giofranchi

What do you mean? I take and reinvest the fcf of my company… what does that have to do with a 401K/IRA plan? My savings are somewhere else… Cheers, Gio

Ah! But that was just to assure writser that he doesn't need to worry about my financial well-being... He seemed so sorry! ;) Cheers, Gio

Ok, thank you! Cheers, Gio

But it is quite different! Judgements about the dynamics of any business are very different from guessing what the government might or might not do… Don’t you agree? Cheers, Gio

I have grown the equity of my company through investment results and cash generated by its businesses… And I have tried to break those two components down… As I always do. What’s so confusing? Cheers, Gio

Picasso, Last year I sold at $140 (after buying at $70 the year before) and this year I bought the bulk of my investment at $200. Mine is not a “cut your losses” strategy… It is what I have said it is: when I think I don’t see clearly something that I consider might be very important, I just lose confidence. And when I have no more confidence, I sell. I am not sure next year Cash EPS might be useful for valuation anymore… Because, if those Cash EPS got hit in the future by government intervention… What then? I simply don’t know… You clearly have a different strategy, and it might work very well for you! That’s fine. But I want to hold a good business for a long time… Answer me: do you know a way to do that with doubts about something that might be of great relevance? Cheers, Gio

Of course you can believe whatever you want… The truth is: any highly levered company must keep generating lots of cash, like VRX has always done. What happens to that cash if the government intervenes? I am not saying it risks to get impaired, but I am saying that I don’t know… And when there is something so important that I don’t think I can judge with enough confidence, I am not comfortable holding the shares anymore. This is it! Period. No this is not so: I don’t believe in predicting nor anticipating the market. I believe in finding great businesses and in having a long-term horizon. When something happens for the worst, I want to recognize it and act accordingly. During the past 5 years this strategy yielded a 10% yearly compounded return notwithstanding a large part of my portfolio in FFH which yielded less. Put on top of that a 5% from the fcf of my companies, and I think I can grow 15% for quite a long time still. During the last 5 years the fcf of my companies has been on average 10% of equity. Are there other strategies that might lead to better investment returns? I don’t doubt it! But until I get that 15%... why should I change something that works so well?! Imo a fraud is a $0. Period. The fact you can't seem to grasp this concept is concerning. Yes… I had already admitted my timing was horrible! But why keep repeating it?! I really don’t understand what you are aiming at… If you don’t think FFH is a good example, I just kept investing my firm’s free cash in 2008 month after month… ;) There is no doubt about that! But, again, why keep repeating it?! Everybody on this board already knows you disagree with my investment choices… And everybody on this board sees I keep investing the same way over and over again! At least until my capital keeps growing at the rate I want… And everybody on this board knows my limitations as well! The fact you keep pointing them out doesn’t help anyone, believe me! It is like repeating the same thing ten times… If you want to show people how to invest their money, back that with facts instead! Simply do like I am doing: say what you are buying, when you are buying it, and how much you are buying. It will be much more useful for everybody on this board. Cheers, Gio

Ahah!! But I am barely underwater for the year… After compounding at 22% during the last five years… Are you really worried about my financial well-being?! writser, you are funny! Cheers, Gio

First of all you must have confidence in your judgement. Otherwise expressions like “It is all about temperament” simply border on recklessness. Let’s say I tend to react rather than predict. When I see things clearly enough, a stock price that goes down leaves me indifferent. When I don’t see things clearly, a stock price that goes down gives me stomachache… and stomachache is not good for business, because also your brain starts to suffer. You might argue that the chances to make lots of money reacting rather than predicting are lower… It might be so… But I don’t care. Again, you misread my comment about valuation… In fact I said that if VRX were overvalued, it might be dead money for a while… Instead, I said that valuation was not my n.1 concern because FRAUD was it! Do you understand that fraud is a completely different and much more dangerous beast?! And yes! FFH has plummeted in price many a time during the 5 years I have hold it. Yet, no problem! Why? Again, because things were clear to me. I don’t know if there was a point in owning FFH for 5 years… I am happy I made lots of money… But feel free to judge by yourself and think whatever you please! Well, I think I have read every single bear argument, and “government intervention” was barely mentioned if at all! Evidently, not many people thought about it. I surely might have, but sincerely I must have dismissed it as a very low probability… I really don’t understand why you keep commenting my posts… I don’t read yours… I don’t want to… Except of course when you comment mine… Then I am forced to read what you post and to reply… But it is a terrible waste of time! I ask you again: please, given the fact you don’t agree with my ideas, why keep reading them?! Just stop, won’t you? There are myriads of other posts to read! Wouldn’t it be much easier if you read those and just ignore mine?! Thank you! Gio

Anyway, first that “Hillary” thing… then this “subpoena” thing… They have introduced a risk I hadn’t thought of until yesterday… Is the government hindering VRX’s business? And it is an uncertainty I don’t know how to judge. Therefore, I am taking my losses (at least I won’t pay taxes for 2015! ;D ;D), and start watching from the sidelines... again (just as I had previously done, when I thought there was not enough evidence about organic growth). I truly believe that “government” risk will end up in nothing… When that uncertainty finally clears, I am surely buying again. Cheers, Gio

As I have already said, I believe this is wrong. As long as you see organic growth, I don’t see why Cash EPS should be misleading. When organic growth starts to falter, then it will be the time to worry… As far as repayment of debt is concerned, they have already proven they are able to decrease their debt load very quickly, just after a few quarters without acquisitions. They have already proven your worry wrong. Cheers, Gio

When I said I would stick with the content of Pearson’s letter, that is what I had in mind. Cheers, Gio

Novartis AG (NVS) and Google (GOOG)’s Life Sciences to Test Smart Contact Lens in People in 2016 http://www.biospace.com/News/novartis-ag-and-googles-life-sciences-to-test/390300?source=sm&type=twitter_NovartisGoogleContacts090815 Cheers, Gio

Maybe... But I would never generalize… A 20%+ drop in 5 days is something extremely unusual… A comment might be justifiable… I don’t know… Anyway, I prefer to concentrate on the content of Pearson’s letter. Cheers, Gio

A small cap which has been a great compounder since Mr. Sullivan (62) took over in 2006. Of course, I like its sector very much, and I think the opportunities for growth, both organic and through acquisitions, clearly are there for the foreseeable future. A bit pricey at 25x next year adjusted EPS, but the quality of management and business might justify a starting position, to be increased if the stock trends down. Cheers, Gio Mesa-Presentation-23-Aug-2015.pdf

Endo Completes Acquisition of Par Pharmaceutical and Provides Financial Guidance http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/endo-completes-acquisition-of-par-pharmaceutical-and-provides-financial-guidance-300149703.html Cheers, Gio

Apples Reports Record Sales of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus http://recode.net/2015/09/28/apples-reports-record-sales-of-iphone-6s-and-6s-plus/ Cheers, Gio

Letter to Valeant employees dated September 28, 2015 Cheers, Gio Letter_to_Valeant_employees_dated_September_28_2015.pdf

Here's How Apple Could Make A Killing In The Car Business http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2015/09/24/heres-how-apple-could-make-a-killing-in-the-car-business/ Cheers, Gio

The reward: As I have said, I believe this century is the century of biology and biotechnology. Pharma companies are making so much money, and are going to make even more. Waste can be easily afforded and is widespread. Just think what could be accomplished by an operator laser focused on ROIC, who operates in this sector and is great at what he/she is doing! The risk: Sometimes what Buffett and Munger say simply cannot be reconciled with what they are doing… They buy and truly NEVER sell… And they justly praise their managers as “all-stars”… Can you imagine a strategy that relies more on the quality and the reliability of management than theirs? Sincerely, I cannot. When you invest in a business, you invest in people. Better accept it, because that’s a risk we all are going to run, whether we like it or not. Cheers, Gio

Imo to compare what NVS or PG are spending in R&D with what VRX is spending offers little useful information. Yesterday I was talking to a top-manager in a large international software company: he oversees the work of nearly 80 people, and he was complaining that he could be achieving the same results with his best 20 people... And I guess this gets ever more meaningful as companies get larger and larger... Therefore, it is much more important "how" you spend money than "how much" money you spend. And imo at the helm of neither NVS nor PG there is a person who could compare with Pearson. This at least is the reason I am invested in VRX... Of course, I might be wrong! Cheers, Gio

During Q2 2015 conference call Pearson said that organic growth was driven 50% by volume and 50% by price. If I am not wrong, the day before Mrs. Clinton made her comment VRX was trading around $240, then it nose-dived… Cheers, Gio

Thank you! I'll do. ;) Cheers, Gio

Allergan Launches Generic Version of INVEGA® (paliperidone) http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allergan-launches-generic-version-of-invega-paliperidone-300148943.html Cheers, Gio

--Carl Icahn Cheers, Gio