S2S

Yet another amusing quote from Buffett: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42178304

^ The PC World speed test comes short of proving your point - the numbers I'd look at are in the Laptop Modem Tests: Verizon's LTE (true 4G) is 2.5x faster on download and 5x faster on upload than T-Mobile's HSPA+ (a transition step between 3G and 4G). In 2 years AT&T will have a nationwide 4G network of their own. The smartphone test is all but useless, given Verizon didn't have a LTE phone until the Thunderbolt (which comes out this month?). That and the poor propagation characteristic of Sprint's WiMax network.

Each will gain access to partner's cell sites. Portability has never been an issue with voice calls. 3G data is a different story (for now), as the 2 carriers use different bands for data traffic (AT&T's 850mhz vs. T-mo's 1700mhz). In any case, it should a MUCH smoother process than Sprint's never ending integration of Nextel (CDMA and iDen are incompatible).

It might just get approved, albeit with a one-year (optimistic case) delay. When 2012 rolls around, VZ and T will be sitting comfortably on their LTE networks, S has Clearwire's Wimax in-fighting notwithstanding, while all T-Mobile USA has is HSPA+ (3.5G) and little 4G spectrum. It's either finding a partner (T brings more to the table than S can ever dream of) or bust for them.

Per CNN: [11:40 a.m. ET Wednesday, 12:40 a.m. Thursday in Tokyo] Japan's central bank made an additional 13.8 trillion yen ($170 billion) available to money markets Wednesday to cushion the country's banking system from the shock of Friday's earthquake and tsunami, Kyodo News reported. That brings the Bank of Japan's emergency funding total to 55.6 trillion yen ($688 billion), Kyodo said. So it took BoJ all of 4 days to do match US Government's year-long TARP effort (http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/national/200904_CREDITCRISIS/recipients.html). One has to wonder now that Mrs. Watanabe, the proverbial money manager of Japanese households, can no longer afford putting savings into zero-yielding JGBs, where will the money come from?

^ In an absolute sense, yes. But if you compare recent stock price performance to most indices under the sun, JNJ has lagged. Sometimes by a lot. I wish people stop treating JNJ as a buy-and-forget-because-I-don't-understand-healthcare-nor-do-I-care-to investment, a healthcare mutual fund. Then we'd have some real price movements and buying opportunities. Not to the extent JNJ has been suffering from. WSJ Health Blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/health/) for example, has a regular feature named "J&J Recall Watch".

Yes. A "value investor" would be naive to assume he's the only party that cares to assess the economic value of the asset in question. More often than not, the buyer / E&P company / land developer has modeled future cash flows extensively. Then again, NAV estimates are only as good as the underlying assumptions, among which price of the underlying commodity is of chief importance. Someone had equated buying shares in commodity producers to making a macro bet - I agree with that as well.

LJ Rittenhouse, author of Buffett's Bites: The Essential Investor's Guide to Warren Buffett's Shareholder Letters, on what to expect from the coming Shareholder Letter: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/02/find_real_gold_in_warren_buffe.html Most of his points are probably old news to you guys, but I thought it was a good read.

This is merely tangential to the original article, but Henry Blodget had an interesting piece on whether the Merrill Lynch analyst who opined against ML's Irish clients got into trouble because of his correct foresight, as well as the pressure facing sell side analysts: http://www.businessinsider.com/merrill-lynch-analyst-fired-2011-2

^ Love it. This is probably old news by now, but here's an interesting exchange between Bill Ackman and Clayton Rose on FMCC: Mr. Ackman: So you can make decisions that are adverse to shareholders? Mr. Rose: Correct. Mr. Ackman: And there’s no liability to you? Mr. Rose: Correct. Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1786618239&play=1 The pertinent part starts around 7:30. There's another short Q&A near the end of the clip. Thoughts, twacowcfa?

I'm not sure where the "old Berkowitz" image comes from, but it seems like a well constructed myth (similar to WEB's?) at best. Berkowitz is no outcast; it's impossible to build a career as a successful investment advisor with a steady London-based clientele with weak social skills.

I'm afraid we are now entering the realm of personal opinions: far more healthy, according to whom? Society's standard of beauty is anything but static. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) et al made a killing between 04-08 when the bulky, masculine "country boy" look was all the rage among young male. The torch has since been passed to retailers such as Urban Outfitters (URBN) or J Crew Group (JCG) which sell close fitting shirts and slim jeans that are in vogue with the thinner urbanites.

Something's off with how profits are distributed across the payment system. MA, V print 40-70% margins (less so for AXP, a bank holding co) while merchants do mid-single-digit, if that, and the issuing banks regularly lose money. Maybe that's a sustainable equilibrium, but I'd think the other players might disagree.

Trust no one indeed, especially renowned investors talking their books ;)