Edward

55.8% in 2020, net of fees. Some of it because I loaded up on some non growing but solid companies on the cheap, such as ABR, AER. Most of the return was mainly good positioning in some great small growing businesses that benefited from the disruption. These were long term holdings before 2020.

Some background and my 2 cents based on personal experience. I have been managing money for others starting in 2008-9 when a few acquaintances asked me to in a similar manner. By then I have been managing my own money for several years. In 2011 I transitioned all clients into a fund and not accepting separate portfolios to manage. It is much easier and simpler. I would only manage money for people if it was as part of building a record for yourself as an investment professional. If it is just casual, don't do it. If someone wants me to manage his money and he is not a good fit for being a long term investor in the fund, I tell him to put all excess money into Berkshire (I do not trust indexing). I also tell him that after he does that he will become curious as to what exactly Berkshire is, so I also send him the link to the annual letters. Works wonders really with some people, but most just leave me alone and buy real estate or something. Regarding managing money for friends and family, it can be a very good or a very bad idea. You have to spend some thought on how to manage the relationship. Personally I recognise that with family it's different, so I do it on the condition they don't ask any questions other maybe once a year asking how much they have, and I also have their funds (my brother's and my grandmother's) on my own name in trust. With friends I treat them as normal clients - Annual report once a year, etc. Anyone that asks too many non-constructive questions or behaves erratically, I fire. Meaning they get their money back. I do not deal with clients that get jumpy if the market drops 30%. In April, I had one withdrawal that was not related to the downturn (a previously planned real estate transaction), and two clients added more. Almost nobody called to ask how the portfolio is doing. It's a long term game for most and they just don't care as they see performance as my problem to worry about and not theirs. As a result I have a relaxed experience and can get some results (we are up 50% YTD). So it can be a pleasure or a nightmare depending primarily on you. If you do not manage client relationships properly it will end badly.

He addresses this point directly in the prelude to the lecture. Here is the relevant piece: More and better information is only useful if you can make sense of it. He is not at all talking about the Soviet Union but about other countries that have free press, how to subvert these countries. The goal is to reach a point at which true information is indistinguishable from bad one for much of the population. If you are at all depressed by this, congratulations! You have reached the Demoralization stage ;) Oh, and apropos free press - this lecture was taken down by youtube recently after reaching 7 million views and was re uploaded. Probably was trending too much.

I posted this lecture on the coronavirus group. In my opinion it is the best summary of what's going on in the couture and politics today. The lecture is from 1984 but very relevant. The speaker is Yuri Bezmenov, a defector from the India cell of the KGB and the topic cultural and political subversion. Enjoy! Edit: An additional piece:

At this point we are talking Pravda levels of misinformation on mainstream media. I was born in the USSR so I can tell you all it's quite comparable. Additionally, if you want to understand the current political atmosphere, the following is the best lecture on the matter in my humble opinion:

I would think more than 12% dividend on the preferred would be required fr this kind of mess. 15-20% perhaps, just to get me off my chair.

A bit late to this party (maybe a good thing?) After digging in a little bit I believe the only "real" assets this company has is 40M in cash and 160M in Dundee Precious Metals stock. This 200M minus 120M in remaining preferreds is 80M, about the same as the current Market Cap. How is this undervalued? Yes, I know there is some royalty from some oil in Chad and a pile of money losing subsidiaries. To me, all of this is Zero. Prove me wrong, please.

Chill, man. You gotta try the cold chai.

What is more likely - 1. Trump is actually a moron and a complete idiot, his fame and money are pure luck, no skill involved. 2. You lack observation skills.

I fairness it is just a summary of the evidence, there's plenty of it beyond what I mentioned. And I would suggest watching the following video of a MD connecting the dots: In short, she probably has Parkinson's. And by the way, people with this condition are known to be extra susceptible to Pneumonia, which she now has. http://what-when-how.com/parkinsons-disease/pneumonia-parkinson%E2%80%99s-disease/

She has been coughing, bobbing her head uncontrollably, taking long rest periods between campaign sessions, falling multiple times over the last 10 years and once hitting her head, which necessitated a six month recovery period according to Bill Clinton. She also suffers major memory loss, according to her FBI testimony. Some evidence (note one of the reporters is visibly startled): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gYplpPmbXI http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2629288/Bill-Clinton-reveals-took-Hillary-six-months-work-accident.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/02/the-many-things-hillary-clinton-couldnt-recall-in-her-fbi-interview/ https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/25404 Wouldn't say it's quite a conspiracy theory to doubt she's all there.

I think many Americans would disagree with you on the country going in the right direction. Hillary supporters are either oblivious to what she is and what she had done, or live in really cushy spots in society and feel good. Trump isn't that great either but he is very competent, which is not something you can say about any politician nowadays. I would also remind you that Buffet and Trump agree on trade:

"reputable" is irrelevant here, he's done business and he's done it well. The guy is a self made billionaire which means he's pretty amazing. He has started thousands of companies during his life, and some of these have to fail and go bankrupt. That's the way business works. Be more specific please. Writing best sellers is not a crime. Even if some of the advice kinda sucks. And Trump university is a total joke to get focused on. Trump basically started a small business that provided some short seminars to about 6,000 people. That's 1,500$ for a 3 day seminar. Around another 1,000 elected to pay more and get a more luxurious experience. Very doubtful this insignificant operation made any real money after expenses. He did over-hype it somewhat. Big whoop.

A little joke about the difference between Israelis (Jews) and Germans. So an Israeli guy is driving on the Freeway in Germany, and he misses his exit. The solution here is obviously going into reverse, so he backs up and a old german guy bumps into him, gets out of the car screaming in German, then calls the police. The police go talk to the old German guy, and after a few minutes they come to the Israeli guy, signaling he can go. Wait, said the Israeli guy, what's going on? Forget about it, said the policeman, the old guy has gone completely crazy, he thought you were backing up on the freeway :)

There is a strong democracy in Israel but no democracy whatsoever in any of its neighbors. Why? Culture. Singapore is the most capitalistic country in the World but there is no democracy there. England was capitalist long before it became democratic. So I would say capitalism in necessary for democracy but that alone won't cut it. You also need stuff like free speech.

Because violence by the right is a crime against humanity while violence by the left is just resistance in the face of evil. It's called hypocrisy.

Hello there friend. About those jews in Madina... let me just quote Ibn Ishaq: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banu_Qurayza#Demise_of_the_Banu_Qurayza “ Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. Among them was the enemy of Allah Huyayy b. Akhtab and Ka`b b. Asad their chief. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. As they were being taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka`b what he thought would be done with them. He replied, 'Will you never understand? Don't you see that the summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Allah it is death!' This went on until the apostle made an end of them. Huyayy was brought out wearing a flowered robe in which he had made holes about the size of the finger-tips in every part so that it should not be taken from him as spoil, with his hands bound to his neck by a rope. When he saw the apostle he said, 'By God, I do not blame myself for opposing you, but he who forsakes God will be forsaken.' Then he went to the men and said, 'God's command is right. A book and a decree, and massacre have been written against the Sons of Israel.' Then he sat down and his head was struck off." That's some harmony and respect right there. I suggest you read the Hadith again to refresh your memory. Plenty of subject matter right here: http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/articles/opinion-polls.aspx

Immigrants are not demonised. Illegal immigrants are because they are criminals, they came in illegally. Some also engage in other crime. Same thing for Muslims. No problem with them, except that there is a large minority of Muslims worldwide that openly supports terrorism when asked (like a third). No reason to take any chances really, let them stay in their own countries and do whatever they like. When faced with big problems, you need a corresponding solution. Doing it the nice and fuzzy way like the Europeans is a big glaring failure, so obviously something else is needed. So trump goes the extra mile here, no idea if it's too much or too little, but it's worth a shot because if it continues like it has, there will not be a USA for your grandchildren to live in. It will be more like Lebanon. Now regarding the particulars. The idea of a wall is just common sense. People go over the border? Build a stronger border. The idea of ID cards I don't like personally, but we do have them in Israel (where I live) and it seems to be no big deal. Surveillance you already have, nothing new. Patriot Act? The idea of closing a Mosque sounds crazy, only because people think it's like closing a church. It's not. Islam is not like Judaism and Christianity in the sense it's not only a religion, it is also (and I would say primarily today) a political system and a legal system. So it means that a Mosque propagates an alternative holistic system that strives to replace the US law and install Sharia law, mostly "peacefully" by cultural conquest and sometimes by violence (i.e. terror). In the UK you already have Sharia courts that supersede British law. This cannot be tolerated in my opinion and it is a very good reason to close down a Mosque if that is the case.

That is indeed problematic. However the information based on his latest disclosures is much more reliable than things he said in passing many years ago. When you release that much information in writing just before a presidential bid you tend to be pretty careful, so I would believe that part of his statements (not other stuff though). I would not invest in a venture with him as a passive investor, but I would invest as an active partner with control if the venture had merit.

Unless they disagree with your preconceived notions!!! Exactly. I find it hard to believe that the few facts brought to light by Mr. Oliver are somehow the whole truth(just watched that episode). He would have you to believe that all Trump achieved in his life were a bunch of lawsuits and failed business ventures. Hence I'm asking for a more detailed account of Mr. Trump's exploits - oh wait, he did file a bunch of info just a few months ago. Let's see now... he reported receiving 213M$ from the Apprentice, and he is worth 4.1B$ according to Forbes. His father only died in 1999, so he didn't inherit anything until that time. Got a nice head start in life though, that much is true. So he probably did something right businesswise. http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-nbc-apprentice-payment-disclosure-2015-7

I really think you're trying too hard here. First, he has no problem with the other countries taking advantage (He said that specifically many times). He has problems with the american leaders who let this happen. Second, he never said anything about getting rid of races and religions. He did say that if you want to come to the US as an immigrant, you only come in legally and you have to be ready to become an American. Those who came illegally will be deported, and those who come in in order to change the country into something else are not welcome. In Europe you can see that many immigrants from the Middle East do not become Europeans but build Middle Eastern enclaves and ask for the host country to recognize their "sovereignty". Third, there is no mention of ripping existing agreements but of renegotiating them or exiting certain trade deals which is perfectly legal to do. Lastly, there is nothing Nazi in raising your hand to take an oath like he did. This parallel is either a case of slander or overactive imagination.

Sorry, didn't watch that episode. If you have a better information source than the "research" by John Oliver, I'd like to see it. Otherwise we're wasting our time here.

The guy started out with 200K$ (plus some loans) and inherited 40-200M$ in 1999, when he was already a billionaire. Today he's worth around 4-10B$ (depending on who you believe). Doesn't seem that abysmal to me. https://www.quora.com/Did-Donald-Trump-inherit-a-lot-of-money-and-then-increase-his-net-worth-at-an-unremarkable-rate And John Oliver is not exactly a credible source for information. Hes a comedian.

Admiral Group plc (ADM) - a london auto insurer with results better than GEICO. They're probably the best in the world at this. Henry Engelhardt (retires in a year) and David Stevens. I second Strayer Education (STRA). Renault SA (RNO) have the best CEO imo in the auto industry, Carlos Ghosn. H&T Group plc (HAT) John Nichols is a good CEO, hes made a management buyout about 10 years ago. Tropicana Entertainment Inc. (TPCA), a Carl Icahn company with very nice tax carryforwards and a few nice assets he got on the cheap. PRA Group, Inc (PRAA), Steve Fredrikson and Kevin Stevenson. Best in class unsecured debt buyer - they buy credit card debt for 3-4 cents on the dollar, then collect over the years.

I'd say that this is much more likely to be economically feasible within our lifetime than fusion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_fluoride_thorium_reactor It's tested and proven tech that mostly needs funding and not much else.