One Family's Blog

Tracking Mohnish Pabrai's Pabrai Funds Portfolio: Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-25T06:09:00.001-07:00

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights Mohnish Pabrai's moves this quarter. Please check-out our SeekingAlpha column for an analysis of the moves:

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Carnival of road to financial independence #43

2012-05-24T22:39:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the May 25, 2012 edition of carnival of financial independence. Frugal Living Jailan Marie presents Letting go posted at Innovative Solutions For Positive Change, saying, "Letting go of the negative behaviors has been an energizing and positive life changing experience." Dr. Dean presents 100 Words On How To Become “Well To Do!” posted at Dr. Dean's TheMillionaireNurse.com

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Stock Portfolio & Watch List Updates for May 2012

2012-05-22T07:36:00.001-07:00

Following are the activity from the previous month: a) Closed the following longs: Sold our Kraft (KFT) position at $38.57 for a 46% return and impact to the portfolio of 0.77%. b) Increased/Added the following longs: Bought Southern Copper (SCCO) at $33.27 with ~1.5% of portfolio on 05/03/2012. c) Long Calls: None. d) Long Puts: None. e) Shorts: Bought to

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tracking Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Portfolio: Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights Bill Ackman's moves this quarter. Please check-out our SeekingAlpha column for an analysis of the moves:

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tracking Bruce Berkowitz's Fairholme Portfolio: Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-19T06:22:00.003-07:00

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights Bruce Berkowitz's moves this quarter. Please check-out our SeekingAlpha column for an analysis of the moves:

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tracking Warren Buffett'S Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio - Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-16T18:15:00.002-07:00

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights Warren Buffett's moves this quarter. Please check-out our SeekingAlpha column for an analysis of the moves:

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tracking Wilbur Ross’s Holdings – Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-15T09:10:00.001-07:00

<!--[if gte mso 9]>

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tracking David Swensen’s Yale Endowment Holdings – Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

This article is the first of a series that provides ongoing analysis of the changes made to Yale Endowment’s US stock portfolio on a quarterly basis. Yale Endowment had 6.7% of its assets allocated to US equities as of 06/30/2011. The total value of the endowment is just shy of $20B, about 15% below the all-time high of $23B reached in 2008. It’s ten-year performance of over 10% places it in

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tracking Seth Klarman's Baupost Group Holdings: Q1 2012 Update

2012-05-14T18:14:00.002-07:00

Below is a spreadsheet that highlights Seth Klarman's moves this quarter. Please check-out our SeekingAlpha column for an analysis of the moves:

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Trip Report to Pattaya

2012-05-02T21:19:00.002-07:00

<!--[if gte mso 9]>

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Kalyan Silks return experience

2012-05-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

<!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Carnival of Financial Independence #42

2012-04-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the April 25, 2012 edition of carnival of financial independence. Frugal Living Theresa Torres presents Commuters: Be Green and Frugal posted at CreditDonkey.com Tips, saying, "When it comes to transportation, it is possible to be both green and frugal. Here's an infographic to show you how you can reduce your gasoline bill and carbon emissions so that you can be the green

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Stock Portfolio and Watch List Updates for April 2012

2012-04-23T22:06:00.001-07:00

Following are the activity from the previous month: a) Closed the following longs: None. b) Increased the following longs: None. c) Long Calls: None. d) Long Puts: Direxion Daily Tech Bull 3X (TYH) shares (Apr 2012 56) position at $4.3 initiated on 02/27/2012 with ~0.2% of total portfolio value expired worthless as tech shares continued to outperform the rest of the

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

R2I Finances - FD Laddering Strategy for INR Liquidity

2012-04-15T04:08:00.001-07:00

Interest rates on fixed deposits (FD) in India bottomed in 2003. Over the last 40 years, the rates have fluctuated from a low of ~5% to a high of ~13% as shown in the graph below: Currently, the interest rates on FD are hovering at just under 10%. For R2I-ers, these rates sound excellent as the best rates for Certificate of Deposits (CD) in the US are well under 4%, not to mention

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Basics of Options and Futures for Value Investors

2012-04-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

Introduction: Options and Futures are both zero-sum in the sense that for every winner there is a corresponding looser. They are both contracts between buyers and sellers. Options are contracts between buyers and sellers whereby the buyer (long) gets the right to buy (call) or sell (put) a particular security at the strike price from the seller (short). The buyer pays the seller a

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Basic Futures Strategies for Value Investors

2012-04-11T09:42:00.003-07:00

Futures allow for directional bets on a commodity with huge leverage usually between 10:1 and 20:1 which implies either winning big or losing big. Trading in the futures markets are controlled by hedgers and speculators. Rather than speculating with futures, value investors use them as a hedging tool and in the context of their overall portfolio there are numerous ways to use futures as a

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

R2I Housing – Landscaping, Balconies, Shower Doors, and Painting

2012-04-08T05:37:00.001-07:00

The better half of the year after our R2I was spent on installing necessary items we did not avail of from the builder, items the builder failed to complete before handover, and replacements to certain builder items due to shoddy workmanship. We also made several ‘optional home improvements’ in and around the house such as landscaping our yard space, closing balcony areas, and painting. From

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Basic Options Strategies for Value Investors

2012-04-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Options are an excellent tool for value investors. Value investors who rely on Fair Value Estimates (FVE) to arrive at Buy/Sell decisions tend to use a two-pronged approach. The two tines are: Bottom-up fundamental analysis, and Macro considerations Rather than using a fixed FVE, value investors rely on a range of FVE’s based on the assumptions and methods used. With a range

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Kumarakom Daytrip Report

2012-03-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Kumarakom, believed to be the best backwater tourism option in Kerala, is also known for its mangrove forests. The recent history of the place is based around the construction of Thaneermukkom Bund between 1974 and 1976. The salt water barrier divides the Vembanad Lake helping farmers who do farming below sea level. The environmental impact includes the proliferation of water weeds and the

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Quick Take on Procter & Gamble (PG)

2012-03-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Fair Value Estimates (FVE): Click for an intro on our Fair Value Estimates. Below is our estimates for Procter & Gamble: The average FVE is $65.12 against the current share price of ~$67.50. Financials Summary: Q2 2012 Quarter Report & Conf. Call – 01/27/2012: Organic sales growth – 4%, volume – 1%: effect of pricing. No growth in developed markets. But,

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Carnival of Financial Independence #41

2012-03-23T23:19:00.003-07:00

Welcome to the March 21, 2012 edition of road to financial independence. Reducing Expenses DavidQ presents Relocating? Here’s How To Reduce Moving Costs posted at Start Talking Cents, saying, "I move quite often, be it for a job or just a change of scenery, so it’s important to me to able to reduce moving costs whenever possible. While I have used everything from U-Haul for do it

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Cash holdings in an investment portfolio - strategies to squeeze income

2012-03-22T18:36:00.002-07:00

It is customary for investors to hold sizable amounts of cash in their portfolios. This cash-hoard is especially beneficial to investors when the market is over-extended and/or uncertain: a) Keeping the powder dry: Dry powder ensures opportunity to swoop for the kill when the conditions are right. Such opportunities do come by every few years and cold hard cash is required to place

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Waterfront Flats/Apartments - Greater Kochi Focus

2012-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

The backwaters of Kerala are famous and the state is among the premium tourism locations in the country. The industrial capital of Kochi is a prime focus for real-estate developers and the area is blessed with several beautiful waterfront locations because of the confluence of three factors: the Arabian Sea, the back waters, and rivers. Below is a look at some of the options for waterfront flats

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Stock Portfolio and Watch List Updates for March 2012

2012-03-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

Following are the activity from the previous month: a) Closed the following longs: CPFL Energia (CPL) at $32.27 on 3/6/2012 for a 79.58% gain (1.78% impact to the portfolio). b) Increased the following longs: None. c) Long Calls: None. d) Long Puts: Opened Direxion Daily Tech Bull 3X (TYH) shares (Apr 2012 56) position at $4.3 on 02/27/2012 with ~0.2% of total

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Kakkanad Flats/Apartments Focus

2012-03-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

This is an expanded report of the availability of flats in the greater Kakkanad area. We did a post detailing our experience shopping for a flat in the mid-2010 time-frame. Since then, the pricing at many of the projects from reputed builders having gone up between 15 and 30%. Below are some of the ongoing projects in the area: Confident Capella (off Infopark Expressway): Two Hundred and One

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]