Hawk4value

I have a last minute conflict which unfortunately forces me to cancel my plans to come to Toronto. My ticket is available.

I am thinking a more conservative way to play JC Penny is with the bonds. The 2016s are yielding over 10% for example. Any comments on this strategy??

Constructive, I have been a long time holder of MIL (MFC Industrial). Can you expound on your particular reasons for holding it. I am using it as an inflation hedge, a distressed buyer of commodities, and as a book value investment. It seems this will play out but will take a while. Thanks.

The Washington Post article below discusses Obama's efforts to encourage banks to again make mortgages to highly risky credit individuals. I guess here we go again. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-administration-pushes-banks-to-make-home-loans-to-people-with-weaker-credit/2013/04/02/a8b4370c-9aef-11e2-a941-a19bce7af755_story.html

Seems to me that they are going to try and operate the business which I think is a mistake. Was excited with the possibility of the company becoming an investment vechicle for Chou, etc. Now that does not seem to be happening.

Just read today that Coach has purchased 740,000sqft of condo space in NYC for its new hqtrs, in a new building being developed by Forest City. The cost is $750 mil, an incredible sum. Whenever I read that a company is building a "Taj Mahal" headquarters building I run the other way. The last time I read a similar thing was when Tom Ward built his hqtrs building for $100 mil. At that point I stopped my DD on Sandridge and never invested in the company.

I followed Malone for many years but never bought into TCI because I always considered it over indebited. But I bought my initial stake in Liberty when Malone split it off from TCI and then sold TCI to ATT. At that time Liberty was a hodgepodge. There was no one out there who was going to figure it out. My thesis was simple: this is the entity that Malone retained as his personal investment vechicle for the future. I decided to throw to throw my hat in the ring with him come what may. I have held on for about 15 years. Whenever the market tanked I would buy more shares. I have never sold a share of liberty or any of the spinoffs. I am definitely happy that I never over-analyzed this investment and just let it ride.

The government at this time can choose not to do much and just let nature take its course and let those who have recklessly borrowed more money suffer. The result would be that economy would take a much sharper downturn....The problem with this approach is that it would cause tremendous suffering....There is a moral component to this line of reasoning. Suffering, like greed, in a capitalistic system is a necessity for the system to work properly. Why?? Because human beings are prone to excess. The excess, when it occurs, has to be purged. Now you can choose to let nature takes its course, or you can inject all kinds of bandaids, the most insidious of which is the printing of money. If you want to discuss morality, lets talk about the responsible people who worked, saved, were underleveraged, and had a cash cushion to get thru the crisis. These people, their wealth, are being wiped out because their money is being devalued, and they cannot get a reasonable return on their cash without undue risk because of rate suppression. In order to live, these people have to spend their principle. How moral and fair is that. Now who benefits: the politicians keep their jobs; and the financial types game the system and make extrordinary amounts of money. You have heard of the $50mil to $90mil dollar condos in NYC. Who do you think are buying these properties.

Finally, I like L and BWP, a MLP which pays all its earnings to owners. Gio, I have had a position in L since 2009 and would like to possibly establish a position in BWP for its income generating (and tax deferral) capacity. I have been researching MLPs (but not BWP specifically yet) in general and am concerned with general partner IDRs. In this case since I own L which is also the general partner for BWP, I would benefit from any IDRs paid to L. When you mentioned that BWP is an MLP which pays "ALL" its earnings to owners, do you mean there are no IDRs?? Thanks.

I disagree. Keeping the "gifted" kids together with the rest of the class not only keeps them grounded and teaches them patience, it allows them to develop other skills such as relationship building, teaching other students, and communication skills. The above is the politically correct mantra espoused by the Federal Gov't run US educational system and is based and motivated by a need not to make less gifted children feel "inferior". Well the reality is that some people are more gifted than others, period. Face up to it. Holding these people back because of the "feelings" of the other less gifted is a detriment to the advancement of our culture and society. I suspect this dumbing down phenomena is why America's educational system is scrapping the bottom of the scale versus other developed countries.

The article seems to be saying that NBNK is a publicly traded SPAC that Ross bought into for 39 pence/shs. Anyone know if it trades and where??

texual: I found your evaluation of SHLD very interesting. It always seemed to me that Eddie would evantually increase his personal stake in SHLD to the point where he controlls it. I think that he also will slowly monetize Shld's assets and transform the company into a "Berkshire" type of entity with permanent capital. I am a big proponent of investing with smart owner/operators with superior ability to allocate capital. Although I am not willing to invest in Shld right now because of my distaste for any investment that has to compete with the Targets, Walmarts, and Costcos of this world, if Shld becomes Eddie's investment vehicle I would be very interested. Am I on the right track??

Regarding liquidity, where are people buying the shares??? On the pink sheets or in the UK market??

An MIL investment is certainly opague, its certainly a jockey bet, and its certainly a slow patient slog. But, what you do have is a very talented, patient, focused, bulldog with substantial ownership interest who has a 25-30 year track record of making money for his partners. He is certainly a Malone type in that his corporate structure and deals are focused on minimizing taxes. But he is a balance sheet investor not a growth investor. For the commodities space this is exactly what I want. He is also like Zell in that he is a vulture/value investor who can doggedly pursue a deal for years until the price is right. A real grave dancer. He is as cheap as they come and I love it. I have been invested with him for several years and I have substantially increased my position over time. It was the most rational way I could think of to invest in the commodity space. For me its one of my hedges against inflation.

I am sure Ron is a very intelligent guy. But it seems he has a problem with banks only issuing mortgages to people with 720 and above, and 20% down. Well, hello Ronnie!!!! That's what banks are supposed to do: make responsible mortgages so the system doesn't crash again. Mortgages are supposed to be hard to get, not easy. It is a priviledge to buy and own a house, not an entitlement. Home ownership is the largest contingent liability for the vast majority of people and should not be entered into lightly.