Comments on: Warren Buffet: South Korea a Better Investment Bet then the U.S.

By: Linkd

Linkd — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:48:52 +0000

Hmmm….today’s FT:

Citigroup considers $400bn asset sale

Analysts have speculated that Citi could sell its retail banking operations in Germany and Brazil, as well as some businesses and equity stakes in Asia.

Could it be…? A major pullout from Korea?

By: Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog)

Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:25:35 +0000

Sorry to comment on spelling, but it’s pretty egregious –> better investment bet than, not better then.

It's been killing me too.

By: boshintang

boshintang — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:21:41 +0000

#17 - 7% isn’t bad at all, that’s $700 in your pocket if you invested $10,000. Of course it all depends on the amount of time you invested. 7% in a day would be a rockin day trade, whereas 7% over the year is pretty slow indeed.

By: day4night

day4night — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:03:32 +0000

Sorry to comment on spelling, but it’s pretty egregious –> better investment bet than, not better then.

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:23:51 +0000

FYI,

Samsung stocks may be undervalued. It’s trading at 14x p/e whereas Sony (a peer company) is trading at 38x.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/ww.....23488.html

By: Netizen Kim

Netizen Kim — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:49:31 +0000

My gf enjoys trading Korean stocks via the internet. We were discussing this the other night. I’m trying to get her acquainted with the concept of the P/E ratio. She was complaining about some shipbuilding company stock she had bought and sold which had only produced a return of merely 7%. Judging by how my 401[k] is doing these days, the 7% return looks awfully good.

By: Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog)

Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) — Wed, 07 May 2008 07:54:35 +0000

the main reason securities are undervalued is because of north korea. if that’s what you mean by “investment environment”, then you are correct.

judge judy — I don’t believe that’s the main reason for the “Korea Discount”. At least, the possible “North Korean threat” is rarely — if ever — discussed at the investment conferences I sometimes attend, while corporate governance and government harassment and double-talk are. And they’re usually discussed in very derisive terms.

i wondered how long it would take the bitter expat to explain to the audience that either buffett has no idea what he’s talking about OR he’s being bribed to say what he’s says.

pawi — Nobody said anything of the sort. Buffett may have a different perspective simply because of who he is.

By: Sperwer

Sperwer — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:02:55 +0000

And I wondered how long it would be before the han-addled and guilt-driven foreign- resident Korean stepped in with a complete misrepresentation of someone’s position. You really are a pathetic troll, pow-pow

By: pawikirogi

pawikirogi — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:41:44 +0000

before i even opened this thread, i wondered how long it would take the bitter expat to explain to the audience that either buffett has no idea what he’s talking about OR he’s being bribed to say what he’s says.

first post, i see.

By: boshintang

boshintang — Wed, 07 May 2008 05:38:46 +0000

Now this may have something to do with fact that POSCO made him $2.14 billion in a little over a year from just a $572 million investment. Hell, with return rates like that, even the most bitter waegookin (provided he’s an investor) would love Korea.

I invested in POSCO last year and took a loss (although fortunately I pulled out soon after). Since the end of 2007, Posco shares have dropped from a high of 195/share to its current 128/share. I can only guess Buffet pulled out his money at the end of 2007 (otherwise his profit would be about half of what he claims).

The only way for Buffet to have made such gains in the market (about 400%) is if Buffet had picked up the shares at its lowest (about 45/share) around 2003 and pulled out at the stock’s peak.

I remember right around the time posco peaked, all the papers in Korea were praising Buffet’s approval of Korean stocks, bolstering support for posco in particular, attracting more investment for the stock just before the stock started dropping. Interesting coincidence.

My guess would be that what Buffet really appreciates in Korea is not so much the country’s economy as what he can get away with here.