Hektor

Stopped "thinking" is the funniest in this post

Thanks for the link @MungerWunger

Looks like Jamie Dimon’s “cockroach” comment is leading to banks checking their books, and some are finding more roaches.

The article also alludes to this problem. A recruitment website (www.buildsubmarines.com) run by BlueForge Alliance, a non-profit in support of the submarine builders, seems to be an attempt to attract jobseekers from the easier gigs.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-10-14/china-us-submarine-race-beijing-s-drone-sub-vs-us-navy-delays The US Is Racing to Rebuild Its Submarine Power Before China Catches Up Inside the effort to deliver a ‘transformational improvement’ in how the US builds submarines, vital to preserving its undersea advantage. The submarine industrial base aims to recruit at least 100,000 skilled workers like Kaisen over the next decade to meet growing demand for vessels often viewed as the Navy’s ace in the hole in the Indo-Pacific region, China’s backyard. With multiple boats approaching the end of their service lives and competitors like China rapidly building up their fleet, there are worries that the US won’t be able to quickly put enough new submarines in the water to preserve its long-standing undersea advantage. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan warned lawmakers in May that delays have put the service “in a precarious position.” At the center of the Navy’s concerns are two next-generation programs: the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack boats. “We need a transformational improvement and the ability to deliver twice the capacity we’re currently delivering,” Admiral Daryl Caudle, who was recently confirmed as Chief of Naval Operations, told the Senate Committee on Armed Services in July. A shortage of skilled workers is a major factor behind the delays. A February 2025 GAO report described “particularly acute” workforce issues, including problems with recruitment, retention, and skills. Shipyards are struggling to keep workers, with some losing about 20% of their manufacturing labor force and 30% of those involved in critical trades, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Annual hiring in the submarine industrial base increased by 200% between 2021 and 2024, according to the Navy, putting it on track to hire more than 14,000 new workers annually. The submarine industrial base aims to attract 140,000 workers over the next decade. General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp., is the prime contractor for the Columbia class, with Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. Newport News Shipbuilding its major subcontractor. They are co-builders of the Virginia class, sharing design and construction responsibilities. General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls referred questions to the US Navy.

Is this the beginning of a super app? I wonder what this means for the META apps family. https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/chatgpt-walmart-shopping-3e411e83 Soon You’ll Be Able to Shop Walmart in ChatGPT. Here’s Why It Matters. Retail giant signals that online shopping is about to change Walmart is forming a partnership with OpenAI to let shoppers buy its products directly within ChatGPT, the artificial-intelligence chatbot. It is a signal by the biggest U.S. retailer that online shopping is going to become a totally different experience from the retail websites we are all used to. Within the next few months, U.S.-based ChatGPT users will be able to instantly buy Walmart products directly in ChatGPT. The products will include nearly everything available on Walmart’s website, except for fresh food. And Walmart+ members will still get their benefits such as free shipping when making purchases through ChatGPT. ChatGPT already allows shoppers to buy some products from Etsy’s domestic sellers and will soon add some merchants on Shopify’s e-commerce platform.

Conglomerates had a bad reputation back then, and it look a (long) time for the investors to understand Berkshire is different, I guess.

Thanks for the update, Prasad.

Me 2

I think everyone in IT should be worried. AI will replace some and augment others. Everyone will be forced to reskill. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/accenture-plans-on-exiting-staff-who-cant-be-reskilled-on-ai.html Accenture plans on ‘exiting’ staff who can’t be reskilled on AI amid restructuring strategy Accenture CEO Julie Sweet outlined plans to cut staff who are unable to reskill on artificial intelligence in an earnings call on Thursday. Sweet said in a call Thursday that as advanced AI becomes “a part of everything we do” and the global professional services company continues to invest significantly in the area, it expects employees to “retrain and retool” at scale. “We are investing in upskilling our reinventors, which is our primary strategy,” Sweet said. She explained that the company is “exiting on a compression timeline” people for whom reskilling isn’t a “viable path.”

Or more like MSFT investing in AAPL long ago.

Similar to DE/CAT/CNH financing their customers, I guess. These do syndicate this debt.

https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/this-buffett-devotee-is-plowing-billions-into-crypto-13dbba17 This Buffett Devotee Is Plowing Billions Into Crypto Mutual-fund giant Capital Group is known for a disciplined approach. One of its top portfolio managers can’t get enough bitcoin. Capital Group is a 94-year-old mutual-fund juggernaut known for its disciplined investing style. Mark Casey, a portfolio manager with 25 years of experience at the firm, quotes pioneering value-investor Benjamin Graham and says his “approach is very informed by Warren Buffett.” That is why it is so surprising that Capital Group has placed a huge bet on bitcoin—one of the largest by a mainstream investment firm—and that Casey has emerged as one of most outspoken backers of the digital currency in the so-called TradFi world. “I just love bitcoin, I just think it is so interesting,” Casey, 54, said on a podcast interview hosted by venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz last year, calling it “one of the coolest things that has ever been created by people.”

Any thoughts on CACC? They seem to be in a similar space, probably better managed.

Report of reopening the old Bangalore airport for commercial traffic. HAL Airport Revival: Bengaluru's HAL Set for Commercial Flights by 2033 Bengaluru's HAL airport to reopen before 2033 for commercial flights? Amid Karnataka's push for a second greenfield airport in Bengaluru, plans are underway to reopen the HAL airport for commercial flights before May 2033, when the exclusivity agreement with the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) expires. A recent meeting involving the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and BIAL discussed plans to expand and reopen the HAL airport. Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh has urged BIAL to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to allow commercial flights at the HAL airport, assuring that the state government would bear any losses incurred, a senior AAI official told DH. Bangalore South MP L S Tejasvi Surya said Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu is "extremely enthusiastic" about the initiative to reopen the HAL airport for commercial flights. "It is not confirmed that BIAL will be a part of the revamped airport. Ownership and the operational rights of the airport will likely be put up for auction, and it all depends on who has the highest bid," the official said.

Recently, a F35 was stranded in India for over a month https://apnews.com/article/f35-british-fighter-jet-india-kerala-stranded-7aa8723b5a75bd94a5e4a3a588524af7 And in Japan this month https://www.twz.com/air/uk-f-35b-still-stranded-in-japan-is-awaiting-spare-parts-to-return-to-hms-prince-of-wales

Lutnick Suggests US Looking at Defense Industry After Intel Deal https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-26/lutnick-suggests-us-looking-at-defense-industry-after-intel-deal US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested the government is looking at the defense sector and other industries for potential stakes in companies after an unorthodox deal that saw the US obtain a 10% share in chipmaker Intel Corp. Lutnick singled out Lockheed Martin Corp., claiming the company makes much of its revenue because of the US government. The US government accounted for about 73% of the company’s net sales last year, according to a securities filing.

Hi @Parsad, Would it be possible to move the political thread to a new/separate category? This will help create a new stream with all the good stuff minus politics. I am assuming there are others interested in such a stream as well.

They probably have a block of A shares that WEB is interested in

https://www.barrons.com/articles/berkshire-hathaway-stock-sale-buffett-28571fc9 Berkshire Hathaway Director’s Firm Sold Almost 30% of Its Berkshire Stake The investment firm run by Berkshire Hathaway director Chris Davis sold nearly 30% of its stake in Warren Buffett’s company during the second quarter, taking advantage of the run-up in the share price. Davis Selected Advisers, which runs the Davis New York Venture fund, reduced its stake in Berkshire Hathaway to 1,434 shares class A equivalent (with class B shares converted to an economically equivalent amount of class A stock) on June 30 from more than 2,000 shares on March 31, according to Barron’s analysis of a new regulatory filing that details the fund’s U.S.-listed holdings.

Why did the POTUS tariff every country , including teeny tiny ones? Because https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/08/09/trump-trade-policy-national-security/ Trump expands use of tariffs to reach national security goals Officials wanted to press countries near China for closer defense ties, documents show. President Donald Trump’s freewheeling use of tariffs as a tool of American power may have been more extensive than was publicly known, encompassing an array of national security goals as well as the interests of individual companies, according to internal government documents obtained by The Washington Post. Administration officials saw trade talks as an opportunity to achieve objectives that went far beyond Trump’s oft-stated goal of reducing the chronic U.S. trade deficit.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/india-pauses-plans-buy-us-arms-after-trumps-tariffs-2025-08-08/ India pauses plans to buy US arms after Trump's tariffs

What, if anything, does this mean for FIH? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/business/india-china-trump-tariffs.html India, Once Trump’s Counterweight to China, Is Now Facing His Wrath The world’s two largest democracies seemed to be enjoying their friendship. Now, President Trump has all but declared economic war.