A modest proposal for board usernames

[UhuruPeak]

Yeah, but what about that guy using Parsad's name?       Just kidding.

Yeah, calling oneself "Parsad" would be lame; I, on the other hand, was thinking of changing my handle into "Sanjeev".  :D

[Guest Bronco]

Smazz - lets geek it up and talk about if the BBS was on a 1200 or 2400 bps modem.

[Smazz]

Smazz - lets geek it up and talk about if the BBS was on a 1200 or 2400 bps modem.

 

Ahhhh slow modems!  I'll have to ask my bro because I cant remember exactly but i'll bet we were on something slower than that!

 

Let me check!

[watsa_is_a_randian_hero]

By the way, that Goldman pref worked out pretty nicely.

 

What did you buy at?

 

I don't think it is done running yet, should be higher.  It was at 23 pre-SEC pre-flash crash, and credit spreads have narrowed since then and the SEC issues are behind them.

 

[opihiman2]

Smazz - lets geek it up and talk about if the BBS was on a 1200 or 2400 bps modem.

 

Ahhhh slow modems!  I'll have to ask my bro because I cant remember exactly but i'll bet we were on something slower than that!

 

Let me check!

 

I started frequenting BBS'es way back in the day--around 1985.  My first modem was 300 baud max.  It would take forever to download software.  Then I upgraded within a year to 1200 baud.  It was amazing to see the huge drastic speed improvement.  Then I got a 2400 baud modem, then 14.4k bps.  US Robotics was THE modem manufacturer to go to.  Their modems were head and shoulders above and beyond the rest at the time.  It's very interesting to see that in technology, moats can erode very quickly.  I think US Robotics is still around, but they are a shell of the company they used to be.  I wonder where Cisco will be in another 25 years.  Anyways, that's another discussion altogether. 

 

Also, I've never heard of handles ever being mentioned anymore.  Nearly every site I go to asks you to enter a user id.  Back in the day, every BBS prompted you with

 

handle:

password:

 

then some ASCII art and menu system.  Man, those were the days. 

[opihiman2]

Does anyone have arguments against the proposal that they would like to share?

 

 

is watsa_is_a_randian_hero really that confusing with watsa?

 

my handle is a tribute to him - I am saying he is akin to a randian hero for the battle he has gone through the last decade with hedge funds.

 

I dont think its that hard for people to copy the full name when referring to me - or do something like hero - i've seen that.  

 

Either way, I don't really care, if Parsad wants me to change it I will.  I'd rather devote time/energy/discussion to things that matter...

 

I've been meaning to ask, but what is a randian hero?  It's a most interesting handle.

[valuecfa]

By the way, that Goldman pref worked out pretty nicely.

 

What did you buy at?

 

I don't think it is done running yet, should be higher.  It was at 23 pre-SEC pre-flash crash, and credit spreads have narrowed since then and the SEC issues are behind them.

 

 

I can't remember the purchase price, but i think i purchased the day after you mentioned it. I've still got it, for income, and possibly a bit more appreciation. If i recall the capital gain is somewhere close to 20%, plus interest. It was, and still is, one of my largest fixed income positions.

[Partner24]

So far, so good!  If it starts to get out of hand, we can always limit the number of members, so it won't be problem.  

 

Indeed. For the "old timers" here, do you remember the time when we were at MSN and lotsofcoke was talking about Marvel (he once said something like "it was ringing like a cash register"), mungerville and his very wisdom words about a lot of stuff including the naked shorters (he once said something like "my CFA analysis tell me that they are toast"), some Mohnish Pabrai posts (no, not a nickname ;-)), when Shai managed the board and met Buffett at his school, etc.? I'm glad that we have some of them still posting here like uccmal, the "they will get the cup in 2010" crip, sleeplesstwindaddy, etc.

 

I felt that this board was the nearest thing you could find about long term fundamental value investing on the World Wide Web. I think that most of that culture is still intact, but I fear we get somewhat "intoxicated" about macro predictions and analysis these days. You can find macro predictions on every street corner...it's a commodity. But long term fundamental value investing, that IS SCARCE. I hope that we'll be able to keep that focus over time. That's one of the reasons why this board is unique.

 

Cheers!

[twacowfca]

Does anyone have arguments against the proposal that they would like to share?

 

 

is watsa_is_a_randian_hero really that confusing with watsa?

 

my handle is a tribute to him - I am saying he is akin to a randian hero for the battle he has gone through the last decade with hedge funds.

 

I dont think its that hard for people to copy the full name when referring to me - or do something like hero - i've seen that.  

 

Either way, I don't really care, if Parsad wants me to change it I will.  I'd rather devote time/energy/discussion to things that matter...

 

I've been meaning to ask, but what is a randian hero?  It's a most interesting handle.

 

 

Ayn Rand was a precocious little Jewish girl who grew up in St. Pete -- Petrograd during the Russian revolution.  She saw the horrors that occurred when collectivist ideology developed to its logical end: from the subordination of the individual to the altruistic welfare of the socialistic collective, and then to the enslavement of everyone to the state.

 

Rand wrote a short biography of a movie actress that was published under her Russian name while she was still in Russia.

She escaped to the US when she was about twenty, and stayed with a relative who owned a movie theater where she watched hundreds of films.  Then she moved to Hollywood to become a screenwriter eventually.  Her novels and some of her screenplays celebrated the individual over groupthinking manipulators and capitalism over socialism.  Her Randian heroes stood apart from the crowd and were true to ethics based on honest exchanges of value, despite many attacks and trials by those with a collectivist mentality.

[opihiman2]

Does anyone have arguments against the proposal that they would like to share?

 

 

is watsa_is_a_randian_hero really that confusing with watsa?

 

my handle is a tribute to him - I am saying he is akin to a randian hero for the battle he has gone through the last decade with hedge funds.

 

I dont think its that hard for people to copy the full name when referring to me - or do something like hero - i've seen that.  

 

Either way, I don't really care, if Parsad wants me to change it I will.  I'd rather devote time/energy/discussion to things that matter...

 

I've been meaning to ask, but what is a randian hero?  It's a most interesting handle.

 

 

Ayn Rand was a precocious little Jewish girl who grew up in St. Pete -- Petrograd during the Russian revolution.  She saw the horrors that occurred when collectivist ideology developed to its logical end: from the subordination of the individual to the altruistic welfare of the socialistic collective and then to the enslavement of everyone to the state.

 

She escaped to the US when she was about twenty, and stayed with a relative who owned a movie theater where she watched hundreds of films.  She had written a short biography of an actress that was published while she was in Russia.  Then she moved to Hollywood to become eventually a screenwriter.  Her novels and some of her screenplays celebrated the individual over groupthinking manipulators and capitalism over socialism.  Her Randian heroes stood away from the crowd and were true to ethics based on honest exchanges of value, despite many attacks and trials by those with a collectivist mentality.

 

Ah, thanks for that.  I was extremely confused by the handle.  Watsa is Canadian, and I thought randian hero was some sort of word play on that. 

 

Does anyone know if Watsa subscribes to the libertarian philosophies of Ayn Rand? 

[twacowfca]

Does anyone have arguments against the proposal that they would like to share?

 

 

is watsa_is_a_randian_hero really that confusing with watsa?

 

my handle is a tribute to him - I am saying he is akin to a randian hero for the battle he has gone through the last decade with hedge funds.

 

I dont think its that hard for people to copy the full name when referring to me - or do something like hero - i've seen that.  

 

Either way, I don't really care, if Parsad wants me to change it I will.  I'd rather devote time/energy/discussion to things that matter...

 

I've been meaning to ask, but what is a randian hero?  It's a most interesting handle.

 

 

Ayn Rand was a precocious little Jewish girl who grew up in St. Pete -- Petrograd during the Russian revolution.  She saw the horrors that occurred when collectivist ideology developed to its logical end: from the subordination of the individual to the altruistic welfare of the socialistic collective and then to the enslavement of everyone to the state.

 

She escaped to the US when she was about twenty, and stayed with a relative who owned a movie theater where she watched hundreds of films.  She had written a short biography of an actress that was published while she was in Russia.  Then she moved to Hollywood to become eventually a screenwriter.  Her novels and some of her screenplays celebrated the individual over groupthinking manipulators and capitalism over socialism.  Her Randian heroes stood away from the crowd and were true to ethics based on honest exchanges of value, despite many attacks and trials by those with a collectivist mentality.

 

Ah, thanks for that.  I was extremely confused by the handle.  Watsa is Canadian, and I thought randian hero was some sort of word play on that.  

 

Does anyone know if Watsa subscribes to the libertarian philosophies of Ayn Rand?  

 

 

Watsa certainly believes in honest exchanges of value with staff, shareholders, suppliers, etc., but at heart he's a decent human being, not an ideologue.  His raison d'être is Christianity in the best connotation of how to live out the golden rule, not necessarily overtly evangelical.  His two role models are Ben Graham on the investing side and especially John Templeton, also on the investing side but mainly as a kind Christian.  He spent a lot of time with Templeton over the years before he passed away.  If you want to know more about what makes Prem tick, read Templeton's book, The Templeton Plan.

[omagh]

There was a Fairfax board on stockhouse.ca which pre-dated the MSN board where a few of us sharpened our value investing craft.  Bits of it are still out there on the interwebs.  I recall Sanjeev appeared on there about 1998 or 1999.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20030424122214/www.stockhouse.ca/bullboards/forum.asp?symbol=ffh&table=list

 

-O

Indeed. For the "old timers" here, do you remember the time when we were at MSN and lotsofcoke was talking about Marvel (he once said something like "it was ringing like a cash register"), mungerville and his very wisdom words about a lot of stuff including the naked shorters (he once said something like "my CFA analysis tell me that they are toast"), some Mohnish Pabrai posts (no, not a nickname ;-)), when Shai managed the board and met Buffett at his school, etc.? I'm glad that we have some of them still posting here like uccmal, the "they will get the cup in 2010" crip, sleeplesstwindaddy, etc.

[twacowfca]

There was a Fairfax board on stockhouse.ca which pre-dated the MSN board where a few of us sharpened our value investing craft.  Bits of it are still out there on the interwebs.  I recall Sanjeev appeared on there about 1998 or 1999.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20030424122214/www.stockhouse.ca/bullboards/forum.asp?symbol=ffh&table=list

 

-O

Indeed. For the "old timers" here, do you remember the time when we were at MSN and lotsofcoke was talking about Marvel (he once said something like "it was ringing like a cash register"), mungerville and his very wisdom words about a lot of stuff including the naked shorters (he once said something like "my CFA analysis tell me that they are toast"), some Mohnish Pabrai posts (no, not a nickname ;-)), when Shai managed the board and met Buffett at his school, etc.? I'm glad that we have some of them still posting here like uccmal, the "they will get the cup in 2010" crip, sleeplesstwindaddy, etc.

 

Ah, yes, I remember them well.  The good old days.  But, alas, I was merely a "lurker" then.  :o

[watsa_is_a_randian_hero]

Does anyone have arguments against the proposal that they would like to share?

 

 

is watsa_is_a_randian_hero really that confusing with watsa?

 

my handle is a tribute to him - I am saying he is akin to a randian hero for the battle he has gone through the last decade with hedge funds.

 

I dont think its that hard for people to copy the full name when referring to me - or do something like hero - i've seen that.  

 

Either way, I don't really care, if Parsad wants me to change it I will.  I'd rather devote time/energy/discussion to things that matter...

 

I've been meaning to ask, but what is a randian hero?  It's a most interesting handle.

 

 

Ayn Rand was a precocious little Jewish girl who grew up in St. Pete -- Petrograd during the Russian revolution.  She saw the horrors that occurred when collectivist ideology developed to its logical end: from the subordination of the individual to the altruistic welfare of the socialistic collective and then to the enslavement of everyone to the state.

 

She escaped to the US when she was about twenty, and stayed with a relative who owned a movie theater where she watched hundreds of films.  She had written a short biography of an actress that was published while she was in Russia.  Then she moved to Hollywood to become eventually a screenwriter.  Her novels and some of her screenplays celebrated the individual over groupthinking manipulators and capitalism over socialism.  Her Randian heroes stood away from the crowd and were true to ethics based on honest exchanges of value, despite many attacks and trials by those with a collectivist mentality.

 

Ah, thanks for that.  I was extremely confused by the handle.  Watsa is Canadian, and I thought randian hero was some sort of word play on that.  

 

Does anyone know if Watsa subscribes to the libertarian philosophies of Ayn Rand?  

 

From wikipedia for randian hero:

a man whose ability and independence leads to conflict with others, but who perseveres nevertheless to achieve his values.

 

 

 

I thought that was a perfect description for watsa during the hedge fund/shorts conflict years

 

I have no idea what philosophy he subscribes to...but I thought the description was good for him.  Personally I am a fan of individualism and individual rights as opposed to collectivism.

[shalab]

>Does anyone know if Watsa subscribes to the libertarian philosophies of Ayn Rand?

 

I dont know Prem personally - but if I have to guess, I don't think he subscribes to a political philosophy. As the great Charlie Munger said in one of his lectures, subscription to a political ideology can turn a person's head into cabbage.

[opihiman2]

Whoa, thanks for all of the responses! 

[nodnub]

Does anyone have arguments against the proposal that they would like to share?

 

 

is watsa_is_a_randian_hero really that confusing with watsa?

 

my handle is a tribute to him - I am saying he is akin to a randian hero for the battle he has gone through the last decade with hedge funds.

 

I dont think its that hard for people to copy the full name when referring to me - or do something like hero - i've seen that.  

 

Either way, I don't really care, if Parsad wants me to change it I will.  I'd rather devote time/energy/discussion to things that matter...

 

No, it is not confusing. I explicitly used your name as an example of one that is suitable, I guess you missed that  :)

 

Variations on these names that differentiate the post author from the REAL person would be fine.  (accepted examples would be "mungerville", "watsa_is_randian_hero", "buffettologist", etc)

 

I was merely suggesting that userids like "Munger" were inappropriate because everyone that refers to this poster ends up writing something like this... Munger (the user, not the 86 year old sidekick to W.E.B.)  The problem is that there is nothing else in the username to help people keep it distinct when making reference to the poster.  Your username solves this problem by being obviously distinct.

[Lotsofcoke]

>Does anyone know if Watsa subscribes to the libertarian philosophies of Ayn Rand?

 

I dont know Prem personally - but if I have to guess, I don't think he subscribes to a political philosophy. As the great Charlie Munger said in one of his lectures, subscription to a political ideology can turn a person's head into cabbage.

 

I suspect he does not.

[Shawn]

LOL Buffett, Munger and Prem can't help that they've influenced a lot of people and have fans. Maybe it would be nice tho if a list of the similar names came up too when people signed up to possibly deter them from having the same name as another poster could work.