BlueDome

Case Shiller: Eight Years of Real Estate

Your argument that physical constriction is causing price difference doesn't hold water. Nowhere is more constricted than San Fran and yet it is in the middle of the list. Also Denver, which cannot build west due to mountains is near the bottom. But Washington DC metro area including VA and MD suburbs, is unconstricted on 3 sides and yet it is at the top.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B Shares Attractive Here

A big pullback is likely. BRK has become a flight to safety stock. As soon as conditions improve, many investors will sell and put the money in more aggressive stocks, causing BRK to drop. It has already happened earlier this year. Plus Buffett himself has said it's a difficult time for his core insurance business. Comparisons with last year will be poor.

Why "Drill, Baby, Drill!" Does Not Translate Into Effective National Energy Policy

AlexS, I would love to see any evidence for your belief that the position of the republican party and the Bush administration is not just Drill. Cripes, we're spending 10 billion a month fighting a war partly because that region is an important source of oil and we need control over it!
Republicans have always advocated subsidizing the oil business, and fought subsidizing alternative energy. That is historical fact and you shouldn't deny it just because oil prices have suddenly gone up in the last year and it now looks dumb. A year ago you wouldn't have seen any reason to support alternative energy and neither would your party, because it doesn't look ahead.

Ban on Short Selling Could Have Negative Consequences for Options Market

Naked short selling may be banned but it still seems to be extensive with no particular penalty. Lots of stocks with very high short interest, hard to believe all those shares were legitimately borrowed.

Marc Andreessen on Financial Crises, No IPOs, and Obama

Campaign rhetoric does get excessive but when I listen to Obama I find him reasonable and intelligent. That would be a refreshing change.

The People's Republic of America?

Note in the chart above, the only president who steadily cut spending as a percent of GDP was Clinton, with a democratic congress. How do you
like them apples, republicans? Doesn't really match your party's rhetoric, does it?

What the Homebuilders Are Telling Us

Real estate is local. Prices are based on affordability and a premium for desirability.

Places where average prices were 10 times average household incomes (california for one), the real estate will continue to fall at least until they reach whatever premium these places deserve as nice places to live. But in places where prices never went out of sight, they won't fall much either.

That assumes constant interest rates. If rates go up, prices will fall everywhere because it decreases affordability.

The Obama Plan: We Can't Entitle Our Way Out of Paying Taxes

For a good analysis comparing Obama's and McCain's tax plans, read this weeks new york times magazine:

www.nytimes.com/2008/0...

China COSCO: Ride the Dry Bulk Profit Wave

Why is China COSCO the second largest shipper in the world yet selling for $1.75 on the pink sheets? And reportedly growing profits lately but it's headed down not up. Doesn't add up. I won't invest until it is listed somewhere that at least requires SEC reports.

Book Review: David Einhorn's 'Fooling Some of the People All of the Time'

Has anyone added up the capital that ALD has raised in the last 10 years, and then added up the dividends that it has paid, and compared them? And what are the Sales it reports?

I have to say, if it was easy to return 18%, a lot of companies would be doing it. It suggests "too good to be true".

A Real iPhone Challenger - Barron's

Not one person has mentioned that Iphone is AT&T only. Unless AT&T is going to wipe Verizon et. al. off the map somehow, there is a huge market that can't even use an Iphone. What are they going to buy?

Enough I think that HTC would do well if it has the best iphone-like phone.

If AT&T and/or Verizon start offering internet
on phones for free or close to free, possibly ad supported, the market for touch screen phones is going to EXPLODE!

Selling Wave About to Overwhelm Interventionists

Very exciting article. It should have been titled: "investor guesses at direction of market". Whoop-di-doo.

Is there one fact, or explain opinion, in here?

Transocean: Cheap Stock, Worth a Look

RIG has a high PSR largely because it has high margins, which is a good thing. To judge value, you have to compare the PSR to other companies in the same industry.

In a low margin industry, like utilities, a very different range of PSR will exist.

LDK Solar Worth $23B?

Unit price will drop significantly, as in any industry when
production ramps up, where there is lots of competition.

Strong Growth in Lithium Demand to Power FMC Corp., Rockwood Holdings

Author is confused about his physics and/or math. Lithium content of batteries is approximately proportional to Watt-hours, not amps. If the laptop battery is 425 W-hours and the Tesla battery is 200,000 W-hours, the ratio is about 500. For the GM Volt, it's only about 33. Also the industry is using different chemistry for big car batteries than for small laptop batteries, and how that affects lithium content I don't know.