Back to Basics

Here is something you might want to read if you are a rookie.

Mozart and Investing

At last year's Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, Munger told a story of composing great Wolfgang Mozart. It goes something like this:

A young man, around 25 years old, goes to Mozart and asks him for advice on writing symphonies. Mozart suggests to him that he is too young to write symphonies. The young man gets confused and reminds Mozart that Mozart himself had been writing symphonies since he was 10 years old. Mozart responds, "Yes, but I wasn't asking anyone for advice."

Humbling, isn't it? More importantly, this story can easily be related to the world of investing.

It's important to remember exactly what we're doing when we invest: We're purchasing an ownership stake in a company. That said, successful investing requires a breadth of knowledge about all sorts of things: the industry, management, consumers, the economy -- and that's just to gauge the prospects of the company. On top of that, in order to ensure you bag your investments at an attractive price, you'll need to grapple with the world of valuation -- which will require knowledge of everything from free cash flow to net present value.



Link to Source

US Presidential Elections 2008

Jan 3rd 2008
Iowa Caucus Starts
Iowa Caucus Video

Democrats - Obama Wins
Republicans - Hukabee Wins

Feb 5th 2008 Super Tuesday
Democrats - Clinton/Obama almost split the delegates(689 vs 582). 2025 Needed to Win
Republicans - John McCain wins most delegates in major states(514). 1191 Needed to Win

Feb 9th 2008
Democrats - Obama wins in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington as well as in the Virgin Islands.
Repubs - Huckabee


Democra ScoreCard in March 2008
Obama leads in pledged delegates -- 908 to 877 -- but Clinton's superdelegates -- 223 to 131 -- give her the overall lead. Clinton has 1,100 delegates and Obama has 1,039, according to CNN calculations.


Obama - 1039 (908 + 131)
Clinton 1000 (877 + 223)

Democra ScoreCard on June 1st 2008
Obama - 2070 (1741 + 329)
Clinton 1915 (1624 + 291)


Election Process
ScoreCard
0. The goal of each candidate is to get the simple majority of the delegates to vote at the National Convention
1. Each state has a Primary or Caucus. Iowa is usually the first state to hold a caucus in the election year.
2. Super Tuesday is the day when most states have a primary of caucus.
3. At these primaries or caucuses, people vote for their preferred presidential candidates
4. The proportion of the votes then decides how many (delegates of each state) that particular candidate wins.
5. These delegates then meet at the Democratic and Republican party conventions to select the final 2 nominees
6. Electoral College then selects one among these 2 finalists