Money and Finance

Links

James Montier: Shareholder Value Maximization: The World's Dumbest Idea? [Montier starts in the video around 5:30] (LINK)

The Apollo Asia Fund's Q3 report (LINK)

Hussman Weekly Market Comment: Fast, Furious and Prone to Failure (LINK)

Jason Zweig: So You Think You’re a Risk-Taker? (LINK)

Bill Ackman and His Hedge Fund, Betting Big [H/T Will] (LINK)

Jim Koch: The Steve Jobs of Beer (LINK)

Jared Diamond talks with The Guardian (LINK)

Related books, HERE.

On the Obsessive Focus of Bill Gates (LINK)

One trait that differentiated [Gates and Allen] was focus. Allen’s mind would flit between many ideas and passions, but Gates was a serial obsessor.

“Where I was curious to study everything in sight, Bill would focus on one task at a time with total discipline,” said Allen. “You could see it when he programmed. He would sit with a marker clenched in his mouth, tapping his feet and rocking; impervious to distraction.”

.....

Related book: The Innovators

Related previous post: Bill Gates quote from Charlie Rose interview (or, how the world's best companies are built by fanatics)

a16z Podcast: The (Definite) Optimism of Peter Thiel (LINK)

What is Silicon Valley’s greatest reigning monopoly? How did PayPal manage to emerge from the dotcom implosion? Can you build a great tech company and keep it private forever? And how did Elon Musk manage to wreck an uninsured, million-dollar car with Peter Thiel in the passenger seat speeding on the way to a VC meeting? Marc Andreessen and Thiel discuss all of it in a wide-ranging conversation that toggles off the topics in Thiel’s new book “Zero to One.”

Munger Gives $65 Million to U.C. Santa Barbara [H/T Daniel] (LINK)

Charles Munger, the vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), is giving $65 million to the University of California at Santa Barbara for a housing facility where visiting scientists can gather to discuss physics.

Construction of the three-story residence is expected to be done in two years, the university said in a statement. The gift by Munger, the long-time business partner of Warren Buffett, is the largest single donation in the school’s history, according to the statement.

“Once you see what a combination of calculus and Newton’s laws will do and the things you can work out, you get an awesome appreciation for the power of getting things in science right,” Munger, 90, said in the statement. “I don’t think you get a feeling for the power of science — not with the same strength — anywhere else than you do in physics.”

What Will Set Warren Buffett’s Company Apart When He’s Gone? (LINK)

Related book: Berkshire Beyond Buffett

Buffett’s Model Not Challenged by IBM Loss (video) [H/T Will] (LINK)

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Lawrence Cunningham, author of “Berkshire Beyond Buffett,” talks with Betty Liu about how the value lost in IBM impacts the effectiveness of Warren Buffett’s investment plans. He speaks on “In The Loop.”

Talks at Google: John Mihaljevic, "The Manual of Ideas: How to Find the Best Investment Ideas" (video) (LINK)

Related book: The Manual of Ideas: The Proven Framework for Finding the Best Value Investments

Steve Keen: Time for a Copernican Revolution in Economics (LINK)

Related book: Debunking Economics

- Links
Shane Parrish talks to Jason Zweig in the latest The Knowledge Project podcast (LINK) Related book: The Devil’s Financial DictionaryRationally Speaking podcast with Phil Tetlock [H/T @jasonzweigwsj] (LINK) Related book: Superforecasting:...

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Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates will be on Charlie Rose tonight. Horizon Kinetics: 2nd Quarter Commentary (LINK) Claire Barnes' Q2 Report: Stormy macro, reassuring micro (LINK) TEDx Talk - Lukas Neely: Is This the Death of Investing?...

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David Kass' notes from the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (LINK) IAEA Board Approves Agreement for Hosting the IAEA’s LEU Fuel Bank [H/T Linc] (LINK) [Related 2006 article: Mr. Buffett’s Excellent Idea] Richard Thaler visits the London...

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Paul Graham essay: Before the Startup (LINK) Related previous post: Paul Graham lecture on How to Start a StartupBill Gates Talks Ebola, MSFT, Bitcoin and More (LINK) Biggest Walrus Gathering Recorded as Sea Ice Shrinks (LINK) Book: The...

- Berkshire’s Munger Pledges Record $110 Million To U. Michigan
Thanks to Matt for passing this along. Charles Munger, vice chairman at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), pledged $110 million of securities to the University of Michigan to fund fellowships and a graduate-student residence. The gift...

Money and Finance