jeffmori7

Yes, that' what I thought, a kind of typo on there, because every single position was quite liquidated compared to the previous report...

Wow, this guy reads the board! http://www.dataroma.com/m/m_activity.php?m=oaklx&typ=a Reducing everything by 99% and buying BAC and AIG! But seriously, this is probably wrong...

Thanks!

Palantir, the book value is not static, hence it has probably lowered a bit also as he equities portfolio is probably down like the market. So it is not certain that the book value based on Q3 report is valid now, Berkshire has probably to drop more than the market for this. Anyway, don't trouble yourself trying to track the live book value as I am somewhat implying!

Good results. Is it the most cash that Berkshire has ever held? I wish Warren a new elephant!

Sanjeev, is it me or there are some problems with the board recently. I sometimes get error about SQL or stuff like that? Thanks!

So far, what it tells me is that Combs and Weschler appear to buy with conviction. Their allowed portion is also quite bigger than expected, witch shows confidence from Buffett point of view. And as they are making quite concentrated bet, some of their position are becoming quite important in the overall portfolio. It will be interesting to follow in the next few years! Do you think it will invigorate the importance of the stock portfolio in Berkshire, which relative importance was slowly diminishing with years?

Internet, what's funny about it, it's that you could discussing with your neighbor without ever know! Ok some one day could have a Montreal meeting! Why I have you here, anything good investment ideas in Quebec for any of you guys?

Finalement, on est combien de Québécois sur ce forum?! Je suis à Longueuil de mon côté. To everyone, it just seems that we are more people from Quebec than I was aware of, so I'm just investigating!

I'm in Quebec too. Seems like there are many of us on this board...Maybe if we have critical mass we can have a meetup to cry in our beers or something. My first language is French, but I still find the political and economic situation in Quebec pretty depressing (not that the language that you were randomly born into should be used to define anyone, but I just want to point out that it's not only Anglos who are frustrated by how things are here)... We should organize a get together one day. I'm up for Beers... Yeah! We had some in Montreal with the people on this board this year (http://forum.entrepreneurboursier.com/) and it was great. It's the best french speaking forum out there for the Quebecois if you don't know it!

Haha, Cardboard, ne t'exile pas, on a besoin de gens comme toi au Québec aussi pour faire contrepoids! Mais tu pousses un peu avec Chavez..on n'est pas rendu là! Sorry guys, I had to answer him in French!

But the bottom line is quality of life for each person. If you have lower GDP growth, and lower population growth, but people live better and have more goods and services available to them in a more robust/resilient/sustainable civilization, that's a total win in my book. We must be careful not to measure the wrong things and optimize for them rather than for what really matters. Totally agree! But my fear is that sometimes we aim at growth as if it's something inherently good in itself, without focusing on what really matters as you say. But let's just hope for the best, starting maybe by redcing military spending (to come back to the main subject of this thread, the debt and deficit problematics!)...

Liberty these are good point. What is important to look at in terms of population growth is the transitional unbalance between birth and death. What is encouraging is that less developed countries are more rapidly closing the gap than actual developed countries have. But as Cardboard suggested, I'm not that sure than we can decouple population and economic growth in the long term. Without inflation and immigration, would there really be growth in the US and Canada? And what about Europe, Japan?

Cardboard, great post! About growth, what you suggest here remind me of a post by Liberty recently. I have this feeling that it will become normal for mature society to present slow to no growth in the future. Otherwise, it's just unsustainable. I would much rather prefer a planet with less population with higher living standards than the contrary!

And how much was it during the Bush era? Oh..and there was no financial mess to account for before Obama's presidency? Anyway, it seems that Republicans will always be Republicans, Democrats will always be Democrats, and a tiny part of the electors will vote on one side or the other depending of the candidate...And in every political discussions, the same arguments are used by both sides to make different points..so why debate :) And worse Moore, much of the people, on either side, will vote based on completely superficial arguments without wanting to know what each candidate propose, and that is what is the most depressing for me!

Haha txlaw..I didn't know where to post it, HP or Dell, so I didn't choose..You choose both! I agree with your comments on both thread, but I think this kind of article shows the general feeling in the public about Dell and HP.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/dell-and-hp-arent-value-names-just-cheap/article4587639/

Al, why not just use some leverage through an HELOC instead of using margin directly in your account? Won't the rates be better and the margin call be a no-event?

We should form a support group for the cashless... 12 steps to build up a cash cushion and all that ;) Wish someone would. It's my biggest weakness. Haha, I agree! ;) Is there any good book on this matter?

~100% equities...I still can't figure how to keep cash :) BRK, AAPL, FTP, GOOG, BAC, BAM, for more than 2/3 of the portfolio. Also some MTY, GE, WFC, HD, AIG, MKL, BLX.

And during this time in the Artic... http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/09/19/arctic-ice-cover-melt.html

The eternal taxation debate :) I have been through the document rapidly, but the conclusion seems that it is not so clear that there is a relation between the level of taxation and the global economy. The only thing is about greater disparities related to a lower tax level... Enjoy! http://graphics8.nytimes.com/news/business/0915taxesandeconomy.pdf

Liberty, what do you do for a living? I like reading a lot, but you managed to organize your life to read a hell lot more than anybody I know!

Sanjeev, like everyone said, thank you for everything, and thanks to everyone, this place is wonderful and we have to keep it the way it is. Nevertheless, I would like to pursue in the same direction as StubbleJumper. You have to be careful with the renewal of the board. All the long time core users would agree to pay because they know the value of this board, but they will be the ones getting it for free! On the contrary, the wannabe new users will have to pay to join a board which they don't really know the value, or at least, can't appreciate what it is worth. I understand there is a need to protect the board, but you have to consider the next generation also! Two questions : Will it still be possible to lurk around, like reading the board without being registered for these maybe future users? Would it be sufficient to just implement a symbolic fee like 1$ or 5$ to protect against spam? (Not that I mean it is not worth more!) I'm not pretending knowing the answer, it's just food for thought!

So far, it seems like we are more that have invested in BAC than AIG. I must admit it is my case also.