The Business Brew

Craig Moffett, a top analyst in the telecommunications industry, returns to discuss cable companies potentially having a cost advantage in the wireless business. The podcast covers the impact of convergence on the cable business, the importance of cable companies in providing wireless services, and the challenges faced by wireless providers. Moffett also talks about founding MoffettNathanson, a research firm specializing in media communications.

Bill Chen, Managing Director at Rhizome Partners, shares his thoughts on why publicly traded REITs are an attractive opportunity. They discuss the potential of investing in multifamily REITs for higher yields and inflation protection. The podcast also explores the impact of changing demographics on the rental market and the challenges faced by smaller players in real estate investments.

Andrew McAfee, a principal research scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management and author of 'The Geek Way', discusses the unique management style of 'geek companies'. He explores the impact of bureaucracy on organizations, the influence of norms on behavior, the importance of conducting experiments and making informed decisions, the need for productive disagreement in organizations, and the power of vulnerability in changing company culture.

Jeremy Raper, with 12+ years of buy- and sell-side experience, returns to The Business Brew to discuss various topics. These include the impact of the geopolitical situation and market downturn, Alto Ingredients' position in the ethanol industry, carbon capture and storage for ethanol refineries, social activism and creating value for shareholders, lessons learned from leasing during COVID, the importance of price in investment decision-making, the government's case against an airline merger, and the bullish stance on Japan's value proposition.

Keith Smith, a guest with over 20 years of business valuation experience, discusses unique ideas and topics such as BDCs, auto dealers, recurring service revenue, and consolidation in car dealerships. The podcast also covers the challenges faced by banks, the importance of understanding recourse in commercial real estate investing, success in automotive dealerships in Japan and Korea, managing dilution and accounting challenges, and strategies for improving ROI through acquisitions.

Ryan O'Connor from Crossroads Capital discusses Nintendo, inflection investing, Japan's corporate governance reforms, the complexity of financial reporting, and the potential partnership between Nintendo and Comcast. They also explore portfolio management challenges, the state of small and micro-cap companies, the importance of quality and long-term thinking in investing, and analyze the Google Adtech trial and its implications on the market.

This isn't a typical episode, but it's an important one.  We hope it leads to some important discussions.

Peter Mantas, Investor at Logos LP, discusses the potential opportunity in the life sciences industry. Topics include the M&A focus, return differences with and without goodwill, efficient data analysis using Delupa, evaluating small and micro-cap companies, and the current state of the market and liquidity. They also explore the potential of cell therapy and the challenges in developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical products. The podcast concludes with a discussion on antitrust regulations, monkey research, investing in life sciences, and balancing high and low expected value stocks.

Andrew Walker, author of Yet Another Value Blog, host of Yet Another Value Podcast, stops by The Business Brew to chat. Andrew hosts one of the best financial podcasts out there, and is a great writer. We both hope you enjoy this conversation! Sponsor Info: ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠is founded by a former hedge fund analyst to bring simplicity into the investment process. ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠offers an AI driven single source for all company reported data, and allows for investment teams to ake the most informed decisions in the shortest amount of time. ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠scales the velocity of an investment team’s idea gen. Analysts spend less time locating and manually inputting meaningful disclosures into Excel and more time synthesizing in the minutes after the print. ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠captures data from all company reported sources, including from footnotes, MD&As, and investor presentations. Our data sheets include GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments, guidance, and all company specific KPIs. Each datapoint is auditable to the source for easy verification and accuracy. ⁠⁠Daloopa’s ⁠⁠Excel plugin can also update your existing models for the latest quarter in just a single click. Bulge-bracket banks and major multi-managers are trusting Daloopa for use in initiating coverage, building and maintaining industry dashboards, and keeping their models up to date. Visit ⁠⁠⁠Daloopa.com/BusinessBrew⁠⁠⁠ to create a free account and learn more about how ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠can help increase your team’s speed to differentiated insight.   Detailed Show Notes 6:00 - Microsoft Thought Exercise 14:00 - Quality vs. Price 22:00 - Delek 31:00 - Getting ideas from others 34:30 - What does the telco lead situation potentially mean for cable 39:00 - The potential for any investment to be a zero 43:00 - The bank thesis of May-ish 46:30 - Position sizing 49:30 - What's your edge? 52:00 - Activision and Microsoft 1:01:00 - Media overview 1:10:00 - Holdcos as an investment 1:18:00 - $RIDEQ

Charles Frischer and Asheef Lalani stop by The Business Brew to discuss why they like Fairfax as an investment. Quick reminder to do your own work!!! Asheef Lalani as an independent director to the board of Sailfish Royalty Corp. Mr. Lalani graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Mathematics and Masters of Accounting, earned the CA/CPA designation in 2002 and is a CFA charterholder since 2003. Asheef first started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998 and went on to become a portfolio manager at UBS Securities. Currently, Mr. Lalani is the Chief Investment Officer at Berczy Park Capital – a private family office in Toronto, Canada. Charles Frischer is General Partner of LFF Partners, a family office based in Seattle. Mr. Frischer was a multi-family loan underwriter and originator at Capri Capital for 10 years. As a Principal at Zephyr for 4 years, he was responsible for the asset management of more than 5,000 multi-family units and all related financings of the portfolio. Frischer sits on the Board of Kingsway Financial and Altisource Asset Management. He attended his first Berkshire annual meeting in 1998, his first Market annual meeting in 1999 and his first Fairfax annual meeting in 2010. He holds an B.A. in Government from the College of Arts and Sciences from Cornell University.   Sponsor Info: ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠is founded by a former hedge fund analyst to bring simplicity into the investment process. ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠offers an AI driven single source for all company reported data, and allows for investment teams to ake the most informed decisions in the shortest amount of time. ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠scales the velocity of an investment team’s idea gen. Analysts spend less time locating and manually inputting meaningful disclosures into Excel and more time synthesizing in the minutes after the print. ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠captures data from all company reported sources, including from footnotes, MD&As, and investor presentations. Our data sheets include GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments, guidance, and all company specific KPIs. Each datapoint is auditable to the source for easy verification and accuracy. ⁠⁠Daloopa’s ⁠⁠Excel plugin can also update your existing models for the latest quarter in just a single click. Bulge-bracket banks and major multi-managers are trusting Daloopa for use in initiating coverage, building and maintaining industry dashboards, and keeping their models up to date. Visit ⁠⁠⁠Daloopa.com/BusinessBrew⁠⁠⁠ to create a free account and learn more about how ⁠⁠Daloopa ⁠⁠can help increase your team’s speed to differentiated insight.   Detailed Show Notes 4:24 - Backgrounds 9:01 - Fairfax gets interesting in Asheef's mind 11:43 - Pushback to the thesis 13:00 - Does Fairfax underwrite well? 17:00 - Why insurance companies shouldn't under reserve 25:00 - How good is Fairfax at investing in equities? 30:00 - The potential upside India brings to Fairfax 34:20 - Fairfax India background 42:55 - What people might not like about Fairfax India 45:40 - Fairfax's advantages 56:40 - What is the catalyst here? 62:00 - Does this pitch even need a catalyst? 64:00 - What does a bad outcome look like?