Scudbucket

I hear/read this sentiment about mutual funds a lot. What are you comparing MFs to in order to have this opinion - hedge funds, SMAs? Where's the evidence that MFs have done worse than their active counterparts? Everything I've seen suggests MFs have crushed HF returns in recent years. Also, what he has done with the amount of assets he manages is nothing short of incredible. Managing a personal portfolio of a couple hundred thousand doesn't even begin to compare with a 40 Act, let alone a multi-billion 40 Act.

I got a story about Theo. So this is right afterthe Cubs sign him, so naturally his contract size and length is the hot topic in Chicago sports circles. anyways, a buddy and I go out on a Wednesday night and just get trashed. To end the night we go to this hot dog joint famous for its Chicago styles, A place called The Weiner Circle. The Weiner circle is a place where you cuss and be rude and be vulgar to the staff and they are back at you. They have this thing called a chocolate milk shake....from Wikipedia, Customers commonly request a "chocolate shake," which is code for asking one of the female employees to shake her....yadda yadda yadda. Three guys and two girls come in, suits and ties and party dresses....I'm not thinking anything of it. A 4th guy, not with the group hands me his phone and asks me to take a picture of him with One of the suits. I take the phone and as I hand the phone back I ask, a little bit too loud, "Who is that?." Loud enough for Theo can overhear. So Theos buddies are getting food, we just kinda sit in the back and chat. No baseball talk, turns out he had some function with some lawyers from one of chicagos big firms, Kirkland and Ellis I don't know. They were hungry and wanted food.......so we're there and Theo reaches in his pocket and grabs a $20 and asks me "what I think" while flashing the bill. I smile, and say "sounds good". The wait is so excruciatingly long that he puts it back in his pocket to which I say "I think you can afford it." He looks at me seriously, smiles then just laughs, "your right, pulls the 20$ back out.... Tldr: Theo Epstein ordered milkshakes. I know I have ordered many milkshakes myself...don't remember any of them, though.

Can't make it this year. But please take notes for us!

Hi, Does anyone have the Citi report that was just released they could share? Many thanks in advance. Scud

Hi all, Has anyone done any work on CarMax? Its business model seems to be gaining traction with customers, and their runway seems fairly long. Thanks, Scud

Which firms/investors/teams have the best investment process?

Which Russell 2000 constituent companies have the best aligned management teams or compensation packages?

Hi, Who are the best small cap value managers? Thanks, Scud

Definitely PICO. That company is getting interesting.

Very likely.

Anyone ever look into the logistics side of the business? It's called Innovel Solutions (http://innovelsolutions.com/). Their goal is to be the "UPS" of retail. They've done some impressive work by making their shipping capabilities much more robust across the U.S. I wonder why Lampert never mentions this or MetaScale. Also, anyone have any thoughts on the pension liability? I wonder what it'll show when they re-evaluate at the year-end. Their discount rate of 3.7% seems to me to be at the lower end (so more conservative) of other S&P 500 companies. I also wonder why Lampert keeps buying. It's extremely curious. How can someone who was raved about 10 years ago and on track to be the next "Buffett" be so hated and out of favor? I can't imagine he got stupid over night. And I don't think his track record was all luck either.

I'd recommend just start going to company websites and looking at investor day presentations. Pick a variety of industries so you get a generalist education.

From what I understand they're indispensable to insurance companies. Their database of stats goes too far and too deep for anyone to replicate. Because of this, even if insurance companies get hit, this isn't a cost they can cut because it's so integral. All good signs to me.

Thanks for sharing. This is fishy to me, "an innovative new financial product." What is he doing creating new products? I'm not saying it can't work because I don't even know what it is...

Thanks for sharing. Do you have any more of these? How did you happen to come across this? Do you know of any other good case studies?