capitalistcollective

Oh I see -- no, it's not just pick a stock symbol and whichever performs the best gets the job. You have to write a research brief as well as give constructive criticism to other contestants and then defend the research brief from the constructive criticism. You are obviously welcome to join the site and just see what is going on.

Valuecfa, I am not sure what you mean when you say, "why a particular stock is their best idea for your contest (in addition to just picking a stock)"? I think the best stock for the contest would be the best stock for any analyst to recommend to a portfolio manager -- one, according to the best research and calculations, provides the most reward with the least risk.

Thanks Mpauls -- I believe you are particularly correct in something like value investing as it needs such an eclectic knowledge and skill base. In order to be a successful value investor you have to be able to crunch numbers of course but you also have to have an ability to understand the correlation of those numbers to reality. You also have to have a social scientist's love for qualitative research as well as a gambling's man understanding of a calculated risk. Can you find that in a resume? My calculated riskmeter says no. You can find it in a stock pick though.

Fertilemind Capital is a value investing shop based in New York. We invest in North American microcaps in technology, media and telecoms as well as companies in consumer products, retail and business services. Junior Analyst is for someone with an undergrad degree and 0-3 years professional experience and a Senior Analyst is for someone with 5-7 years professional experience. The idea should be well-thought out and rigorously researched. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

I just wanted to refer you to this thread, "Shameless plug alert: looking to hire two equity analysts". It was my thread so I guess this is a shameless plug about a shameless plug....but it seemed people commenting here would be interested and I am looking for junior (and senior) analyst talent: http://cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/index.php?topic=4286.0

I see that Yellow BRKer is arranging another happy hour. http://www.yellowbrkers.com/ I will be there. I am staying at the Doubletree so that will be easy. Aram Fuchs

I have enjoyed Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax for quite some time. There is no job board on here so I thought I would just post here. I hope that is ok. I am looking to hire a senior and junior analyst for my NYC-based hedge fund, Fertilemind Capital. I have decided to do away with the usual resume game and I have launched a website to host a stock-picking contest @ http://www.capitalistcollective.com. The four best stock pickers will be flown to New York where I will have the grand finale -- Apprentice style. So if you would like a shot at the job just give your best stock pick at Capitalist Collective. If you know of someone who might be interested I am giving away two copies of Margin of Safety for the top two referrals. Thanks for your time.

It's the undeserved emphasis that observers give the GDP statistic that cause people to make wildly wrong characterizations: Witness this awesomely absurd quote on how easy it is to mess with GDP: “When it comes to the economy, it’s all about how much you spend,” said Mitsubishi UFJ’s Ishigane. “Even if you build a pyramid, destroy it and rebuild it, you can increase GDP.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-17/japan-s-government-bonds-may-fall-paring-weekly-gain-as-yen-halts-rally.html

Chasing yield when it is not being paid out of free cash flow is foolish but many of these trusts (or former trusts) are being disciplined about their dividends. There is very little growth but the dividends seem quite sustainable and are therefore tempting.