SEC Requires Short-Sellers to Buy Financials and Sell Commodities

Today is a momentous day, readers, for the state of the global financial system. In a shocking historic mandate, Congress, in concert with the SEC and the U.S. Treasury, has declared that all short sellers with open positions in financial companies must close their positions within three days, followed by a transfer of the newly liquid capital to the [...]

Notes from the 2008 Western Sizzlin’ Annual Meeting

Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending the 2008 Annual Meeting for my favorite young company, Western Sizzlin’ (WEST).  As you all know pretty well by now, I’m an unabashed fan of what Sardar Biglari is doing with Western Sizzlin’, and a shareholder myself.  The meeting took place is mid-town Manhattan at the St. [...]

I agree, Mohamed

Via Abnormal Returns, I came across a great article written by former Harvard Endowment portfolio manager, and now PIMCO manager, Mohamed El-Erian. He actually put out a book recently, which I may or may not get around to reading this century called >When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change
Anyway, he [...]

Time Warner: Worth Keeping an Eye On

By the end of the year, Time Warner Cable (TWC), will be a stand alone entity after being spun off from Time Warner Inc. (TWX).   TWC is a publicly traded company as it currently stands, 84% owned by its parent, Time Warner Inc.    The carve-out occured early in 2007, trading between $36-43, but has plummeted [...]

A Flurry of Appearances for Bruce Berkowitz

Here are the numbers:
Since the inception of the Fairholme Fund (FAIRX), right at the end of 1999, the fund has returned a cumulative 240%, through June 30, 2008.  On an annualized basis,  those are returns of 15.5% per year.  That would turn a $10,000 investment into $34,000 in the span of 7 and a half [...]

The Failure (and Success) of Heuristics

We use heuristics in our everyday lives.  “It’s about an hour away.”  “That beer is $30/case so I’m guessing it’s better than the Busch Light for $13/case.”  A heuristic is a shortcut, basically. Heuristics give us some easy measurements to quickly size up a situation. Guesses, estimates, guesstimates, approximations, whatever you’d like to call them, [...]

Do your Brain a Favor

Readers.  Please, if you not already a subscriber or regular visitor, go over to noisefreeinvesting.com/blog and read Shane’s presentation on mental models and avoiding the “Man with a Hammer” Syndrome that Charlie Munger so passionately rallies against.
Shane has graciously put together a 50+ slide presentation on various mental models and examples of psychological follies that [...]

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