UK

Interesting, never heard about them. Do you know how their portfolio looks like or what are their top positions? Also foundthis one on them: https://youtu.be/Zs0ZDbmpIOk

Thanks for response!

I was just guessing, but also thought that maybe it was T or T, who sold his share of USB and bougth TSM. Now, if WB bought TSM himself it would be a great news, since it is cheap and very strong business, but also it would mean, that his circle of competence has increased quite substantially! To make decisions about all thes extreme ultraviolet things is quite something comparing to water and sugar. So interesting and great news anyway!

Yes, oil bet is big and definately Buffett's. PARA I would guess is not his bet. Also it is possible, that USB was bought by WB and also later by one of T. If TSM was bought by WB himself, it would be quite a surprise, but it is almost to large for T or T, but maybe their allocations of BRK portfolio were increased?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-14/-broken-crypto-fund-hits-record-42-discount-as-etfs-hum-along What about this one? Would it be possible to liquidate it some day if SEC denies approval? At least an extra 40 per cent discount? Why not vs BTC? “As far as GBTC goes, I don’t know what stops this thing from sinking into a further discount,” said Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart. “There’s also an argument to be made that the widening discount is reflective of a lower probability or at last a longer time frame before GBTC is able to convert to an ETF.”

Thanks!

Re 2. Or is still not to large to be for T or T? Interesting pick nevertheless. Some really deep tech:)? At what time or where do you see information on Charlies interview?

What is your estimate of "significantly higher"? ~500 K USD if ~on par with gold? It would mean we just went from possible upside 10x to 30x in say 10 years? But even more important question: how low it go down further? Is it possible for BTC to trade below 10.000 USD at some point in the future? 1.000 usd?

I think even Munger already aknowledged, that BTC is like gold. At the same time they are saying similar things about gold as of Bitcoin. Also on art etc. Since those are not productive assets, Buffett an Munger is probably right in a very long term. Even super art items have lousy long term returns vs productive things. But that does not mean one can not make some money speculating them. But as Dealraker said it is quite difficult to understant difference between 20 or 1 M USD? What is a good price for BTC?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/11/14/russias-spy-chief-talk-us-g20-leaders-meet-discuss-ukraine-war/

What obvious implications possible war ending would have in terms of economies and markets? Perhaps it would be somewhat disinflationary at least in short/mid term? Also bullish for Europe? https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-ukraine-retakes-kherson-u-s-looks-to-diplomacy-before-winter-slows-momentum-11668345883 The imminent onset of winter—coupled with fears of inflation spurred by mounting energy and food prices, the billions of dollars of weaponry already pumped into Ukraine, and the tens of thousands of casualties on both sides—has prompted talk in Washington of a potential inflection point in the war, now in its ninth month. The U.S. and its allies are pledging to continue supporting Ukraine, but top officials in Washington are beginning to wonder aloud how much more territory can be won by either side, and at what cost. Some European officials, meanwhile, are more bullish on Ukraine’s chances. “There has to be a mutual recognition that military victory, in the true sense of the word, is maybe not achievable through military means, so therefore you need to turn to other means,” Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the top U.S. military officer, told the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday. “There’s also an opportunity here, a window of opportunity, for negotiation.” “It remains to be seen whether or not there’ll be a judgment made as to whether or not Ukraine is prepared to compromise with Russia,” Mr. Biden said at the White House. He added: “They’re going to both lick their wounds, decide…what they’re going to do over the winter, and decide whether or not they’re going to compromise.” Washington has signaled to Ukraine that at a minimum Kyiv needs to appear open to a negotiated solution. Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, conveyed that message to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his lieutenants in Kyiv on Nov. 4, suggesting that Kyiv would gain leverage by showing openness to negotiations, according to people familiar with the discussions. Two European diplomats briefed on the discussions said Mr. Sullivan recommended that Mr. Zelensky’s team start thinking about its realistic demands and priorities for negotiations, including a reconsideration of its stated aim for Ukraine to regain Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Officials in some European countries, particularly in the east and north, have said that publicly pressing for talks could hurt Ukraine’s efforts and play to Russia’s aims of dividing the alliance. “We need to talk about the cost of peace,” one northern European official said. If the war ends now, “The message the Ukrainians would get is that their fight was meaningless. The message Russia would get is that this is time to refit and to rebuild economically. No one believes [Russia] will stop until they achieve their strategic objective.” Mr. Putin has said that Russia is open to peace talks and argued that if Washington ordered Mr. Zelensky to sit down for negotiations, Kyiv would do so. With the latest setbacks in the battlefield, Western officials have said the Kremlin appears to have backed away from its previous preconditions for talks, such as accepting Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory.

Thanks, nice to know. I am quite familiar with this bank and totaly agree with you. Just read another day, how they are now reflecting on how banks are "overearning" and on this oligopoly situation, which was further strenghtened after GFC debacle. I agree that in Ireland and some other countries banks are day and night vs some other EU countries.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/crypto-ftx-collapse-spread-icahn-siegel-erian-summers-novogratz-roubini-2022-11

Why do you think it is not in the interest of US or west to support Ukraine? Given ukrainian will and at this time proven ability to fight isnnt it a very good opportunity (not with you own soldiers) to push back, weaken and contain if not change Russia even more? Also, I am not sure about any obligations to Ukraine, but I thought there were some security guarantees for them after they agreed to give uo nuclear weapons? Also, if this pushback will succed (sofar it seems it could?), donnt you think it would show something to China too? I actually believe that US and west almost cannot aford not to support Ukraine and it would be a huge failure not to do this, unlees you want allow Russian regime to do as they want in Europe and China in Taiwan/south asia. I am not debating who is right or wrong, moral or not, but just from this longer term or great power strugle perspective, why would US not see this as an very good opportunity? And I agree that ending all this asap would be great, but how do can you end a war, when part of your territories are still occupied by an enemy? Maybe sollution at this stage, if you want everything to end asap, is more support (more Himars, tanks etc to Ukraine), not less? What good it will do if you stop everything for a one ore two years and provide opportunity for russian forces to regain strenght?

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-curse-sam-bankman-fried-ftx-collapse-2022-11

By BOI you mean Bank of Ireland or is it something else?

Thanks! Do you own or know more ideas of blockchain companies in addition to OSTK?

Viking, thank you for all you work and info on FFH!

Does any major spillover from all this (or what has to come yet) could happen in fiat world/traditional financial system? What to avoid?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-11/sam-bankman-fried-fooled-the-crypto-world-and-maybe-even-himself?srnd=premium-europe “A lot of people have compared this to Lehman. I would compare it to Enron,” former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said Friday in a Bloomberg TV interview. “The smartest guys in the room. Not just financial error but -- certainly from the reports -- whiffs of fraud.”

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3611403-general-staff-russia-did-not-ask-ukraine-for-green-corridor-to-withdraw-troops-from-kherson.html "According to the available information, the Russian side addressed neither the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, nor the leadership of the General Staff, nor the command of the army groups with a request to create so-called ‘green corridor’," Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said at a briefing, answering Ukrinform's question about the request for a "green corridor" for the invaders. Earlier today, Serhiy Khlan, a member of the Kherson Regional Council, said that the Russians were moving their equipment to the left bank of the Dnipro River, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroying it.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-09/short-seller-jim-chanos-warns-the-crypto-crackdown-is-coming-now “You're going to get a judicial outcry now to regulate the system and bring these guys to justice,” Chanos, the founder of hedge fund firm Chanos & Co. said. The warning comes on the day that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of major crypto exchange FTX.com, suggested the company could be heading for bankruptcy barring an injection of fresh capital. Chanos has criticized a slow-moving regulatory response to crypto before, noting that it’s ultimately market cycles that dictate how authorities respond. “Asset prices are both the defense attorneys and the prosecutors” when it comes to financial frauds, he said. While crypto itself is often characterized as an anti-government asset with some ‘defensive’ or ‘uncorrelated’ characteristics, Chanos noted that there’s a long history of alternative currency projects popping up during bull markets, or “when people’s sense of disbelief is suspended.” He said that people often focus on the downsides of fiat currency, rather than its strengths — which include a central bank backstop in times of crisis.

I think crypto is still substantially smaller than dotcom was, so hopefully fallout will be manageable for economies, but for sure it will cost some, just think about all this mining equipment or even advertising market. It would be very interesting to know how much of online advertising was/is crypto related.