MVP444300

Sanjeev, thank you for all that you do in maintaining this board.

Any ideas how I as a private investor can create my own free or profitable long-term float?

bargainman, interesting that you are doing that. What kind of yield are you getting and can you get your money back before time if you need? I still don't think this is for me.

I moved some of my cash assets to AXP High Yield savings at 0.9% APY. Its much better than the .05% I'm getting in a money market accounts and saving accounts I'm presently getting.

Holy cow! I was browsing through some of the notes on Lending Club to just check out what the site is about and see what type of loans people are wanting. I see loans for debt consolidation, weddings, home improvements, and to go on vacations. https://www.lendingclub.com/browse/browse.action As an example I found this person who wants to borrow $8,000.00 at 15.31% interest to go on vacation and attend a wedding. The length of the loan is 36 months with monthly payments at $278.54; currently the loan has been 85% funded. I'm assuming the person has no collateral to back up such a high priced vacation and her FICO score didn't look that great. At that interest rate I think I'd stay home. Wow! Hmm, I wonder if I could use this site as a tax right off by loaning myself money to go on vacation and then the lazy scoundrel doesn't pay me back. lol Borrower Member_1751700 Loan Submitted: 8/20/12 3:25 PM Review Status: Approved Approved Monthly Payment: $278.54 (36) Member Loan#: 1492007 Prospectus (all information unverified unless otherwise denoted)Borrower Profile Gross Income: $4,433 / month Home Ownership: RENT Length of Employment: 10+ years Debt-to-Income (DTI): 22.4% (as reported on credit bureau on n/a)Borrower Credit History Sign in to see the details (not verified)Loan Description Borrower added on 08/23/12 > The purpose of this loan is to go on vacation and attend a wedding. Please view the complete listing here. Report ListingQuestions and Answers No questions yet.

Interesting, I had no idea Mr. Gates was doing that. This is why I like prizes you seem to get more bang for your bucks while doing good.

I agree Dell is getting very very cheap. I hope it keeps falling so I can buy more; in fact today, when I placed the order at $10.71 my broker tried to talk me out of it by saying Dell was a dead business. lol Keep in mind, this was the same broker that I told me I was nuts investing in American Express at $11 and Wells Fargo at $10 in March of 2009. I was told by a lot of my friends and family at the time what I was doing and they to thought I was insane investing in financials companies at the height of the financial crisis. I don't know if you remember Sanjeev put I emailed you back channel in March of 09 asking about what you thought of American Express while the board was having discussion of Wells Fargo and you had said publicly you where investing in Wells. This same broker also tried to talk me out of investing in Nucor back in 2003 at roughly the same price I paid for Dell today (the price was higher back then but cost basis was adjusted down for 2 splits several years later) when the steal industry was in shambles with mills closing left and right. Wilbur Ross had just started accumulating steel companies a year earlier and had started ISG if I'm not mistaken. At the same time, Nucor had acquired Birmingham Steel at near fire sale price which I believe added a third capacity to Nucor's production. Here you had the low cost producer of steel selling at a market cap of roughly $2.5 to $3.5 billion with a much higher earnings capacity with it recent acquisition, I thought it was a good investment but broker didn't. I'm comfortable buying Dell at these prices and I hope I can buy more at lower prices. I will ignore the naysayers.

If I had the type of money Buffett/Gates has I'd take a little different approach to philanthropy. I'd setup a foundation similar to X-Prize to offer cash awards when specific goals are met. Several reasons I like this idea: 1. Its a way to leverage your money when giving by having various competitors investing money to reach the prize. In some cases you can get 5 to 1 or 10 to 1 leverage. 2. The money is only paid out when goal of the prize is accomplished. 3. You have more brainpower committed to solving problems by having various competitors competing with various ideas on how to solve a problem.

If you are sad because politicians in whole are hypocrites you may never find yourself happy...it is par for the course after all. The election this go around is more focused on economic policies underpinning the two parties which I think is the largest positive. The social agendas are what loses me in these elections. There is no question my vote is Republican. Obama had his chance and has not effectively accomplished anything. Regulations and red tape have only increased and business outlook in this regard is not positive. Romney and Ryan in my opinion are walking down a better path and direction. I think as a Commander Romney will be more effective in placing competent people in key positions to turn the wheels government. This is where I think Obama has failed. Good orator, bad manager. Politicians being hypocrites doesn't make me sad, I was saying that it is a sad state of affairs that they talk out of both sides of their mouths. I'm not sure exactly where you got that from my statement. Politicians have little to no effect on my mental state of whether I'm happy or sad, but they definitely do have an impact on my wallet, quality of life, and civil liberties. I really don't care for either party but as I mentioned I'm more aligned with the Rs. I'll probably vote third party this time around like I have been doing in all Presidential elections.

What gets me about the Republicans is they preach small govt this, cut budget that, eliminate the deficit; but when they have the power like they did under Bush with control of both the executive and legislative branches of government they rack up huge deficits themselves. They added trillions to the debt by doubling the size of the education department, expanding medicare with the prescription drug plan, taking us to war unnecessarily IMO in Iraq. And yesterday they officially nominated the guy who Obama copied his healthcare plan after with a vice presidential nominee that voted for TARP and stimulus. What a bunch of hypocrites. I respect the Democrats more in that they tell you they want to provide a person with cradle to grave benefits where as the Republicans breach small govt and do the opposite of what the preach. That is why I view the R has hypocrites. Which is sad because I'm more aligned ideologically with the Republicans; i.e., the Ron Paul Republicans.

This company is only expected to be able to purchase 43,000 shares or $365,000.00 Current stock price $7.85 Tender offer $8.50 At current prices Profit $0.65 or 8% before tax. On my brief glance I didn't see when the offer would expire and I won't be investing it with it being such a tiny position. But it does show its good to pay attention to tender offers for descent returns on money. Does anyone else ever look at these as special situations as investments? If so what have your results been? Downside: Can't make any sizable purchase (only few hundred bucks) from what I read and have to be a record holder as of Aug 21st to qualify. I'm not sure what their purpose is behind making such a small offer with it representing less than 1% of shares outstanding. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1038133/000119312512368833/d400554dsctoi.htm http://www.heska.com/About-Heska/Press-Center/HESKA-CORPORATION--ANNOUNCES-ODD-LOT-TENDER-OFFER.aspx LOVELAND, CO, August 27, 2012 -- Heska Corporation (NASDAQ:HSKA - News; "Heska" or the "Company"), a provider of advanced veterinary diagnostic and other specialty veterinary products, announced today that it has commenced an "odd-lot" tender offer to purchase all shares of its common stock held by stockholders who owned, of record or beneficially, 99 or fewer shares as of the close of business on August 21, 2012 and who continue to hold such shares through the expiration of the offer. The Company is offering to pay $8.50 for each share properly tendered by an eligible stockholder. The Company's principal purposes in making the offer are: To utilize a portion of its available cash in an effective manner to return value to its stockholders at a price per share that is attractive to the Company at the time of the offer and that is consistent with the Company's previously disclosed dividend and stock buyback practices and permissible under the current terms of the Company's credit agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and To provide its stockholders owning 99 or fewer shares as a result of the Company's December 2010 reverse stock split, or otherwise, the opportunity to obtain liquidity in their shares while incurring potentially lower transaction expenses than would be expected to be incurred by them if their shares were sold on the open market. The Company estimates that approximately 40% of the positions in the Company's stock have 99 or fewer shares. The Company estimates that approximately 43 thousand shares are held in positions of 99 or fewer shares, which represents the maximum number of shares the Company estimates it could purchase under the tender offer. Parties interested in complying with the Company's 5-percent holder transfer restriction should be aware the Company had 5,349,784 shares outstanding on August 24, 2012, which would be reduced to 5,306,784 shares outstanding if all shares discussed in the previous paragraph were to be purchased under the tender offer. Stockholders and investors are urged to read the Company's Schedule TO filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") in connection with this tender offer, which includes the offer to purchase. These materials contain important information with respect to the offer including the various terms and conditions of the offer. Investors may obtain copies of the Company's Schedule TO from the SEC at no charge by visiting the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). Heska shareholders with questions or requests for documents may also call the Company's information agent in this matter, Morrow & Co., LLC, at (800) 607-0088. This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to buy or a solicitation of an offer to sell any shares of the Company's common stock. The offer is being made solely pursuant to the offer to purchase and the accompanying documents, including the letter of transmittal, each dated August 27, 2012. The offer will expire at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on October 2, 2012, unless otherwise extended or earlier terminated. Eligible stockholders who would like to accept the offer must tender all shares that they own. Partial tenders will not be accepted.

If the general population is anything like me I have a hard time selling stock. Its easy for me to buy but very difficult to sale; especially those companies that have good moat behind it even when I know the company is selling tremendously above intrinsic value. Also, IMO there are times when buybacks are not a good idea when the stock is trading higher than IV.

Sanjeev, for clarification, by book value do you mean tangible bv or regular bv?

http://www.gurufocus.com/news/146628/gurufocus-interview-with-fairfax-ceo-prem-watsa Below is a brief excerpt. My apologies if this has been posted before.

I met Mr. Huggins as well Sanjeev, he was a very kind and gracious man.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443713704577603662120397078.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories I have no position in this company and have not looked at financials closely but its an interesting article on how secretive Tootsie Roll is while most companies on the other hand want coverage from wall street. I wonder if good management like at Sees could take over this company to boost profitability and return on capital substantially.

You are correct, I asked that question as well how they made money. She said that to get the 2.78% checking account I would need to charge a minimum of 5 times per month and to charge it as credit card transaction not a debit.

Kraven--I spoke with someone at the bank after posting this message they told me that the rate is set by the board of directors quarterly. From what she said the rate has been in effect on the checking account for a year. I assumed it was a promotional rate that is why I called to ask to see how long the rate will be in effect for. Your other point about the financial stability of the bank is a good one to check into; I hadn't thought about that being the impetus of offering higher rates. I should have remembered Ben Graham's adage that higher yield doesn't necessary mean soundness. I figured with the bank being federally insured I wouldn't have to worry about my money. I'm sure my deposit would be ok but there are ton of headaches getting it back if the bank had the closed. Any idea where I check on the financial health of credit unions? Ross: thank you I will look into the US Treasury I-bonds. 2.2% yield sounds pretty good being its guaranteed by the feds. Alpha: Thank you I will look at your link. One question though: how concerned are you about MMA's breaking the buck?

Sanjeev, what type of jet do you have a G5 or 747? I suspect both. :D jk That lifestyle would be easy to get used to, I got on one of the private NetJet jets at the brk annual meeting. It was awesome, I can see why Mr Buffett has that as one of his only expensive perks.

I was a lucker on the MSN board when you guys where talking about investing in FFH commons and LEAPs several years ago. I can kick myself for not looking into it further. What is even worse I looked at it and saw that it was cheap. I have made so many mistakes thumb sucking when I should have acted. My other issue I have is when I see a bargains I don't act in a big way putting a large chunk of my net worth into an investment.

I am looking at ways to boost my nonexistence returns on cash from 0% to something a little higher. There is no point in my cash sitting there earning no money. I've looked at CDs but I can't justify locking in money for 6 months to several years at 1% interest--not to mention I don't like cash being locked in because I want the flexibility to use it when I want to make an investment or have an emergency. I stumbled across a website a few minutes ago that shows special promotions, rewards, etc offered by banks/credit unions. On there I see that it has High Yield Checking Accounts offering descent returns for holding cash; the APY on high yield checking accounts is higher than savings and CDs. Here is an example of a local bank offering 2.78% in my area. Earn 2.78% APY* on balances up to $25,000 with the Heritage Advantage Checking Account! With an opening deposit of just $100, you can enjoy access to all the product features listed above. It’s Easy! Just meet the following requirements each month to earn 2.78% APY: maintain eStatements, have 1 Direct Deposit or ACH credit transaction per month, make 12 or more signature debit transactions per month, and use Home Banking at least once per month. (Limit one per member. Not available on business accounts.) That is twice as good as what I see CDs locked in at 5 years are getting. Does anyone see any downside by using the high yield checking accounts instead of using regular checking, savings, and CDs for holding cash? http://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/2011/04/10-common-traits-of-highyield-reward-checking-accounts.html Overview of High-Yield Reward Checking The basic high-yield reward checking account is a free checking account with no monthly service charges. You are rewarded with a high interest rate if you meet monthly requirements. Most also reward you with ATM fee reimbursements if you use ATMs at other banks. Below are the typical rewards: Some top rate (2.50% is typical) for balances up to a cap ($25K is typical) Much lower rate (i.e. 0.25%) for the portion of the balance over the cap Tiny base rate if requirements are not met (i.e. 0.05%) ATM fee refunds up to a certain limit per month The typical monthly requirements include: 10 to 15 debit card purchases At least one direct deposit or ACH transaction Receiving electronic statements There are sometimes additional requirements such as logging into online banking at least once a month or performing online bill payments. One nice thing about this debit card requirement is that it's favorable to savers rather than spenders. Rewards from credit and debit cards are often based on the amount of the purchases. An example is 1% cash back on the total amount of your purchases. For the reward checking, someone who makes 10 debit card purchases that total $20 can get the same level of reward as someone who makes 10 debit card purchases that total $2,000 if both maintained the same checking account balance. It might seem like this model might not be profitable for the bank. I've looked into the math behind reward checking in 2009 and last year. One thing that helps make it profitable is that the average customer won't maintain the maximum balance that qualifies for the top rate. Many customers will maintain much smaller balances. Also, not everyone will meet the monthly requirements. In short, the reward checking customers who are big spenders with small balances help banks pay for those who don't spend much and maintain the maximum balances.

Two months ago I found out a really nice housing development was having an extremely hard time financially and near bankruptcy. The comps in this neighborhood and similar neighborhoods in the area have the lots selling for $39,000 for 1/4 of an acre of land. Seeing a potential to make money I had my banker call the partners of the house development up and offer them $8,000 for several of the lots in cash. The cussing on the phone was hilarious to me. lol I got called all kind of names (they didn't know I was on the line listening). A little later the first counter offer from the partners they came off $10,000 from asking price of $37,000.00 for each lot to $27K. Next they lowered it again to $20,000 per lot, I said no again. A week later they lowered it to $18,000.00 per lot but I would have to buy 5 additional lots to what I had wanted. I haven't heard from them since I told them I'd pay $12,000 per lot with my counter offer for the lots I wanted plus the extra 5 they wanted me to buy. $12 K is the highest I'm willing to go simply because I want a large margin of safety in case it takes longer for me to sale the lots, plus I require a descent return on capital. This back and forth has been going on for about a month but I do enjoy the negotiation over prices esp if I think I can get a great deal for it. Cash is king when people really need the money. Time will tell whether I get the lots or not. My plan for those lots if I get them is to sale them off over a 5 year period at about $32K each.

I manage my grandmother's real estate and I have some of my own. I can attest it is VERY DIFFICULT to make money in them and there are much easier ways to make $$$$$$. The $1,500 rent isn't close to what you'll be pocketing, I would take off 60% for expenses with whatever you believe you can get for rent per month--most people probably will tell you to take off 40% but I add in my time and labor as part of the expense for those that manage their own. Those type of returns do not justify an investment, even if you could net $1500 per month after expenses thats only a 7% return per year on a $250,000 investment from the income. I require a much higher returns than that before I will consider making an investment. Also, from the pictures I saw you would probably need to add $50 K atleast for renovation for each apartment. There isn't any margin of safety so I'm glad that the investment was skipped. :)

In my town alone BAC has closed 3 branches from a total of 5 and they have made two of the branches drive in only. For a small town of 8,000 people that was to many branches to have IMO. I'm glad to see Brian relentlessly focus on cost.

I get an error message trying to open the PDF. It says "bad encrypt dictionary."