scott146

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    • Wed May 23rd 17:53 PM
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      AutoZone: Sustainable Business Model?
      This company sounds like a prime candidate for a legitimate leveraged buyout. Where are the private equity people on this company? Perhaps its too easy to just float debt and take payouts versus actually turning around a company. I personally switched to Checker Auto Parts some years ago, as I found their service and parts availability at my local store has been very good.
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    • Thu May 17th 09:57 AM
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      The Next Home Equity Surge
      What this product amounts to is the equivalent of a zero coupon bond like those which became popular on Wall Street years ago. The obvious risk is if the homeowner borrows a specific sum based on their forecast of the appreciation in their home and the home fails to appreciate enough to cover that borrowing then the borrower will be upside down at the note's due date. Also, I haven't bothered to do the effective interest rate calculation for some scenarios using this product, but it is likely to be expensive. It seems to me like another way for unsophisticated borrowers to hang themselves.

      It is a creative new financing option which if used properly is a nice addition to the range of credit options available to consumers; but at this point it is just an attempt to keep the housing lending market afloat.
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    • Wed May 16th 12:14 PM
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      Berkshire Hathaway: Hold Off Until Buffett Steps Down
      Sounds like Bill Gates has been spending too much time with Buffett; Microsoft also has a big cash pile and nothing good to invest it in.
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    • Wed May 9th 10:39 AM
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      Execution of Excellence Maximizes Metaphorical Distance From Wall Street
      Nicely said. As far as your list of qualifications for purchasing and running a diversified stable of small concerns goes, I would just add that operational knowledge or experience is critical as well. Any fool can cobble together enough cash to buy a private business; succeeding at running it requires knowledge of how the business actually works and paying attention to the operational details.
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    • Mon Apr 30th 17:43 PM
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      The Activist Investor: Private Equity's Polonius
      Nicely said, and informative. Thanks!
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    • Mon Apr 30th 13:00 PM
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      Microsoft's Earnings Report Slacker: XBox 360 Consoles
      If it weren't for Bill Gates and Paul Allen's stakes in the company, Microsoft would be a ripe takeover target. However, my impression is that the Xbox 360, Zune, and Windows Mobile are all Bill G.'s personal projects. No one in the company is going to challenge these losses as long as Bill is OK with them.

      In addition, Microsoft has never been about fixing deficiencies with existing products, unless absolutely forced to by the market. They'll be adding new features to the Xbox line forever before they think about changing the power brick.
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    • Wed Apr 25th 11:35 AM
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      Can Japan's Newest Real Estate Boom Be Sustained?
      Interesting information...perhaps in the short term there is room for gains in Japan's real estate markets, but when one looks at the demographic situation in Japan the long term outlook for Japan's real estate market is strongly negative. Some researchers are projecting a 21% decline in the population of Japan between 2006 and 2050. That means less need for housing, and less need for commercial real estate to contain businesses that serve the consumer market. I have posted a worst case scenario for Japan's economy through 2050 titled "Japan and the fertility trap-a worst case scenario?" here...
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    • Fri Apr 20th 09:32 AM
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      Google's Billion Dollar Quarter: A Closer Look
      One service that Google has added recently that you didn't mention that is rather impressive is their Analytics functionality. My sites are small, but the ease of setting up an Analytics account and getting web traffic data for my sites was impressive. I have seen reports that indicate Analytics might prove a serious threat to companies like Omniture.

      The contrast between Google's excellence in execution and Microsoft's stumbling and fumbling couldn't be greater. The cultural difference between these two companies is epitomized by Schmidt's statement that "Each of these strategies involves creating solutions that benefit both advertisers and users, and it is the synergy between them that we have been able to harness." On the other hand, it is clear to everyone that Microsoft's main goal is to continue to milk their installed base while they fumble around trying to find a coherent strategy for the future.
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    • Tue Apr 17th 09:42 AM
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      Credit Derivatives Market Optimism Misguided
      Fixed link: Source of market risk under the radar...
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    • Tue Apr 17th 09:42 AM
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      Credit Derivatives Market Optimism Misguided
      In a similar vein, I wrote on February 16 about how confirmation of credit derivative trades is still paper based to a degree at ,a href="wasatchecon.blogspot.c...;>Source of market risk under the radar; the key being this quote: ""According to the FSA, it took the largest banks 44 days to confirm a basic credit derivatives trade and about twice that for complex deals.""

      So not only do regulators have the issues you mention, if there were a crisis, just clearing outstanding trades would be a source of serious problems.
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    • Thu Apr 12th 13:04 PM
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      A Demographic Perspective on ETFs
      The Chinese problem of too many boys can certainly not be referred to as an "unintended consequence." Chinese family culture revolves around the idea that boys are more desirable than girls, and I seriously doubt that Chinese leaders failed to take this into account when they implemented the one child policy. I think they just didn't care, because they bought into the "boys are better than girls" mentality.

      The real unintended consequence of a huge excess of men vs women in Chinese society is likely to be social and political destabilization. A large number of these men will be from the lower end of the economic spectrum, and sociologists agree that a group of under- or un-employed single men is a recipe for crime and rebellion.
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    • Thu Apr 12th 12:41 PM
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      Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: OFHEO Releases Harsh Judgments
      For C-level executives in general, accounting systems are generally at the bottom of the budget priority list every year, all the time. It generally takes a crisis to get funding for upgrades to accounting systems. That is partly why there have been so many earnings restatements.

      Then when you add in having to fix sleight of hand accounting to upgrading weak accounting systems, it will take forever to get your company's books in order.
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    • Thu Apr 5th 12:36 PM
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      Rackable Systems: Tough To Be A Midget In The Land Of Giants
      Sounds like its time to liquidate and give the shareholders what they can out of this company.
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    • Thu Apr 5th 12:30 PM
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      Cisco CEO: 'Microsoft Has Given Us a Three-Year Lead'
      Well, in Novell's case Ray Noorda was literally losing his mind(beginning stages of Alzheimer's) in the early 1990's when the big confrontation was taking his place. He was asked to resign by the board around 1993 because of the health problems. Chambers doesn't seem to be in a similar situation.
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    • Wed Apr 4th 09:47 AM
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      Oil Trading Volume Surge: Desperation Of The Roaches
      Interesting information I personally wasn't aware of...thanks for giving us some info the mainstream press ignores...
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