It looks like another disaster has hit the Futures and Commodities industry with the recent freezing of accounts at PFGBEST.  This is a very unfortunate situation for clients that put their hard earned money to work in account believing that their funds were segregated only to find inconsistencies with the firm’s accounting.  Before and after...Read More

This article talks about one of our favorite stocks in the media space.  DirecTV (DTV) offers a compelling value at just over 10 times forward earnings.  This company has a strong business with excellent growth in Latin America, and its strong capital allocation track record make is ideal for shareholders looking for a good long...Read More

This article rightfully brings attention to the high possibility that tax rates on dividends will be increasing next year.  With bond yields so low for highly rated companies it does make some sense to issue debt and to pay it out to shareholders, and then over the next years pay back the loans by offering...Read More

Although Brazil sits on vast oil reserves and should be one of the primary growth regions for global supplies, the domestic oil equities such as Petrobras (PBR) and OGX Petroleio e Gas Participacoes have struggled.  A big reason for this is the effort to try and produce as much as possible using domestic companies, when...Read More

We have talked about the vulnerability of the Australian economy due to its exposure to heavy mining materials before, as we expect Chinese demand to slow down.  There are significant issues with the Australian economy due to over-inflated housing prices, and an extremely strong currency which crimps exports.  The decade long mining boom has propelled...Read More

This is an interesting article on Lenovo’s practice of internally manufacturing as opposed to outsourcing.  Obviously being a Chinese company the decision is made bit easier than it is for companies like Dell or Hewlett-Packard which are based in the United States.  Currently the trend led by Apple is to take more control over the...Read More

Rapidly rising education costs combined with diminishing expected incomes are likely to create significant problems for a generation of young workers.  With unemployment still greater than 8% many recent college graduates have elected to get their secondary education instead of seeking immediate employment.  This is a sound strategy in some cases, but it is important...Read More

One of my investing idols Seth Klarman of the Baupost Group was profiled in The Economist.  Klarman’s book “Margin of Safety” is mandatory reading for any serious value investor.  On a risk adjusted returns basis I believe it would be very hard to find a better investor than Seth Klarman over a multi-decade time frame....Read More

General Motors (GM) has sold off as many of the cyclical companies have on global economic weakness.  Berkshire Hathaway has accumulated a reasonably sized position in the company.  Due to it being a smaller position it is unlikely that it was Warren Buffett, but more likely Todd Combs or Ted Weschler that was doing the...Read More

Today the U.S. economy posted terrible jobs growth furthering concern of an economic slowdown.  Over the last 3 months the U.S. economy has only created 225,000 jobs which is truly abysmal.  While the Federal Reserve has done everything it can, the government needs to implement job programs and get more aggressive in promoting growth.  It...Read More