Money and Finance
- Bruce Berkowitz's 2013 Annual Letter
Link to: Bruce Berkowitz's 2013 Annual LetterOur largest issuer position, at nearly 50% of assets, is in AIG common and warrants. Our second largest, at 15%, is in Bank of America common stock. Both are designated Global Systemically Important Financial...
- Fairholme Proposes To Buy Insurance Businesses Of Fannie, Freddie
UPDATE: Bruce Berkowitz was on CNBC discussing this HERE. Thanks to Will for passing this along. (Reuters) - Fairholme Capital Management has proposed to buy the insurance businesses of Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB), a move...
- Ignoring The Elephant In The Bailout - By Gretchen Morgenson
IF you blinked, you might have missed the ugly first-quarter report last week from Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giant that, along with its sister Fannie Mae, soldiers on as one of the financial world’s biggest wards of the state. Freddie — already...
- September 2003 Statement From Ron Paul On The Gses And The Housing Market
I saw this statement mentioned on TV and thought it was worth posting. The connection between the GSEs and the government helps isolate the GSE management from market discipline. This isolation from market discipline is the root cause of the recent reports...
- Wall Street Winner's Tough Predictions
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., like Campbell's Soup, has defied the stock market carnage as Wall Street and the global financial system melts down. Fairfax has defied gravity because the property and casualty insurance company, led by its Chair...
Money and Finance
Warren Buffett quote
From Warren Buffett’s 2010 FCIC testimony, when asked why he sold his shares in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in the year 2000:
I was concerned about the management at both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae although our holdings were concentrated in Freddie Mac. They were trying to and proclaiming that they could increase earnings per share in some low double digit range or something of the sort. And any time a large financial institution starts promising regular earnings increases you’re going to have trouble. It isn’t given to man to be able to run a financial institution where different interest rates scenarios will prevail and all of that comes to produce smooth regular earnings from a very large base to start with. So if people are thinking that way they’re going to do things maybe in accounting it’s turned out to be the case in both Freddie and Fannie but also in operations that I would regard as unsound. I don’t know when it’ll happen, I don’t even know for sure if it’ll happen. It will happen eventually if they keep up that policy and so, we, or I just decided to get out.
- Bruce Berkowitz's 2013 Annual Letter
Link to: Bruce Berkowitz's 2013 Annual LetterOur largest issuer position, at nearly 50% of assets, is in AIG common and warrants. Our second largest, at 15%, is in Bank of America common stock. Both are designated Global Systemically Important Financial...
- Fairholme Proposes To Buy Insurance Businesses Of Fannie, Freddie
UPDATE: Bruce Berkowitz was on CNBC discussing this HERE. Thanks to Will for passing this along. (Reuters) - Fairholme Capital Management has proposed to buy the insurance businesses of Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB), a move...
- Ignoring The Elephant In The Bailout - By Gretchen Morgenson
IF you blinked, you might have missed the ugly first-quarter report last week from Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giant that, along with its sister Fannie Mae, soldiers on as one of the financial world’s biggest wards of the state. Freddie — already...
- September 2003 Statement From Ron Paul On The Gses And The Housing Market
I saw this statement mentioned on TV and thought it was worth posting. The connection between the GSEs and the government helps isolate the GSE management from market discipline. This isolation from market discipline is the root cause of the recent reports...
- Wall Street Winner's Tough Predictions
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., like Campbell's Soup, has defied the stock market carnage as Wall Street and the global financial system melts down. Fairfax has defied gravity because the property and casualty insurance company, led by its Chair...