boilermaker75

;)

You must have connections!

Wrote some WFC 52.5 strike, Aug 18 expiration date puts for $0.70.

Another that is coming out soon, which I figure this board will be interested in, https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B071CTK28D/ref=pe_2571790_245969120_em_1p_0_ti so I figured it probably should have its own thread to bring attention to it.

Thanks for this thread and those contributing! This is very interesting. I am writing a book and was going to wait till I got a complete first draft before contacting publishers. This thread has inspired me to maybe self-publish. My book is in the genre of popular science. I'll probably have to employ a graphic artist, or get much better at generating figures myself! Even if I never get it published, working on it has been extremely useful. One useful part is thinking of how to explain things to a general audience.

That's going on the list, thanks! Liberty, If you have not seen this yet, I thought it would be of interest, http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/history/meet-the-authors-of-a-mind-at-play-how-claude-shannon-invented-the-information-age

The real interesting, and timely, thing about the Madoff story relayed by Thorp is that according to Bloomberg, Madoff is trying to help some former investors by arguing that his fraud started in 1992, so anything they took out of the fund prior to that year was not part of the Ponzi scheme. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-23/madoff-clients-fighting-for-fortunes-get-help-from-the-con-man) But if you follow the timeline for when Thorp figured out the fraud, it's 1990. Not surprising that a liar continues to lie - mostly surprising that anyone would take his statements as evidence... Absolutely. I wouldn't doubt if the fraud went back long before 1990 even. Thorp's life story was just great. Self made, and got it done with no shenanigans. Plus all the people he encountered throughout his life (the Las Vegas people and east coast guys who funded his gambling venture, Feynman, Buffett, Claude Shannon, Madoff, etc.). There is a book coming out soon on Claude Shannon, https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Play-Shannon-Invented-Information-ebook/dp/B01M5IJN1P/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499436789&sr=1-1&keywords=claude+shannon Being an EE, I can't wait to read it!

It's actually a Turbo Tax online issue. With the purchased turbo tax I can upload my IB trades. It is not Turbo Tax Online issue. It is IB issue. They refuse to provide TT API to access their data. The purchased TT uses IB crappy CSV export for their import. IB is the only company out of big banks and brokerages that refuse to provide TT API access. Nobody else does that. IB sucks. I've never had an issue with IB and CSV export. With Schwab I always have a dozen entries that aren't complete that I have to fix.

It's actually a Turbo Tax online issue. With the purchased turbo tax I can upload my IB trades.

I have been using IB for 10 years and don't recall ever having a problem with the site being down.

I haven't read The Big Small, but Cialdini is a co-author and the kindle edition is on sale today for $2.99. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HQ2N5CK/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As Charles Ellis has pointed out successful investing is like what it takes to win at tennis https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Losers-Game-Seventh-Strategies-ebook/dp/B01MU2E34Z/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497005521&sr=8-1&keywords=winning+the+losers+game I read this around 2000, but my recollection is that it was good.

This has been a huge gift the few times BRK has traded right around the buyback threshold, both 1.1x and 1.2x. I tend to gravitate towards in-the-money, extremely low premium, longer dated call options - but practically all the calls on BRK.B were so damn cheap because of whatever malaise led to BRK.B trading at the buyback threshold in the first place. Options are still relatively new on BRK - I guess since the BNSF deal/split? - I've seen people get into trouble thinking they should sell covered calls against low basis BRK. They end up causing a sort of short squeeze in the stock as it passes strike prices and they have to scramble to repurchase the calls because they can't stomach the tax bill. I forget which year, but I remember getting a lot of ribbing from my Wife's parents around Christmas one year because I couldn't stop buying call options on BRK. "why do you constantly have to be on that laptop" Wife's parents were more than reimbursed for their daughter's college education in the months that followed (on their piece of the position). There were options before the BNSF deal, but the volume was pretty much non-existent because one contract of BRK shares involved such a large monetary sum. I also have taken advantage of BRKB options since their creation with the BNSF deal. My only complaint is I did not do enough volume!

I think often just the opposite happens, companies buy back shares when they are trading well-above intrinsic value. Maybe this is also a message to whoever takes over what the right price is to do buybacks.

+1 on that one. EZPW kind of, but half-way recovered. New 7-year low today.

CBI

It's good deed for your parents today, Charlie. - - - o 0 o - - - Added to BRK.B today, too. My largest position by far is BRKB, so I am not looking to add unless BRKB comes down some. So I wrote some June 16 expiration, 160-puts for $1.40. Kind of like a limit order that pays me if it does not execute.

I don't know anything about this book, but the kindle version is free today, https://www.amazon.com/University-Berkshire-Hathaway-Lessons-Shareholders-ebook/dp/B06XT89563?SubscriptionId=AKIAI577GW2METHB3K7Q&tag=&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B06XT89563

Thanks for the photo!

And I pictured you with a closet full of Bionis, LOL

What did the 90% you were saving change to after marriage?

I totally agree. This is something I like to talk to students about. I give them examples in my life, and others, where the opportunity that came along was pure change. It was not part of a grand plan. You do have to recognize the opportunity and seize it.

QFT. I am very pro-US-universities, but it would be great if teaching had bigger priority. Maybe it does in non-STEM fields... not sure. I don't know how music professors are selected, for example. Politics? I think that's what my friend who was music prof said. But even there I think the selection is not really based on teaching. OTOH, I don't think other countries have great teaching traditions either. I know for fact that Lithuania/Russia is way worse in teaching style/content than US. From what I heard about Western Europe (Germany, Belgium, UK), people have said that US teaching is better. The system is different in Europe, but teaching is not prioritized there either. I agree about the quality of teaching in the US. There are some great researchers who are also great undergraduate teachers. I am just indicating why the costs have been going up and why they are so high.

Every state wants, and has, a public research university--typically their land-grant institution. Most states have several public research universities. It probably depends on the department, but in departments of engineering, science, management, health sciences, etc. faculty spend 80% of their time doing research and 20% of their time teaching. Up to half that teaching is at the graduate level. Probably at very few schools do faculty provide more than 10% of their salaries from outside grants and contracts yet spend 80% of their time on these grants and contracts. 30 years ago outside salary support was much, much higher because your teaching load was based on how much outside salary support you provided. If a school lowered this requirement, they attracted better faculty. Most graduate students are not paying tuition as they are on research or teaching assistantships that cover tuition. Undergraduate tuition is subsidizing 90% of the cost of the faculty doing research and teaching graduate classes. Rankings are mainly based on research, so top research universities attract the top undergraduates.

Just federal taxes paid?