Takeaways from the Berkshire Hathaway AGM 2014 and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Trip

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“Bamboo Innovators bend, not break, even in the most terrifying storm that would snap the mighty resisting oak tree. It survives, therefore it conquers.”

BAMBOO LETTER UPDATE | May 19, 2014
Bamboo Innovator Insight (Issue 34)
 

Dear Friends and All,

 

Takeaways from the Berkshire Hathaway AGM 2014 and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Trip

 

Q: “How does management factor into valuing intrinsic value?”

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History of Law and Economics

History of Law and Economics

Martin Gelter 

Fordham University School of Law; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Kristoffel R. Grechenig 

Max-Planck-Institute for Research on Collective Goods
April 1, 2014
MPI Collective Goods Preprint, No. 2014/5

Abstract: 
The roots of law & economics lie in late 19th century continental Europe. However, this early movement did not persist, having been cut off in the 1930s. After World War II, modern law & economics was (re-)invented in the United States and subsequently grew into a major field of research at U.S. law schools. In continental Europe, law & economics was re-imported as a discipline within economics, driven by economists interested in legal issues rather than by legal scholars. Hence, the European discourse was more strongly influenced by formal analysis, using mathematical models. Today, research in the U.S., Europe, and in other countries around the world, including Latin America and Asia, uses formal, empirical, and intuitive methods. New subfields, such as behavioral law & economics and experimental law & economics, have grown in the U.S. and in Europe during the past two decades.

Overvaluing the ‘Undervalued’ View of the Yuan; The Chinese currency has no real ‘equilibrium value,’ even if Treasury wishes it did

Overvaluing the ‘Undervalued’ View of the Yuan

The Chinese currency has no real ‘equilibrium value,’ even if Treasury wishes it did.

MARK A. DEWEAVER

May 11, 2014 5:38 p.m. ET

Since Jan. 1 the yuan has fallen 2.9% against the dollar, reversing the Chinese currency’s 2.9% appreciation in 2013. Such a dip would be a small fluctuation for a freely traded currency, but it’s a big drop in China. The yuan hasn’t fallen so much or for so long since July 2005, when Beijing introduced what it calls “a managed floating exchange rate based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies.” Read more of this post

Chinese tycoon Liu Han testified in court that he owed a chunk of his fortune to deal-making with government officials more than a decade ago, shedding light on a corruption probe that has roiled the highest echelons of power in China.

Tycoon Liu Han Testifies on Past State-Brokered Deals in Sichuan Province

Transcript Offers Rare Look at How Investments Were Allegedly Structured

JAMES T. AREDDY

May 8, 2014 12:24 p.m. ET

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Don’t Be Evil.or Creepy: Earning-and Keeping-Trust in a Transparent World

May 12, 2014, 11:01 AM ET

Don’t Be Evil…or Creepy: Earning—and Keeping—Trust in a Transparent World

By Malcolm Frank,

Our world is rapidly digitizing, creating new economic opportunity and redefining the boundaries of privacy. Read more of this post

What’s in a Name? The Art of Addressing Chinese Officials

May 12, 2014

What’s in a Name? The Art of Addressing Chinese Officials

By Yiyi Lu

Long gone are the good old days when everyone simply called one another “comrade,” and no other titles were necessary. Read more of this post

Why Banks at Wal-Mart Are Among America’s Top Fee Collectors; Branches Woo Customers Other Banks Spurned; Racking Up Overdrafts

Why Banks at Wal-Mart Are Among America’s Top Fee Collectors

Branches Woo Customers Other Banks Spurned; Racking Up Overdrafts

MARK MAREMONT and TOM MCGINTY

May 11, 2014 10:38 p.m. ET

Banks that operate inside Wal-Marts reap among the highest fees from customers of any banks in the nation, according to a WSJ analysis. Mark Maremont reports. Photo: Getty.

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Do You Know What’s Going in Your Amazon Shopping Cart? For Faster Shipping, Items Are Commingled at Warehouses, Opening the Door to Knockoffs

Do You Know What’s Going in Your Amazon Shopping Cart?

For Faster Shipping, Items Are Commingled at Warehouses, Opening the Door to Knockoffs

SERENA NG and GREG BENSINGER

Updated May 11, 2014 8:31 p.m. ET

Every now and then Matthew Frank, whose company makes Tovolo-brand ice-cube molds and trays, will slow down shipments of his kitchenware to Amazon.comInc. AMZN +2.66% and then conduct test buys as the Internet retailer’s stock runs low. Read more of this post

Going to Market in Developing Economies: Winning Big by Targeting Small

Going to Market in Developing Economies: Winning Big by Targeting Small

by Samir Agrawal, Shiv Choudhury, Ghirish Pokardas, Vaishali Rastogi, and Ravi Srivastava

APRIL 23, 2014

This article is part of a series on how companies can transform their “go to market” approach in emerging economies. Earlier articles focused on excellence in consumer insight, channel management, and in-store execution. Read more of this post

Making better decisions about the risks of capital projects; A handful of pragmatic tools can help managers decide which projects best fit their portfolio and risk tolerance

Making better decisions about the risks of capital projects

A handful of pragmatic tools can help managers decide which projects best fit their portfolio and risk tolerance.

May 2014 | byMartin Pergler and Anders Rasmussen

Never is the fear factor higher for managers than when they are making strategic investment decisions on multibillion-dollar capital projects. With such high stakes, we’ve seen many managers prepare elaborate financial models to justify potential projects. But when it comes down to the final decision, especially when hard choices need to be made among multiple opportunities, they resort to less rigorous means—arbitrarily discounting estimates of expected returns, for example, or applying overly broad risk premiums. Read more of this post

Investing Process – Ownership Concentration and Corporate Control in Chinese Listed Companies

Ownership Concentration and Corporate Control in Chinese Listed Companies

Wenge Wang 

University of Auckland – Faculty of Law
January 27, 2014
Wenge Wang, Ownership Concentration and Corporate Control in Chinese Listed Companies, 11 (1) US-China Law Review, 57-93 (2014)

Abstract: 
This paper investigates the ownership concentration and corporate control of Chinese listed companies in the period of 2003-2011. The purpose is to examine the practical effect of the share structure split reform in 2005 and explore the actual outcome of the reduction of state shares of Chinese listed companies. Specifically, ownership structure, shareholding concentration, shareholder identification and corporate control pattern are identified to serve for this purpose.

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The John Malone Complex – A Study in Financial Brilliance

The John Malone Complex – A Study in Financial Brilliance

by VW StaffMay 10, 2014, 10:26 pm

This is an excellent white paper on John Malone by Denali Investors (a great value oriented hedge fund, run by Kevin Byun). Also see Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable BusinessThe Billionaire Shell Game: How Cable Baron John Malone and Assorted Corporate Titans Invented a Future Nobody Wanted, and The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success Read more of this post

A Q.&A. With the Author of a Buffett-Praised Book on 3G Capital

A Q.&A. With the Author of a Buffett-Praised Book on 3G Capital

Warren Buffet’s $23 billion deal to buy H.J. Heinz was promoted at the exhibition hall of the Berkshire meeting.

RICK WILKING / REUTERS

By MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED

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There Are More Billionaires In Moscow Than In New York, But London Has The Most

There Are More Billionaires In Moscow Than In New York, But London Has The Most

Tyler Durden on 05/11/2014 16:41 -0400

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Old and Fired at IBM: Tech Trendsetter Changes the Game, Guards Age Data

Old and Fired at IBM: Tech Trendsetter Changes the Game, Guards Age Data

By Alex Barinka – May 12, 2014

For at least a decade, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) gave fired employees information detailing a severance package that asked them to waive age-discrimination claims and also included a page listing the job titles and ages of workers being let go. Read more of this post

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, aging warehouses lure investors

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, aging warehouses lure investors

Sun, May 11 2014

By Stephen Aldred and Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s plans for a giant initial public offering in New York highlight vast potential for e-commerce in China – and the weak link the logistics industry must fix if explosive growth projections are to be reached. Read more of this post

How ‘Big Corn’ lost the ethanol battle to Philadelphia refiners

How ‘Big Corn’ lost the ethanol battle to Philadelphia refiners

1:43am EDT

By Cezary Podkul and Jeff Mason

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Six months ago the U.S. oil industry scored a surprise win against farm groups when the Obama administration proposed slashing the amount of ethanol refiners must blend into gasoline, a move that could save them billions of dollars. Read more of this post

To sleep, perchance to control your dreams

To sleep, perchance to control your dreams

Sun, May 11 2014

By Sharon Begley

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Nighttime dreams in which you show up at work naked, encounter an ax-wielding psychopath or experience other tribulations may become a thing of the past thanks to a discovery reported on Sunday. Read more of this post

A Memoir From the Eye of a Financial Storm: In ‘Stress Test,’ Timothy F. Geithner Recalls Crisis Days

A Memoir From the Eye of a Financial Storm

In ‘Stress Test,’ Timothy F. Geithner Recalls Crisis Days

MAY 11, 2014

One afternoon in the summer of 2008, as the financial system was careening toward the abyss that would send the United States into the worst economic emergency  since the Great DepressionTimothy F. Geithner — then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and later, President Obama’sTreasury secretary — tried to lighten the mood in his office with “an impromptu contest for the best metaphor for what was happening.” Read more of this post

Digital Music Service to Pose New Challenge to Subscription Model

Digital Music Service to Pose New Challenge to Subscription Model

By BEN SISARIOMAY 11, 2014

Adam Kidron, left, chief executive of Yonder, a music downloading service that will begin operating Monday, and Jim Heindlmeyer, chief operating officer, at their Manhattan offices. Read more of this post

Life in China: Embrace the Mystery; Former New Yorker China Correspondent Evan Osnos Reflects on His Years There

Life in China: Embrace the Mystery

Former New Yorker China Correspondent Evan Osnos Reflects on His Years There

TE-PING CHEN

May 8, 2014 1:57 a.m. ET

Former China correspondent Evan Osnos is sure of one thing: The degree of confidence a person has about forecasting the future of the Middle Kingdom usually varies in inverse proportion to the amount of time spent there. Read more of this post

Trouble at the Top: Chinese officialdom is in turmoil

Trouble at the Top: Chinese officialdom is in turmoil.

Abram N. Shulsky and Gary Schmitt

May 19, 2014, Vol. 19, No. 34

In little over a year, close to 60 Chinese officials have died of unnatural causes, with most being suicides. The strong suspicion is that this epidemic of mysterious deaths among China’s elite is likely tied to the anticorruption campaign being led by Chinese president and party general secretary Xi Jinping. Read more of this post

Who Audits Alibaba?

Who Audits Alibaba?

May 11, 2014, 4:54 PM

Alibaba is audited by the Hong Kong member firm of PwC, or at least that is what the audit opinion says. I am a bit skeptical about that claim. While there may be a Hong Kong partner assigned to the account, I will bet dollars to donuts that a large portion of the hours on the audit were done by mainland staff. This raises the question of whether the audit should have been signed by PwC’s mainland member firm instead of the Hong Kong member firm.  Read more of this post

Former Party Chief Zhao Zhiyang’s Downfall a Central Act in Tiananmen Drama

Party Chief’s Downfall a Central Act in Tiananmen Drama

By CHRIS BUCKLEY

MAY 11, 2014, 7:00 PM 5 Comments

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“We came too late,” Zhao Ziyang told students at Tiananmen Square on the morning of May 19, 1989. Read more of this post

China should straighten out its wealth managers, says central bank

China should straighten out its wealth managers, says central bank

Sat, May 10 2014

BEIJING (Reuters) – China should reorganize its wealth management industry as it is unduly raising funding costs and encouraging savers to behave like gamblers by chasing after lucrative short-term returns, a deputy governor of China’s central bank said on Saturday. Read more of this post

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, ageing warehouses lure global investors

As China e-commerce basks in Alibaba IPO glow, ageing warehouses lure global investors

Sun, May 11 2014

By Stephen Aldred and Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s plans for a giant initial public offering in New York highlight vast potential for e-commerce in China – and the weak link the logistics industry must fix if explosive growth projections are to be reached. Read more of this post

Macau Casino Companies Decline on Card-Swipe Crackdown

Macau Casino Companies Decline on Card-Swipe Crackdown

By Vinicy Chan – May 8, 2014

Wynn Macau Ltd. (1928) fell the most in more than two years in Hong Kong trading, leading declines among operators of China’s only legal casinos, amid concern that a crackdown on illegal money transfers will pare demand. Read more of this post

China audits State Grid as corruption crackdown seen widening

China audits State Grid as corruption crackdown seen widening

Fri, May 9 2014

By Benjamin Kang Lim and Megha Rajagopalan

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is auditing the State Grid Corp of China, the utility said in the wake of a magazine report that one of the most senior executives in the world’s largest utility was under investigation. Read more of this post

Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: China’s Cadres Confess Their Sins

May 12, 2014

Five-Star Hotels, Flashy Clothes: China’s Cadres Confess Their Sins

When President Xi Jinping toured a poverty-stricken county in central China’s Henan province last week, locals were eager to impress him not only with their handmade local noodles, but also by their willingness to offer Mao-era self-criticisms. Read more of this post

Rule of law key issue at meeting of Communist Party leaders

Rule of law key issue at meeting of Communist Party leaders

Monday, 12 May, 2014, 3:50am

Central Committee plenum also likely to be held earlier than usual as Xi Jinping rallies party elite behind graft inquiry into ex-security chief Read more of this post

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