Daily Journal Annual Meeting

[racemize]

I saw a lot of notes being taken down, so I'm hoping someone will have a nice set typed up, similar to last year.

[dolce far niente]

24 pages uploaded by Valuewalk.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126780797/Daily-Journal-Meeting-Detailed-Notes-From-Charlie-Munger

 

Anyone with the PDF?

I would love to keep a copy for perpetuity.

[gfp]

looks like last year

 

24 pages uploaded by Valuewalk.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126780797/Daily-Journal-Meeting-Detailed-Notes-From-Charlie-Munger

 

Anyone with the PDF?

I would love to keep a copy for perpetuity.

[cubsfan]

looks like last year

 

24 pages uploaded by Valuewalk.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126780797/Daily-Journal-Meeting-Detailed-Notes-From-Charlie-Munger

 

Anyone with the PDF?

I would love to keep a copy for perpetuity.

 

This is definitely last years.

[peter1234]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-11/munger-hosts-groupies-mocks-wall-street-praises-buffett.html

 

[rmitz]

I can't wait to read the notes from this meeting.  Here is the first Bloomberg article:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/munger-says-burger-king-tax-critics-stark-raving-mad-.html

 

Convenient, that, given that he’d be giving himself and Buffett a massive tax cut. 

[Liberty]

I can't wait to read the notes from this meeting.  Here is the first Bloomberg article:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/munger-says-burger-king-tax-critics-stark-raving-mad-.html

 

Convenient, that, given that he’d be giving himself and Buffett a massive tax cut.

 

Sometimes the best thing to do is also convenient for you. That doesn't make it wrong. It's not because a pot smoker says the war on drugs should end that it's a bad idea. I think the idea should be looked at on its merit.

 

I think there's a lot of merit to the US having a corporate tax rate that is at least competitive with the rest of the world. You can't have a significantly higher rate with a worldwide taxation regime and then complain when businesses want to move elsewhere, in the same way that businesses moving between different US states isn't morally wrong.

 

I think there's a lot of merit to most US corporations paying a similar rate rather than some businesses paying over 30% and others paying in the teens because of various industry-specific loopholes and tax breaks. That seems a lot fairer than the current system.

[netnet]

The Daily Journal Annual meeting was wonderful.  It was great meeting Corner board members there.

 

My son also enjoyed it.

 

I will post my notes over the weekend.  Here are a few quotes from the meeting, more on my blog:

 

Charlie compared the Journal's old auditors, who held up the annual report by months, to a doctor he had (I assume as a child). The man was a surgeon skilled in fixing hernias, so he kept feeling around Charlies groin, when all Charlie had was a nose bleed.

 

Speaking of the old auditors, CM said that "We get along with people we admire...[but] I'm old and I can't disguise that there are people I don't like"

 

"...it was the audit from hell...which was red meat to the commissioned sales force of our competitors..." (The government software business that the Daily Journal has.)

 

http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

[JAllen]

I can't wait to read the notes from this meeting.  Here is the first Bloomberg article:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/munger-says-burger-king-tax-critics-stark-raving-mad-.html

 

Convenient, that, given that he’d be giving himself and Buffett a massive tax cut.

 

 

Munger said that he actually thought Berkshire's Burger King taxes would go UP because of the deal.  I'm guessing because corporate preferred stock tax benefits would go away if it was a Canadian company.

 

 

BTW, he also said "Canada is practically part of the United States" and everyone laughed.

[peter1234]

Munger Hosts Groupies, Mocks Wall Street, Praises Buffett

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-11/munger-hosts-groupies-mocks-wall-street-praises-buffett.html

 

posted already?

 

Yes, posted a few post above. Bloomberg has been publishing short articles that are all similar.

;)

[rmitz]

Sometimes the best thing to do is also convenient for you. That doesn't make it wrong. It's not because a pot smoker says the war on drugs should end that it's a bad idea. I think the idea should be looked at on its merit.

 

I think there's a lot of merit to the US having a corporate tax rate that is at least competitive with the rest of the world. You can't have a significantly higher rate with a worldwide taxation regime and then complain when businesses want to move elsewhere, in the same way that businesses moving between different US states isn't morally wrong.

 

I think there's a lot of merit to most US corporations paying a similar rate rather than some businesses paying over 30% and others paying in the teens because of various industry-specific loopholes and tax breaks. That seems a lot fairer than the current system.

 

I don’t really disagree, but the problem is that to be competitive with *all* of the rest of the world, you basically have to eliminate corporate taxes.  There are huge problems with this, not least of which that it’s very easy for corporations (Like Berkshire!) to keep reinvesting those profits indefinitely.  Yet corporations benefit hugely from infrastructure and governmental assistance, not least of which is by the military might projected throughout the world.  A consumption tax would be very difficult to implement in a way such that it isn’t regressive, so it’s a very difficult problem to solve.

 

I’m not saying it’s an easy problem or that we have the ideal situation now—far from it.  If someone could snap their fingers and remake the system, we’d *probably* be better off with a lowered rate and closure of preferential benefits.  But corporations will *still* leave to shave off a few percentage points of tax, regardless of how low we make them, so it’s an incomplete solution even then.

 

One thing that has always impressed me is the depth Munger and Buffett have to their thinking—but this doesn’t always show up in brief snippets or conversations.  There’s lots I’m leaving out here as well, but I think the main point is that any simple sounding solution to a complex problem will be incomplete, at best.

[Liberty]

I don’t really disagree, but the problem is that to be competitive with *all* of the rest of the world, you basically have to eliminate corporate taxes.

 

To be clear, that's not what I was saying. I didn't mean that it's literally impossible to find a country anywhere that has a lower tax rate than you do. Just to be competitive with most of the countries that are comparable.

 

Territorial rather than worldwide taxes, fewer loopholes/exemptions (more of a flat tax rate, in other words), and a rate that is closer to Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, etc, would be a good start.

 

I bet that if you do that, any money you lose from the companies that are currently paying the full rate would be more than offset from all those who won't redomicile elsewhere, from trillions in cash that would come back to the US and be invested there (which are now kept away to avoid double-taxation), and from corps paying very low rates being brought up to the new statutory rate.

 

Right now the system has incentives for companies to create jobs and invest elsewhere, domicile elsewhere, and lobby for exemptions/loopholes. Not exactly a fair or effective system.

 

This has nothing to do with paying for infrastructure or whatever. A better system could probably gross more tax revenue and boost overall economic health.

[benchmark]

The Daily Journal Annual meeting was wonderful.  It was great meeting Corner board members there.

 

My son also enjoyed it.

 

I will post my notes over the weekend.  Here are a few quotes from the meeting, more on my blog:

 

Charlie compared the Journal's old auditors, who held up the annual report by months, to a doctor he had (I assume as a child). The man was a surgeon skilled in fixing hernias, so he kept feeling around Charlies groin, when all Charlie had was a nose bleed.

 

Speaking of the old auditors, CM said that "We get along with people we admire...[but] I'm old and I can't disguise that there are people I don't like"

 

"...it was the audit from hell...which was red meat to the commissioned sales force of our competitors..." (The government software business that the Daily Journal has.)

 

http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

 

How old is your son? I've been trying to get my son go to BRK's annual meeting, but he isn't interested :(

[oldye]

I couldn't be there this year any good notes available?

[MrB]

http://boards.fool.com/here-are-my-notes-from-yesterday-welcome-to-31407180.aspx?sort=postdate

[rmitz]

To be clear, that's not what I was saying. I didn't mean that it's literally impossible to find a country anywhere that has a lower tax rate than you do. Just to be competitive with most of the countries that are comparable.

 

Territorial rather than worldwide taxes, fewer loopholes/exemptions (more of a flat tax rate, in other words), and a rate that is closer to Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, etc, would be a good start.

 

I did get that that was what you were saying, but I don’t really agree.  Now that these mechanisms are becoming understood, if you can make a profit on *any* sort of tax move, it’s going to be pursued.

 

I bet that if you do that, any money you lose from the companies that are currently paying the full rate would be more than offset from all those who won't redomicile elsewhere, from trillions in cash that would come back to the US and be invested there (which are now kept away to avoid double-taxation), and from corps paying very low rates being brought up to the new statutory rate.

 

That wasn’t my point, either.  It may wash out (but what an experiment to try without really knowing what’s going to happen!), it might not.

Which form of double taxation are you referring to?  Don’t corporations get foreign tax credits, so you’d only pay on the difference if it were greater?

 

Right now the system has incentives for companies to create jobs and invest elsewhere, domicile elsewhere, and lobby for exemptions/loopholes. Not exactly a fair or effective system.

 

Sure, agreed on this. Who’s going to give up their exemptions, though?

[racemize]

Is there a place where the letter to shareholders in the print-out can be found online?  I didn't see it in the 10-K.

[Liberty]

The Secrets of Berkshire Hathaway’s Success: An Interview with Charlie Munger

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/12/the-secrets-of-berkshire-hathaways-success-an-interview-with-charlie-munger/

 

 

[peter1234]

The Secrets of Berkshire Hathaway’s Success: An Interview with Charlie Munger

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/12/the-secrets-of-berkshire-hathaways-success-an-interview-with-charlie-munger/

 

Thanks. Very nice.

:)

[reddog66]

racemize,

 

Please see attached pdf

Munger_Letter.pdf

[netnet]

The Daily Journal Annual meeting was wonderful.  It was great meeting Corner board members there.

 

My son also enjoyed it.

 

I will post my notes over the weekend.  Here are a few quotes from the meeting, more on my blog:

 

Charlie compared the Journal's old auditors, who held up the annual report by months, to a doctor he had (I assume as a child). The man was a surgeon skilled in fixing hernias, so he kept feeling around Charlies groin, when all Charlie had was a nose bleed.

 

Speaking of the old auditors, CM said that "We get along with people we admire...[but] I'm old and I can't disguise that there are people I don't like"

 

"...it was the audit from hell...which was red meat to the commissioned sales force of our competitors..." (The government software business that the Daily Journal has.)

 

http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

How old is your son? I've been trying to get my son go to BRK's annual meeting, but he isn't interested :(

 

My son is 20 and except for a poor 10 year old that a dad dragged to the, I think my son was the youngest person there.

[fareastwarriors]

I have to go next year...

[netnet]

Jason Zweig had an article in yesterday's WSJ and tomorrow's (Saturday) paper, plus a blog post here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/12/a-fireside-chat-with-charlie-munger/

 

During the meeting, Charlie mentioned that Warren (and he) were puzzling over BH's success AND that Warren will be devoting a lot of this year's discussion to the issue.  Charlie also said, "BH's results were prodigious, but they were not produced by prodigies..."

 

Well, Charlie in this case you are dead wrong.  Both you and Warren are prodigies...

 

from another short post on my blog; full notes over the weekend, I promise.

 

http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

 

 

[TeddyLampert]

Jason Zweig had an article in yesterday's WSJ and tomorrow's (Saturday) paper, plus a blog post here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/12/a-fireside-chat-with-charlie-munger/

 

During the meeting, Charlie mentioned that Warren (and he) were puzzling over BH's success AND that Warren will be devoting a lot of this year's discussion to the issue.  Charlie also said, "BH's results were prodigious, but they were not produced by prodigies..."

 

Well, Charlie in this case you are dead wrong.  Both you and Warren are prodigies...

 

from another short post on my blog; full notes over the weekend, I promise.

 

http://learnandcompound.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

I'll be eager to hear what WEB has to say on the aforementioned subject.

 

Part of WEB's appeal to the masses is his folksy insistence you don't need to be too bright to be a successful investor. "Anything over a 160 IQ is a waste..." WEB often says in some way or the other.

 

I'm probably not the only one who has experienced cognitive dissonance when hearing this. There are many times when Buffett has referred to Munger as super-smart and vice versa. There are numerous times when others, such as Meryl Witmer (just as an example off the top of my head) will say that Buffett is wicked smart and smarter than you have even assumed. Schroeder will give examples of Buffett multiplying license plates mentally for fun.

 

I just don't buy it when these two guys, who I have enormous respect for, make these preposterous claims that you just need average intelligence to pull off what they did. Let's just call a spade a spade.

 

A lot MORE value (in terms of making us better investors) could be gained by everyone here trying to debunk WEB/CM myths rather than add to their mystery and mythology.

 

Just my humble opinion. I want to learn from the best (which is what they represent), but I also want the truth. 

 

[Liberty]

As Alice Schroeder said, Buffett is very literal when he speaks. I think he means it when he says that you don't need to be super smart to be a good investor. That's literally what he means. A good investor.

 

But to be like him? (a lot more than just a good investor)

 

Yeah, you have to be really really smart, basically. Being really really smart doesn't necessarily mean doing complicated things all the time, but smart people know that simple doesn't mean easy.

 

The rest (when they talk about themselves) is just humility, and possibly Buffett underestimating himself because he is so monomaniacal while most other smart people know about more fields (like Munger, who Buffett no doubts admire for knowing about a more varied range of topics than he does).