handycap5

I am not familiar with NEAM and their relationship to Berkshire. It appears that it is 75% owned by General Re. Are the funds they manage similarly invested for Berkshire? Could you provide any more infor or direct me to where I could learn more? Thank you.

I'm old enough to be scared by the 100 or so companies that went bankrupt due to asbestos. The PFOA and AFFF liabilities scare me. Could someone who is more knowledgeable with the litigation risk here help me sleep at night?

Chris Bloomstran on a recent interview put the normalized earnings power at $40 billion. Any idea of where he gets that figure?

You were right. Platinum equity for $11.05 a share.

Can you expand on the comment that Lear's management was paid to go bankrupt? I found the article linked below, but was hoping you could provide a little more background or a good source to read. Thanks! https://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090721/FREE/907219972/lear-corp-bankruptcy-trustee-objects-to-bonus-payments

Shane Parrish did a very interesting interview with Atul which I recommend. Also, since you mentioned the Hippocratic Oath, I can't help but think of Milton Friedman's criticism of the same (search for Oath here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684832/posts). I suspect the greater opportunity and greater challenge will be changing human behavior and organizations, not mining data. But maybe the latter can aid the former.

They have had some marketing setbacks. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/15/hedge-funder-in-hot-water-sahm-adrangi-arrested-for-dui-cocaine-possession-in-hamptons.html

I would second the request for posting (for posterity). Thanks a lot.

Could someone familiar with the St. Louis Fed website post a link to the specific report? Would be appreciated...

Steve Tusa from JPM is very negative (and has so far been generally right on his GE call) on the competitive dynamics and positioning of the power business. If anyone is closer to this, could you explain it to me? Thanks in advance.

Highly recommend this book. One tidbit I found fascinating. When Buffett built his huge American Express position, the holders of the stock at that time did not have limited liability AND he didn't tell his partnership investors he bought it for them until year-end. Incredible self-confidence. Maybe in the grey in terms of investor communication (many of his investors at that time were not "sophisticated."), but of course it worked out.

I also note strangely that Chuck didn't seem to write an annual letter this year, at least that I could find...

Going private. https://www.groupecanam.com/en/press-releases/canam-group-announces-going-private-transaction-by-a-group-of-investors-led-by-the-dutil-family/

If you spend time on IBKR, let me know what you conclude on the appropriate tax rate. I could never figure it out to a degree that I could get comfortable - though I know others have...

I have an problem - just in time for earnings season! I keep a list of stocks I own in Google Finance, which on their website had past and future events for the US-listed companies. I could then "subscribe" to these events on a continual basis by adding the link to the events of my portfolio to Google Calendar. Unfortunately, Google looks like they have deprecated this feature, as the "detail pages" of my stocks no longer have upcoming events. This was the primary utility for me of using Google Calendar vs my other options, such as Outlook - so I am not happy Larry. Curses! Does anyone know of a way to easily import upcoming earnings calls, etc. into Google Calendar or Outlook?