Thursday, January 31, 2013

Billionaires, hackers, the Chinese and The New York Times

Billionaires, hackers, the Chinese and The New York Times


related:  How to become a billionaire in China (ThinkBillions)

Monday, January 28, 2013

Friday, January 25, 2013

Sergey Brin Wearing Google Glasses

Was That Sergey Brin Wearing Google Glasses in the New York Subway?


article

Thursday, January 24, 2013

SEC has a mole in the SAC probe

According to the Wall Street Journal, it looks like the government has an informant in the SAC Capital Advisors probe involving billionaire Steven A. Cohen.

Six former SAC employees have been convicted or plead guilty to various charges.






Tuesday, January 22, 2013

David Tepper is bullish on 2013 and America!




David Tepper, who runs $12 billion hedge fund Appaloosa Management, was on Bloomberg TV today going all in on equities, America and 2013.


"This country is on the verge of an explosion of greatness. An explosion of greatness. [The] "main thing right now is to be long equities." --- David Tepper

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Carl Icahn: Bullish on Herbalife



Carl Icahn has taken a small (less than 5% of the equity float) position in the stock of Herbalife Ltd.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Dell going private in billionaire dollar LBO





Billionaire computer manufacturer, Michael Dell (pictured on the right, above), looks like he wants to take the company he founded in his dorm room private.

Currently in discussion with Silver Lake Partners, Dell's strategy is consistent with his new B2B marketing focus regarding hardware, services and consulting as the way to make money going forward.

This is from the company who wrote the book (in the United States at least) for a computer manufacturer to embrace all things JIT (just in time manufacturing). But when the consumer market changed (i.e. Apple Computer) Dell needed to change or adapt.

This is the reasoning behind going public. The ability to self-finance along with ignoring Wall Street and its focusing on quarterly financial results.

Dell Computer probably should have done this years ago, yet, Michael Dell was busy with other things at the time.

The quest for always holding the number one ranking in market share has been lost by Dell. HP and Lenovo are the new leaders in global PC shipments.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Warren Buffet still calls gold: "a barbarous relic"




Central bank wars appear to be heating up as Germany announces plans that it will move a sizable amount of gold held at the NY Federal Reserve Bank back to the home country.

Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett remains unimpressed and continues to call gold "a barbarous relic".




Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Eddie Lampert is now CEO at Sears

Fast Eddie Lampert, as he is sometimes known around here, has taken control of Sears once again with the departure of Lou D'Ambrosio for family medical reasons.

Look at this as an interim solution for the successful hedge fund manager until a seasoned retail executive is recruited and chosen.



Saturday, January 5, 2013

David Sokol, ex-Buffett aide, gets a free pass from the SEC

That's the hard charging Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Not, the football conference.


David Sokol, who resigned in disgrace from Berkshire Hathaway in 2011, gets a completely free pass from the SEC.

Does it pay to know the right people, or what?





The Wall Street Journal said: "A spokesman for the SEC declined to comment."

Makes perfect sense.

Who is David Sokol and why should we care?

He's the guy the allegedly got a free pass for front running Berkshire shares (see article).

How did the alleged conversation possibly go down with Warren Buffett? See here.