Grenville

The letters are a great compilation and an excellent read!

Count me in as well. I would like to meet up.

Richard Handler takes ice bucket ALS challenge. There is a video of him taking the challenge. http://thetally.efinancialnews.com/2014/08/hold-bankers-ice-bucket-challenge/

More details regarding the new venture with Folger Hill. Michael Handler, Richard Handler's brother, worked at SAC before running an internal hedge fund at Jefferies. "Leucadia backs SAC alum fund despite previous internal scandal" http://www.cnbc.com/id/101945416

It's official. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/96223/000090951814000267/mm08-2114_8k.htm

I didn't realized they finalized the deal with Kumin. Thanks for the heads up. Here's an article from the WSJ: Ex-SAC Executive Kumin's Hedge-Fund Firm Gets Leucadia Investment http://online.wsj.com/articles/ex-sac-executive-kumins-hedge-fund-firm-gets-leucadia-investment-1408309096

Awesome.

u mean Chase right? Yes. Not Wells Fargo.

Appreciate the color. Very cool that you were able to sit in on the conference!

funny! thanks for sharing.

Good read! Thanks for posting as well.

I reread your initial post. I agree with you.

I was a holder of the Oakmark Select fund through this period when he had a huge stake in WaMu. I never felt like he owned up to the mistake in his shareholder letters both during the crisis and as things got better. In my opinion, until you fess up to your specific mistake and put in process to avoid it in the future, there is a risk you'll repeat it. I don't think WaMu and Wells Fargo are equal. I think if you're going to build a 15% position in a company, you should be confident in the quality of the loan book and the culture of underwriting. Wells Fargo would have made it through the crisis without help, WaMu wouldn't have. The quality of the loans were much worse. Wells Fargo made mistakes in underwriting some products but not on the scale that WaMu did. The WaMu deposit franchise and the footprint had tremendous value, but on the other side the loan book cancelled it out. When I look at banks, I have to feel comfortable with the culture. As an investor we have limited information so we must look for clues. The loan book is similar to the derivative book and their culture of managing risk. You can't avoid everything, but you do have to worry about it. My direct understanding of WaMu isn't great, but it's from what I read around the time it went under and was sold to Wells Fargo.

Thanks for the post. Do you have a link to those comments by the CEO of BOI? I'd be curious to hear more. Thanks for the color!

Thanks for the post. Do you have a link to those comments by the CEO of BOI? I'd be curious to hear more.

the institutional imperative is very strong…it's hard for them to bend and why value investors have opportunities. I prefer the dividend.

loginvestor, How are you getting to a billion in CF? (3) has guided 250-300 FCF for 2014 and appears on target to beat. On the IV message board where (3) is actively discussed, the resident numbers expert, "notrom" best captures the virtuous cycle of increasing cash flows at (3); NOL's, Interest expense reductions, margin expansion etc. http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=444&mn=124874&pt=msg&mid=13792504 This is before the pending TWTC merger. Although they have not provided guidance for the longer term, FCF is expected to accelerate non-linearly (rapidly). Just took a long time. Fine by me! I appreciate the color! Thanks.

He is his brother. This is an old interview, but still good. The version I have on my computers is longer ~51mins. It might be this one: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/18/223785364/marc-lore-and-vinnie-bharara-founders-of-diapers-com

Quick look at the release. Insurance combined ratios were good. Nice to zee Zenith post 90% CR. I thought this bit about the equity hedges was interesting:

From the Q2 2014 10Q:

loginvestor, How are you getting to a billion in CF?

"CEO Who Sold Diapers.com to Amazon Raises $55 Million to Challenge Amazon Again" http://recode.net/2014/07/29/ceo-who-sold-diapers-com-to-amazon-raises-55-million-to-challenge-amazon-again/ Marc Lore's Blog post confirming capital raise: http://marcericlore.tumblr.com/post/93220359281/jet-a-new-era-of-transparency-and-empowerment-in

Diary? I think you mean dairy :)

Thanks for the date. I remember hearing 75days on the conference call.

I'm a bit confused why Bill Stiritz has such a huge position in Herbalife. He must not agree with Ackman. It would be nice to hear his thoughts on Herbalife given his role at Post Foods. http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2014/07/22/bill-ackmans-big-herbalife-reveal-bombs-with-investors/