Liberty

John Oliver on subprime auto lending:

No sure that's really an option and a precedent you want to create (how do you "prove" fitness?). But I certainly feel uneasy with Trump line of questioning on nuclear weapons: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/03/trump-asks-why-us-cant-use-nukes-msnbcs-joe-scarborough-reports.html Buffett has always been very worried about nuclear weapons. It's not surprising that he's campaigning more in this election than he did in the past.

Bought as much as was feasible in the beginning of june ($139.11 average), sold a little bit around $150 a few weeks later, got cashed out yesterday at $159.82. 15% return in 8 weeks for a low-risk merger. I hope a few others managed to pick up a few shares as well. I'd say the lack of replies means a no to the last part of your post :P Not entirely alone: https://alphavulture.com/2016/07/27/mty-food-group-closes-acquisition-of-kahala-brands/

Looks like HCG isn't doing too well, which isn't what you would expect in a red hot market. Canary in the coal mine?

It's not even about other areas. Without the government's intervention over the past 10-15 years, it's doubtful things would've gotten quite as bad. The period of zero money down for 40-year mortgages (which has now been changed to 5% down for 25 years), low interest rates, low oversight of lending and real estate industry, etc... These are all policy choices too.

http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/canadas-economy-is-hostage-to-the-housing-bubble-2/

Bought some LBTYA recently.

If she is hot, tell her to invest in new boobs. The ROI is much better than stocks. BeerBaron And people wonder why there is a lack of women on this forum. I don't think they wonder anymore.

John Oliver follow up on Brexit (sorry if it's a repost):

It's down a lot more if you look at it in USD.

John Oliver's piece is also pretty strongly against:

http://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/mortgages-real-estate/sorry-kids-no-detached-homes-for-you-at-least-in-toronto-and-vancouver#__lsa=1985-7507

No schadenfreude from me. Like many, I read the early coverage of the company and of Holmes and thought it sounded like very interesting tech and a very talented entrepreneur. Too bad it turned out that way...

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/9/11896534/jennifer-lawrence-adam-mckay-theranos-movie-elizabeth-holmes Now the story is complete ...

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2016/6/3/Another-record-breaking-month-for-Toronto-housing-amid-fears-of-overheating-.aspx http://ctvbnn.s3.amazonaws.com/Images/ImageLibrary/RealEstate/Suburbs.png http://ctvbnn.s3.amazonaws.com/Vancouver.png

Have you looked at SIRI?

Simply amazing!

Q&A with Malone: http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/john-malone-brian-roberts-charter-time-warner-cable-merger-comcast-1201778366/

Book written by the founder of ISCAR, which was bought by Berkshire a few years ago. The book was recommended by Buffett at the AGM, I think. There's a writeup about it by RationalWalk here: http://www.rationalwalk.com/?p=14669 Book available here: http://www.amazon.com/Habit-Labor-Lessons-Struggle-Success/dp/1468310860/ I haven't read it yet, but I think it could interest many here, and that starting a thread so that people who have had a chance to read it can share their thoughts is a good idea.

You need to read that in context of the date of the article (1969). This was the end of the "conglomerate boom". The conglomerates were the FANG of that era. Teledyne had an 89% peak-to-trough drop. The "good" teledyne came after. I thought KFC was a more interesting example since this would be in Buffett's core competency. But there was also a "franchise" boom during the 60s, so it makes sense in context. Of course, I'm just curious to know if Buffett volunteered Teledyne as an example or if the journalist just picked a conglomerate himself and ended up on the one that was run by the person who Buffett considers the best capital allocator (and if you had bought Teledyne even during the conglomerate boom, you'd probably have done really well afterwards).

Thanks for sharing it, I appreciate it. Wonder if Buffett gave the Teledyne example or if the journalist came up with it. Funny either eay. Conglomerates not his thing? Guess he didn't know he would be running one... Though to be fair, his model is different from what was popular at the time.

Looks like we might be seeing the beginning of more transparency with real estate data in Canada: http://www.greaterfool.ca/2016/04/28/ethics-3/ Who knows how long it'll take for things to change, but at least that looks like a step in the right direction.

That's probably usually wise. But on the other hand, there are dozens of different business models/structures, so it's expected that GAAP numbers can't work with them all at the same time; they'll be close to real economics with some businesses, and distort things with others. The question always is: Do you understand what's going on enough to trust the adjustments, or trust that GAAP actually is reflecting reality? Sins of omissions are real. If you pass on a great business that you would otherwise understand because the GAAP numbers are ugly, it's just as as real as if you buy something because of the adjusted numbers and they don't turn out to be accurately representing economic reality. An example of this might be cable companies. They've created a lot of value over the past few decades, but usually had pretty ugly GAAP numbers. It's only by looking at non-GAAP numbers that you could understand what was going on underneath.

Adding this to my list, you've convince me. Edit: Seems out of print. Are you aware of a newer edition, or is it just going to be expensive/hard to find?