More thoughts on Markel, Berkshire, Greenlight and Third Point… Plus a new “Maybe” for the portfolio

by Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe | January 9, 2015 4:01 pm

More Blatheration for the Irregulars in this week's Friday File

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Source URL: https://www.stockgumshoe.com/2015/01/more-thoughts-on-markel-berkshire-greenlight-and-third-point-plus-a-new-maybe-for-the-portfolio/


6 responses to “More thoughts on Markel, Berkshire, Greenlight and Third Point… Plus a new “Maybe” for the portfolio”

  1. omcdac1 says:

    Long MKL 🙂
    If MKL come to $620 or less i am buying…

  2. mary says:

    Not buying BRK-B at $88.00 is one of my big regrets–I was just beginning to nibble at a few individual stocks and was afraid to buy such an expensive stock; I was also afraid the value was so attached to Warren Buffett’s persona that the price would plummet if he died (rude remark but don’t know how to express the thought more elegantly).
    I am looking forward to hearing your take from his “Woodstock for Capitalists” and always enjoy your notes from the Value Investor Conference.
    I will also now take the opportunity to thank you for all you have taught me. I always enjoy reading your articles and found your site several years ago when I was searching for some stock I was sure was going to make me a fortune–if only I could find the ticker of that gem of a stock without subscribing to the $$$service teasing the stock. I guess I did find the gem–and it’s ticker is SG!

  3. vivianlewis says:

    I applaud Travis’s willingness to buy insurance and re-insurance stocks, given their weird metrics. I like to leave insurers to our specialist writer, a retired US Ambassador, Harry Geisel. He recommended Validus, VR, a Bermuda reinsurance co., and has held up okay. But it was not the target of the most recent Bermuda takeover by XL. We missed that.
    We also got into AIA, spun off by the former US AIG group in Hong Kong. The paperwork for the IPO was terrific and I didn’t qualm at writing it up on my own. There is probably now an ADR but we own the local stock because it could be bought with discount brokerage e-trade at the ipo. It is up smartly.
    More recently with Germany’s Allianz, a biggie insurer, I was too clever by half, deciding that the walkaway by Bill Gross from Pimco had hit its parent’s stpcl too hard. It suffered more than I expected because of notoriety, if nothing else.
    Then it turned out that AZSEF is the lead reinsurer for all airlines in Malaysia, the home land of no less than 3 crashed airplanes last year. I mean talk about insurance, who would have thought? (Air Asia is Malaysia owned although it was flying from Surabaya to Singapore.)
    I didn’t know. I suspect Bill Gross didn’t know. The share is still above its Gross walkabout level but it has been a hairy few months.
    Now Harry and another reporter we employ at Global Investing are working on a write-up of a UK insurance co with a strong presence in Africa. Harry was an Ambassador to several African countries and the other reporter was born in what is now Zimbabwe. So they have safari boots on the ground and are both Africa enthusiasts. Plus Harry’s mastery of insurance metrics. to learn more when it comes subscribe to http://www.global-investing.com which writes about insurance around the globe.

  4. FYI, interesting FT piece about the hedgies and their hunt for “permanent capital” that led to things like the discounted Pershing Share closed end fund as well as Einhorn’s and Loeb’s reinsurance firms: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0b6272c2-91ae-11e4-afd2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3Oj8xYnMg

  5. Alan Harris says:

    Travis: how do you feel about Lancashire Holdings (LRE.L, LCSHF) these days? Do you still own…are you still confident?

  6. rvpatel50 says:

    Travis
    please provide your thoughts on Elron Technologies ( Elrnf). It was briefly discussed on KSS thread. It has no debt and cash nearly equal to market cap and lot invested in medical devices biotech. Thanks

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