w w w . t i c o n l i n e . c o m

Established 1997
Jim Chuong is the founder of Chuong Investment Management (CIM). A graduate of the faculty of engineering from the University of Toronto, Jim's focus on investing and holding a small concentrated portfolio of high quality businesses has resulted in a 17% average annual compounded rate of return from 1998 to 2007 compared to a 3.6% for the S&P500 stock index. An original investment of $1,000 in 1998 would be worth over $4,800 at the end of 2007 compared to $1,518 if invested in the S&P500 index.

For more information about the partnership please click here. If you wish to speak with me, please send an email to chuong.investment@hotmail.com or call me on my direct line at 416-254-0159.


2007 CIM PARTNER LETTER

"The partnership achieved a 22.4% return in 2007 compared to 3.6% for the S&P500 index. The 2007 year was an extremely volatile one with stomach churning peaks and heart stopping troughs. As exciting as this ride appeared to be, the partnership spent most of the time on the sidelines. Instead of trying to hit moving targets we decided to shoot sitting ducks."

2007 Partner Letter...

As of 1-January, 2008 the minimum investment in Chuong Investment Management is $100,000.

Jim Chuong In The Media

My good friend Dan Young was recently featured in the May 2008 Moneysense magazine on real estate investing. Way to go Dan! cover... page 1... page 2... page 3... page 4...

After a 1 hour interview, Macleans decides to use one sentence from my answers about Google. ( cover page 1 page 2 )

October 2007 MoneySense Magazine: "Otherwise, Chuong's portfolio has been pretty much unchanged, and his other holdings are doing very nicely. Fossil, which makes watches and accessories, is up by a whopping 75%, The Buckle, a casual apparel retailer, is up 60%, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (class B) is up 24%." ( cover page 1 )

July 2007 Globe and Mail: Returning to his hockey team anaology, Mr. Chuong says: "If I know I have a star player, why trade him?" ( page 1 )

October 2006 MoneySense Magazine: "My portfolio has been about as interesting as watching paint dry." ( cover page 1 page 2 page 3 )

October 2005 MoneySense Magazine: When his parents kept pushing him to get better grades in high school, he asked why. "So my mom explained to me that if I got really good marks now, I could go to the university of my choice. Then theoretically, I could get the job of my choice and be financially secure. But when I was 14, I said I don't think that's how it works. I don't believe it." ( cover page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 )

March 2005 Money 101: Frustrated with mutual funds, Chuong started picking stocks for himself in 1998. He's had an average annual return of more than 20 per cent and his portfolio has more than tripled in value. He holds only five U.S. stocks, two of which he's owned since 1998, and keeps them as long as their fundamentals are sound. ( page 1 )

February 2005 Report On Business TV

August 2002 Globe and Mail: There are value investors, and then there are value investors. How else to descrie someone who has been an avowed follower of the value faith since, gulp, age 14? ( page 1 page 2 )

December/January 2000 MoneySense Magazine: Only 27 years old, Jim Chuong is already an experienced entrepreneur and investor. After graduating in materials engineering from the University of Toronto in 1997, he and a friend started Nth Dimension, a business that offered Internet programming and graphics services. ( page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4 page 5 page 6 page 7 page 8 page 9 page 10 page 11 )

News

WHAT WARREN BUFFETT THINKS

Warren Buffett speaks on CNBC on various topics including the failed MSFT-YHOO merger. CNBC...

What Warren Buffett thinks about the economy, the credit crisis, Bear Stearns and more. Some 15 times a year, Warren Buffett invites a group of business students for an intensive day of learning. Fortune was there for a recent visit. Fortune...

Billionaire Warren Buffett said Monday that the U.S. economy is essentially in a recession even if it hasn't met the technical definition of one yet. The Toronto Star...

Warren Buffett said Wednesday he is confident the U.S. financial sector can get through its troubles without a government bailout and remains bullish about the long-term prospects for the U.S. economy. "I am a huge bull on the American economy," said Mr. Buffett, in an exclusive interview with the National Post. National Post...

"I figured I needed a title to match the sensationalism of Barron's "Sell Buffett" headline. They say Berkshire Hathaway is overvalued, I disagree. I do own and have owned Berkshire shares for many years, and along the way have spent a great deal of time studying the Great One and pondering how to value his creation." Article by Todd Kenyon. vestopedia...

The Class A shares of his Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK-A) have surged 30% since Aug. 1, to $143,000, after hitting a record $151,650 last week. Berkshire now has a stock-market value of $220 billion, ranking it sixth in the U.S., behind only ExxonMobil (XOM), General Electric (GE), Microsoft (MSFT), AT&T (T) and Procter & Gamble (PG) - and above such heavyweights as Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) and Google (GOOG). Barrons...

The Tom Brokaw piece on NBC Nightly News Monday night highlighting Warren Buffett's call for a higher tax rate on very wealthy Americans includes an excerpt from a sit-down interview with Buffett. NBC... Bill Gross...

Buying whatever billionaire Warren Buffett bought, often months after his share purchases, delivered twice the return of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index during the past three decades. Bloomberg...

At an invitation-only Toronto dinner Thursday for about 140 prominent investors, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he expects the Canadian dollar to continue rising beyond the parity it recently reached with the U.S. dollar. The Toronto Star...

To get to break bread with a person who had rejected your first job application is interesting enough. But for Mohnish Pabrai, it is far more than that. It will be the most memorable and costliest lunch of his life. More...

For almost three decades Lou Simpson has managed insurer Geico's $4 billion-plus equity portfolio largely out of the limelight, amassing a nearly unrivaled record in the process. The Geico portfolio has topped the S&P 500 Index by an estimated 7% per annum during his tenure. It's not much of a stretch to call the 70-year-old Simpson one of the greatest investors of all time. Morningstar.com...

"I didn't set out in life to become the assistant leader of a cult." That is how Charlie Munger welcomed shareholders to the 2007 Wesco annual meeting. The cult, of course, is the loyal throng of value investors that invade both Omaha, Neb., and Pasadena, Calif., each spring to learn at the feet at Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and as Munger noted "to leave a little wiser than they came." Thanks to NH for the link. Morningstar...

A blow-by-blow, question-and-answer period with Warren Buffett documented live by Morningstar. Morningstar...

Warren Buffett talks about problems in the U.S. subprime lending industry. Reuters... MarketWatch...

Warren Buffett talks about Berkshire's future insurance earnings MarketWatch... MarketWatch...

"You're going to know companies less the more you diversify, and thus take more risk," (Geoff) MacDonald said. "How could you possibly do it with 100 names? I'm only looking for three names a year. The luxury of being as picky as I am allows me to get a great management team that puts the owners first and that is stronger than the management teams of its competitors." Yahoo!...

Martin Whitman reminded an executive conference yesterday why he has become one of the most prominent investors in the field of distressed markets. "In distress investing, Chapter 11 is not an ending," he said. "Rather, it is a beginning." The New York Sun...

Too many people rely on their home as their primary savings strategy. That's a mistake. Planning your retirement? Don't bet the house on it. Wall Street Journal...

Running what is in effect an ad for talent, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett, 76, says in the company's just-released annual report that he plans to hire a younger person - or perhaps more than one - to understudy him in managing Berkshire's investments. CNNMoney...

In a race for the best mutual fund returns between do-it-yourself investors and those who get guidance from financial advisers, you might expect the latter to win. After all, they're receiving the benefit of expert advice. They likely have access to special mutual funds with complex investment strategies or funds that are smaller and lesser-known. Yahoo! Finance...

Why mutual funds are lousy long-term investments. Article 1... Article 2...

Please note that the mailing address for the TIC Online has changed to the following:
ATTN: Jim Chuong
8 Hillcrest Avenue, Suite 2517
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M2N 6Y6

Can't find a story that was here a couple days ago? Try the links page or drop me an email.

 

Warren Buffett Book Recommendations

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Barack Obama
Recommended by Warren Buffett at the 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. With his second book The Audacity of Hope, Obama engages themes raised in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, shares personal views on faith and values and offers a vision of the future that involves repairing a "political process that is broken" and restoring a government that has fallen out of touch with the people. Order it now!

Warren Buffett: An Illustrated Biography of the World's Most Successful Investor, Ayano Morio
Recommended by Warren Buffett at the 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. The Superhero of Finance now has his own comic book! Translated from the hugely successful Japanese edition, this cartoon-strip biography of Warren Buffett, provides an excellent introduction to the man and his momentous achievements. Tracing his story from paperboy in Omaha to wealthiest man in the world status, the book entertainingly depicts the way events in the life of Buffett and how they contributed to his unique investment philosophy. Order it now!

Where Are the Customers' Yachts: or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street, Fred Schwed
Recommended by Warren Buffett at the 2007 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. Humorous and entertaining, this book exposes the folly and hypocrisy of Wall Street. The title refers to a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of the bankers and brokers. Naively, he asked where all the customers' yachts were? Of course, none of the customers could afford yachts, even though they dutifully followed the advice of their bankers and brokers. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street. Order it now!

Chuong Performance
The following outlines the performance of Chuong Investment Management relative to the S&P500 index.
Year Chuong S&P500 +/-
1998 +68.0% +26.5% +41.5%
1999 -4.9% +20.2% -25.2%
2000 +18.7% -10.7% +29.4%
2001 +21.0% -13.0% +34.0%
2002 -1.8% -23.3% +21.5%
2003 +33.0% +26.9% +6.1%
2004 +26.2% +8.9% +17.3%
2005 -3.6% +3.0% -6.6%
2006 +8.6% +13.6% -5.0%
2007 +22.4% +3.6% +18.8%

More...

Chuong Partner Letters
quote of the moment

"There's no reason we should become fearful if a stock goes down. If a stock goes down 50%, I'd look forward to it. In fact, I would offer you a significant sum of money if you could give me the opportunity for all of my stocks to go down 50% over the next month."
-Warren Buffett, 2008 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting

"If you have more than 120 or 130 I.Q. points, you can afford to give the rest away. You don't need extraordinary intelligence to succeed as an investor."
-Warren Buffett, 2008 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting

[To the Quote Archives]

Value Documents

Buffett Partner Letters

Graham-Newman Partner Letters

The Ultimate Congomerate Discount, Paine Webber report by Alice Schroeder

amazon.com
Read a book - save a brain!

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Also be sure to check out the books recommended by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

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In Association with Amazon.com
lecture time
Interested in valuation? The following link contains a series of 26 webcast lectures conducted by Prof. Damodaran in Spring 2002 at Stern, NYU. The professor's other lectures can be found here. Thanks to howardroark for the link.

Spring 2002... Spring 2003... Spring 2004... Spring 2005...

berkshire hathaway
Wikipedia...
Warren Buffett at About.com...
Stock holdings...
sites

Manitou Investment Management
Chou Associates
Sarbit Asset Management

Focus Investor
Futile France
Northeastern Equity Research
Steady Gains
Financial Sense Online
Intrinsic Investment

AIC Funds
Clipper Fund
Fairholme Capital Management
Longleaf Partners Funds
Oak Value Funds
Pabrai Investment Funds
Raven Investment
Sequoia Fund
Third Avenue Funds
Tilson Capital Partners
Tweedy Brown Company
Weitz Funds

berkshire intrinsivaluator

This site calculates the value of Berkshire Hathaway - today and in the future!

More...

lots o links

A healthy collection of online articles that cover a wide range of value investing topics.

Prepare to go blind...

berkshire hathaway FAQ
The first known FAQ about Berkshire Hathaway is given life. Kudos goes out to creator Doug Deibele. More...

A revised FAQ based on Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders was created by Steve a.k.a. Sandman. More...

Profiles and Interviews

At an age when most of his peers have shuffled off into retirement or irrelevance, the 78-year-old founder of mutual fund giant Vanguard remains sprightly and energetic. With $1.3 trillion in assets, Vanguard, based in Valley Forge, Pa., is now the second-largest mutual fund company. Fortune...

Interviews with Warren Buffett by Charlie Rose. Charlie Rose...

Recently, NewsMax and Financial Intelligence Report publisher Christopher Ruddy visited with Sir John Templeton in Lyford Cay in the Bahamas - the place Sir John has called home for the past 32 years. His interview with Sir John follows. Financial Intelligence...

Business Week spends four days at Warren Buffett's side and Nightline conducts a rare television interview. Fortune publishes Mr. Buffett's educational piece on the state of the market. Businessweek...

Famed investor Warren Buffett expressed concern on CNN about the country's growing debtor-nation status. "If we keep doing what we're doing (in importing more than Americans export), the world will own a substantially greater percentage of this country 10 years from now than now," CNN Money...

The Motley Fool, AOL, and TheStreet.com gets Robert Hagstrom, author of The Warren Buffett Way, to talk about investing. Motley Fool... TheStreet.com...

Thanks go out to Mr. Whitman for providing the TIC with a copy of his book Value Investing. Also, be sure to check out OID and Morningstar's interview of the man himself. OID...

Manitou Investment Mangement

Focusing on the long run. What is the hardest part of successful investing? More...

w w w . t i c o n l i n e . c o m