Ravi

I got the credentials last week. It took them less than 7 business days

Fantastic write up. Agree to many things. Hopefully Prem can fix some of the things

Thanks. I am doing that. Will keep everyone posted. I am mad too that I wasted a stamp. ;)

How do we get the meeting credentials if we have the electronic proxy. Should I just print the pdf and send it to them in an envelope?

This might be a silly question. I still did not receive the proxy and the post card. Is there a way to get it now or is it too late? Did the broker send the proxy? Thanks

I am planning to attend for the first time. Would it be a good idea to come on Friday or Saturday? thanks

Veolia Environment Any thoughts on this. I think they have plenty of debt at the same time has good assets. The cash flow is still good. Worst case, they can sell some of the assets to get things under control like parking lots in US. May be good bet would be to buy the bonds yielding much higher instead of equity

10% invested, 90% to go. Looking for better bargains

Cevian, Just sent an email to you. Let us know when you want to get together. Since you have a flight at 1:00, probably we can meet at 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM on Sunday

Will finally Microsoft becomes a patent play. That would be very interesting. They should stop doing large capex deals like skype and just do a cash cow play. that would be funny ending for a great company like msft

Great interview. I can relate to this after working for a big bank

Lets plan to get together

Any one plan to attend Chicago's Mohnish annual meeting?

Any thoughts on CSC. Produces around $1B cash with EV $5B. Biggest risk is US gov slow down. Currently 34% of revenues come from that and 40% NI. Even if you assume it drops by 50%. it will still produce $700MM. Accounting issues in Nordic region. Started giving dividends and $1B buy back. What am I missing here? In previous life I was in IT consulting and it has some stickiness especially it is very tough to get into govt. contracts. It is a very long process to get the contracts. CSC started with US gov since 1950. Already has $16B in revenues in pipeline.

Baox Do you have any recommendations

Any ideas of good met coal companies. I noticed Arch coal is hitting 52 week low

I am open to public. I am not a buyer yet though. I am waiting for really really good deals.

Thanks for the input. I did sign up for interactive brokers. Is there an advantage for signing up with briefings.com?

Just a quick note: If you wire your money to IB it will only take one day. The cost is only $10 through my Credit Union

I think I will stick to my traditional sources for now. I am trying to focus as much as possible on the process so that the results take care of themselves. I do not have the website up yet, hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks. I can already tell you it is much easier to invest your own money vs. other people's money. It brings a huge sense of responsibility. But I will try to stick to my framework, mental models and check lists and hopefully learn a few lessons on my way. Thanks a lot everyone for your good wishes.

It took me 5 months but finally I was able to start my advisory firm. I am very excited that I am going to do what I love and at the same time I am thinking 5x more on every investment about the downside risk. Did everyone feel the same way or its my nerves. Even though I did not contribute my fair share to this board (I will try to do better), this has been very helpful and very insightful. If any one needs any help or have any questions in starting the advisory firm for Separately Managed accounts, feel free to drop an email, I will try my best to answer any questions. P.S - If any one has suggestions/alternatives to Capital IQ, please let me know. I have not decided to buy this yet as it costs 25K per year

globalfinancepartners - Thanks a lot for that link. The only question I have is, do you need to be get your state licenses to do that like for MO - series 66 and 7? Excellent article though.

I only started doing deep value from last couple of years. 2009 was close to 295% and 2010 was 95%. Most of it is driven by luck rather than talent. This is only possible because I was able to get into GGP at 65 cents and I had a 32 bagger and sold it last week. I am not expecting any where close to that in 2011 and going forward. My goal is only to make 10%-15% doing net nets, BK's, spin offs, special situations. So far I liked more Walter Schloss, Irving Khan strategy with my small capital base. My returns are also driven by buying leaps and out of money puts which I use (max of upto 15% of my portfolio).

Attorneys want to charge $17,000 to start a hedge fund which is expensive for a small fund. If you do it as an investment advisor, we cannot structure a performance fee. I don't think I have an option other than starting individual accounts which is a pain to manage them and allocate it. I wonder what is the best way to structure and any good suggestion for broker platforms. I will definitely consider IB.

Any insights on how to do this? - Would like to start a fund initially with less than $1MM capital - Should the structure be LC/LP ? - Should it be registered it as a RIA - Licenses Series 66/7 - Start up costs - Any good attorney recommendation