Tag Archives: Eddie Lampert

Richard Rainwater on Lessons Learned

A reader gave me a heads up on an interesting article on investing. Worth your time: http://www.marketfolly.com/2012/04/investing-lessons-from-richard.html

Lampert on Greatest Investment Lessons Learned

Eddie Lampert says that, “You have to have a point of view, you have to have a belief that something’s possible. And that you can see something that other people don’t. And a lot of times, when you see something that other people don’t, there’s nothing there. But there are times where there are things there. And the question is ‘is it worth it to invest your money and is it worth it to invest your time?’ ”

Another lesson Lampert said was important from Richard is to “invest in what you’re familiar with, invest in what you’re comfortable with. He’d go to the opportunities … he’ll be looking for where there’s disruption, but something that he feels comfortable with. He understood his capabilities … He wanted to get into business with great people and I think that was a great lesson as to how important people are to making businesses work.”

Referencing a specific Rainwater investment, Lampert says that, “Sometimes you make investments and they if don’t work out, what you learn are applicable to other situations.”

Lampert also went on to say that “Investing can be very lonely, especially if you’re contrarian.” Barry Sternlicht highlighted how this applies to Eddie, saying that “you make very few, very large, concentrated bets and you’ve been very patient.”

Read more: http://www.marketfolly.com/2012/04/investing-lessons-from-richard.html#ixzz1tieNZB62

Book on Moats; Best Blogs; Ask Greenblatt; Eddie Lampert

Moats

If you want to contribute to a book on Moats: The Competitive Advantages of Buffett & Munger Businesses go here: http://www.frips.com/book.htm. You can read a few sample chapters of the book. I disagree with Buffett’s comment that Net-Jets has a competitive advantage—perhaps the company’s scale reduces its deadhead costs—but the company has yet to show consistently high profitability. I am not recommending this book/project, only making you aware. I hope when we complete our study of competitive advantages, you could surpass the analysis found there.

Ask Joel Greenblatt a question by Jan. 21, 2012 here: http://www.morningstar.com/Conference/speakers?referid=B4112

 BEST BLOGS

What are the best blogs for intelligent investors? See for yourself: http://www.fatpitchfinancials.com/2048/what-are-the-top-5-blogs-or-online-resources-you-particularly-enjoy-reading/#more-2048  or to vote and receive a recent listing: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEtsSEVOaFNpU3JQRW5CY1FsSUxkVEE6MQ

An extensive list of blogs found here: http://www.valuewalk.com/links/

Below is an assortment of blogs I have come across. The bolded links are ones I have found to be informative, but with little time to read all of these blogs, I leave the rest up to you. Your first priority in learning about investing should be to read original company filings with your accounting textbook alongside and/or the works of the masters like Buffett, Fisher, Graham, Klarman, Greenblatt, and Munger. However, any blog which informs and encourages you to think is worth a perusal. Learn from many sources, just don’t fritter away your time.

www.valueinvestorsclub.com

http://www.magicformulainvesting.com/welcome.html

www.greenbackd.com 

http://fundooprofessor.wordpress.com/

http://www.simoleonsense.com/

www.thomasewoods.com

www.mises.org

www.lewrockwell.com

http://www.jamesaltucher.com/

http://www.grahamanddoddsville.net/

www.newyorker.com (good, in-depth business stories)

www.brontecapital.com Also, read his analysis of Fairholme (name not mentioned) here: http://www.brontecapital.com/peformance/2011/Client%20Letter%20201111.pdf. SHLD, one of Fairholme’s holdings, is mentioned in the last posting. This is a lesson in correlated bets of a NON-diversified portfolio. If wrong, you go down with the ship.

www.fatpitchfinancials.com

http://www.footnoted.com/

http://www.whopperinvestments.com/are-you-an-asset-based-or-franchise-value-investor#more-836

http://variantperceptions.wordpress.com/

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/

http://pink-sheets.blogspot.com/

http://www.distressed-debt-investing.com/

http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/articles/

http://www.oldschoolvalue.com/

http://boombustblog.com/

http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/

http://www.stableinvestor.com/

http://insidercow.com/

http://thebrowser.com/

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/

http://www.barelkarsan.com/

Eddie Lampert meets a bad business

Buffett does acknowledge that even the best managers (Eddie Lampert)  will flounder if the business is not intrinsically sound. His most telling comment on management is:

‘When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for poor fundamental economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sears Holding Corp. announces its struggles. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sears-holdings-provides-update-2011-12-27?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts

There are many lessons here: allocation of capital, operating a non-franchise business, a bad business, and hubris. We shall return again.