David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital iPrefs Presentation

Introduced in 1977, the 8-bit computer designed primarily by Steve Wozniak was one of the first successful personal computers.

I have included Greenlight Capital iPrefs presentation. David Einhorn’s hedge fund is a major sharedholder of Apple and has been advocating for different ways to return some of Apple’s $145 billion+ cash to the owners. He has proposed a new class of preferred shares named “iPrefs”, that would pay a fatter yield than the common shares. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, has called the proposal a “silly sideshow”. Yesterday Apple reported their 2nd quarter earning numbers and announced that they will boost dividend payout and increase share buyback. At least David is getting paid.

Presentation link below:
iPref Presentation by Greenlight Capital

Photo Credits: Forbes

Cat Wearing a Shark Costume Chases a Duckling While Riding a Roomba Vacuum

North Korea – How to invest in North Korea – Part X

North Korea is attracting a lot of attention these days. What about the investment side of things? Can you in invest in North Korea? And if you could how would you do it? I started with an overview of the North Korean economy followed with the different ways you can invest in the country. Before we go any further, the content of this article is not to be considered for investment recommendation and not is linked to my work or Leopard Capital. I’m doing this for purely educational purposes.

Previous Posts:
1st Part: North Korea Vice Documentaries
2nd Part: North Korean Propaganda (Pictures & Videos)
3rd Part: North Korea – Funny Pictures, Memes and Celebrity Stop
4th Part: North Korea – Beautiful Pictures
5th Part: North Korea – How to invest in North Korea

North Korea’s Economy
North Korea is a very rigid central planned economy. Along with Cuba (slightly changing lately), they are the only two countries in the world with an almost entirely government planned, stated owned economy. The collapse of the Soviet Union and communist governments around the world, North Korea main source of support, throw North Korea on a steep decline. It’s hard to believe that North Korea had a higher GDP per capita than South Korea until the mid-70s. South Korea heavily invested in chaebol (business conglomerates) as their main source of economic growth and the rest is history. Today South Korea is a world leader in technology (LG, Samsung) and manufacturing (Hyundai) while North Korea’s industrial capital stock is beyond repair because of the lack of capital spending and maintenance. North Korea’s population is also extremely poor with reports of mass starvation. Two different kinds of choices, two different kind of path, two different kinds of results.

Economic collaboration with the South is most noticeable with the Kaesong Industrial Region, a special region 10 km north of the demilitarized zone. It allowed over a 100 South Korean companies to have access to cheap labor and provided the North Korea government with foreign currency. The zone opened in 2004 and an economist from the Bank of Korea predicted that it could create over 725,000 jobs and generate over $500 million in annual wages for the North Korea economy. After a few disagreements, wages have increase over time from $75 a month to $160 a month (North Korea demanded $300/month). At the moment of this writing the zone recently shut down because of the increase tension between the two countries. There is also the Rason Special Economic Zone, located in the North-East of the country on the border of Russia and China, whose purpose is to promote economic growth through foreign investment. Currently Chinese and Russian companies have invested in the zone and in August 2012 an international trade fair was held, offering foreign investors and journalists a look at the work-in-progress.

What are North Korea’s main sources of income?
According to the CIA factbook, it relies on military products, machine building, electrical power, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, textiles, food processing and tourism. Its main exports are minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures including armaments, textiles and agricultural and fishery products and its main imports petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles and grain. South Korea’s investments and trade with China amounts for the bulk of the foreign currency income. South Korea is also the main trading partner. Again, according to the CIA and various sources a large chuck of their income is from black market activities.

Investing in North Korea
North Korea has no stock exchange where you can buy and sell companies online. Don’t even bother to look for an ETF or for ADR listed companies. Therefore you will need to look for alternative strategies.

Direct Investing
It’s possible. Canadian and U.S. companies are not allowed but there are some European and Chinese companies that does it. France’s Lafarge owns 30% of a cement plant that employs 3000 workers. I have included the Compilation of Laws Foreign Investment North Korea

Coins and Stamps

These asset classes being push by famous successful investor Jim Rogers.

Motivational Quote Pics

I love this pic. Don’t follow the herd. Develop your own way of thinking, be independent, get out of your comfort zone and get things done.

Michael Jordan – Maybe It’s My Fault (Video)

North Korea – Beautiful Pictures – Part IV

1st Part: North Korea Vice Documentaries
2nd Part: North Korean Propaganda (Pictures & Videos)
3rd Part: North Korea – Funny Pictures, Memes and Celebrity Stop
4th Part: North Korea – Beautiful Pictures
5th Part: North Korea – How to invest in North Korea

This is the 3rd part of a multi-part posts. North Korea has been getting a lot of attention recently and all for the wrong reasons. Dennis Rodman’s diplomatic mission, nuclear weapons, potential war, mysterious crazy behavior, propaganda and the list goes on. I decided to compile together a collection of North Korean pictures and documentaries to get a better view inside of the hermit Kingdom. Some of it is funny, sad, disturbing and weird.

Here is few collections of beautiful pictures of the hermit kingdom.

Inside North Korea: tourist photos of Pyongyang and the surrounding area
By The Telegraph

An eight-lane super highway in North Korea is almost devoid of traffic in this image taken by Swedish photographer Björn Bergman. The road – which stretches around 160km from capital Pyongyang to the border with South Korea – is also in a state of disrepair. Picture: Photo2be.com / Barcroft Medi

Björn Bergman spent nine days in North Korea capturing the life of locals. It took him two years to get a visa and once inside the secretive nation, he was whisked around the country on an official tour bus. Björn said: “My rule as a photographer is shoot first, then ask. The guards were very hostile. At the hotels they told us to stay in and would not allow us to leave without guides. We tried three times but didn’t get further than three metres before they told us to go back. A hostess stands outside the train at a Pyongyang Metro station Picture: Photo2be.com / Barcroft Media

North Korea – Funny Pictures, Memes and Celebrity Stop – Part III

1st Part: North Korea Vice Documentaries
2nd Part: North Korean Propaganda (Pictures & Videos)
3rd Part: North Korea – Funny Pictures, Memes and Celebrity Stop
4th Part: North Korea – Beautiful Pictures
5th Part: North Korea – How to invest in North Korea

This is the 3rd part of a multi-part posts. North Korea has been getting a lot of attention recently and all for the wrong reasons. Dennis Rodman’s diplomatic mission, nuclear weapons, potential war, mysterious crazy behavior, propaganda and the list goes on. I decided to compile together a collection of North Korean pictures and documentaries to get a better view inside of the hermit Kingdom. Some of it is funny, sad, disturbing and weird.

I managed to compile a list of funny pictures floating around the Internet. Check it out.

The daughter of the CEO of Google Eric Smidht recently went on a trip to North Norea with her. She blogged her experience at this website: https://sites.google.com/site/sophieinnorthkorea/

Bill Clinton in Korea

North Korean Propaganda (Pictures & Videos) – Part II

1st Part: North Korea Vice Documentaries
2nd Part: North Korean Propaganda (Pictures & Videos)
3rd Part: North Korea – Funny Pictures, Memes and Celebrity Stop
4th Part: North Korea – Beautiful Pictures
5th Part: North Korea – How to invest in North Korea

This is the 2nd part of a multi-part posts. North Korea has been getting a lot of attention recently and all for the wrong reasons. Dennis Rodman’s diplomatic mission, nuclear weapons, potential war, mysterious crazy behavior, propaganda and the list goes on. I decided to compile together a collection of North Korean pictures and documentaries to get a better view inside of the hermit Kingdom. Some of it is funny, sad, disturbing and weird.

This part address the propaganda videos and pictures that have been publish by the regime.

Videos from North Korea’s official website. This is what we are dealing with.

North Korean dreams of destruction of USA

“A Short, Three-Day War” – Video showing paratroopers descending on Seoul in an invasion scenario that envisages taking around 150,000 US residents in South Korea hostage.

Video showing hows American soldiers and U.S. President Barack Obama engulfed in flames, with the sequence ending in a simulated nuclear test.

Video showing paratroopers descending on Seoul in an invasion scenario that it said would see thousands of US citizens living in South Korea taken hostage.

North Korean Propaganda Posters – In case they didn’t hate the U.S. enough. I don’t see the artist’s name.

North Korea – Vice Documentaries & JRE clip – Part I

1st Part: North Korea Vice Documentaries
2nd Part: North Korean Propaganda (Pictures & Videos)
3rd Part: North Korea – Funny Pictures, Memes and Celebrity Stop
4th Part: North Korea – Beautiful Pictures
5th Part: North Korea – How to invest in North Korea

This is the first part of a multi-part posts. North Korea has been getting a lot of attention recently and all for the wrong reasons. Dennis Rodman’s diplomatic mission, nuclear weapons, potential war, mysterious crazy behavior, propaganda and the list goes on. I decided to compile together a collection of North Korean pictures and documentaries to get a better view inside of the hermit Kingdom. Some of it is funny, sad, disturbing and weird.

This post has a lot of parts.
1- Vice’s Documentary – Inside North Korea
2- Vice’s Documentary – North Korean labor camps in the Siberian forest.
3- The Joe Rogan Experience- Shane Smith discuss the North Korean slaves camp in Siberia.

1- Vice’s Documentary – Inside North Korea
First check out any videos done by Shane Smith from Vice. They’re the best. I have included his North Korea trip and the labor camps in Siberia videos. This give you a very good view of what’s really going inside because they were inside! If you don’t have time for anything else they are all must see!

Part 1
Vice founder Shane Smith managed to get into North Korea after a year and half of trying and is witness to the craziness of this hermit nation.

Part 2

Part 3

North Korean Labor Camps in Siberia
North Korea has come up with a new way to bring cold hard cash into its isolated country: export North Korean workers to slave away in the Siberian forest (often without telling them they’re no longer in North Korea). We set out to investigate these camps and almost landed ourselves in quite a bit of trouble.

Hockey Bet Cost Canada a 24 of Beer

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird, left, gives up a case of Molson Canadian beer to US Secretary of State John Kerry , Thursday April 11, 2013 to pay off an earlier gentlemen’s bet on the IIHF women’s hockey championship which the U.S. won. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Paul J. Richards, pool

Canada lost 3-2 in the gold medal game on Tuesday in Ottawa. On the U.S. side, a case of Samuel Adams was on the line. I thought gambling on sports was illegal in the U.S.???