I thought Loews had a pretty darn good quarter. I've read great things about the Tisch family and their ability to manage businesses as well as buy assets at the right price. Here are a couple of quotes from CEO Jim Tisch, about their various businesses:

Diamond Offshore:

Diamond Offshore had an excellent quarter, reporting its second highest earnings on record. For the quarter, average day rates and utilization for Diamond’s fleet were strong. Its revenue backlog currently stands at approximately $8.7 billion. Diamond recently completed the acquisition of its newest rig, the Ocean Courage. This new build, sixth generation rig was purchased through a foreclosure auction for $460 million. Last year, prices for similar new build rigs peaked at approximately $750 million. We feel comfortable that this acquisition represents an excellent opportunity that is consistent with Diamond’s proven strategy of acquiring and upgrading rigs at times when the market is well off of its cyclical peak. Diamond’s board of directors
recently declared a special quarterly dividend in addition to the regular quarterly dividend which together totaled $2.00 per share. This marks a continuation of Diamond’s policy of paying out special cash dividends, reflecting the earnings and the financial position at Diamond.

CNA achieved must improved results, reporting a 22% increase in operating income over the prior year. In its core property and casualty operations, CNA had another quarter of steady performance, reporting a 98.1% combined ratio. It also had favorable rate trends and renewal retention, as well as strength in writing new business. Further reinforcing CNA’s underwriting discipline and conservatism, the company reported favorable reserve development for the 10th consecutive quarter. We have seen continuing improvement in the financial markets and as of June 30, CNA’s book value per share had included by more than 31% since the beginning of the year, even after taking into account the quarter’s realized losses. The recovery in the market value of CNA’s portfolio was primarily led by corporate and municipal bonds.