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Archive for November, 2008

Bruce Berkowitz – A Candid Call

November 29, 2008 By: webmaster Category: Bruce Berkowitz

Bruce Berkowitz, manager of The Fairholme Fund, recently held a great, candid call with shareholders.  It is a must-listen here.

Greenwald on Risk

November 26, 2008 By: webmaster Category: Bruce Greenwald, CBS Faculty

Professor Bruce Greenwald recently wrote a piece for the Columbia’s Ideas@Work publication.  You can read the article here.

Charles De Vaulx on Bloomberg

November 24, 2008 By: webmaster Category: Charles De Vaulx

Jean-Marie Eveillard protege and former manager with First Eagle Funds, Charles De Vaulx, recently spoke to Bloomberg about value investing.  Mr. De Vaulx recently opened a new fund called International Value Advisors.  The video of his interview can be found here.

Analysis of Pensions and other PBOs

November 17, 2008 By: webmaster Category: Security Analysis

The analysis of a company’s pension liability (or asset) and other PBOs can often be tricky.  One reason is that many assumptions are used in pension accounting and these assumptions are generally at the discretion of management.  The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article on BT Group’s pension.  While you may not be interested in BT Group, the article makes one think about how to treat pension analysis given the current economic reality.

You can read the article here.

Bill Ackman on Charlie Rose

November 16, 2008 By: webmaster Category: Bill Ackman

I have quickly come to realize that Charlie Rose has some of the best SuperInvestor interviews around.  Most recently, Charlie Rose interviewed hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital.  I was fortunate to meet Mr. Ackman several times as a student at Columbia.  While Warren Buffett says that an IQ of 125 is all that is necessary to succeed as an investor, Bill Ackman clearly surpasses that score.  His intelligence is complemented by his clarity, which is why I enjoy listening to what he has to say.

Check out the interview here.

A Great Time to Be A Value Investor

November 14, 2008 By: webmaster Category: Bruce Greenwald, Charles De Vaulx, Personal Comments, Warren Buffett

Over the past few weeks, more than a few successful long-term investors have claimed that the stock market contains some of the best values they have seen in their careers. Among these SuperInvestors are Warren Buffett, Marty Whitman, Jean-Marie Eveillard, Bruce Berkowitz, and Bill Ackman to name just a few. Two quick thoughts:

First, I love to see stories like this one from Doug Kass. It seems to me that people beginning to wonder whether Warren Buffett has ‘lost his groove’ is a strong indicator that we are in the midst of a serious dislocation in the market. The last time I remember seeing such stories was in the late 1990’s during the internet bubble. I guess we won’t know whether Buffett has lost his touch until 5 or 10 years from now. However, Warren Buffett’s ability to sit back and filter out this noise is, in my opinion, one of his greatest attributes.

Second, if there are so many undervalued businesses out there, what should we be looking for? Professor Bruce Greenwald provides some insight to this question in his interview with US News and World Reports.  A great read from my favorite professor.