Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK/B) subsidiary Lubrizol seems to be executing quite well according the their CEO James Hambrick.  In this article Hambrick says that he plans to increase revenue by about 60%, and that $10 billion in revenue is a reasonable number for this company.  The Lubrizol acquisition was clouded by all of the drama surrounding...Read More

AIA Group Ltd (1299) continues to profitably grow in Asia.  As disposable incomes rise it is very likely that the insurance industry will experience a long and fast growth trajectory in Asia and other emerging markets.  American International Group Inc. (AIG) still owns about 19% of AIA and it will be interesting to see if...Read More

USB continues to operate really well.  It is a really good indicator of traditional banking as they offer a very straightforward U.S. centric business model.  While I’d much rather own USB than 95% of banks out there, the valuation isn’t quite as attractive as the large money center banks so if it came down I’d...Read More

The Federal Reserve continues to unwind the various Maiden Lane portfolios at a really nice profit for taxpayers.  Once the Federal Reserve sells the remaining portion of Maiden Lane III AIG should be pretty much done owing any more money.  According to Bloomberg the central bank is owed almost $9 billion on its loan to...Read More

Research in Motion (RIMM) is in talks to hire a financial advisor to evaluate the best way to monetize their assets.  I think that this is a very positive development and that the company should be very proactive in reevaluating their options.  Patent sales and operating system licensing seem to be quite attractive options, and...Read More

It looks like renowned hedge fund manager John Paulson is betting against European debt.  It would be interesting to know if he is using credit default swaps against countries or specific companies.  Paulson made most of his money through buying credit default swaps on subprime CDO’s so this type of situation is right up his...Read More

It’s not surprising that after last week Spain is looking for help from the ECB through the purchasing of bonds in the secondary market.  I think the ECB should definitely get involved while making sure Spain understands that their help is contingent upon them cutting the fat our of their budget.  The ultimate costs will...Read More

Distressed investor Wilbur Ross is one of the truly great contrarian investors and in this interview he gives his insight in marine transport, shale gas, among other topics.  Ross also has large investments in the bond insurer Assured Guaranty (AGO) and Bank of Ireland (IRE).  He looks at investments from a much longer perspective than...Read More

EU lawmakers seem intent on turning a recession into a depression by imposing absurdly high capital requirements which would serve to stifle lending at the worst time possible.  This is one of the most obscene over reactions that I can imagine, and it is totally impractical for banks to raise that much capital when the...Read More

JP Morgan produced extremely strong earnings numbers today.  Net income was $5.38 billion and the earnings were balanced through the retail banks and the investment bank.  JP Morgan is really a behemoth with simply amazing earnings power and Jamie Dimon has done a great job navigating the rough financial waters over the last several years....Read More