infinitee00

Found this article interesting and relevant White riot - How racism and immigration gave us Trump, Brexit, and a whole new kind of politics

Are you describing Trump or Clinton? I am confused, because I have heard the exact same things said about Trump, except that he was the one doing the cheating.

Hi Race, I finally finished reading your essay and must compliment you on a very well written essay. I have been holding way too much cash for the last couple of years and maybe it's time for me to change my strategy. I am interested in your calculations too and was wondering if you can PM it to me as well. Thanks in advance.

There is a separate Eurobank thread. Dont know if these two can be merged. http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/investment-ideas/eurobank-egfey/

Interesting and releant interview IMO - When machines do your job

If we go by for-profit companies that have a very good chance of thriving under reduced funding scenario..I would think Strayer and Apollo would be my choices, although some would disagree with me here.

Not going to happen. There's too much of lobbying money, too big a political price to pay , not to mention too many employees ( around 50K) and too many students ( more than 2 million) that would be affected for govt to do anything as serious as cutting off ALL funding. Reduced govt funding - Yes. Zero govt funding - not a chance. In a reduced govt funding scenario, I think the best of the for-profits are going to survive ( irrespective of how education landscape changes).

Have to tried wearing insoles in your shoes? I also got plantar fasciitis playing soccer. I had to quit because the pain got pretty bad and I had to limp everywhere for the next two days. I visited a podiatrist who specialized in sports medicine. He recommended I use insoles from Superfeet - but asked me to use only the blue and green ones ( I don't know why). I bought 2 pairs of each from the nearby sports chalet and wore it for the next 6 months and recovered fully. A couple of years back when I was preparing for a half-marathon, I got some custom insoles from Roadrunner because I was afraid that my Plantar fasciitis would be back. It worked really well and I did not have any issues. Maybe you can take a look at it if you are still running regularly.

I have been using a basket approach for my puts (expiring Jan 15 or 16) on high flying tech/social media stocks since late 2013 and early 2014 ( I have around 8-9 stocks in my basket). My highest conviction picks are YELP, LNKD, DDD and P and expect them to trade much lower in one year ( but then again, knowing that this madness can last longer, I cannot say for sure). I missed the boat on ANGI and really regret it, as I was very close to buying puts when it was in the 20s. I have been short AMZN for almost 2 years and bought some 2016 puts when it was trading in the $350-$360 range, although frankly AMZN is the only one that makes me wonder if my decision to short 2 yrs back was correct. The others I expect to be in a decent shape when I close my positions. Btw, I am not short FB, TWTR or NFLX though but I might be tempted.

There was a thread sometime ago on this exact topic. http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/strategies/investing-in-%27for-profit%27-industry/ I posted some links on that other thread, so you may want to look at that. Even though the for-profit education sector provides a much needed benefit to society, 'For-profit education' today - for reasons that are somewhat justified - has become a dirty word for most people in this country. The public, influenced by scathing media reports of unscrupulous enrollment practices and touching personal stories of students being unable to pay down their debt, are too willing nowadays to crucify them or cast them out as pariahs. Even though, I do not support the unethical practices of some of the for-profit education companies, I believe that they perform an useful service in 1) meeting the demands of students that do not have the time/resources ( not limited to tuition) to attend public universities/colleges and 2) filling a gap in the education sector by providing training/education in areas that non-profit universities or colleges do not provide. Unless the public education system fulfills the 2 needs mentioned above, I do not see any realistic chance of obsolescence for this industry. Also, there is a widespread belief amongst investors that if the govt. were to stop or slow down it's lending to students, the for-profit education companies will go out of business. I think this is nothing but fear-mongering and extrapolating recent negatives to extremes. There is no doubt that reduced govt subsidies will change the structure of the industry and these companies will suffer considerably. Some of the more unscrupulous and weak for-profits may even go out of business, but quite a few of them will adapt, find their own niche and thrive. My conviction stems from my observation of for-profit educational institutions in other parts of the world. If you look at the for-profit education industry in countries that do not provide much in the way of govt subsidies, you will notice that many of them are doing quite well ( check out the for-profit education sectors in India, China, Middle East,Africa etc or even in some European countries) Why would a model of education that has been successful in other parts of the world, not succeed in the US without subsidies? In fact, in absence of govt. subsidies, supply/demand and market forces should take care of most of the issues that have plagued this industry in recent times. I am quite optimistic that the for-profit education in the US will transform itself under increased govt scrutiny and media/political pressure and come out of this stronger and better ( btw, I invested in a few for-profits last year and have done quite well, so I am definitely biased).

I agree. I think the not-so-healthy nexus between politicians and moneyed interest groups is common to almost all capitalistic/democratic countries and I don't think it will ever go away. Politicians will always need money to fight elections and corporations/rich individuals will continue to bankroll them in exchange for "favors". What democratic govts can do however is pass legislation and reduce their influence ( unless of course you have a case like Citizens United and a Supreme court that is highly polarized and rules on cases based on political inclinations). However, as Susan Crawford pointed out in her talk, there is absolutely no upside for any politician or the FCC to grab the bull by its horns unless there is a huge public outcry. I think, it is great for investors in these companies as it is a moat that is very difficult to breach ( in addition to the cost of building infrastructure that is already a big hurdle) , but I would prefer the govt. encourage more competition in this area for the long term benefit of its citizens and the advancement of society. I think it will take longer for the US to get there than others, but I am hopeful that the govt. will eventually "do the right thing".

Given the debate over net neutrality in the last few years, I found this lecture by Susan Crawford of the Michigan Law School relevant and very interesting. As someone who does not have a very holistic understanding of the monopolistic power of the cable companies ( other than from personal experience - I am a card carrying member of the the 'TWC hate club' ! ;) ), this video was quite eye-opening to me. [1h 05mins] A few things I learned from this video that I did not know before - 19M people in US cannot get high-speed internet due to lack of infrastructure and 1/3 of the population cannot subscribe due to what appears to be too high a cost. - Subscribers in the US pay 4-8X for same service compared to what subscribers pay in Europe ( @ 39 mins..interesting chart @ 38:45) - It's illegal in almost 20 states for cities to build fiber networks for themselves. - Many cities get a sort of kickback ( not taxes, as far as I understand) from the video fees (not sure what that is..probably some sort of franchise fee) that is charged by cable companies. e.g. NY city gets $150M/year that they can spend wherever they wish. This seems like a conflict of interest and makes it harder for cities to push cable companies. - TW, AT&T, Verizon and comcast have huge influence over the congressional committees that set the budget for the FCC - other interesting charts and facts. I am not very well-informed in this area so would like to hear what others have to say. Is she off-base here and if so, where? I am definitely interested in reading her book now and following the cable/wireless discussion threads more closely.

Thanks for the suggestion OP. As a fan and investor in turnarounds, I watched a few episodes and I am hooked. Marcus's modus operandi is pretty typical to turnarounds and CNBC threw in some extra drama to make it more watchable. There are a ton of things to learn in each episode and I like that every episode is not a success story or something that 'works out' eventually ( recent Skullduggery episode) and Marcus sometimes walks from the investment after taking a small loss ( this is a learning by itself). I try to understand and learn how Marcus values every business ( although sometimes, I admit, his offers leave me a little baffled). It would be great to get brief updates about these businesses as the show progresses. For those interested in decent business shows ( Shark tank has already been suggested) can check out The Mentors and TechStars on bloomberg tv.

Why can you not contribute to a Roth IRA? A "backdoor" contribution allows anyone to contribute. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304104504579375432214126664 Interesting. Has anyone tried this successfully? Yes, my wife and I have been doing this for the last few years. However, we don't have any 401K rollovers from previous jobs etc. If you already have a significant balance in your Traditional IRA, it could be an issue ( the link below explains it quite clearly) http://www.forbes.com/sites/josephsteinberg/2012/12/12/warning-about-roth-ira-conversions-often-misunderstood-irs-rule-can-cost-you-money-and-aggravation/

Sure, if people want to tweet it live, that's fine. I'll set up a Twitter account for Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax, and you guys can tweet directly onto there if you want. Cheers! This is great ! What's the id of the twitter account ?