Bruce Berkowitz Conference Call Replay

This 45 mn call is a great lesson in his investment thinking process, better than watching CNBC for a year, or even from many books I have read.

I am a recent holder of his fund, and have positions in LUK and SHLD, WLP, PFE. I feel here is someone you can understand well. He is so right to concentrate on Free Cash Flow, as he said, cash-flow does not lie. In his case, unlike many others, I feel, it is an added safety margin to buy below his entry point.

Thank you Bruce for the call and thank you gurufocus for posting it.

awesome conference call

Bruce deserves credit for doing these calls, and I think his points about Pfizer and energy companies make a lot of sense. Also, smart move buying the senior debt of some companies to protect against take-unders. He didn't get questioned enough about Sears though, particularly on his comparison of Sears to the Berkshire textile mill. Buffett used the proceeds from the textile mill to invest in promising businesses in completely different industries; Lampert isn't doing that with Sears. Also, the point about the company's liquidation value is probably moot in the near term, because no one can afford to buy its assets.

After listening to this, I doubled my stake in SHLD in after-hours trading (still a paltry 1.5%). Awesome.

Nice touch how Berkowitz compared those who are bearish on Sears to the Germans who voted for Hitler.

Excellent! - nice find - thanks for sharing

Sears Website was down for 2 hours today. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

That was quite an education. An hour well spent. Thanks Guru for that link.

Hi - having just listened to the call, I think he is referring to Sears being like Berkshire in the early days not in the sense of allocating capital away from a poor business into a better one (which I agree Lampert isn't doing), but rather in the sense that Berkowitz believes Lampert is trying to save the jobs at Kmart and Sears. Sounds unlikely at first, but if you read what Lampert has said I think it is right. Thousands of people work in these places, and Buffett didn't want to put them out of work at Berkshire provided the business was profitable. Lampert could make lots of money just by liquidating SHLD at current equty prices, as the assets are probably worth at least double. But at the moment, he is still trying to save it. I think that is the analogy Berkowitz is making.
Regards.

It pays to listen to Bruce Berkowitz..... I sent in a request for a copy of the latest edition Security Analysis after listening to this and ......

Fairholme is sending me a copy signed by Bruce !

Now I got something to read during the christmas holidays.