ram down the throats of the minority a program they demand followed. This to me is majority dictatorship. Also, with the trashing of the constitution everyday our freedoms are being slowly taken away. What freedom will be taken away next? I fear someday it will be the freedom of speech or the freedom of religion that we all want to enjoy. How anyone can say we live in a truly free nation anymore when 40% of our income is stolen every year, I mean taken by the govt, even if that money is used for good? Charity should come from the heart, not from the govt holding a gun to my head demanding I give.

Write a put on something you wouldn't mind owning at the strike price of the put. :) However, you will probably have to have collateral set aside for your counterparty in the event the put is exercised. The best way to lever up with non recourse leverage is to buy a long dated call or warrant at an attractive price as measured by implied volatility in a time of low interest rates on a stock that you think is a good value. Then, you have the leverage of a margin loan that is non recourse beyond the price you paid for the LEAP or warrant. :) Thanks twacowfa: Buffett used this strategy several years ago when he wrote puts on several indexes such as the S & P 500. I think he used European options instead of American which gave the owners of the puts only one chance to exercise their rights at the end of life. These puts had a very long life if memory serves me correctly and he collected a high premium. Brilliant move! Personally I've never written a put option before so kind of nervous about doing it and especially do not want to make mistakes. Can you so kindly go into detail about your use of writing put options such as percent of portfolio, what kind of premium you demand, do you have a consist float from writing puts, etc? Anyone else, please feel free to add any comment on your use of written puts.

Are you saying the times I've hit on the ads doesn't go to you as revenue? I was under the impression that each click generates guaranteed revenue. If thats the case Google stinks.

I'm hoping to see Dell buyback much larger number of shares at these prices.