Hottest links for Saturday – Sunday, March 1st – 2nd, the weekend edition. Get our free daily newsletter and never miss a single linkfest. Also, now if you sign up you will get our new e-book on value investing. Top stories for today are included below.
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Lots of Berkshire Hathaway Coverage from many different angles today. Check out as there is a ton of meaty coverage whether you are are a worshiper at the altar of Warren Buffett, a regular fan, or a hater; Also some interesting behavioral finance and value write ups; A small piece from myself on the ever evolving situation in the Ukraine with zero macro BS involved; Some great book reviews on behavioral finance; More signs of a top as retail investors jump on board; Einhorn goes bick in Greece and we have the exclusive on it;
Hottest Links: Stories
Value Investing
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway’s Buffett On Diversification
In his 2014 letter preview, Buffett states that, far from being a weak choice, indexing can often achieve investor’s goals far more easily than complicated picking strategies. [Robert R. Johnson, Ph.D., CFA, CAIA.] Related; Whitney Tilson discusses Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) and Warren Buffett in an email to ValueWalk. [ValueWalk] Related; These are some quotes from Warren Buffett’s annual Letter to Shareholders dated February 28, 2014 and posted on Berkshire’s web site March 1. [Dr. David Kass]; The always great David Merkel, CFA on Berkshire Hathaway; Acquisitions, Debt, Derivatives, Insurance and more [David Merkel, Aleph Blog]
Dogmatism in crowds
“The Age of the Crowd” by Serge Moscovici is a classic on mass psychology. There was a part on dogmatism in crowds which makes for interesting reading. [Chetan Parikh, Capital Ideas Online]
Book Review: Baker And Ricciardi, Investor Behavior
Investor Behavior: The Psychology of Financial Planning and Investing, edited by H. Kent Baker and Victor Ricciardi (Wiley, 2014), goes beyond the standard literature on behavioral finance. [Brenda Jubin, Seeking Alpha]
A Behaviorist’s Approach To Investment Strategy: Embrace Who You Are
When I was employed as a behavioral economist I often looked forward to meeting new people. You see, when you meet someone for the first time, there is always one question which inevitably gets asked; what do you do for a living? [The Behavioral Economist, Seeking Alpha]
Value Essentials: Margin of Safety
The first chapters basically explain how institutional investors can cause market inefficiency or, in other words, says why value investing works. [Felix Frenzel, Frenzel & Herzing]
David Einhorn Builds Big Stake In Greek Bank
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GLRE) appears to have joined club. According to new information posted on Greenlight Capital RE’s website, Alpha Bank A.E. (ADR) (OTCMKTS:ALBKY) is now one of David Einhorn’s top five largest positions. [ValueWalk]
This Situation Absolutely Requires a Really Futile and Stupid Gesture
Apparently the editor of our culture’s preeminent forum for snark and sarcasm was so outraged by Forbes’ annual encomium to the highest-earning hedge fund managers that he burst a gasket. I guess the shock was so great Mr. Nolan dropped a slice of gluten-free artisanal toast buttered with the tears of free range lambs raised on an anarchosyndicalist commune in Vermont face down on a rug woven by one-armed Peruvian orphans from the frayed fibers of their broken dreams. [The Epicurean Dealmaker]
Funds
NYSE Margin Debt Rises (Again) To An All-Time High
Margin debt in NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) accounts increased again in January to an all-time high. This series tends to top out before major market corrections occur. [GaveKal Capital]
Mom And Pop May Finally Be Returning To The Stock Market
Daily average revenue trades (DARTs) at leading online brokerage E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) have been trending up since bottoming out in mid-2012, but in January, this metric soared 26% from the previous month to 195,652, marking the biggest monthly gain in nearly three years. [Matthew Boesler, Business Insider]
Natural Gas Trading and Mental Accounting
It has been a long, cold winter on the East Coast. This has been very good for anyone long natural gas. Below is a chart, as of February 26, for the April natural gas futures contract during 2014: [David Foulke, Turnkey Analyst]
People Still Hate The Stock Market
I stated the main reason driving the market higher is “A Complete Change in Investor Psychology.” Basically, the majority of people HATE the stock market…and that still hasn’t changed. [Joseph Fahmy, The Next Big Move]
The Best of the Week’s eBay Barbs
Carl C. Icahn and eBay executives might not be debating on CNBC anytime soon, but the verbal war between the activist investor and the e-commerce behemoth intensified this week all the same. [Michael J. De La Merced, DealBook]
March 1, 2014
Our investments likewise: people who are kicking themselves for not having 100% equity exposure in March 2009 and 200% exposure in January 2013 have been pulling money steadily from boring investments and adding them to stocks. [Mutual Fund Observer]
Hottest Links: Not The Onion
Joe Biden Accidentally Tries to Sell Obamacare to Canadian Tourist
Vice President Joe Biden just can’t help being Joe Biden when he travels across this great country of ours. During a trip to Arizona this week, he sat himself down next to a young woman and did his best to convince her to sign up for Obamacare. The only problem? She was visiting from Canada. [Matt Wilstein, MediaITE]
