Icarus

Thanks for the link. I like the story of how Barry got his start with Asher!

Not prepared at all. That's just a grain silo in the backyard, not a spaceship. ;D

Federated had a 1.51 special dividend this month.

There's a book about him that includes a chapter on his bank investment. http://www.amazon.com/Alwaleed-Businessman-Billionaire-Riz-Khan/dp/0060850302/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315758478&sr=8-1

I don't have a long or short position on gold. Like the posters before me, I would rather invest in businesses that provide a product or service that is of value. Many people who do not invest in gold believe it is pure speculation because it is an object with no cash flows and thus unmeasurable value. If that is the case, then wouldn't most everyday objects also be unmeasurable and speculative? How do you know that a bottle of Coke is worth $1 and there isn't a bubble in soda prices? If you can't place a value on a product that a company produces, how can you also place a value on the company itself? Some of you might be thinking that soda provides a benefit to the consumers who buy it and has utility. How do you know that gold does not provide some sort of utility? To a person who does not drink soda, Coke has no utility. To a person who does not follow fashion, haute couture has no utility. To a person who does not understand the internet, technology has no utility. I might not understand why someone invests in a particular security, but that doesn't mean that person is wrong. It looks to me that moore_capital has done extensive research and is in a better position than most of us (myself included) to determine if gold is a good investment at these levels. The good news is that we don't have to invest in gold and can just wait for investments that we do understand and are comfortable with.

Hester you're kidding right? Maybe he has long term plans and will wait for the dinosaur bones to turn into fossil fuel.

Thanks for the link! The Whopper Investments blog looks like it might be a good place to get ideas for small cap net-nets.

Since some members have been talking about arbitrage now, anyone follow these? EM BJ BBBB CFSG HRBN I'm not buying the bottom two (CFSG and HRBN) due to my preference to avoid Chinese companies. Also, HRBN is sketchy so some of the board members here who short might want to take a look at that.

Haha funny chart ;D Howard Marks is a good read. I think we're at the second stage right now.

I'm not convinced that the entire market as a whole is a good value even after the recent declines. I've been selling lately and I'm waiting to buy if the market drops lower.

I'm about 15% in cash right now. I'm also worried about the macro environment so most of my recent equity investments have been in special situations. Also, this is my first post here so... Hi everyone! I look forward to participating in forum discussions and hope that the community can all prosper together :)