Late Post - 2 To Consider and Some Veterans Day Thoughts...

Although the firm has not filed its 13HF yet for the quarter, there were two interesting filings yesterday from Baupost Group. The firm is managed by one of the more successful managers in the past two decades, so when Seth Klarman moves money around I pay attention. He purchased a stake in ENZN. The company recently announced that it is selling its specialty pharmaceutical business for an upfront payment of $300 million and royalties on the existing product line. The only remaining business will be their technology platform and the royalty stream. The company said it is evaluating options on how to return the value to shareholders....

Baupost also upped it s stake in satellite and wireless communication company ViaSat (VSAT). They now own over 14% of the company....

As for Veterans Day, this holiday was known originally as Armistice Day, as the cessation of hostilities on Nov. 11, 1918, was an armistice and not the end of World War I. It did not become Veterans Day in the U.S. until May 1954. Similarly, Memorial Day was originally a day of remembrance for Civil War casualties.

The appalling slaughter of World War I carried through past the signing of the armistice agreement at 5:10 a.m. (back-stamped to 5:00 a.m.) for a cease-fire at 11:00 a.m. Over the next six hours, more casualties were incurred in a war that had already been won than were to occur on D-Day on June 6, 1944. Some, including the American commander John J. Pershing, were opposed to letting the Germans off without a full defeat. Their opposition proved prophetic for what was to follow.

We often place life-and-death decisions for ourselves in the hands of others who, to put it as simply and bluntly as possible, don't give a damn about us as individuals. As Tim Melvin noted in reference to small banks, or as the ongoing kerfuffle about Goldman Sachs signals, we placed our economic and financial well-being in the hands of those who were insufficient to the task at hand and really did not care a whit for the taxpayer any more than Pershing, et al., cared for the cannon fodder of 1918.

We honor our veterans for their bravery and sacrifice, and should well do so. Our enduring human tragedy is that their presence was, is and shall always be necessary.....