John Hjorth

Not neccessarily a foundation for a superbubble, if thought and setup the right way, Blake [ @Blake Hampton ]. The Norwegian 'Government Pension Fund Global' may be worth your time and attention for further study and deeper understanding. The economic foundation and basis for the fund is an extra 50 percent points on the taxable income of Equinor [earlier Statoil] as a common and broad political decision back when Norwegian oil venture stated [in the '60s, I think], where this separate tax revevue stream [the separate 50 percent points] not are included in the state budget, but are separated, saved and invested for the very long term, all in separate entity [called Norges Bank Investment Management], which is not controlled by the Norwegian political system, so idiots cant get any stupid ideas with about what to do with all the money. Only in years when economic conditions have been sour has it been alloved to transfer parts af the return on the saving back to the state for inclusion in the budget. As far as I can see will Norway gradually evolve [over some few decades] to a society where the working share of the population will shrink to fewer and fewer capita, because taxation of working income will not be needed to make ends meet in the state budget. It's indeed mindboggling to think about. Link : Norges Bank Investment Management. Link : Wikipedia page: Government Persion Fund Global - - - o 0 o - - - Now back to 'have we hit the top' and whatnot.

- Nothing like a glass of something of quality and of personal preferences on a Friday at the end the work week to start the weekend!

Reuters - Markets [July 26th 2024] : Russia's central bank governor Nabiullina on rates, economy and banks. Russia Central bank's key rate up to 18 percent. Bloomberg - News [August 9th 2024] : Russia War Economy Set for Sharp Slowdown After Second Quarter. Growth is likely to halve in second half of year, analysts say. Huge government defense spending helped drive wartime growth. - - - o 0 o - - - This will soon become very tangible and real to feel for the Russian population. Poor Ms. & Mr. Ivanov [similar to 'Jones' for us]. Russia has a population of ~ 145 million. It's a nation with huge differencies in living conditions based on geografical locations, Living in Moskow or St. Petersburg is materially different compared to large parts of the rest of the country.

YouTube : Ashton Gleckman : Hans Zimmer - Interstellar (Royal Albert Hall Organ).

@Luke, Are you trying to tell us that you have been margin called by IB?

The discussion about the deficit [in US and in other countries, for that sake, too] is always interesting. So is the discussion about tax deductions for charitable donations and taxation of foundations, as a measure to keep up a state deficit in check. I'm lucky to live in a country up North in Europe, where we by now actually are in a bright spot on a green branch of the tree [doing reasonable well, while running with no defit, and pretty stable situation], and I personally think we by trial and error as a society have found the something that have created 'an accepted social contract' between the countrys need for income streams, and tax regulations, that create some kind of overall cooperation for the benefit of both the state, the Danish society and the Danish foundations. But we need to place in them another topic than this.

This is actually an interesting exchange between @Eldad and Greg [ @Gregmal ] with regard to actual timing related to reporting. Will we see 2024H1 reportings not yet done and not still due by now, that at arrival at a later date than today will seem to have been through a 'last and late spin' to in whatever way to cover and / or include events after the balance sheet date?

Spin of thought, I would say. This is not about lack of liquidity and / or lack of capital in the banks.

Crazy for me personally to read that some you posting above can't get to your funds on a day like this, if you find it time to act. Personally I've never really been there, left behind, as customer, this way. Simply not good enough by the financial institution that leaves you behind, hanging to dry. Be demanding, relentless, ruthless and mercyless. Life is too short for that kind of BS. Best of luck with these issues.

Here is a link to the book at Amazon for those who want to indulge [- personally, I've had enough dirt from here, there and everywhere about Mr. Gates by now] : Amazon : Anupreeta Das - Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World Hardcover – August 13, 2024. Reminds a bit of my experience of reading [trying to finish reading] 'Snowball' now many years ago, which I to this day have never finished, and likely never will. Like @dwy000, I'll pass here.

Personally I have no clue which kind of interaction between Berkshire management and Berkshire board of directors could lead to such a decision and thereby similar message to shareholders. Personally, I would consider it capitulation. If it may ever happen in future, I'll consider Mr. Abel not fit and proper for his position, and take the consequences related hereto, over time. More than the last half decade or so, I've constantly and relentlessly been thinking about what to substitute Berkshire with, if the tax heat from Berkshire on me and my family gets too intense, from a shareholder perspective, and I've now localized and found what to me a suitable alternative for going forward, a mental process that now has taken almost half a decade. At that place there has never been any public discussions about if size matters to returns - That angle is simply a no-go. The only thing that matters there is what to do from where you are, and then to really do it, and execute. No talk about size etc. - ever. This size issue is also about attitude : 'What is possible to achieve?' -The answer to the question is lot about attitude.

I'll refrain from commenting on your precision related to stating 5.2 % originally above, obviously then originally by memory. You obviously have a very good memory, - that combined with being observant is very powerful.

Thanks Bill [ @wabuffo ], Perhaps US Internal Revenue Service should consider to look up an internal expense account to do the same [I mean to consider Mr. Buffet for a Christmas card, too]. According some very rough back-of-the-envelope calculations of mine I came up with today, that the tax on the realized gain on the sale of AAPL shares is in the area of USD 13 billion. To give this amount of funds a tangible perspective, I've read somewhere not so long ago that this amount of USD roughly equals the cost of construction of the gallee USS Gerald R. Ford.

Or preparing for an extraordinary [perhaps one-time] dividend [, all which I consider among my worst mightmares ...]

EOP 2024H1 : Cash USD 36.884 B Short term US T-Bills USD 234.618 B Total USD 271.502 B - - - o 0 o - - - [Excluding cash in Railraoad, Utilities and Energy USD 5.440] - - - o 0 o - - - That's a lot! - - - o 0 o - - - Edit : A boatload AAPL shares have been disposed during 2024Q2. [Market value AAPL postion : At YE2023 USD 174.3 B, at EOP 2024H1 USD 84.2 B, see p. 9.]

A contribution to the discussion : Bloomberg - Opinion - Matt Levine, columnist [July 26th 2024] : Andrew Left Wasn’t Short for Long. To me, it's quite complicated, because the issue at hand has so many dimensions. Basically it roots down to the concept and societal definition of making a decent living, and the contrary of that, fraudulent business activities [being a con person], and how these concepts are reflected in aplicable law [ as 'jus']. Over time the general societal norms for acceptable behavior is expressed in appliable law , with applicable law by time lagging societal norms for accepteable behavior, and political based legislation and case law creating new or changed prejudice as some kind of framework filler or specific intepretor or testarangement. - - - o 0 o - - - So the question at hand - to us, individually and personally - is if Andrew Lefts activities at Citron Research are acceptable, acknowledgeable or even noble and useful with a real purpose considering the facts presented under the case tested by SEC, or not. Personally, I have nothing but resentment left for these kind of business practices.

Small addition to Wallenstam AB [WALL B.STO].

Related to the above very nice post by @longterminvestor, source LinkedIn, June 29th 2024 :

So, @StubbleJumpers question above about if this is about Watsa funds or FFH funds hereby appear clearly justified, right? Now who's going to ask FFH IR about it?

Thank you very much, @ValueArb , This reply of yours is to me just soo awesome, thank you!

Please elaborate a bit, @ValueArb, as I did not understand this post of yours in the first place.

Meanwhile, other places :

Bloomberg - Politics [June 15th 2024] Danes Asked to Keep Supplies, Iodine Pills to Prepare for Crises. I suppose that perhaps this potential countermeasure for some CoBF members may seem and appear out of proportion, given the situation. But it's actually real and tangible here, and tells a lot about the overall local sentiment here.

<FFH Off Topic Begin>: @Hamburg Investor, Here is one for you : Hubspot [ February 29th 2024] : How to Create Excel Charts and Graphs. It's not that hard - Nothing is, if you can. Just try, and you'll get there! -Good luck! <FFH Off Topic End>

@thowed, More like GRANNOOLLASS [, perhaps, all depending on perception]. Despite Europe has been lagging North America in recent decades, it has still been possible to do well by stock picking, simply because structured stock picking based on rational criteria has been weeding out weak candidates in relevant indexes.