Karsan Value Funds: 2014 Q1 Results

Karsan Value Funds (KVF) is a value-oriented fund, as described here. Due to securities regulations, the fund is not open to the public at this time. Should that change in the future, there will be an announcement on this site.

Thinking Strategically

If every decision we made were in a static environment, life would be relatively easy. But in real life, others (competitors, bystanders, teammates etc) react to our decisions, which changes the environment. Enter Game Theory, which is the study of strategic decision-making. In Thinking Strategically, retired Princeton professor and economist Avinash Dixit takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the field across a range of subjects, from business to sports to politics.

Creation

I recently read Creation, by Steve Grand, which came highly recommended by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Grand is an expert in artificial life, but he tries to remove the "artificial" as much as possible by modeling his creations on real life, including evolution, learning and other features of real life that aren't natural to the way computers are as we know them.

Only the Paranoid Survive

One of the largest moats in the tech sector over the decades has belonged to Intel. Despite operating in a field characterized by changing and improving technologies, the company has posted double-digit returns on assets for the better part of a few of decades. In Only the Paranoid Survive, Intel's 3rd employee, and its CEO from 1987 to 1998, Andy Grove, shares some ideas on how he did it.

Curse of the Mogul

I was blown away by Curse of the Mogul by Knee, Greenwald and Seave. If, like me, you have enjoyed Bruce Greenwald's other books, particularly Competition Demystified, you'll probably love this one too.

Global Sources: Special Situation + Value

Yesterday, business-to-business media company Global Sources (GSOL) announced that it would buy back $50 million worth of shares of the company at $10 per share. Nevertheless, shares of GSOL trade for just $8 despite the fact that the company trades for a P/E under 10 and operates with what appears to be a competitive advantage.Read more...

The Emperors of Chocolate

A great deal of press is devoted to business rivalries. Coke vs Pepsi, the auto manufacturers, Amazon vs The World etc. But on one subject, the press is remarkably silent. The battle for chocolate supremacy is undoubtedly a topic dear to the hearts of many consumers, but it is one so shrouded in secrecy that there just isn't enough available on which to report. Joel Brenner put his investigative boots on and appears to have uncovered more about these secret companies (especially the privately-held Mars) than they are comfortable with. He reports his findings in The Emperors of Chocolate.