UK

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-16/china-s-wild-stock-market-swings-hurt-a-21-trillion-bull-case “Close securities account”

All this now is postponed for a year since it apears nobody knows how to operate under all these new rules:))

https://www.barrons.com/amp/articles/berkshire-apple-stake-sale-buffett-9a672779 Yet no mention of possibility of AAPL price increasing because BRK had stopped selling:)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-03/how-eu-s-anti-deforestation-regulation-eudr-ran-into-trouble

With some risk of emergence of a few additional cockroaches I bought a position in RTO recently. Not full size yet, but big enough to qualify for a second large buy this year after ERF. I like this business enough to risk it sooner or later to prevail over perhaps not so perfect managment and missing an owner operator, as in ROL or ERF cases. Incidentaly these are simillar somewhat (service business, benefiting from scale) and were moving quite to the different direction from the market in the last few years, but for different reasons (covid hangover and overpriced acquisition). Talk about expensive market at ATH and not finding what to do...of course a not so trivial question of being right still remains to be answered:)

https://stratechery.com/2024/elon-dreams-and-bitter-lessons/

Well they still can do something, but the universe of opportunities to do something big just become very small. Buffett himself constantly remainds this (while talking about 50 percent returns with small money) and the growing amount of cash or no elephant deals in the past 5+ years is quite an evidence of this? The size is no problem to its survivorship or getting decent buy and hold returns, but it is too big for above normal buy and hold returns I think. So unless one is willing to try to improve the situation by paying atention to BRK valuation and taking more active aproach, he should at least adjust his expectations.

A wealthiest man on earth who build several succesfull hard high tech businesses, did this not single handedly and without proper degree...what an imposter, what a shame:)) Btw: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-09/china-is-trying-to-rival-elon-musk-in-space Again, I am not a fan of everything Elon does at all, but boy this tendency to see everyone or everything in eiter good or bad is so perplexing to me...a man or a thing can and usually is good and bad at the same time!

A bit offtopic, but I read these books first and only later realised why they had such an apocalyptic feel at times: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/tove-jansson-s-moominland-what-was-the-inspiration-for-finland-s-most-famous-family-9883098.html Much of this had a direct effect on Moominvalley. The knowledge that the world could be destroyed by just the push of a button certainly influenced the books. The threat of total annihilation is therefore a major theme and a highly original one in a book for children.

My experience and thinking about WB and BRK is very simillar although I think I am starting to be more confortable and perhaps even exited about Greg. I own BRK since 2011 and had made it into very large position twice, when it traded near BV, and would gladly do this again, despite the inevitable transition uncertainty, so I do give valuation a biger consideration in the whole picture. As for the transition, I am in no way to give any advices, but personally would love to see Greg running the show, while WB is still alive and well and sharp. The communication from WB has come down to a minimum in the last few years, so it is harder to understand what is he up to these days. I reduced my BRK position to a minimum recently, but again, more so because I do not find valuation so exiting vs am very afraid of the managment transition. New way of operating and somewhat different, more operational focus from new managment could even be exactly what BRK could benefit at this stage? Oh and in 2022 I made a decision I will trust and invest big into another insurance company, which I was following and owned small position since 2012:)

+1

Hostile takovers:))

His personality is exactly a thing I do not like the most about him. In some way it is simillar with Trump. Perhaps Jobs or even Gates were not exatly flawless personalities either:)? I also never owned TSLA, to the contrary, only its put options:). He is promotional. He will do mistakes. But despite this I just can not understand how one can see him as underachiever or not inhumanely smart:). Of course he is not God, neither does everything alone, but boy he has achieved a lot as I see it.

I think this is actually very true. No one will replace WB being WB, but BRK could very well find other/new strenghts/avenues under new management.

Now, I do not like everything Elon says or does...but how come one can even doubt his brains or achievements at this point? And Luke, IIRC, at the same time you think that Putin and Xi are great and/or smart:)? With respect, but I personally think there are some serious flaws in your judgments:)

I think I would choose this over 100 percent SNP500 easilly , but maybe (not totally sure if or when) I would also consider adding SPY as a third position, to reduce BRK size, if no other good ideas come in the future.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/08/12/some-good-news-and-some-bad-news-about-house-of-the-dragon-season-3/ By all rights, we should be getting a new episode of House of the Dragon tonight. Alas, Season 2 was cut short by two episodes thanks to Warner Bros. cost-saving measures following the Discovery merger—a merger many questioned at the time, and one that has sent shockwaves through HBO’s programming slate, including the cancellation of beloved series like Raised By Wolves and Westworld. Finished watching this. Apparently Zaslav is also the one to blame for ending the 2 season of HoD too early:))

Free advertising for insurance industry!:)?

'This was not the worst-case scenario' - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' morning briefing 43 minutes ago 15:34 EEST Rich McKay and Stephen Farrell Governor DeSantis said that more than 80,000 people had stayed in shelters across the state overnight. He and state officials urged Florida residents to let rescue workers check affected areas before returning to them. State officials reported at least 42 rescues, and two arrests for looting. Florida airports remained closed on Thursday, including Tampa, Palm Beach and St Petersburg /Clearwater, with exceptions for emergency aircraft, according to the FAA. "We will better understand the extent of the damage as the day progresses and you have people that are out there assessing damage right now, first responders have been working all through the night to help people who were in distress," DeSantis said. "The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario. The storm did weaken before landfall." "The Tampa airport is reporting minimal damage and should be open no later than tomorrow." "Sea ports are awaiting Coast Guard channel surveys to reopen waterside, but as of now, our initial assessments is they will likely be able to resume operations very quickly." "The storm surge was most acute in Sarasota, and I think it was a little bit more than Sarasota got for for Helene, but it wasn't like so much more. I think was eight to 10 feet." "I don't think that you're looking at similar amount of damage to Ian... definitely the surge did not reach Helene levels." "We anticipate because of the amount of water, you know, you may see flooding happen, not just now but in the subsequent days. "

I think their goal is to send a message in the first place, rather than to acctualy buy large part of the market to backstop it. Sometimes strong words is enough, so far it is more than just words and if it is not enough, perhaps they can always opt for 'unlimited' version later:)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-10/pboc-launches-71-billion-liquidity-tool-for-stock-investors

https://www.barrons.com/articles/insurance-stocks-hurricane-milton-8eb294bf It is possible that the storm could inflict $50 billion to $100 billion of losses on the insurance industry if it makes a direct hit on Tampa. Computer models indicate that could happen later this week, leaving insurers to face what has long been considered one of the worst potential scenarios for the industry. Miami and Tampa/St. Petersburg are the two biggest metro areas in the state. Lloyd’s outlined a scenario earlier this year for a hurricane strike on Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is located, that could result in insured losses of $134 billion. Pegging potential losses is difficult at this stage. But in a tweet Tuesday, Enki Research said that while the economic impact will depend on the exact course of the storm, most estimates cluster around $60-$75 billion, with some as high as $150 billion. If the storm strikes south of Tampa, as models say is possible, losses could be lower. So why are the stocks higher Tuesday? They were hit hard Monday: Reinsurers Everest Group and RenaissanceRe Holdings fell about 9% and primary insurers Chubb , Allstate , Progressive and Travelers were off 3% to 4%. The stocks have arguably priced in sizable losses. Some 36 stocks covered by KBW analyst Meyer Shields lost a collective $50 billion of market value. The selloff also could have reflected profit-taking after what has been a strong year for P&C insurance stocks. Many were up 30% or more before trading began on Monday. Tuesday afternoon, reinsurers Everest Group was up 0.7% to $375.32; RenaissanceRe was 3.7% higher at $263.28; and Arch Capital gained 2% to $109.94. Among primary insurers, Chubb was 1% higher at $280, while Allstate was up 0.7% at $182.59. Berkshire Hathaway , which has a large P&C business, was little changed at $679,584, based on its Class A shares. Investors may be taking comfort from leading insurers’ strong capital positions, anticipating that property insurance rates, particularly for reinsurers, could be stronger than previously expected. Another potential positive is that the storm has been downgraded to Category 4 from Category 5, though it remains potentially devastating. It could be a Category 3 storm when it hits the Florida coast. Big primary insurers have been reducing their exposure to the Florida homeowners market due to storm risk, mitigating their potential losses. Because national companies are pulling out of Florida, the largest homeowners’ insurer in the state is the state-run Citizen’s Property Insurance, with a roughly 20% market share. Reinsurers took some of the biggest hits Monday because they provide insurance to primary carriers like Chubb, Travelers, and Allstate, which deal directly with insurance customers. They tend to have more catastrophe risk than the primary carriers. “Coming out of hurricane season, reinsurance stocks tend to do better,” says Chai Gohil, the global insurance analyst at Neuberger Berman. He says that the next key date for reinsurance renewals is Jan. 1. The thinking now, he said, is that property rates could be flat to up in the mid single digits, rather than falling in the mid to high single digits, as had been expected until recently. Gohil says investors have been looking at disclosures by reinsurers about what the industry calls probable maximum loss from a catastrophe with a 1% chance of happening in a given year. Investors calculated that loss for some reinsurers Monday and figured that the stocks might have overreacted. Everest, for instance, pegs its Southeast hurricane PML at about 8.4% of equity, or close to $30 a share. Its stock fell about $35 on Monday. Neuberger owns stock in companies that it views as some of the strongest insurers, including Berkshire, Chubb, and auto specialist Progressive. Gohil says that one risk for insurers is that there tends to be a large variance between “eventual losses” from a storm and modeled estimates. “In case of Katrina, Irma – the losses were 20-30% higher, partly due to higher demand surge, and increased litigation activity. We will likely see the same as Milton is on the heels of Helene, so stocks may react negatively with further adverse revision of loss estimates,” he wrote Monday. Florida passed legislation last year to curb what had been rampant insurance fraud involving so-called assignment of benefits, which allowed third parties to act on behalf of homeowners and make claims against insurers. Unscrupulous contractors, for instance, would repair roofs and then make huge damage claims to insurers. The effectiveness of that litigation could be tested by Milton. The exodus of big insurers from Florida has left a void that has been filled by smaller public companies and private ones like Tower Hill. The smaller public insurers with Florida exposure, including American Coastal Insurance , Heritage Insurance, and Universal Insurance were hit hard Monday. They suffered some of the biggest losses in the sector. Universal was up 3.8% Tuesday to $17.54 after falling 19% Monday, while American Coastal gained 1% to $9.60 after dropping 15%. Universal has the No. 2 market share in homeowners’ insurance in Florida while American Coastal is the No. 1 provider of commercial residential insurance in the state. Both are tiny relative to national players like Allstate and Travelers, with market values of about $500 million each.

I am not sure about War and Peace or other aurhors, but almost certain you can read Dostoevsky in your own language and it will still beat like 80 percent or more of original language alternatives. I also read same book by Bulgakov in both languages and translated version was not bad either.

No offense taken:). I wish I also could post this epic gif of Spekuliatius about investing in China, featuring boar, but I can not find it:))