Ethics Bowl Champions

The best investment ever

Me!

This post is more of a personal note. Today, September 12, 2007, I have decided to increase my position on the best investment ever. For the past year, I have been restructuring my capital allocation and accumulating shares of knowledge. There has been a lack of intelligence on my part when it came to allocating all of my resources. I am guilty of wasting too much time online, trying to learn finance on the go, and in a battle of whether I am an active trader or an investor. My portfolio today is in a great place to grow for the next two quarters without me having to login and trade every week. My past performance has shown me that an active trading strategy yields the same results as a passive medium-term buy and hold strategy, therefore I am going to just monitor my investments in order to keep in control, but I will not be hunting stocks up and down every day. I believe that the best investment I can make today is to log off the internets completely and read at least 2 to 3 hours per day. I have armed myself with an excellent collection of books (from Amazon and the UTSA Library) and will be spending my "free-time" with them. I am now a true student of finance.

I am very happy that I have been able to identify my goals and that I am now completely focused on what will get me there. Goodbye Facebook, adios Perez. My life plan calls for an aggressive strategy and I will work very hard to become who I want to be. As in the stock market, I have the advantage that time is on my side for this life quest and I will not waste another minute of my life on useless stuff. Let it be known that Sergio Silva has arrived.

Ad Astra per Sapientia

The genius of Warren Buffet

In what might seem like a sign that Warren's investing genius is just getting better, BRK disclosed today its holdings on The Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones (DJ). The purchase occurred before Rupert Murdoch announced his bid to buy Dow Jones for a $60 a share, a 35% premium over the average price.

You can read about this and other Berkshire holdings here: Link.

Security Analysis Summary

I will be starting something new in order to help myself and my readers understand a bit more about value investing and the field of security analysis. I will be providing reviews and notes of the book "Security Analysis" by the teacher of the Oracle, Mr Ben Graham. This is the book that quite possibly started it all and by reading it again I plan on understanding it better. I hope you enjoy this new series.

Disclaimer: The following material is composed of direct quotes and paraphrases of the "Security Analysis" book by Graham and Dodd. In no way or form do I seek any material gain from this articles as they are for academic purposes and all credit is given to the authors. My personal comments are put in parenthesis to differentiate from the book material.

Chapter 1 - Introduction. The array of securities. Economic background.

The objectives of security analysis are: to present info about a security and reach a dependable conclusion about the security.
An analyst needs to understand: corporate accounting, how basic businesses work, how the economy works, and the characteristics of the securities markets.
An analyst must be able to resist his/her own human nature to mistrusts his/her feelings when they are part of mass psychology (in other words: always stay cool regardless of the market conditions).

The soundness of a security purchase is determined by future developments and not by past history or statistics, but we cannot analyze the future so we have to prepare for it and anticipate it intelligently. The past, however, is an important tool in making investment decisions as business anticipations are closely related to past performance.

The 5 matters that concern investors most immediately are:

1) The general price level - It is long term inflationary but includes periods or recession.
(term real income- dollar income divided by the price level).

2) Interest rates - the artificiality of the interest rate may be the clue to the contrary action of stock yields.

3) Business conditions and business profits - there are wide cyclical swings of business. The Crash of 1929 was caused by the dizzy height attained by stock prices before the crash and not by a huge downturn in business levels. (In this section, Graham talks about the effect of an anti-business political climate on business levels. He mentions several elements that would affect businesses and coincidently these match the current Democratic platform). Anti-business sentiment: increase in personal taxes, growth of unions, and government red tape.
Graham and Dodd believe that the most important characteristic of large American corporations is their repeated pendulum swings from better to poorer results and back. (I could not help but think of Buffett's investment in BNI).

4) Dividends - dividends follow earnings; the recent 1951) need for capital has led to a decrease in their disbursement.

5) Security prices - the price history of high-grade bonds is the reverse for the course of interest rates. A charted history of stocks shows a promise of excellent gains when purchases are made in depressed markets and a warning of possible permanent loss if the investor buys when bullish sentiment is at its strongest.

New era...

The recent makret scares and subsequent occurences have revived the memories that haunt investors every 6 years or so. Many investors and journalists are removing the dust form the Bear flags and getting them ready to fly them up high. After all, Wall Street in the last month has been showing a lot of th signs that it showed on previous important downturns. But is there a crash coming?

Most would venture to say that there are huge problems ahead for the US markets. I remember the "soft landing" discussions last year and how many analysts were expecting the economy and the markets to fall back a bit. But then everything that was said was forgotten, the last squeeze of the housing bubble erased all doubts about the market and money poured into all types of investments. Today, we are faced with a serious problem in the credit sector where it will only get worst due to the high risk-taking leveraging done by hedge funds who took bets on CBOs and other derivatives. Most economists would agree that a correction in that part of the market is due, and I agree with them. But I do not believe that stocks are, or should, be heading for the gutter.

Ironic

Carlos Slim is the world's richest man!

to be continued.....

Memorabilia

This is the badge that allowed me to personally meet and greet The Oracle. I also have the $100 bill that he signed for me but I don't want to get in trouble for posting currency online, you are most welcome to come admire it at my house.

2007 Recap & Planning for 2008

2007 Convention
Closing thoughts

It has been 3 months since I landed in Omaha for a glorious weekend. The Woodstock of Capitalism turned more into the Holy Pilgrimage of Value Investing for me. I have backpacked extensively through Europe and vacationed in very exotic locations but never in my life did I think that a simple Nebraska town would excite me so much. It really was not the town but the experience of the 2007 Annual Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting held at the Qwest Center. The excitement has not left my body or my mind. I see that weekend as the beginning of a great path to achieving many financial and personal goals. Yes, I was among 27,000 capitalists, but I learned much more than just how to find value in companies or make incredible amounts of money on the stock market over time. I learned much about me. Warren and Charlie are excellent teachers and they go beyond answering simple or complex finance and economics questions. They relate most of the concepts to the real world that we live in. As a young investor I received much more information in 6 hours that I could have learned from any (or most) professors in a year. I feel very fortunate to have been present in such an incredible learning experience.

Warren and Charlie shared their thoughts on many different issues. They ranged from China to birth control to ethanol. Many of the questions that the audience asked them were very simple and they could have found their answers in any book about Buffett or Munger. I was surprised to hear Warren answer many questions with the same words he used in his letters to the shareholders regarding similar issues. I had just finished reading Cunningham's compilation of Buffett's letters a day before the conference and some of the quotes were still fresh in my mind when Warren used them again, word by word, as his answers. On some other stuff, Warren and Charlie used what seemed to me as pure logic when answering questions. Other times they were very clear and helpful, I especially enjoyed when a little girl asked them what she could do to make some money and they offered their advice. I could have stayed there forever just listening to them, aligning some of my standards to theirs and questioning some of their thoughts.

Looking forward
Omaha 2008

The time has come for me to step up to my own goals and challenges. I have set the bar fairly high because I know I can clear it. I just have to make excellent plans and work very very hard. As far as the next convention goes, I know I have to go. So far, I know I have a place to stay (with my friends from the blue house) and that my passes should come on the mail this time. I am looking forward to other arrangements, possibly taking my investment society with me or achieving the goal of scheduling a private conference with Mr Buffett.

QOTD

"In our view … investment students need only two well-taught courses--How to Value a Business, and How to Think About Market Prices." --Warren Buffett

Quote of the Day - April 16th

"If I was running $1 million today, or $10 million for that matter, I'd be fully invested. Anyone who says that size does not hurt investment performance is selling. The highest rates of return I've ever achieved were in the 1950s. I killed the Dow. You ought to see the numbers. But I was investing peanuts then. It's a huge structural advantage not to have a lot of money. I think I could make you 50% a year on $1 million. No, I know I could. I guarantee that."- Warren Buffett on June 25, 1999 (Business Week)

Article: Buffett's new love (BNI)

from SmartMoney.com

Buffett's BNI Investment Is Worth Piggy-Backing

By James B. Stewart |James B. Stewart Archive |Published: April 10, 2007

WARREN BUFFETT ENDED THE suspense, disclosing in an SEC filing that one of the mystery companies in which he's been accumulating shares is Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI: 87.75, -0.24, -0.3%). Although this isn't one of the two companies — Deere (DE: 108.28, -0.62, -0.6%) and Caterpillar (CAT: 66.31, -0.64, -1.0%) — that I picked for him a few weeks ago, I can readily understand his reasoning, and it's not far off from the thinking that led me to the equipment makers.

Burlington certainly fits Buffett's stated profile. It's:

a) large (a market cap of almost $30 billion) b) with consistent earnings (five-year earnings growth at an annualized 22%) c) with a high return on equity (last year it was 19%) and low debt (long term debt is just $7 billion) d) in a business (railroads) that anyone can understand and e) enjoys high-quality management (its track record speaks for itself)

Of course these are characteristics shared by numerous large-cap companies. I suspect other criteria embraced by Buffett were similar to ones that influenced my thinking on Deere and Caterpillar — namely, that there aren't many competitors (after years of consolidation, railroads are pretty much an oligopoly) and large economies of scale which deter new competitors. Buffett has shown his fondness for oligopolies (and aversion to price competition) with his investments in Coca-Cola (KO: 49.92, -0.16, -0.3%) and Anheuser-Busch (BUD: 51.99, -0.10, -0.2%). Deere and Caterpillar also operate in markets with similar structures. Burlington doesn't quite boast the brand names that Caterpillar and Deere have, but both Burlington and Santa Fe have been around a long time and have wide recognition. (Footnote to history: Burlington began as the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, or CB&Q — the latter being my hometown.)

What I really like about the Burlington choice, however, is the potential for growth based on long-term trends, specifically high energy costs and growth in the agricultural sector, both of which I've mentioned in this column. Buffett has a ringside seat for both, given his headquarters in Omaha in the heart of the corn belt. Railroads are both an energy-efficient method of transport and they haul the two biggest oil alternatives, coal and corn (and other agricultural products).

Railroads' main source of competition is the trucking industry, which has had limited pricing power thanks to high fuel costs, much of which they pass on to their customers. Burlington's net profit margins were at 12.5% last year, as high gas prices worked their way through the system. Even a small further increase would yield impressive results on the bottom line.

Burlington Northern's route system is well positioned to capitalize on the surge in corn production expected this year. That could lead to further revenue gains, which also fall impressively to the bottom line given the railroads' high fixed costs and economies of scale. Yet Burlington trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of just under 15 (based on 2007 estimates).

What's not to like? Many analysts have been fretting about the housing slowdown and a decline in lumber shipments. Others have worried that Burlington in particular and railroads in general are cyclical and that the economy is due to turn against it (they make the same arguments about DE and CAT). To me, that's missing the forest for the trees.

Railroads may be the embodiment of a "mature" industry, given how long they've been around. You're not going to find the dazzle and sizzle or explosive growth of a technology start-up, but that's not sustainable long-term nor is it the kind of company Buffett looks for. I think the Oracle is onto something here, and that this is an investment worth piggy-backing. Burlington Northern stock jumped on news of Buffett's interest, so I'd let the excitement cool off before buying. Other railroads to consider are CSX (CSX: 41.85, -0.11, -0.3%), Kansas City Southern (KSU: 36.76, -0.33, -0.9%), Norfolk Southern (NSC: 52.37, -0.37, -0.7%) and Union Pacific (UNP: 106.60, -0.91, -0.9%), one of which may be Buffett's other target.

Another Fool.com article on the Oracle...

Warren Buffett's Priceless Investment Advice

By John Reeves (TMF Bane)

April 7, 2007

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

If you can grasp this simple advice from Warren Buffett, you should do well as an investor. Sure, there are other investment strategies out there, but Buffett's approach is both easy to follow and demonstrably successful over a period of more than 50 years. Why try anything else?

Two words for the efficient market hypothesis: Warren Buffett
An interesting academic study illustrates Buffett's amazing investment genius. During the period from 1980 to 2003, the stock portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) beat the S&P 500 index in 20 out of 24 years. During that same period, Berkshire Hathaway's average annual return from its stock portfolio outperformed the index by 12.24 percentage points. The efficient market theory predicts this is impossible, but the theory is clearly wrong in this case -- and as Casey Stengel said, "You can look it up."

Buffett has delivered these outstanding returns by buying undervalued shares in great companies such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Gillette (now owned by Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG)), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC). Indeed, his investment in Coke grew more than tenfold from 1989 to 1999, and his investment in Gillette increased threefold during the 1990s. Who'd have guessed you could get such stratospheric returns from soft drinks and razors?

The devil is in the details
So buying great companies at reasonable prices can deliver solid returns for long-term investors. The challenge, of course, is identifying great companies and determining what constitutes a reasonable price. Buffett recommends that investors look for companies that deliver outstanding return on capital and produce substantial cash profits. He also suggests that you look for companies with a huge economic moat to protect them from competitors. You can identify companies with moats by looking for strong brands, like Coca-Cola, alongside consistent or improving profit margins and returns on capital.

How do you determine the right buy price for shares in such companies? Buffett advises that you wait patiently for opportunities to purchase stocks at a significant discount to their intrinsic values -- as calculated by taking the present value of all future cash flows. Ultimately, he believes that "value will in time always be reflected in market price." When the market finally recognizes the true value of your undervalued shares, you begin to earn solid returns.

Do-it-yourself outperformance
Beginning investors will need to develop their skills in identifying profitable companies and determining intrinsic values before they'll be able to capture Buffett-like returns. In the meantime, one place to look for stock ideas might be among Berkshire's own holdings. According to The New York Times, the company has recently disclosed "its sizable new holdings" in ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Berkshire has also increased its positions in Moody's and American Express (NYSE: AXP). At the very least, you might consider taking a closer look at some of these stocks.

Found on The Motley Fool

Buffett's Berkshire buys big Burlington stake

Courtesy of CNN/Money

April 7 2007: 2:09 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has bought a stake of more than 10 percent in railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. that's worth about $3.2 billion, according to a filing with regulators.

The legendary investor's firm and its subsidiaries have acquired about 39 million shares of the Texas-based railroad, Berkshire Hathaway (Charts) said in an S-4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday.

Buffett is perhaps the world's most widely imitated investor.

Burlington Northern (Charts), based in Fort Worth, Texas, has about 358 million shares outstanding. The company's stock closed at $82.72, up about 1.3 percent, on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday. The stock market was closed for Good Friday.

The acquisition of Burlington stock is believed to be the first time that Buffett's firm has bought a stake in a railroad.

His other holdings include or have included American Express (Charts), Coca-Cola (Charts), Wells Fargo (Charts) and Chinese oil company PetroChina (Charts).

Buffett, 76, said in Berkshire's annual report released last month that he plans to hire a younger person - or perhaps more than one - to understudy him in managing Berkshire's investments.

Buffett said he will be helped in his search by Lou Simpson, 70, who has managed the investments of Berkshire subsidiary GEICO for more than 25 years, and by Berkshire's vice-chairman, Charles Munger.

At the end of 2006, Berkshire had $61 billion in equity investments; $28 billion in fixed-income securities; and cash holdings of $43 billion.

Air travel confirmed!

Awesome day today!!

With most of the securities-related issues being solved, I decided to purchase my ticket to fly to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway Shareowners' Convention. Northwest Airlines no longer offered me their low fare so I went with Continental for ~$300. I am very excited as it seems that everything is coming together for me to accomplish my dream and hopefully meet Mr Buffet.

Wells Fargo shareholder services returned my call and said that I had to go through my broker, Monex, in order to get my meeting credentials. Monex has called Berkshire and they have confirmed that I can attend!!!!!! I only need to show my brokerage statement and my id to get up to 4 passes! Anybody wants to go with me? The only information missing is the details to get into the international shareholder event for which I need special credentials. If Monex cant get them I will have to do it myself in Omaha. I know I can do this, besides I am a shareholder even if I only own 3618/167,380,000,000ths of the company. (0.000002%). I am a proud owner! wohoooo.

QOTD

“Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.” -WB

A proud shareholder!

Mark the date: April 2, 2007. I have bought a share of Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B and now Mr Warren Buffett officially works for me :). I am very excited to have made such a progress in my dream. I made my reservation for the shareholders' dinner at Gorat's and will be purchasing my flight ticket tonight.

I had not experience such a passion for something since back in my early teens when soccer meant everything. I went on throughout high school without really looking forward, and even though I did really good, this lack of focus led me to some stupid years in college. I am very excited to have found what I had been looking for and to have the time to read and study more about it. I enjoy finance and investing very much. I have been buying and enjoying many classic investing books such as Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" and Lynch's "One up on Wall Street" among many others which I think I will be reviewing here for my future pleasure.

Back to Berkshire and my visit to the Oracle of Omaha, I think that I need to register with whoever is in charge of the shareholder services department, I am frustrated that there is so little information in the Berkshire website. I will continue working towards achieving my dream and will keep posting!

QOTD: “The investor of today does not profit from yesterday's growth.” - WB

BTW I Found a nice blog, The Intelligent Investor Club, it has a collection of the Chairman's letters, it is definitely worth a visit.

Quote of the Day

The greatness of Warren Buffet will live on forever on his writings and speaches. I will start posting a quote of the day as I read more and more of his stuff to be 100% ready for the shareholders' meeting.

March 30, 2007: “I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute.” -Warren Buffett

......and almost there

Well today was a hectic day as far as my dream goes. I finally received my account number with Monex via Pershing so that I could deposit the money and buy my share of Berkshire. I asked my mother to deposit the money in my checking account so that I could draw it and deposit it in the JP Morgan Chase account that was given to me. However, it turns out that my information was wrong and I had to call all these people to figure out which bank account I needed to put the money in. Finally, I have the correct information and I will be wire transfering the money to the Bank Of New York (how niceeeeee) tomorrow.

Article - How to trade like Buffett

The Complete User's Guide to Warren Buffett's Portfolio

By James Altucher
Stockpickr.com

Let’s face it. If you're going to blindly piggyback Warren Buffett's portfolio, you're going to probably lose money. By "piggyback" I mean, simply buying all his positions, closing your eyes, and hoping for the best.

That said, Buffett has been, and will continue to be, the most successful investor ever as long as he is at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B). Taking a disciplined approach to studying Buffett's portfolio as well as the portfolios of his close associates, can be very lucrative.

There are several keys:

Understand which positions are Buffett's old "generals" that he won't sell but nevertheless he is not excited about. Look at the prices which Buffett has purchased his most recent stocks. Understand the long-term demographic reasons for Buffett's more recent purchases. Look at the portfolios of other Buffett-like investors and funds or investors that Buffett is affiliated with. Buy the New Positions Don’t buy the old positions, the ones Buffett bought 10, 20, even 30 years ago. For instance, Buffett owns the Washington Post (WPO), which he bought in the early 70s when it was trading below its liquidation value. Don’t do it. Let’s follow Buffett’s current advice on this one. From his latest letter to shareholders: "Eventually [..] eroding fundamentals will overwhelm managerial brilliance. […] And fundamentals are definitely eroding in the newspaper industry." And even stalwart position, Coca-Cola (KO), which Buffett bought in the 80s and has had a significant gain on, I would avoid. Buffett recently left the board of directors and I would take his cue on that one. However, let’s take a close look at the new positions. USG Corp. (USG), for instance, makes building materials such as gypsum wallboards, sheetrock, ceiling materials, etc. Look at your walls and ceilings right now. Chances are USG made some of the materials in those walls. The company has been around since 1901. Buffett likes long-term players. Although Buffett purchased the bulk of his shares at prices much lower than the current price of $48, his most recent purchases occurred over the past year whenever the stock dipped below $46. Although there are no guarantees, clearly Buffett thinks USG is a strong buy at $46. USG trades at a forward P/E of 15 with revenues expected to grow double digits over the next year. The stock has suffered because of concerns about housing but over half of USG's revenues are non-residential and Buffett, a master at demographic-based investing, clearly sees that any housing slowdown won’t last forever. Next in line is Buffett's greatly increased position in US Bancorp (USB). His stake went from 6.11 million shares in March, 2006 to 23.31 million shares by December 31. US Bancorp is a perfect example of Wall Street throwing out the baby with the bath water. Because of the subprime mortgage lending disaster, people have been flushing the regional banks out of their portfolios in order to avoid any future potential explosions like New Century or Accredited Homelenders. The problem these companies have is that they lent out money to people who never borrowed money before. They did not reserve enough in anticipation of delinquencies and now the delinquencies are coming in much higher than expected. Additionally, all banks have suffered from the inverted yield curve which affects the spread they make between the money they lend out, and the money they pay depositors. However, Buffett has been buying regional banks since he first started his initial investment partnership in the 50s. There's probably no greater expert in the world on regional banks. So when we look deeper we see what Buffett likes and what Wall Street is missing as they sell off the stock: credit quality of USB's loans has actually gone up over the past quarter and management has stated that it expects credit quality will continue to rise. It turns out that they never got into the subprime lending game. Additionally, although the inverted yield curve has affected their margins, their return on equity is 23% versus an average of 10% for the banking industry as a whole. USB, which is almost 5% off of its recent lows, and is flat with Buffett's recent purchases, is probably a strong buy here. Demographics and the Retiring Baby Boomers Buffett shines when it comes to making long-term macro predictions. When energy was at a low he started buying pipeline companies and energy companies right around the fallout of the Enron mess. Before housing made its big move he started buying carpet companies and furniture companies. Now Buffett is making perhaps his biggest demographic bet ever. Retiring baby boomers are going to need healthcare. Buffett doesn't bet on the speculative biotechs though but the consistent earners that are relatively cheap, exhibiting growing earnings, and are well-positioned to take advantage of the explosion in demand that’s going to occur over the next 30 years. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is our first pick here. Buffett recently disclosed he owns 21.6 million shares of the company. Again, JNJ is a perfect example of Wall Street overreacting to what is otherwise small news. The stock began faltering after JNJ disclosed that there were improper sales practices in two "small market" countries. Payments were made. Cash was exchanged. Who knows? It’s being investigated. The company has stated that it won't affect earnings at all. Executives have been fired and it’s all business as usual. But now we have the pleasant circumstance of being able to buy the company at 14 times earnings, the cheapest level it’s been at in over ten years. And we get this bargain price right at the beginning of a boom in health care that will probably rival the dot-com boom in terms of the explosion in prices once people realize the extent to which the boomers are going to require the products of health care companies. Buffett bought 21 million shares of JNJ in 2006 to make it a brand new core holding for Berkshire. Also in the healthcare category is Buffett's new purchase of UnitedHealthcare (UNH). UNH stock has been floundering because of a backdating options scandal. But the company has $2.3 billion in cash to deal with any fines related to the scandal and with $6 billion in cash flows is ready and able to start buying back its own shares. Which they announced they would start doing 2 weeks ago, to the tune of a $6 billion share buyback program. The company trades at a forward P/E of 13 and is expected to grow revenues and earnings by double digits. One More Trend: China (But Through the Back Door) Buffett has often stated that he doesn't have expertise in foreign companies and that there are plenty of good investments among the 8000 public companies in the US. Well, perhaps he's taking that statement back as he starts looking abroad. In his most recent filing he revealed a position in Korean steel company Posco (PKX). It’s unlikely we can get Posco at Buffett's prices as the stock has been steadily gaining: But profits have been gaining as well. The company has a monopoly on steel in Korea, with 75% of the country's production coming from Posco. Which also means that it dominates the sale of steel to China. Although the company trades at just 10x cash flows this is a case where I would just wait for a pullback. Buffett's gotten in at good prices and with the uncertainty currently hanging over the Asian markets and, in particular, China, there might be future opportunity to get in at lower prices. That said, this is a demographic trend that Buffett is clearly moving in on. Get by With a Little Help From Buffett's Friends Another problem with piggybacking Buffett's portfolio is that he has too much money to put to work. He can't make smaller investments or buy into smallcaps and midcaps the way we can. So sometimes it’s worth it to not only follow Buffett's portfolio but also the portfolios of various FoBs, Friends of Buffett, who follow very similar investing principles to Buffett. Tweedy, Browne: once Buffett's stockbroker in the 60s, and also the managers of the eponymous enormously successful Tweedy, Browne Global Value (TBGVX) fund, they greatly increased their positions in their latest filing in Lloyd's TSB Group (LYG) and SK Telecom (SKM) and took a new position in Con-Way Inc. (CNW). Ruane Cuniff a.k.a. The Sequoia Fund (SEQUX): The fund Buffett directed investors to when he shut down his own fund in 1969 in order to become an operator at little-known Berkshire Hathaway. Since its inception the Sequoia Fund has returned an average of 15.68% per year. An interesting new position for Sequoia is eBay (EBAY) as the online auctioneer has fallen into value territory when investors lost their faith in the company after the Skype acquisition. Also worth noting, Sequoia reduced its position in Berkshire Hathaway by 10% in its most recent filing. Bill Gates: Bill Gates' personal money is invested through Cascade Investments. Gates sits on the board of Berkshire, plays bridge on a regular basis with Buffett and in recent years has become one of Buffett's best friends. So it’s natural that his stock holdings show a distinctly value bent despite his success as a tech entrepreneur. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Buffett, the smartest investor ever, has done a lot of work for us when he buys a position and then discloses his holdings. Studying in the footsteps of the master and his disciples, but using that as a starting point for your own research, will end up being a very lucrative practice. James Altucher is founder and CEO of Stockpickr.com, author of the book, "Trade Like Warren Buffett", and partner at Formula Capital

still $5k short

I got a call from Mr Onsi (the Monex advisor) today asking me about funding the account. I am still 5 thousand dollars short. I have about $7K invested in cars (bought at auction, sold in Mexico) but they havent sold yet. I also have some money in my Scottrade account, I did really good in my ALTI experience, especially riding that surge to 3.91 a couple of weeks ago, but I do not want to get out of the market for two months (although technically I would be putting it into BRK.B which still is in the market). Anyways, I got to come up with it. 2 real estate deals went sour this week, one because the condo that the client was purchasing is not "warrantable" or something like that, therefore the loan did not get approved. The other deal died because the client is not relocating to San Antonio after all. I really need to sell a car and just cash out a little bit off Scottrade.

I also posted links in Facebook because I would like to get some readers. I believe that I am doing something worth attention and if people like to follow stupid things online then why not follow my dream? Anyways, I will start working to put together a good young-business-investor site at visitingtheoracle.com. maybe somebody out there has ideas or wants to collaborate with me. If you do, just send me a comment with your info.

On the trip, I did post an ad on Omaha's Craigslist requesting cheap or free lodging, and I did get some replies. I will be keeping in touch with them and see whats up and if they are for real. Funny thing is that the first guy to reply asked me if I was "str8" because he is bi! Needless to say that went directly to the trash bin.

Spring day and nothing new

Today was a regular day in the life of me!! Nothing new happened as far as the trip goes. I am about todays away from booking a seat on an airplane from San Antonio to Omaha!! I believe Northwest has the best fares and they will be the lucky ones! I hope that one day I can travel via NetJets (a Berkshire Company) or on my own plane. Anyways, here is a look at the different "deals" that I found online.

Southwest.com $143 + $279 + tax = ~$460 total
Continental.com $232.60 total
Northwest.com $230.59 total
AA.com (American Airlines) $459.60 total
Delta.com has a $213 ticket but it doesnt meet my schedule requirements

Now that I posted all this I am pondering whether to go the extra 2 dollars and fly Continental since they have flown me without problems to Europe in the past and Northwest is a smaller airline. I also have a frequent flier account with Continental and this might get me god points since I am flying around 2000 mi.

I will have to sleep on this.....

building the site...

I cant seem to be able to figure this thing out. I am great at math and finance but this simple website building process is something that I havent been able to master.

Back in 9th grade I started to play around with HTML but I never picked it up. The librarian at school was always kicking me off the computers because she taught I was playing, and internet back at home was really slow (Telmex dial-up) so that made it boring. I really wish I had tried harder.

So I made the blog go to blog.visitingtheoracle.com because I did not know how to put it under the dot com only. I also added a technorati search box and this was my first incursion into placing code in html, it took about 5 tries before I could post it in the right place.

Today, I will be funding my trade account with Monex Securities Inc and hopefully I will have my share of Berkshire stock by the end of the week.

New Domain!

I decided to buy www.visitingtheoracle.com and post this blog under that name. I think that I can attract some curious traffic and maybe generate some buzz.

The main two reasons for doing this is that first I can get a couple of bucks from AdSense to be used towards funding the trip. The second reason is that if I can get some media coverage I would be delighted, who doesn't want to have their 5 minutes of fame?

If none of these 2 things happen, I will still have a place online where I can share my progress with family + friends while learn a lot about developing ideas online. Web2.0 is among us and those who fail to see the great opportunities will get left behind. I am amazed by the power of creation of the human mind, and the social revolution online. More os this discussion can be read on my other blog .

About to purchase...

I have come to Mexico in order to find me a good broker that will allow me to invest in the NYSE with little money (10,000 USD).

I used to work for Monex (www.monex.com.mx) in Monterrey, so I decided to talk to them. Turns out that the manager from Matamoros is willing to let me invest 15, 000 and play with them, the usual minimum is 50,000USD but he kind of liked me. Now I have to come up with another 5,000 dollars. I will be pouring my heart and soul into Inverhomes, the best company to buy real estate in mexico
stay connected....

Start: A dream

I have a wish of attending the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in order to listen to Warren Buffet and meet many millionaires from all over the country and the world. This is where I will be posting my daily progress to achieve that dream.

The event is in 2 months and my I have my plan ready. I have asked my mother for $3600 dlls so that I can buy a share of b-class stock, this will entitle me to go to the meeting. I have yet to ask if I can go even though I would be a 2 month old shareholder, but I dont think there will be a problem with that. Now my real challenge is to buy it as a mexican citizen, this would entitle me to attend the international shareholders event to which only 400 people attended last year. This is my biggest shot to actually meet Mr Buffet. The goal is to take a picture with him.

I have contacted Scottrade and am waiting on their reply as to how I could open an account as a foreign national, if this is impossible I would just try to use my regular corporate brokerage statement and my passport to get a pass to the event. I will also try to contact the company (Berkshire) to see how I would go about that. Meanwhile I have my calendar marked for April 1st which is the date to make reservations to have dinner at Warren's favorite restaurant.

For the trip itself I need to look for a place to stay and a way to get there. Since the meeting is the weekend after my bday I plan on just giving myself this as a gift.

To be continued.....