Thoughts and Links

It's been a couple of days since I posted, so I thought I should write something. It has been slow, in that nothing much has been going on this week. Busy week at work again, although it has quited down some there. People are starting to dispel the rumors now and hopefully things will get back to normal again. Although, it is pretty much public knowledge that the stores may be sold, if they can find the "right" buyer.

As I have been reading some of the other personal finance blogs, I see "Get Rich Slowly," is intrigued by something called "Bacon Salt."

In addition, he mentions Warren Buffett. As many of my regular readers know, I am a huge fan of the Oracle of Omaha. It is my dream, that one day I will actually get to meet him. I am sure though, that he has better things to do then to met and encourage a middle aged man, whose dreams and aspirations have gone no where. Despite all my efforts to make them happen. Still though JD makes some good observations from some recent comments from the world's 2nd richest man.

When investing, most people should buy a cheap index fund and dollar-cost average into it.

“I won the ovarian lottery the day I was born and so did all of you. We’re all successful, intelligent, educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake. With the gifts all of us have, if you are unhappy, it’s your own fault.” (Note that Buffett was addressing a group of business school students.)

Why have relatively few people been able to emulate his success? “The reason gets down to temperament. People want to make money fast, but it doesn’t happen that way.”


After see the comments on Buffett, I thought I would see what another billionaire that I look up to was doing. A billionaire, that like Buffett, I would like to meet someday. A man, who was able to buy his first chain of grocery stores with Buffett investing half the money. I am of course talking about Ron Burkle. The man who unsuccessfully tried to buy the LA times and Chicago Tribune. Well, he has now bought a media company. However, it is in China.

It may not be the Los Angeles Times, but, for Ron Burkle, it'll have to do. On Tuesday Burkle's Yucaipa vehicle increased its investment in Xinhua Finance Media, this time pumping cash directly into the Chinese news service.

Billionaire Ron Burkle, a favorite of the New York Post's gossip column Page Six, increased his stake in Xinhua Finance Media (nasdaq: XFML - news - people ) to a total of 12% of the company's outstanding common shares. He paid $30 million for convertible preferred shares; this was in addition to the $27.5 million Yucaipa slapped down for common shares from existing stockholders in September. The conversion price is set at $6.00 per American depository receipt, or $3.00 per common share as each ADS listed on the Nasdaq represents two common shares. The company will also be entitled to one board seat on the Chinese Media company's board.

Xinhua Finance Mediatakes its name from an alliance made eight years ago with the Xinhua News Agency, China's state-run press. It produces financial-focused content for nationwide television as well as a variety of print media outlets. It also has radio stations in Beijing and Shanghai. Xinhua Finance Media also has majority stakes in company that produce outdoor advertising, television and movies.

While I don't know if I would invest in a foreign media company, especially one in a communist country. I do find it interesting that he did. I for one would invest in media companies, banks and retail establishments if I had the money. But those are three areas that I know a little something about and are places I have worked in some capacity since my 1987 graduation from high school, where I was even on the school newspaper.


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go ahead share your thoughts with me now.






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