arbitragr

Hi dealraker, I guess you still want me banned. :) Look, I'm as much as a Berkshire groupie as anyone. Alot of my networth is in BRK a/b. But I don't want to be naive about Warren in terms of figuring out how he generates such high returns. We're all trying to be better investors, well at least I am. And figuring out how WEB really does things is key. All I am saying is he makes things look easy and he plays down his success and methods, work ethic etc ... when it's really quite hard to replicate what he does. And that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to his investments. That's why I said maybe he was thinking about his personal future, i.e. his health, when he made a big bet on Burlington on that other thread we're you wanted to get me banned. ;D I guess it was tongue in cheek, and in bad taste, but the issue of age, health and succession is a reality and any concerned shareholder has a right to know what is going on. As is the case with say, Steve Jobs at Apple. Working in the industry, and seeing first hand how hard it is to generate the returns he does ... these underlying issues interest me. And that for those who do manage money professionally, perhaps buying and holding ... plain vanilla ... is NOT the way to go which leads me to think about other asset classes and investment areas seriously that are no-go zones according to Buffett parlance; i.e. credit default swaps, options and derivatives, maybe being a bit more proactive in terms of selling off positions etc etc ... Me myself, I find it hard to wrap my head around some of my options that I hold when WEB talks about derivatives being weapons of mass destruction. Am I right? Or is WEB right? what's up with his derivative positions?? If you've been on these boards long enough you'll realize that there's nothing unattractive about me or my comments at all. I've been here since the MSN days before this current board was even up and get along fine with everybody. I think it's unfair that you're judging me based on that one comment and I think you should dig deeper into past posts before judging people and saying "I see all kinds of stuff written ..." ... or "of all the writers on this board that I've seen, your comments ... reveal stuff that isn't attractive". However I am younger than yourself, so maybe healthcare isn't a big issue to me, and unruly comments regarding the topic may be more upsetting to the older more sensitive members of this board. :-X And for that I apologize.

Yeah I forgot about that one. Re; the "inner scorecard" ... And let's not forget how he's trying to sell off his Moody's stake quietly. Hush hush ... ;) I guess it all goes along well with him wanting to be teacher. Teaching people to try and do the right things. i.e. Do as I say, not as I do.

Is it just me? Or does anyone else find WEB contradictory? And I mean ALOT ... He says you should care about your inner scorecard ... but then when he talks to his managers he says "we can't afford to lose an ounce of reputation" and reputation is like china, once broken ... etc etc ... He had huge problems investing in Salomon ... but then he goes and invests in Goldman, knowing that the same problems (i.e. management and excessive compensation, and trading risks) could present themselves once again. And a big one ... he preaches buy and hold, but trades. ???

Never realized he neglected his children and family that much due to work. I remember a Charlie Rose interview with Peter Buffett, how he was so distant to his father when he was younger ... and that after Susie died he started to "come around". Never knew it was that bad. The biggest suprise was how hard he works - he works like a demon just staying on top of the market. Makes me realize that I probably should stick my capital in some index funds (or companies with good jockeys), b/c the amount of work and time it takes to cover and read everything is too much. He makes it look easy when it's not at all.

I don't think that was an interview ... the bloomberg link. It was just an article that she wrote. She has done numerous interviews where she mentions her 'strained' relationship with Warren. Nonetheless, nowhere in the article did she mention Warren was greedy ... she just said there were other motives. The other motives related to succession planning, US dollar, trade deficit, his legacy etc ... [edit: okay found it now, I get where you're coming from. Thanks.]

There are a lot of global/macro hedge funds out there which are probably driving these trends.

twa ... apparently which interview of Alice's are you referring to? I never knew their relationship soured. Must be awkward. I personally would never hand over the job of writing my life story to someone else. He should have done it himself.

Easy now boys. I'm a realist.

So he finally decides to use all the cash. This takes the guess work out of what the successor will do with the cash once Warren is gone. He must have had a health scare this year or something. :-\

last year's.

You can't do anything unless you have a large enough stake in the company to vote for changes at the AGM.

the website is blank. company looks interesting.

no reason why it couldn't be. trades are performed via digital means these days, and definitely algorithmic trading by market makers is not out of the question.

haha ... riding the bear ... tilson and LUK own some. I like this .... razor thin margins but ... i still hold slg mind you ... and have shifted into some commodities as of late. ;) TA has had a nice run up this week. Glad I took a position back in Sept. Thanks CONeal. ;)

check out the barron's lists ... thank me later ... ;)

oh well ... didn't get my question in there. never mind.

those numbers are killer. especially as the size of the fund is huge. paolo pellegrini did a magnificent job with the credit opportunities funds.

[REQ] paulson

i'm in the inflation camp ... but there's one wildcard where I reserve the right to change my mind. And that's if the Fed aggressively hikes rates. Who's to say they can't go from 0% to 5%? They can, it's just a question of timing and they health of the economy.

you should also visit Sears and tell Eric what you think ... ;)

paulson

Ask him what he thinks about Citigroup. And ask how he feels the level of provision for loan losses going forward. How is this being driven? By the consumer or CRE etc.

on second thought ... Obama DID do something ... he managed to get Bush out of power (or at least the USA out of the conservative's power), even when the odds were against him ... and bush/mccain would have caused more wars ... I think the committee were looking at it from that angle ... i guess those speeches helped ... especially the one at Berlin. :D

Guess who's the favorite to take out the Nobel prize (if that's the right term) for Economics? Eugene Fama ... father of the Efficient Market Theory. It will be a farce if he won. Given what has happened not only throughout the history of financial markets, but through the most recent GFC. The Prize award decision makers are Swedish yes, no?? Given that they're swedish ... maybe that had something to do with Obama winning.

Especially no black president.