PlanMaestro

I am starting to think that it is all about Berkowitz (and maybe Paulson) and some of his concentrated positions (MBI, AIG, C, BAC, and he does not have the warrants). It is almost as if there are bets based on redemption pressures ... the type of scenario for why he always wanted some cash.

Txlaw, Running a hot mutual fund without any lock-ups probably makes it too difficult for B.Berkowitz to recognize errors so openly. And especially under the current circumstances. I agree with you that it would be nice to know and that he would be a great fit for Berkshire. But can he? Rabbitisrich, don't you think that probably the only real question for Moynihan is the Europe exposure? Especially French and German banks including derivatives. Most of the other stuff seems very manageable and known.

You cannot be right about everything. And when facts change, like a CEO doing a mega merger and financing it by cutting the 10% dividend yield, ...

Many, many thanks, Josh. A small gain on 52% of our shares and a 3.5 times gain from our adjusted basis to the market price of the remainder. :) And the timing is perfecto to take advantage of other opportunities.

Probably somewhat lower ($8?). They had to take a BV value hit to get rid of one the competing plans (discussed previously in this thread). The way that C&H is taking that 55% control is through the tender offer on insiders at $0.45 and non insiders at $0.35. If they had not do something like this M&M would ha kept control. Even after this tender they still will have more than 20%

Took you a while Myth :) A couple of months ago I did not think moderator tools were needed. Now I think the time has come. All these politics threads started by just a handful new members is well beyond the mission of B&F Corner.

I have come to this forum, for the most part, to LEARN. If you want to learn first listen. If you want to add bring facts. You are doing neither.

Southern Yankee, I notice that all your posts are about politics. You might want to mix your comments with an investing idea every once in a while. Are you really a value investor or you want to simply mud this board with political comments?

Has anyone seen the final number of shares for Bank of Ireland after the tender and capital injection?

Someone rightly corrected me that M&M are not selling ALL their shares. All shareholders, insiders or not, are under the same proration of approximately 52%.

There is more information about banks than almost any other industry. Just check the FDIC site or bankregdata and you will find most of what anyone would want. Also CRE and residential lending are large industries with plenty of information. To consider banks a black box is to take an argument of opacity, that is somewhat true but not completely, and extend it to illogical extremes. Even CMBS, CDOs, and all the alphabet soup, that are supposed to be the most opaque, were heavily stress tested in this downturn and their issues peaked several quarters ago. And if the loans and investments are so bad, why is their cash flow from operations so high? Yes, part of it is because of ZIRP but BOFA and Citi are not the only ones benefiting. Also remember that only charge-offs are real losses while provisions are just estimates that tend to be a lagging indicator and still ... both are going down for most banks.

I do not think that information is currently available

The latest one is only PACER, but my understanding is that the only difference with the one submitted for voting is that insiders (Meruelo and Maddux) are being forced to sell all their shares at $0.45 instead of $0.35 as was the original Charlestown plan. The judge made that decision for a control premium (read the whole thread to see the reasons) to ease the approval. Insiders are still battling trying to oppose the plan but now on appeal court. http://www.kccllc.net/mmpi

POR becomes effective today! Mon Jul 25, 2011 4:26pm EDT Plan of Reorganization for Meruelo Maddux Properties, Inc. Has Become Effective Company Appoints New CEO Marty Caverly Meruelo Maddux Properties, Inc. (“MMPI”) (OTC: MMPIQ.PK) announced today that the Charlestown Capital Advisors, LLC’s and Hartland Asset Management Corporation’s plan of reorganization (the “Plan”) for MMPI and its subsidiaries, which was previously confirmed by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, became effective today. Under the terms of the Plan, MMPI Acquisition, LLC has acquired 55% of the outstanding shares of common stock of MMPI, and the non-insider shareholders of MMPI are receiving $0.35 per share in exchange for approximately 52.838% of their shares (except for those shareholders who previously elected to sell all of their shares) . Subsequent to this transfer of shares, under the terms of the Plan, the shares of MMPI common stock will undergo a 5-to-1 reverse stock split in which any fractional shares that result will be cancelled and receive $0.35 per pre-reverse stock split share. The company also announced that Marty Caverly has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Caverly is a seasoned real estate professional with more than 20 years of experience. Most recently, he ran the acquisitions department at Hackman Capital and he also is founder of 2120 Partners, a real estate consulting, advisory and principal investing firm. Prior experience includes serving as Principal at real estate private equity firm O’Connor Capital Partners, and head of European acquisitions for both core and opportunistic funds for Tishman Speyer. Caverly began his career at Citigroup Real Estate in New York. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Caverly stated: “I am pleased to take the reins at this pivotal time. I want to thank our employees and our many partners who supported the Company throughout this process. We look forward to moving ahead under the plan of reorganization.” Caverly noted that the Company will likely be renamed in the near future.

Sorry OEC, that is not how "business" is run, and there is a long history of data supporting that point. Businesses in the generic as a whole have large cash piles today and they are not investing, they are saving. They have lots of excess capacity to take care off before they start thinking about investing. Also using generics/aggregates like "congress" and "politicians" for the bad and specific examples like Buffett and Singapore for the good, it is an easy way out of discussing the underground forces. Most countries do not do like Singapore and most businesses do not do like Buffett. As well, not all politicians and congressmen do as "congress" and "politicians". Just check the federal debt overtime. And even considering that, the problem of the US is not the federal debt, it is household debt ... consequence of this thing called residential mortgages. Government is not like running a household or a business. Can we go back to talk investment ideas?

Yes, it is off topic Prunes. That is the problem with macro discussions in this board, people look for any pseudo-validation of personal points. We are supposed to be value investors that think independently and think correctly. Instead when we get to macro discussions, people think dependently and incorrectly. Case in point, this report was prepared by Mary Meeker and starts with a false premise. Let's move on.

Sure, Mary Meeker's links within tech circles is all about respect.

This an appeal to stop macro discussions on this board. This is just another example of the distort community: put some slides, that tackle only one part of the issue, say you are non partisan and put your wanted conclusions at the end. Government is not like a family. Government is not like a business. And Mary Meeker for god's sake. People do not remember her vomiting cheerleading reports? Next we are going to receive macro advice from Dr Phil. "Mary, the trick to being a good analyst is to be skeptical as hell. Don't take anybody's word for it. Trust then verify" I told her. "My companies are usually right" That was classic banker talk. To Frank Quattrone, I was Dr K, but Mary was Dr. Feelgood - Wall Street Meat

I beg to differ. Probably more important than how a problem is analyzed is how it is framed. Your generation is not who the republicans are defending against higher taxes (actually reversing tax cuts). This is not about demographics, this is about an entrenched plutocracy and its ability to distort reality and lobby to get spoils (while not paying taxes for them and adding little to society in return). A good reading of Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court shows that is not un-American to bash an aristocracy (hedgies, bankers, buyout firms, entrenched managers) especially when they deserve it. Long live Charlie.

The most surprising part was how the FDIC dragged its feet on adopting Basel II. After years of neglect, there is still some effective bureaucracy in the USA. And yes, that is not an oxymoron.

It is very partisan to be reality-based in the US lately. As Charlie says, there are nuts in both sides. The problem is when the nuts control either one of the parties.

Good to know that there are still people of principle. Broadly speaking there are none but corn-pone opinions. And . . . Corn-Pone stands for Self-Approval . . . from the approval of other people. The result is Conformity. Sometimes Conformity has a sordid business interest - a bread-and-butter interest - but not in most cases, I think. I think in the majority of cases it is unconscious and not calculated . . . Mark Twain

For sure, it is part of the confidence game http://www.amazon.com/Confidence-Game-Manager-Streets-Bloomberg/dp/0470648279

I don't like Einhorn, and I'm not particularly fond of Ackman, but the last thing I would describe all three as is as "average investors." They are anything but and their records show that. Cheers! Why no love for Einhorn or Ackman? I love those guys. Activist investing makes you say and do things that are not .... how to say this ... Buffett/Munger style. And I understand the situations these guys are in. Successful activism depends a lot on public perception and shorting too. For example, I personally have learned a lot from Ackman (reading his deposition on MBIA was really fun) but I know something about retail/financial services/real estate and many of the things he was saying and proposing for Target were ... debatable. And I like more Ackman than Einhorn on this regard.. Do not push Parsad to say more on this, he has nothing to gain and there is always the possibility that he has something to lose.

Only value investors, Mrs. PlanMaestro's purse is huge.