Erich Riesenberg

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    • Mon Mar 3rd 10:16 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      2 Noteworthy Points From Warren Buffett's Annual Shareholder Letter
      Comparing BRK to PRS is a mistake. BRK has minimal credit default exposure, less than $2 billion in current value and $5 billion in notional value. It is a fraction of BRK's equity. I conclude the opposite, if Buffett saw credit default premiums as a great investment in the second half of 2007, he would have sold more.

      And of course, PRS is making unhedged investments, it is impossible to know precisely why BRK is selling credit default protection.
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    • Fri Feb 29th 10:32 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Applauding Hank: Treasury Secretary Rejects Keynesian Mortgage Bailout
      One free market response available to homeowners is walking away from the home and the mortgage. This could be a rational response of a homeowner in a situation where the next 4 or 5 years or more of mortgage payments are going to be spent to pay down a mortgage to the home's current value.
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    • Thu Feb 28th 10:28 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      MBIA Is Still Whining About Ackman
      I have never understood the urge some people have to explain their investment ideas, good investment ideas are hard to come by, but it is nonsense to blame the messenger rather than try to explain away the message.

      Monoline shareholders should be blaming management, not investors who properly analyzed the companies.
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    • Thu Feb 21st 12:33 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      TheStreet.com on Primus Guaranty: Wacky and Uninformed
      I am curious about the comparison between PRS and BRK. A minor (5% in notional terms) of BRK's derivative contracts are credit default, most are equity, interest, foreign exchange. Those could be hedges or outright investments of the type BRK has always made. Also, BRK could pay off all its derivatives liabilities without much of a dent.

      With Buffett offering to reinsure so many municipals the concept of credit default coverage seems reasonable, but it doesn't appear to have been done in bulk at least through Dec of 2006.

      Also, a typo, I hope no one is paying $91,000 a year to insure $1 million in BRK default.
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