$$$ Carlyle to Shutter Blue Wave Hedge Fund
$$$ Plumbing the K.K.R. Un-I.P.O. [DealBook]
$$$ What Would Warren Say? [Jeff Matthews]
$$$ When Are We In a Recession? [LoSC]
Comments
2
Posted by Anal_yst, Aug 01, 2008 12:55AM
Completely unrelated to anything, I noticed a link to a portfolio video to the right about the best spas in NYC, the caption for which began, "A professional spa tester..."
Now what I want, nay, need to know is, how the fuck does one get a job as a professional spa tester, and where the hell can I sign up?
3
Posted by Joseph di Jersey City, Aug 01, 2008 9:13AM
Warren Buffet is a tiresome old man.
After making more money than anyone could reasonably enjoy all he can think to do is make even more while (esp. recently) pontificating on subjects that he has no expertise in, at best. I have much more respect for someone who makes the money, decides they have enough, and moves on to more interesting pursuits (e.g. Jeffrey Epstein).
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Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 7:16PM
Re: the KKR IPO that is not an IPO -- It's a very cleverly structured transaction. OK, so Kohlberg and Kravis didn't get their equity out before the market turned sour. They're not on the road to the poorhouse and with a little patience they'll get in the long run.
Re: What Would Warren Say? The Nebraska Furniture Mart, one of Buffett's most cherished Berkshire Hathaway companies, buys all its merchandise wholesale from China. The furniture is indistinquishable from standard issue American-style furniture and is much cheaper. The CEO of Nebraska Furniture Mart said that when he explored with Buffet havng the furniture stock manufactured in China that Buffett immediately "got it." Buffett's home in Omaha is furnished exclusively with Nebraska Furniture Mart merchandise. The wholesale cost of the furniture is about 60% of what it was when it was manufactured in North Carolina, and Buffett is a big believer in giving value for the money.
Buffett has stated he'd like to sell car insurance in China when the Chinese government allows foreigners to hold a controlling stake in an insurance company.
I don't think curtailing dealings with China is in the Buffett play book.
Buffett, as nice as he is and as philanthropic as he is, is not a complete paradigm of virtue. He doesn't seem to be concerned in the least about the state of human rights and the complete lack of civil liberties in China.
Wholesale goods from China are manufactured much more cheaply there because in addition to low labor costs, the Chinese have extremely lax to non-existent health and safety standards and environmental rules. Since China is so remote to us, we can simply ignore conditions that would seem barbarous to us if practiced at home. I think that the television watchers who watch Olympic athletes choke on the Beijing air might get an inkling of the uneven development of Chinese progress.