LC

Guess it's too much to ask for management to represent shareholders AND not do stuff that makes their customers want to murder them.

OK - please let's leave national security up to DOGE. I am sleeping more soundly already. We raise 3.5 trillion/year to pay for healthcare. Where does that come from? I'm sure citizens and corporations would enjoy 500B back in their pockets.

I think so - when a single payer system is expected to increase coverage, it makes sense to measure cost changes on a per-unit basis. But overall cost comes down too on an absolute basis as well...so what's not to like?

I am not sure if single payer would work. But I do think it would work better than the current system. One thing government does well? National defense. How much would it cost? Half-a-trillion less than the current system: "Through the mechanisms detailed above, we predict that a single-payer healthcare system would require $3.034 trillion annually (Figure 3, Appendix), $458 billion less than current national healthcare expenditure.40 Even after accounting for the increased costs of coverage expansion, our data-driven base case includes $210 billion savings on hospital care, $111 billion on physician and clinical services, $224 billion on overhead, and $180 billion on prescription drugs (Figure 3). Consequently, per-capita annual expenditure would drop from $10,7396 to $9,330, equivalent to a 13.1% reduction" https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8572548/#:~:text=Through the mechanisms detailed above,than current national healthcare expenditure.

The doctors I know who run private practice say the opposite - they will not bill more than what insurance will reimburse. Perhaps it is different across practices.

Good time to update the spreadsheet. I included an index fund allocation here, unfortunately I cannot actively invest that amount so I look at is as my performance buffer: Fairfax: 26% SP500: 25% (I cannot invest this) Aecon: 12% Cash: 7% JOE: 4% Japan Basket (ex-Nintendo): 3% Nintendo: 3% MSGE: 2% 5 next largest positions: DFIN RTO C FRPH HSW +about 30 tiny tracker positions / option gambles

The providers many times can only charge what insurers will pay. Providers are not the ones with pricing power - it is the insurers. But yes the whole system is screwed and only a single payer solution will work. And so it tells you all you need to know about American society when the best, most obvious solution repeatedly gets voted down.

Honestly how surprised are people? US health insurance tactics have pushed people into bankruptcy. Lives are ruined and they have no recourse. I'm surprised something like this hasn't happened sooner.

Happy thanksgiving from the slopes, everyone!

Hah, I probably come off as more of a bleeding heart than I truly am, but I am glad I provided some entertainment value, at least!

Goofball post. Funny how like 2/3rd of the mentioned companies are some of the strongest contributors to the US economy over the past 10-20 years. Add in some other software giants where the same behavior exists (AWS, Azure, META, most of Google) and it's literally the engine that has kept this country's economy at the forefront globally. Guess they should've made software great again by employing ex-coal miners at 12hr shifts for less than minimum wage

Who would've thought mimicking petabytes of 4chan, reddit, and yahoo comments could only take you so far? I think this is an expectation problem, rather than an execution problem. Current iterations of generative AI can provide a ton of time saved when applied to bullshit bureaucracy. We see 20-25% time savings with reasonably high accuracy. Apply that to the red-tape layers of industries like government, healthcare, finance? That is a meaningful amount. I think one of the challenges is implementation. How does a 50+ year old company still using Cobol, jump into using Claude or Gemini? It is a big step for them.

Do you mind sharing the names?

And POOL. @Saluki, maybe they are reading your posts? Warren is lounging by the in-ground, stuffing himself with pepperoni slices and cinnamon twists. Good on him!

Freaking hell, I really timed my exit of PCYO poorly. And well done on the FNMA (Trump) trades. That was a solid trade going into the election. What am I learning here? I am a big ole dummy. Bought MSGE yesterday and today, I have a decent STNE position but might add to it as well.

Fair enough, I thought you may have worked in the industry and were seeing some early indicators.

What makes you think the market is finally softening?

it does scream classic Buffett to strike some deal where OXY pays him a percentage to accumulate enough stock to block any takeovers.

The comments on reddit about Combs as Geico CEO are pretty brutal - even for disgruntled employees.

Same. I sold some calls that will get exercised, also took the opportunity to trim further.

How do you find that algorithm functions? I see it all the time but I have no idea how it works, so I just put limit orders in at the bid (if it's a 1-cent bid/ask difference) or just calculate the midpoint myself.

Adding back the 87$ in fair value increase, we still trade at about 1.2x BV.

Honestly I think it's one of Buffett's tells that he too is simply human. He's contradicted himself many times over the years ("we don't trim!")...I think he means well, but really it's one of the hardest things to do in investing, much less communicate accurately. The best I can figure: He sells before he thinks the stock is going to go down significantly.

Three words: Brett Horn, CFA In all seriousness, it may help break thru into the industry at the early stage of your career. That’s about all its useful for.

@cwericb I'm in a similar boat: Today, Fairfax and Aecon respectively made up 40% and 25% of my investable portfolio (there are some 401k stuff with limited options, and private RE/businesses I exclude from this). Friday was a pretty solid day. Even after Friday's spike, neither Fairfax nor Aecon look particularly expensive: Fairfax trades now at like 1.3x book, for a company with guaranteed earnings for the next few years and management with a real plan to leverage that. Aecon is trading still in the mid single digit PE-range given their run-rate adjusted earnings, with industry tailwinds behind them. My goal thru end of year is the remaining call it 35% of my portfolio needs a harder look. JOE, Citi, the MSG complex, FRPH, O&G, etc...this stuff has value but unsure timelines.