Parsad

i suggest reading the book again. Reading the book will make no difference. In most respects, the Surface is a good product that is pretty comparable to the iPad. Yet, how was the execution at Microsoft in marketing this thing and perfecting it under Ballmer? So far, it's been mediocre. Jobs greatest asset was his ability to perfect a product (his innovation or not), and then get people to pay 2 times more than it was worth relative to other products. That cannot be taught. Cook is not going to absorb that through his gills because he spent time around Jobs. It's like saying that I'll be a great physicist by working with Stephen Hawkings! Jobs second greatest asset was his ability to get the most out of the talent around him. He was a slave-driver that forced employees to get things right the first time...not on the second or third attempt. And ironically, they loved him even more for it while they hated how hard they had to work. That combination of drive, vision, competitiveness, marketing savvy, and understanding of technology in our daily lives is irreplaceable. Apple will be a good company without Jobs, but it will not be a great company. It's long-term existence will be similar to other technology companies. Cheers!

Thanks for posting that Hellsten! Cheers!

I think so. Also, this thread sort of devolved a bit, and most people seem to have strong opinions that don't change that much on either side. Because little has changed with the fundamentals of the company. You can't have much of a debate based on rumors. Well, I think it's also partly because some of the people who thought RIMM & DELL were better deals relative to the underlying assets have been proven right. Apple is now getting back into the territory where it is starting to pique my interest, while the other two stocks are up 120% and 45% respectively. If it gets any cheaper, I suspect this thread will start to get busy again. Cheers! Wait, what happened to - Apple cannot innovate since Jobs is dead, Apple will lose as Samoogle has caught up, Apple cannot maintain insane margins, yada, yada, yada? Apple can't innovate as persistently without Jobs. Apple will lose as Samoogle catches up. Apple cannot maintain insane margins. Where in my statements did I say anything differently? You are confusing what is a good business with what may be a good value. Apple's business will not be as good as it was in the past. Neither will Dell's, Microsoft's...nor RIMM's. That doesn't mean at some point there may not be value in the investment. I didn't say I would buy Apple now. I said if it continues to drop in price, it will pique my interest and at some point it may be of value. It ain't there! Cheers!

I suspect the offer comes in at $14 based on the rumors, and then you have shareholders fight for $15.50-16. Shareholders feel somewhat vindicated by the slightly higher offer, and Michael Dell gets it taken private for a pretty good price nicely under intrinsic value. Cheers!

I think so. Also, this thread sort of devolved a bit, and most people seem to have strong opinions that don't change that much on either side. Because little has changed with the fundamentals of the company. You can't have much of a debate based on rumors. Well, I think it's also partly because some of the people who thought RIMM & DELL were better deals relative to the underlying assets have been proven right. Apple is now getting back into the territory where it is starting to pique my interest, while the other two stocks are up 120% and 45% respectively. If it gets any cheaper, I suspect this thread will start to get busy again. Cheers!

Investors are not going to like that. It won't get done at that price. Cheers!

None. We kept buying and buying to bring our average cost down. We are up about 40% on it right now, and if it trades in the $14-15 range, we would finish up about 60-70%. Cheers! Shouldn't your average price then be about $8.75 - 8.82 to be up 60 - 70% when Dell trades in the $14-15 range? 8.75 * 1.6 = 14 8.82 * 1.7 =~ 15 (I'm ignoring the dividend now for simplicity) I also did some averaging down, but my average cost is $10.5. You must have really exploited the lows of the past year to get this average price. Are there any tricks that you can share to get such results? TIA Hi jmaes, I was eyeballing it including dividends over the last six months. We got it down to $9.22. Exact numbers, excluding dividends: $13.10/$9.22 = 42% $14.50/$9.22 = 57% Cheers!

I've got to tell you that Preet Bharara has done ten times more in his time than hedge-fund crony Spitzer ever did. Kinnucan gets four years! Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/15/news/companies/kinnucan-insider-trading/index.html?source=cnn_bin

Jefferies increases bond offering to $1B. Taking advantage of the rates. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-15/jefferies-said-to-plan-750-million-of-bonds-in-first-since-2011.html?cmpid=yhoo

None. We kept buying and buying to bring our average cost down. We are up about 40% on it right now, and if it trades in the $14-15 range, we would finish up about 60-70%. Cheers!

Very prescient analysis Prasad. Great call at the sell as well - can't go wrong selling to the frenzied crowd when the stock starts getting popular...Cheers! ;D Thanks Sidd! Hopefully, the price keeps going up over the next couple of days. I'm happy to walk away with a 50-60%+ gain in 6 months. Cheers! Because the turnaround at DELL isn't a 6 month process. If the markets want to suddenly increase the market value of the company because it may go private, and speed the increase in the valuation without a commensurate turnaround in the business, then I'm fine selling some of my stake as the price moves toward intrinsic value. The buyout is a catalyst to move the price, not improve the business...an outlier in the investment process. Why am I going to take a chance to see if the buyout actually happens and then this outlier disappears as quickly as it arrived. I can always buy back the stock if it falls and hold for the longer term and eventual turnaround. I just don't think a buyout is going to be near the $18-22 intrinsic value price, and the market will be disappointed. I think the offer will be $14-16. Thus the reason I average in and average out, so that the sell process is as orderly as the buy process. If it turns out to be on the higher end, and I left a little on the table...so what...up over 60%-70% in less than 6 months. Contrary to what Buffett states, because he is running a captive capital corporation buying entire businesses in whole, I'm actually exploiting market behavior while valuing and purchasing portions of businesses based on calculations of long-term intrinsic value. In other words, I bet on the outcome over the long-term, but if catalysts or outliers move the needle closer to present-day intrinsic value far quicker, it is my obligation to take advantage of that and move that capital to cheaper territory. That's what we will do. We don't fall in love with stocks. Cheers!

Yup. And that net interest margin is probably the lowest it will ever get. Mr. Market gets confused at times! Cheers!

Very prescient analysis Prasad. Great call at the sell as well - can't go wrong selling to the frenzied crowd when the stock starts getting popular...Cheers! ;D Thanks Sidd! Hopefully, the price keeps going up over the next couple of days. I'm happy to walk away with a 50-60%+ gain in 6 months. Cheers!

WSJ article on the possible buyout. Apparently, talks have been on and off for months. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324235104578242252277078638.html If the link above doesn't work, do a Google search for "Dell Explores Going Private" and the first result is the WSJ. Click on that and you should be able to view the article. Cheers!

I think they should look at cross-selling insurance and other products. Berkshire's been doing that for some time. I'm also still waiting for another non-insurance acquisition. Hopefully there is something in the fryer and they announce it before the AGM. The more booths I get to visit, the better! ;D Cheers!

No, that's what I thought as well. I had one hotel booked in late December, but when I was doing some searching, it looked like some cancellations may have popped up at some hotels. I ended up getting some really nice rooms at the Doubletree for a nice rate. They may still have some rooms left. Check Expedia as well, as their allocation wasn't completely exhausted. Cheers!

Yup! You never know what could transpire unless you are the one in control, or there are lockups or penalties in any sort of deal. Essentially, it's an arbitrage at this stage and there is no deal. It could all blow away tomorrow and Dell could continue to struggle with the PC business and the stock trades down below $10 again. Cheers!

We average in, we average out. We sold a bit more today. If something comes of this, I suspect it will be between $14-16. Cheers!

Yeah Ben, I think your number is close. I think it dropped from the low 20's to your range when they bought that last tranche at $11 or so. I believe they are not far from break-even now. Also, Txlaw & Smazz - re: Peter Burke CEO. I don't believe he ever asked to delete posts. It was Harry Long that you guys are thinking of. Cheers! Au contraire: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/icahn-loses-big-on-lionsgate/msg72835/#msg72835 Post by Sanjeev: Peter Burke messaged me and said that he did not feel this forum was the right venue to express himself, and if I can terminate his account and delete all his posts. I did not boot him out, but obliged his request. Cheers! He definitely deleted his posts because I went back and forth with him a lot, and his posts are no longer there. That's why I always quote people when responding to particular comments because posters will edit and delete posts after the fact, and sometimes the context of a response gets lost when that happens. Sorry Txlaw, I should have checked. Can't remember all of the posters who have been on here that have requested something of that nature! ;D Only Harry Long springs to mind right away. Cheers!

Yeah Ben, I think your number is close. I think it dropped from the low 20's to your range when they bought that last tranche at $11 or so. I believe they are not far from break-even now. Also, Txlaw & Smazz - re: Peter Burke CEO. I don't believe he ever asked to delete posts. It was Harry Long that you guys are thinking of. Cheers!

Umm its "CEO" Peter Burke Txlaw - get it straight ;) haha, what a joke these two posers are. If RimNeverSleeps is not CEO Burke using another handle then.. well.. he must be a close relative. So the guy did ask for his posts to be removed?? ha ha... that explains it. Good writing Tx Law. And looks like those with the guts to double down are reaping some rewards now and should be even moreso going forward. Sanjeev, I believe someone (not sure if it was here or a friend from real world) said Prems ACB was somewhere in the mid $20s? Thanks Smazz! I thought it was lower than that, but I may be wrong. I'll see if I can find it and calculate it. Cheers!

Hedge fund leverage the highest since 2004. Retards! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-14/hedge-fund-leverage-rises-to-most-since-2004-in-new-year.html

Anyone know Fairfax's average cost off the top of their head? I would think they are getting relatively close to break-even after today's run-up. Cheers!

Ackman's short is not looking good about now! Back to pre-Ackman levels. Cheers!

HSBC tells clients to avoid SAC. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-11/hsbc-said-to-advise-wealthy-against-more-sac-investments.html