73 Reds

Yeah, Eastern European countries seem so much smarter than some of their Western bretheren. And they make for good allies. As for us, Israel is this country's best friend when it comes to combating our common enemies. That doesn't seem to matter to some, even though our enemies are their enemies.

Spoken like a true Canadian and someone who has never stepped foot in Israel. We all get it Sanjeev, shared values don't mean anything to you. Neither does World peace as long as your beloved Canada is not directly threatened.

That's a sad story but as alluded to earlier not that uncommon - especially among older folks. Heck, I even have some of it in my genes, never really trusting management of public companies unless and until they earn such trust, while keeping much larger sums than necessary in bank accounts just to have money on a whim and a friendly banker always willing to do me a favor. Your story shows how different most of us here on this Board are though. Not offering you specific investment advice but somewhat of an analogy: I was recently asked to review the finances of an elderly relative whose husband recently died. She was left with more than enough to pay for independent living and all accompanying expenses yet she is afraid to death of taking any risk with her money. I tried to explain the "risks" of not investing but she didn't want to hear anything of it. I asked her who she was leaving her remaining assets to and she replied that her kids have enough and its all going to charity. Made my job easy - money market funds for the entirety. I did explain to her that she would have a tax bill as the result of taxable interest and to no one's surprise, when she met with her accountant she was not pleased with the amount she owed. I told her there are alternative safe investment that generate less taxes but she said she liked watching the balance grow each month. So to each, his or her own.

Reads like a common depression-era investment mentality. We both have surely known many such individuals, most of whom are gone now.

I think many of your points are valid yet I own the stock anyway. I'm one of those 11x shareholders favoring FFH over FIH but there are reasons for that which have nothing to do with a "right to post". Looking forward to your comments after the Annual meeting which I assume you will attend.

Yeah, first positions are always necessary unless you are adequately compensated for the risk of an inferior position. I'll sometimes cross collateralize a second piece of encumbered RE with a 1st mortgage for a borrower just to have some additional protection. If the borrower squawks and inferior financing is not prohibited by the existing 1st mortgage, I'll walk.

Credit exists in many forms other than credit cards. Rent an apartment, buy or lease a vehicle, take out a mortgage, carry any other form of revolving debt, or have utility accounts among many other things all generate a credit score. But the futility of the credit industry is responsible for a good portion of my personal net worth since I'm a much better lender than investor. And I've never once run a credit check on any of my borrowers; there are much better and more valuable ways to assess someone's creditworthiness than a credit score and even the accompanying report. Unfortunately large institutions have to take the easy route, which creates plenty of business for folks like me.

We could have an entirely new discussion about the value (or uselessness) of the credit industry. Some of us older folks remember when credit could be obtained from your neighborhood bank or lending institution who knew you and the community.

Actually most Minnesotans are salt of the earth folks. Its always the bad apples that spoil it for the rest. Along with politics.

People who steal don't have debt problems.

Except if Lebanon could control its own border with Israel this would not be an issue.

Perhaps you are correct. OTOH, there are other winds of change, those happening in the Middle East. Arab countries willing to work with Israel have never been so promising. So while it is possible, even probable that support for Israel among US politicians is waning, the reality of a more prosperous Middle East is what may hopefully turn the tide. We won't know for some time but as you suggest, this is an opportunity not worth wasting.

LOL, you must know different CFA/CA/MBA types than me. The ones I know are mediocre, at best at managing large sums of money. Probably has a lot to do with liability to their clients but they often adhere to standard protocol with their own money, which never made any sense to me. When you have an advantage, use it.

True, but the success rate of building a successful business is probably a lot higher than actively trading stocks or commodity futures.

Again, the war started decades ago. Oct. 7 was the day it finally began to end. But Iran can't be trusted. The cease-fire is a mistake IMO unless it is only temporary, in which case it will benefit the US far more than Iran. The notion that Iran supporters believe they are somehow "winning" is delusional but in some ways understandable. They didn't earn any of their destroyed assets; they were all pillaged, stolen or given to them by Russia and China. Just like trust fund babies who didn't earn their wealth, Iran didn't appreciate what it had or what it has lost. New leadership willing to work with the rest of the World is the only way permanent change is possible. Otherwise, containment every so often as we have just seen will be necessary. An acceptable outcome to me as long as we have US Administrations like the present one willing to make hard choices.

For once, your post does not even warrant a reply. How sad.

The "shitshow" began 40-50 years ago when real news and reporting went away and was replaced by narratives. When CNN began, it had a Middle East correspondent. Every day they would replay the same video of a jeep on fire in the West Bank from Israeli gunfire and blame Israel for mistreating the poor Palestinians. Meanwhile, folks in nearby towns and villages (myself included at times) had lives disrupted and were often forced to sleep in bomb shelters as the result of indiscriminate shelling of Israeli civilian populations from inside the West Bank. Were these people suffering? Of course, but largely from their own corrupt leadership and brainwashing from birth to hate Jews and Israel. Were there wealthy, productive Arab towns and cities in the heart of Israel? Absolutely, just as there are today. But did Western media ever report any of this? Fat chance. Did they care? Not at all. In fact the liberal narrative was to perpetuate the lies and deceit. This started the process of emboldening terrorism, which only grew worse as time went by, partly due to an ambivalent Western world that was not affected and paid no attention and partly due to growing Antisemitism which only recently became both commonplace and entirely acceptable. Thankfully we now have a President who despite his faults, is finally doing something about it.

@Spooky however you choose to invest, it all comes down to confidence and results to back it up. Never heard of the author before but it was a fun read and his M/O works for him.

Sanjeev, wake the fuck up. Iran started this decades ago with its terrorist proxies. Israel has been dealing with enemies since the day it was founded and most recently fighting off Iran-funded groups that have one, single objective - the elimination of Israel. Any attempt at moral equivalency of what Israel/Bibi are doing and the atrocities of their neighbors is just plain naive.

Protecting your country from extermination can never be illegal. Check the so-called laws that they are allegedly violating.

There is almost nothing left for Israel to to bomb. You see, only Iran and its proxies intentionally target innocent civilians.

Israel has never begged for anything. Go back in your hole.

Only Israel cared enough to do anything about it. As if "deals" with Iran have ever been worth 2 nickels.

Well, if Trump hadn't won, Israel would be going this alone - and likely with the US Govt. clamoring for a cease fire at every turn. Meanwhile Europe would be directly in the cross-hairs and not even know it.

Yup. Israel recognized and experienced the threat long before anyone else. Only the US came to help while the rest of the World sat idly by. If Canada, UK or anyone else had bothered to lend a hand, they'd be chanting "Death to [you all] too. But that's what allies do; at least real allies. As for Israel, it always appreciates US assistance and coordinates whatever it does militarily with the US but push comes to shove, it will act with or without anyone's help or permission when survival is at stake. Not a difficult concept to grasp but most people prefer narratives.