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Well we took you guys out in 2014, lets see if you can get your revenge. Though the friendly in March was 5-2 in our favor...

I'm not going to state much about the broker business as I'm not in any way up to date and feel that all I can offer is bias which isn't helpful. I do spend a lot of time with probably my best friend who is still in the business, he has a lake house that he lives in half the year that's a quarter mile from my home, so summer we are together often. His firm now is 45 people. Anyway we do generally talk the business at least some when we get together. What's interesting is the two things we most have watched affect the broker prices, that's soft markets and AI, are things he simply doesn't even mention. I do bring them up of course and he sort of comes back with what I'd call a "normal stuff" position. His most worrisome issue is that he doesn't want to sell the business, but he now doesn't want to be on task but 4 hours or so a day- he and his wife travel, and his two sons are not particularly motivated and honestly not very capable. He does have a middle age woman who he says can and for the most part - and actually does - run the business. This woman has a daughter who just graduated and joined the firm who my friend says, "She will be both my son's boss within a couple of years." He is delighted with the overall conditions of the insurance business, says opportunities are endless and competitors aren't a problem. This is a guy who never went to college, he joined his father's one man operation when he was 18, he's now 67. He's also an aggregator major owner, that is a 6 part ownership thing and he has personal and via his business ownership of 5/6th's, and there's one other 1/6th owner.

It doesen't matter here that you've lived in USSR, what matters here is you don't by now live here in Europe, with that said, to the contrary of @Loss Horizon [, also from USSR], if you have read all @Loss Horizons posts [, which I have].

Got some on Tuesday. Thanks.

Typically promises of gifts are not construed as contracts and are not legally enforceable. The difference is, Buffett's letter goes through great lengths to ensure that the Foundation should rely on his annual gifts for all but the three exceptions listed. To your point, there would still probably need to be some form of written, formal acceptance by the Foundation to even begin to construe the letter as a binding contract. On a related subject I picked up a book while traveling last year entitled "Warren and Bill - Gates, Buffett and the Friendship that Changed the World" (Anthony McCarten). Rehashes how the relationship evolved and of course much is already known to most of us here. The most interesting aspect of the book is that it did not paint Gates in a particularly kind light in a variety of ways, while also briefly touching on his relationship with Epstein.

What a friggin' issue to have at the age of 95, and as likely one of the most intelligent and smartest 'money' persons ever on this planet. Go figure. [If it actually is so, We - by now - don't know for sure.]

AI narrative on these was absurd. Plus the soft market and it was a real low hurdle opportunity.

While we only have that public letter to go off of (which really only gives Buffett 3 specific "outs"), there is probably a more formal legal document that is in place. Or Bill may just let Warren out of an irrevocable pledge because it's the right thing to do. OR.. the independent law firm's investigation / report compels Sussman to remove Gates from "active engagement in policy setting and administration" of the foundation, which is one of Warren's explicit "outs" since Melinda already departed and its a "one or both" deal.

I lived in the USSR, so don't give that bullshit. There is a difference between rules on conduct which every society has and rules on speech, which not every society has.

Typically gold, held in a mix of physical and paper gold (futures, ETF, etc.), dependant upon need. The hype thing applies equally to bullion prices as well. The often quoted usage case for gold is also very biased - as the BTC alternative is still a recent development (18 yrs from inception, vs 100's of years for gold).... one either accepts BTC as a viable alternative, or one doesn't. The trading thing, is BTC as just another trading sardine; same as any other sardine, the expectation is that the opportunity is worth it, and tax man is watching, If you are willing to hold throughout the cycle (as you would if you hold BTC for 'insurance' purposes), you can do very well. Every asset has to earn its keep ..... SD

Thank you very much here, @73 Reds, It's really hard to be or get enthusiastic here about anything related to it. *ugh*

Makes sense, seeing the same thing with my new ADBE position. If only my alt asset managers would get out of the penalty box.

Check again how cheap stuff is trading there. If Ben Graham comes back from his grave he is going to invest there. There is a reason why CPNG listed in the USA.

The Game Mexico - England in Mexico city has the potential to be epic. The arena, the stakes and the totally different style of the teams…You don’t want to miss that one this Sunday.

I can see why populists in the West have such an easy time. People have it so good for so long that they forgot what really oppressive censorship looks like. It's same argument as the US has no freedom and no liberty because you can't drink beer from a bottle in public.

Well, it would appear that in Buffett's mind Epstein could be an exception to lifetime gifts he referred to as irrevocable. Legally, the issue is whether the letter is determined to be an actual contract between Buffett and the Gates Foundation and if so, whether the Foundation has relied upon this year's anticipated gift in pursuing its current endeavors. Would hate to see litigation ensue b/t the Gates Foundation and Buffett - nothing good would come of that.

I am not on your side with that one.

All it took was for the memory trade to fade. Who knew

What happens to country masquerading as a gas station when it’s running out of gas?

A+ Driving a Ferrari (Tencent) in a congested street is still more fun than driving a truck (Prosus) that has a Ferrari (Tencent) on its back in a congested street. Unless one has a strong view of non-Tencent portion of Prosus, one ought not opt for the “truck” If one has strong view of the rest Prosus portfolio, than having Tencent at a big discount is a major asset. In recently purchase this book hopefully I get a better perspective on Naspers. sure it is a corporate history book, but I find that reading corporate history book tells you something about the DNA of a given company.

@73 Reds, You're a former lawyer by profession, what do you - by now - get out of Warren Buffetts pledge of June 26th 2016, related to the situation by now? -Thank you in advance. - Please note : I'm here just taking the freedom asking you, no strings attached.

These have been wildly volatile, I started building a position in BRO/RYAN only to see huge short term unrealized losses, now I'm actually in the green on BRO and down under 10% on RYAN.

Thanks, now I need to get up at 2 am to watch the game vs US.

Because the easy system is robbing you.

+1 The interesting thing of this victory was that Germany has/had no super stars. They were a simply a great team. I was hoping this tournament the "great team approach with no super stars" would work, too. But it was an entirely new team with less experience. Now the superstars teams will win. I´m betting on Mbappe.