Irwing Kahn and "Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life"

[Guest hellsten]

In Richard Dawkin's documentary on "Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life", Irwing Kahn talks about life at 105 and the Wall Street crash of 1928:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kEclvp40KHU#t=1690s

 

Irwing's sister is 108 and has been smoking for 95 years  :-*

 

Kahn Brother's 13-F:

http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1039565/000103956512000009/qtr13f3rd12.txt

 

High-conviction stocks seem to be financial and health care stocks, including Hologic, MBIA, BAC, Citigroup, Merck,New York Times, New York Community, Pfizer, etc.

 

Anyone here know why Kahn likes Hologic and New York Community?

[Guest hellsten]

Another interesting clip from the 3-part series which explains an experiment where rats managed to beat humans in predicting the future:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3w71PAo8zT4#t=1130s

 

This experiment seems relevant to the world of investing in more ways than one, but maybe my human brain is seeing patterns that are not there :o

[matjone]

I don't know why he likes NYCB, but I can tell you why i don't.  I used to bank with Amtrust until they went bust, and nycb took them over.  I pulled all of my money out, or tried to, but there was a small amount left.  I tried to transfer it out and was told that the amount was too small to transfer.  I decided to it was too small of an amount to mess with so I let it go.  Now NYCB is saying I owe them money for overdraft .  I'm assuming they started a monthly fee and bled it down to a negative balance .  Irving Kahn seems like a nice guy who deserves good fortune but I am rooting for NYCB to become insolvent, go to zero, and get hit by a meteor (during non-business hours of course).

 

sorry for hijacking the thread but I needed someone to listen to my sorrows.

 

 

[Guest hellsten]

I don't know why he likes NYCB, but I can tell you why i don't.  I used to bank with Amtrust until they went bust, and nycb took them over.  I pulled all of my money out, or tried to, but there was a small amount left.  I tried to transfer it out and was told that the amount was too small to transfer.  I decided to it was too small of an amount to mess with so I let it go.  Now NYCB is saying I owe them money for overdraft .  I'm assuming they started a monthly fee and bled it down to a negative balance .  Irving Kahn seems like a nice guy who deserves good fortune but I am rooting for NYCB to become insolvent, go to zero, and get hit by a meteor (during non-business hours of course).

 

sorry for hijacking the thread but I needed someone to listen to my sorrows.

 

I agree, overdraft fees are totally ridiculous and to me proof that the attitude towards customers is rotten. In my experience telecommunication companies and banks are the worst when it comes to taking advantage of customers. That's also why I give them as little of my money as I can. In my experience, people don't forget a bad customer experience.

 

I read in the BAC thread that Moynihan is going to eliminate overdraft fees at BAC…

[matjone]

Agreed.  I think some companies are customer un-friendly because they have no competetive advantage, others because they have a monopoly.  Cable companies are notorious.  It is standard operating procedure when you sign up for internet with charter commmunications - you are going to get screwed on the bill and have to fight it.  It's never what they say it will be.  Same thing with At&t.  There just isn't enough competition so they get away with it.  With banking I suspect it is the opposite - anyone can take in deposits, and they want to beat each other out, but the only way to make money on these small accounts is with fees, while the only way to reel in customers is by promising no fees.

 

I have a checking and CC acct. with BAC and they haven't been too bad.  There were a couple times some weird charges showed up and I complained and they took them off.  They also did a good job recognizing that someone was trying to get a CC in my name a few years ago. 

 

I can tell the difference in dealing with BAC since Mgmt changed.  They seem like they have been coached to treat you kindly and respectfully to keep you on as a customer, and to try to sell other products to you.