Blake Hampton

Here's this week's cover:

Think about like this: Each and every person experiences their own little bubble of reality. Understanding what's going on within that bubble is as simple as existing. On the other hand, understanding things that are either intangible or that exist outside of that bubble rest on what you read and watch. I believe it is of extreme importance to self-curate what it is your actually consuming. The news you select will determine how you view the outside world. The books you choose to read will do something similar. Basically any sort of information that you ingest will have an effect on you, whether you realize it or not. I think the primary problem revolving around information today is directly inverse to the problem that existed a hundred years ago. Today, it's not the lack of information that's the problem, the thing now is that there's far too much information. People's minds are too busy getting bogged down in Facebook slop to realize what actually important. The harm done to attention spans I'm sure has also played a role. The falling off of newspapers was a national tragedy. I still place an enormous amount of faith in the WSJ, FT, and NYT. I especially love The Economist. Cubs, you should start reading The Economist.

It's all so ridiculous that it'd be a shame not to make a joke out of it.

Cubs, you would do yourself a great service if you read the WSJ everyday instead of whatever else it is you consume. You said you get your news from "cable news - YouTube sources - podcasters." Dude, on both sides of the aisle, that stuff is extremely biased and full of misinformation. I think Deal is one of the smartest posters on the board. I also think that your news sources are corrupting your worldview.

^ I watch CNBC sometimes.

I for one hope this guy @Lotsofcoke sticks around. He's speaking my kind of language.

I read the online editions of the WSJ, FT, NYT, and my local paper every morning. I don't watch cable news or use social media, except for YouTube and the occasional use of Reddit. @cubsfan and @73 Reds never answered my question. ^ ^ ^ Where do you guys get your news?

@73 Reds @cubsfan Where do you guys get your news?

I'm sure turning Gaza into a hellscape has solved terrorism forever.

A lot of that's true. But I don't like Netanyahu. I think he's overall a bad dude who doesn't much care about the lives of muslim people. He's a radical liar who's much like Trump but maybe more murderous. His wiki page history is quite interesting. He held a mock funeral for Yitzhak Rabin months before he was assassinated. He always been quite radical.

People are people. What Hamas initially did to Israel was wrong, but a lot of what Netanyahu has done following that will fuel future terrorism.

Honestly though, I don't think Abel will be buying much of anything right now. It was a surprise to me that they started buying back stock again, though I think the overall size of that program will remain quite small, at least currently. I also don't think Abel will be buying much more of OXY. One because of the recent run up in oil, and two because I don't think he or Buffett want the risks attached to being the majority owner of an upstream O&G company. They already own quite a large share of it when you include warrants. It's interesting because last quarter their largest purchases were in CVX. I think Abel will sit patiently with the cash until large opportunities appear. Given everything today, I also think it's very possible opportunities could appear quite suddenly.

Isn't it kind of funny how the right winger-dingers are pro-Jew all of a sudden?

This board would have you believe that OXY is among the worst investments Buffett has ever made. I personally think Abel will sink the entire cash pile into Bitcoin futures.

Bitcoin futures /s

"Twelve members of Congress will soon take on the crucial job of rearranging our country’s finances. They’ve been instructed to devise a plan that reduces the 10-year deficit by at least $1.5 trillion. It’s vital, however, that they achieve far more than that. Americans are rapidly losing faith in the ability of Congress to deal with our country’s fiscal problems. Only action that is immediate, real and very substantial will prevent that doubt from morphing into hopelessness. That feeling can create its own reality." - Warren Buffett, Stop Coddling the Super-Rich (NYT, 2011) Welcome to that reality folks. People have lost faith, our problems now are bigger than they've ever been, and our Congress consists of people ill-equipped to handle them. The foundation of the entire global financial system rests on the well-being of Treasury markets. The same thing could be said about every aspect of credit laden within our own financial system. The risks are existential, and simply dismissing them because they are so existential is nothing short of illogical. But no doubt, we will continue down our current path. I mean just look at the person we elected to be our leader? What's the point of trying to convince others of anything, when even Buffett, a man who has sacrificed nearly everything to become the world's greatest financial expert, can't even get his own point across? It is interesting. Anyways, Kevin Warsh will soon be one of the most important men in the world.

Tranny oilman it is.

It's sad because that has become the system itself. It would be a monumentous undertaking to try and fix it. I was thinking this morning about how humans are largely reactive and not proactive; we don't like to change much until change is often forced upon us. I think this explains a lot. But also: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Benjamin Franklin

True. Seems to me a lot of history's worst events metastasized themselves from mass stupidity and greed. When I look out across the United States, I see a lot of stupid and greedy people.

Both sides of government are as deeply fixated on optics as they've probably ever been. And most are completely unaware of the risks attached to both their inaction and ignorance. Our current Congress has passed the fewest pieces of legislation since preceding the Civil War. And Congressmen are one of the most disdained groups of people in this country. Americans think they're crooked, weak, and ignorant, which is all mostly true of course, but it's funny because I also still think our Congress represents the electorate quite well.

Also, Democrats are shutting the government down over face masks? What about our now $39 trillion national debt? Not a peep from either side.

Being a Trumper is sort of like a religion: Unwavering faith in a sole entity, lacking in any form of logic or evidence. I try and respect everyone's beliefs. But I also think religion often lends itself to Authoritarianism.