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Strategies & Market Trends : Graham and Doddsville -- Value Investing In The New Era -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (251)	4/23/1998 7:01:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

<< I think NOVL's management is flawed ... >> If a new management were installed, what do you feel their optimal strategy would be --???>

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (251)	4/23/1998 10:40:00 PM
From: Berney	Respond to of 1722

Reginald, First, let me note that I'm personally a Buffett fan, but don't own any BRK and have yet to buy any stock that it was announced that he was buying. I'm agnostic on Soros. I got about half way through his book and threw it away. <You are comparing a registered investment company with a man who invested through an insurance holding company. They are contrained by two totally different set of rules. Guess which one is the most stringent and least tax advantaged. Under the state insurance laws, FASB and GAAP, Buffet was able to arrange interest free loans by the way of deferred premium investments, mutual funds cannot not do that and neither can small investors. The Solomon deal is a perfect example of how size matters. Do you think you, as an investor could have recieved a deal as sweet as Buffet on his preferred stock private placement offered by Solomon? If not, I can tell you the reason is size and stature. Solomon's chairman was running away from Phibro and leveraged the assets of the small common shareholder for the big man.> I'll let others respond to the differences in legal structure. I'm sure both have advantages and disadvantages. It's not a frequent occurrence, but I hear of White Knights roaming the country-side on a periodic basis. What's more amazing with Buffett is this seemed like an isolated incident. I'm sure he's gotten many other offers, so I don't think it would constitute part of usual investment style. <Yes, but many investors make astute investments - some of which are better than Buffet's. When he decides to by silver, what does the rest of the market do? Does this cause his investment to appreciate? I am not saying that he is not a good investor, but you must be cautious not to credit other real life forces that are unrelated to reasearch to his investment acumen.> And when it was reported that he was buying McDonalds, there was a short term spike, but McDonald's share price quickly retreated. Again, in my readings, I had not noted a tendency of Buffett to acquire commodities. In fact, I believe it sparked so much interest because it was so unlike him. The only other adventure by him in this area is, I believe, some oil futures. I just question your use of Buffett's extreme acquisitions as representing anything. On the other hand, we probably should be taking notice when he does the extreme. What's he seeing that I do not? <I think NOVL's management is flawed, can I step in and exercise my superior execution style when my NOVL investment is at risk? The answer, if I was an average investor is no. The reason is due to the size of my investment. There is no flaw in reasoning by realizing that money is power and more money is more power.> As my poor memory goes, there was a significant question of whether Solomon was going to be allowed to continue in existence, I do not believe that they approached Buffett because of the size of his investment, but stature in the investment world. I totally agree with you that money is power and more money is more power. I'm looking forward to the day when I have some power. Michael Price is widely known as desiring to become involved in management issues to release for "value" for the investors. I don't quite see this as Buffet's style. Berney