iftttwall – Page 26136

How Warren Buffett Became a Billionaire

One of Warren Buffett’s greatest investment ideas concerned “economic moats.”

What he meant by this was to invest in companies with significant competitive advantage that stops competitors from breaking into their market share. These competitive advantages served as “moats” around these businesses, much as a moat of water would protect a castle from intruders in medieval times.

To consider how “moat” investing works in the real world, let’s consider McDonalds (MCD).

For starters, MCD has a moat. MCD was launched in 1940. Burger King was launched in 1953. Wendy’s was launched in 1969.

Despite these competitors moving into its space, MCD has thrived, growing to become the largest hamburger based business in the world: its 2012 revenues were $27 billion compared to Burger King’s $1.9 billion and Wendy’s $2.5 billion.

Today, MCD has over 34,000 restaurants based in 199 countries employing 1.8 million people. Obviously the company is able to defend its market share from competitors. That’s an economic moat.

Between this and the company’s focus on producing returns to shareholders, those who invested in MCD and held for the long-term have dramatically outperformed the market and built literal fortunes.

Indeed, had you in McDonalds in 1986, you would have outperformed the S&P 500 by a simply enormous margin (see Figure 1 below). Not only that but you would have crushed every asset manager on planet earth with very few exceptions.

Regarding returns to shareholders, MCD has paid dividends every year for 37 years and has increased its dividend at least once per year.

Dividends per share have increased from $0.11 in 1986 to $2.87 in 2012. Those who invested in MCD shares in 1986 are receiving a yield of nearly 30% per year on their initial investment today just from dividends alone.

MCD is so focused on producing returns for shareholders that the company has bought back 23% of its shares outstanding in the last ten years. So even investors who bought in 2000 have experienced a synthetic yield of roughly 5% per year.

However, the most dramatic returns produced by “moat” investing are evident through the power of compounding as illustrated by MCD’s Dividend Re-Investment Plan or DRIP (a plan through which cash dividend payouts were automatically used to buy more MCD shares).

If you had invested in MCD’s DRIP program in 1988, you would have turned $1,000 into over $23,000 by the end of 2012. This is not by adding to your positions, this is the result of one single $1000 purchase of MCD stock.

This example of “moat” investing is precisely the kind of wealth generating investment that has made Warren Buffett a billionaire.

For a FREE Special Report outlining how to set up your portfolio from this, swing by: http://ift.tt/170oFLH

Best Regards

Phoenix Capital Research

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1gL3T33 Phoenix Capital Research

Catholic Diocese Of Stockton Files Bankruptcy; Priest Sexual-Abuse Scandal Blamed

Between lack of cash flows, insurmountable liabilities, an untenable pension funding, even insider fraud, we thought we had seen all the various reasons for filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And then along came the Catholic Diocese of Stockton which announced that it would join its host city and seek bankruptcy protection “in the wake of the church’s sexual-abuse scandal.” As WSJ reported, Bishop Stephen E. Blaire said in a news release Monday that the diocese would seek bankruptcy protection Wednesday, explaining that reorganization was the only option for dealing with mounting legal costs related to abuse by priests. The bishop said the diocese has spent $14 million in legal settlements and judgments over the past 20 years dealing with abuse allegations, and doesn’t have funds available to settle pending lawsuits or address future allegations. The punchline: “Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse.”

In the Stockton diocesan bankruptcy, the parties will likely agree on a figure that the diocese would pay, in addition to potentially pulling in funds from insurers. However, the diocese says it holds “relatively little property and assets.” Other holdings, including schools, parishes and several parcels of land, are incorporated separately.

And so the Stockton Catholics became the 10th US Diocese after Milwaukee; San Diego; Spokane, Wash.; Davenport, Iowa; Portland, Ore.; Tucson, Ariz.; Fairbanks, Alaska; Wilmington, Del.; and Gallup, N.M. to file bankruptcy. In addition, the Christian Brothers Institute, which operates Catholic schools and orphanages, also filed because of sexual abuse liabilities.

The Chapter 11 filing would halt pending litigation against the diocese and likely would ultimately allow it to discharge liabilities stemming from sexual-abuse allegations by setting up a trust to compensate victims. The diocese said it hopes to arrive at a resolution with victims and insurers through the process.

Joelle Casteix, western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called the bankruptcy “problematic on a lot of different levels,” noting that it would let the diocese avoid future civil cases.

However, while the local catholics’ financial woes may be put on temporary hold, their civil troubles are only starting:

Separately, a grand jury Monday indicted a former priest with the diocese, Michael Eugene Kelly, and a warrant for his arrest has been issued. Calaveras County authorities are seeking Mr. Kelly’s extradition from Ireland to face charges of three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child, and one count of oral copulation with a child. Mr. Kelly faces 14 years in prison if convicted.

Not surprisingly, the Catholic church which itself is embroiled in numerous financial scandals recently, was unable to come to the Diocese’s rescue even though it has already paid out an estimated $2.2 billion to cover settlements, therapy for victims, support for offenders, attorney fees and other costs, according to a report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

And with this filing, we are fairly confident we have seen every possible bankruptcy filing reason.

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/LdDu42 Tyler Durden

Group-Think Visualized

Presented with little comment; aside to note that it would appear (based on BlackRock’s survey) that there is only one trade the sell-side wants you in…

h/t @GavynNolan

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1dQwAbq Tyler Durden

Yen Momentum Ignition Launches S&P500 On Its Way To All Time High

The S&P 500 is screaching back towards its record all-time highs with a little help from a USDJPY-sparked momentum ignition and a $4-5 Billion POMO… behold the efficient markets…

What a farcical joke… For now, VIX ain’t buying it…

Chart: Bloomberg

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1dQwAbp Tyler Durden

Yen Momentum Ignition Launches S&P500 On Its Way To All Time High

The S&P 500 is screaching back towards its record all-time highs with a little help from a USDJPY-sparked momentum ignition and a $4-5 Billion POMO… behold the efficient markets…

What a farcical joke… For now, VIX ain’t buying it…

Chart: Bloomberg

via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1dQwAbp Tyler Durden

Judge Orders Feds to Correct Woman’s Inclusion on No-Fly List

The next remake of "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" will have an Islamic terrorist on the wing that only a federal agent can see. In an important ruling
yesterday, a federal judge declared that the government must
actually fix the problem when it puts people on its “no-fly”
terrorist watch lists when it turns out they have no reason to be
on them.

From the
San Jose Mercury News:

The federal government violated a former Stanford University
doctoral student’s legal rights nine years ago when it put her on
its secretive “no-fly” lists targeting suspected terrorists, a San
Francisco federal judge ruled Tuesday.

In a decision for the most part sealed, U.S. District Judge
William Alsup disclosed that Rahinah Ibrahim was mistakenly placed
on the controversial list and said that the government must now
clear up the mistake. The decision comes in a case that has for the
first time revealed how the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
assembles the no-fly lists, used to tighten security in the
aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Obama administration has vigorously contested the case, the
first of its kind to reach trial, warning that it might reveal
top-secret information about the anti-terrorism program. As a
result, Alsup sealed his ruling until April to give the government
an opportunity to persuade a federal appeals court to keep the
order from being released publicly.

The administration’s efforts to “vigorously” contest the case
went so far as to ordering an airline to
not let Ibrahim’s daughter board a flight to San Francisco in
December to testify at the trial. Given the petty tactics used by
the feds in this case, one wonders if they even have any reason
other than “OMG! Terrorists!” to keep the order sealed. If, for
example, you were an actual terrorist, wouldn’t you
already know why you’re on the no-fly list and once you found out,
wouldn’t you be able to figure out what information the feds would
likely have on you to keep you from flying? Are the feds trying the
argue that the average terrorist has so many balls in the air −
like the evil mastermind in some television spy serial − that he or
she needs to sue the government to find out which ones they’ve
figured out? The existence of the no-fly list itself and the
discovery that one is on it provides enough information to create
concerns for any actual terrorist that the feds know something is
going on.

Or, like analysis of NSA’s bulk metadata collection program

shows, will public release of information about the “no fly”
list reveal it has not actually played any significant role in
stopping terrorist activity?

In August, a judge ruled that fliers are entitled to
due process and that the federal “no fly” list must have a
redress procedure to clear the names of people who shouldn’t be on
there.

(Hat tip to CharlesWT.)

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1hqRVwk
via IFTTT

U.S. Economic Freedom Keeps Slip-Sliding Away

Cash drawer Last year, the Heritage Foundation’s Index of
Economic Freedom ranked the United States as the
tenth freest economy in the world; in this year’s just-released
Index, it comes in at
number 12. This sort of slide actually isn’t a new phenomenon;
Jesse Walker noted
when the Index first dropped the U.S. out of the top ten, which was
“partly a matter of other countries getting better, as opposed to
the United States getting worse.” Since then, though, the land of
the brave and home of the free-ish has been sliding on its own
merits, “with particularly large losses in property rights, freedom
from corruption, and control of government spending.” Even non-fans
of the Heritage Foundation’s number-crunching style should note
that an even more dramatic decline in America’s economic freedom is
reported by Canada’s Fraser Institute.

Overall score

According to the 2014 entry
for the United States at the Index of Economic Freedom:

The U.S. is the only country to have recorded a loss of economic
freedom each of the past seven years. The overall U.S. score
decline from 1995 to 2014 is 1.2 points, the fourth worst drop
among advanced economies.

Substantial expansion in the size and scope of government,
including through new and costly regulations in areas like finance
and health care, has contributed significantly to the erosion of
U.S. economic freedom. The growth of government has been
accompanied by increasing cronyism that has undermined the rule of
law and perceptions of fairness.

This is after a gradual rise in the country’s economic
freedom ranking relative to other countries during the first ten
years of the index. While sniffer-outers of partisanship may wonder
why government spending received a better (though sliding) score
during George W. Bush’s not-so-frugal years than during Barack
Obama’s continuation of those policies, Bill Clinton’s tenure looks
like one of moderate improvement.

Government Spending

It’s probably not a shocker that property rights have suffered a
steady decline through the years—not just in the U.S. but around
the world.

The Index of Economic Freedom doesn’t stand alone in its
assessment.

The Fraser Institute’s Economic
Freedom of the World: 2013 Annual Report (PDF) agrees that
the country is slip-sliding in the rankings.

Throughout most of period from 1980 to 2000, the United States
ranked as the world’s third-freest economy, behind Hong Kong and
Singapore. As Exhibit 1.5 indicates, the chain-linked summary
rating of the United States in 2000 was 8.65, second only to Hong
Kong. By 2005, the US rating had slipped to 8.21 and its ranking
fallen to 8th. The slide has continued. The United States placed
16th in 2010 and 19th in 2011. The 7.74 chain-linked rating of the
United States in 2011 was nearly a full point less than the 2000
rating.

What accounts for the decline of economic freedom in the United
States? While the US ratings and rankings have fallen in all five
areas of the EFW index, the reductions have been largest in Legal
System and Property Rights (Area 2), Freedom to Trade
Internationally (Area 4), and Regulation (Area 5). The plunge in
Area 2 has been huge. In 2000, the 9.23 rating of the United States
was the ninth highest in the world. But by 2011, the area rating
had slid to 6.93, placing the United States 38th worldwide. The
2.30-point reduction in the Area 2 rating of the United States was
tied with Venezuela as the largest reduction among the countries
rated.

That’s an even more dramatic fall from grace than the Index
indicates.

The U.S. now ranks behind Canada economic-freedom-wise in both
the Fraser and Heritage assessments. In fact,
U.S. federal policies now threaten the competitiveness, Fraser
reports, of U.S. states that seek to make it easier to earn and
keep money and property.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1dvNIZc
via IFTTT

A. Barton Hinkle Says Protecting Kids From Predators Doesn't Require Bigotry

Some Virginia public
officials seem to have trouble grasping an extremely simple
concept: Protecting children from sexual predation does not require
drawing distinctions among different types of sex. Had he
emphasized that point more, state Sen. Tom Garrett might have
spared himself a great deal of grief. A. Barton Hinkle discusses
regulating the “who” and “where” of sex, without getting involved
in the “how” of it.

View this article.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1hqRSRc
via IFTTT

A. Barton Hinkle Says Protecting Kids From Predators Doesn’t Require Bigotry

View this article.

from Hit & Run http://ift.tt/1hqRSRc
via IFTTT

Citi's London Office Visited By Fed, Treasury Investigators

Either the Fed and the OCC are unaware of this thing called “computers” which allows them to find out what a bank’s trading desk somewhere, anywhere in the world has done at any point in the past 30 or so years, or they really felt the need to stretch their legs around London’s Canary Wharf, or they heard very good news about Citi’s seafood buffet at its London HQ, but whatever the reason Reuters reports that “the U.S. Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have sent investigators to Citigroup’s London headquarters as part of an international investigation into alleged manipulation of the global currency market, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.”