David Pogue’s presentation at TED in 2006 was pretty funny and carried an important message for designers: simplicity sells. The iPhone wasn’t even out, but the trend is clearer than ever. The talk starts slowly but quickly builds momentum. As we always stress: view it critically, play with the idea, try to contradict it or apply it in some other field(s).
A rare but always welcome interview by Charlie Munger embedded inside, courtesy of Stanford University’s Law School. Some highlights inside as well. The main theme is the economic/ financial crisis (what else?).
God has spoken, go out and read it. The core is dedicated to welcoming and explaining BRK to its new shareholders acquired through BNSF, so no big news. Buffett complains more about the media and investments analysts, on how they distort things, causing losses to the less diligent and recommends that everybody form their own knowledge base and opinion. Hope he lives to see that happening, but we sincerely doubt it.
The first comic book to ever feature the Super-Man character, Action Comics #1 dated June 1938, was just sold for $1 million. Considering its original price of $0.10, this is an approx. 25% nominal and 21% real IRR for the past 72 years. Eat you heart out, Warren Buffett. Bonus links inside.
Judging by the recent troubles in Belgium and the article at Valor (in portuguese), the love-hate relationship with InBev in Belgium has gone to hell. And there’s the “socialism vs. capitalism” conflict in Europe again. If it weren’t for the image deterioration risk – and it seems that they’re handling it by going as far as they can, but no further – the union representative’s words would be music to shareholders’ ears.
Buffett was particularly expansive regarding his processes and methods, and this alone makes this video worth the time (some 90 minutes). The fact that it was October 1998, a pivotal time in the dot-com boom and just after the LTCM imbroglio makes it even more interesting.
Kraft’s all-out effort to acquire Cadbury involved a “side deal” in which Nestlé bought Kraft’s frozen pizza division. One company had cash on hand and served as “white knight”, the other had a pressing need and none other than Warren Buffett applying pressure. We think it’s safe to assume that Nestlé got a sweet deal…
Continue reading about Nestlé benefits from Kraft’s resolve to buy Cadbury
John Mackey, CEO of high-end grocery chain Whole Foods, was recently profiled in the New Yorker mag. Habits and idiosyncrasies aside – he is known for putting his “personal foot in his professional mouth” – the guy is not what one would expect: he’s a libertarian capitalist at heart and digs Ayn Rand. Very importantly, it goes to show that “doing the right thing” as a corporation and earning profits – the more, the better – are far from incompatible.
The AOL – TimeWarner merger’s 10-year anniversary inspires a feature in the NY Times, and the videos are a must-see for the candid opinions of the top execs involved. One must remember that talented fund managers got burned in 1998-1999 shorting AOL at a P/E of 100, 200, 300… only to see it reach 700. Not a typo, that’s the P/E ratio.
Stanford U. is starting a program to advocate against the influence of drug and medical device cies. on physicians, a practice that spins some US$1 billion per year. The problem is that the program is being partly funded by Pfizer. Stanford claims that Pfizer’s support was 100% voluntary and that there are no strings attached. How far can we push the boundaries on conflicts of interest? And if it appears conflicted, doesn’t it defeat the purpose from the get-go?