John Hjorth

Brokon, Please take a look at Tilman's [CoBF member ebdem's] signature here on CoBF. [ : - ) ]. Tilman is already doing all that stuff! [ : - ) ] He has for some years now been building a value investesting community out of Germany, Austria & Switzerland! - And, from what I can tell - with great success! [ : - ) ]

Yes, wachtwoord, There are so many red flags here [many of them also mentioned by Cigarbutt in his posts from April this year], that if one looks at the "pricing" section in Mr. Damodaran's blog post, the comparison with regard to market pricing recently of other major Oil & Gas companies, the valuation of the whole Saudi Aramco at USD 1.7 T appears out of line. Many of the described risks related to a stock investment in Saudi Aramco appear to me to be similar - at least partly - to the risks related to buying stocks in the Russian Oil & Gas companies. Personally, I won't be surprised, if this IPO actually ends up failing, alone based on that. Edit : Still do, yes. James, You are then certainly close by! [ : - ) ] [Note to others : Dhahran is where the Saudi Aramco HQ is located]. If you don't mind sharing - What's the sentiment about this IPO in your community? [- Please note that I respect your privacy - that goes both for if you for professional and/or personal reasons can't or won't comment.]

I very much appreciate your three posts from the beginning of April this year, Cigarbutt, The Saudi Aramco IPO Prospectus was relased on November 9th 2019. To me, it feels like a door that has been sealed for several decades, now just opened! [ : - ) ] -I have always wanted to take a look at this company. I plan to dive into it next weekend. I feel confident that it'll be a very interesting read, despite I'm not interested in it as an investment. - - - o 0 o - - - Aswath Damodaran - Musings on Markets [November 18th 2019] : A coming out party for the world's most valuable company: Aramco's long awaited IPO!. To me, Saudi Aramco appears like a World Class race horse, and thereby very valuable [, but infertile, so you can't breed on it - in short, one long puff [35 years or so]]. - - - o 0 o - - - James [if you read this], about 6 years ago you wrote here on CoBF, that you then were living in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Do you still live your life there?

Perhaps it's time to start a new topic to discuss in depth, why and if we should have two topics about Fannie & Freddie, a bit like the "How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb?" joke about message boards.

This is an awesome post, Cigarbutt, I hope you'll take the initiative to make it a starting post for a separate topic in the Investment Ideas forum, so that it does not "drown" here in Berkshire forum. It may be of great value at a later point in time for CoBF members interested in RH.

RH Homepage. From ""About Us" : From "Corporate Profile" : - - - o 0 o - - - Price differentiation based on membership, and even a special RH credit card. As sleepydragon already said, an "Eco-system", based on taste and choice of lifestyle.

Thank you, Dynamic, Pretty much an uneventful quarter. - You get closer and closer a priori [before actual reporting] quarter by quarter! [ : - ) ] Again, thank you for sharing this awesome work!

When I was a kid, I remember reading Donald Duck cartoons. Back then, "FBI" in those cartoons were a [half-/semi hearted] Danish abbreviation for "[Forbrydelse Betaler sig Ikke". [Which translates from Danish to English "Crime doesn't pay off".] - - - o 0 o - - - Today, I've stolen your last post here, SharperDingaan!

I'm bumping pau_'s topic up by quoting here, based on the recent discussion going on in the EAF - Graftech topic. Today is an Onslow Day for me. I feel a bit worn out, I'm tired, with no energy for doing real investment related work, nor even ability to concentrate or to focus on some reading, because the last few weeks has been hectic for me with other IRL stuff than investing. So based on some tweet that I stumbled upon, I ended up listening to Mr. Pabrai at this Google Talks session. To me personally, Mr. Pabrai's approach to investing and modus operandi appears consistent, after enjoying the video this afternoon [my local time]. - - - o 0 o - - - On another note - and off topic - some weeks ago, I was in a weekend in a similar state of mind, where I studied what Mr. Pabrai and his wife Harina Kapoor are pulling off at The Dakshana Foundation. This is to me just soo fantastic! - Absolutely great couple!

Sold a bit of : VOW.DE [Volkswagen AG ST ON] & DAI.DE [Daimler AG NA ON] today.

Earlier today longinvestor posted this : - - - o 0 o - - - Earlier today I read this : From : Wells Fargo Newsroom E-mail topic title : "Last call for ordering of fresh ducks [ : - ) ]" I thought : "What the ....?" Next : Careful & in depth analysis of what I was actually reading : It turned out I wasn't reading totally horisontal on my e-mail monitor - the e-mail was not from Wells Fargo Newsroom, but from nemlig.com. [A Danish "Amazon" for food.] Next : Careful & in depth analysis why I wasn't reading straight horisontal : I had forgotten in the morning to polish my glasses for "monitor work". - - - o 0 o - - - Sh*te happens all the time ... - what really matters is if any harm is done!

kab60, I'll just say, that your line of thinking based on your description of your household makes perfectly sense to me. Holding cash or the opposite [use of leverage] is a personal question, to which each has to make up their own mind, based on personal situation & risk appetite [or the opposite].

Sold a bit of NZYM B.CPH today.

This move of yours makes great sense to me personally, Cardboard, It seems like Mr. Market has moved into a state of mania, since the beginning of October. We'll likely just get less returns on our long positions going forward. I have right now a feeling of Deja Vu comparable to what happened mid April 2015. It was basically all downhill from there until the early part of February 2016, October 2015 being quite brutal at some point. - - - o 0 o - - - Unfortunately, I personally can't do something like that, for legal and tax reasons.

Thanks, longinvestor, We [still] don't know what's going on on Mr. Buffett's working desk [actually, as I understand the situation : The desk of the father of Mr. Buffett], day by day [and we never will]. Personally, I'm a firm believer [religious or not? - the reader of this post is to decide] that he isen't spending his time power-napping on a couch in his office. CAPEX spent in the first 9 months in companies already owned by Berkshire : USD 11.193 B, up from same period P/Y : B 10.040 B. The work by among others Mr. Abel - Investing in the future of Berkshire. These investments are investments where internal hurdle rates are met, not purchases of new brushes to toilets, toilet paper or what do I know. - - - o 0 o - - - And even what appears miniscule buybacks add up over time, yes.

Naturally, such kind of exchange of information is subject to all kinds of censorship here on CoBF. Don't get any ideas! - You stay here!

Thank you, Greg, You read my post exactly as it was meant. So I'll just here repeat what I [basically] have already posted here : There are some certain specific risks related to investing in the US as of now - based on the recent political situation, as perceived individually. I'm pretty confident, that the European CoBF members are open for discussion here on CoBF, if needed! [ : - ) ] - Just shoot! [ ; - D ]

Oh, give me a break. It's all non-relevant nonsense-talk from you. Greg, how about you asking me for a link to the best European bank that I know of? LOL seriously? Thats your response? Ive begun to think you are the type that if you cant plug it into an Excel sheet you cant/dont understand it. Which is fine. But pointing out variables that effect market conditions and discussing strategy for that, is useful to some, and could be to others; if they were able to appreciate it for what it is. So, if the US basically becoming another Europe is "non-relevant" to you, well thats your decision. I really will try to look for the 2016 election thread sometime. Where a Trump victory was basically a non existent possibility to most here. Caught with the pants down and in that case, it was more an opportunity cost; things didn't go down like they will if Warren/Sanders wins, but people missed out on entire sectors going ballistic and missed a lot of easy money to be had. SLX(a sector ETF) did 50% in like 3 months, XLF over 33%, heck ever BRK did nearly 50% over the next 12... hogwash though I know! Nonsense talk! Greg, Cool down. You were asking for a [counter] "Warren Basket" : This is my take for a contribution : Ringkøbing Landbobank A/S. It's Danish. It beats even JPM on about every metric for the last years. What is it?: It's built over the long term for dentists, GP doctors & wind turbine financing. So what has the "European Mess" to do with this? Answer : Nothing! - As always, you just have to dig it up! - And those kind of companies are all over the place in Europe! [Again : "Index/"general Europe" talk" vs. "real work".]

Oh, give me a break. It's all non-relevant, non-stock picking, & nonsense-talk from you. Greg, how about you asking me for a link to the best European bank that I know of?

Last I checked this was an investing forum, and last I checked essentially every European index has gone nowhere in the last decade as the combination of their open border policies, rich entitlements, lax working environments/schedules, low birth rate, and internal squabbling, to name a few, has collectively left the region in a state stagnation. Cherry-picking Germany as some shining light of economic strength without mentioning the economic destruction in places like Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal is at best irresponsible. Germany benefits economically as part of the EU for the exact same reasons that Greece, Italty, etc. struggle. And what has all this to do with being a stock picker? - You're posting like an indexer.

Pulled out all available cash in my fathers account again today. Sold a bit less than one third of my fathers position in SAN today [at a loss]. It appears the account won't stay under the set goal/max. exposure, set now more than 5 years ago. I will drag out the cash [for good], when it's available after two days, if things don't fall back again. ... Sold a bit more SAN today. Sold a bit more SAN today. Sold a bit more SAN today. Sold a bit more SAN today.

Thank you for the very elaborate walk-through of the situation as you see it, Dynamic, Just for information, BAC has released its 2019Q3 10-Q on October 28th 2019, stating a total share count of 8,995,807,401 on October 25th 2019. So I suppose Berkshire is holding on to its BAC position until there is a decision if it can go above 10 percent position, or Berkshire also for BAC will become a forced seller as for WFC, until new practice for bank holding companies [likely] is applied.

Great posts by wabuffo and Cigarbutt here, -A good start for me on a louzy, dark & rainy Monday morning to read that! One could also take it to the next level, and think about the Berkshire cash as look-through cash on overall portfolio level. [similar to the line of thinking behind Dynamic's spreadsheet about the Berkshire stock portfolio.] Thinking about it that way it becomes a kind of restricted cash, because you can't decide what to do with it, but at least it's cash - and even the currency of the cash could bug you, if your functional currency isn't USD. Personally, I understand Greg's and others stance on the Berkshire cash, and I've also been very frustrated about it earlier - not so much any more. CoBF member ValueHalla has taught me to think about the Berkshire cash the look-through way. When one invest in a conglomerate with a controlling shareholder, there are always "frickles", laggards and such where the individual investor has a different opinion about capital allocation.

Pulled out all available cash in my fathers account again today. Sold a bit less than one third of my fathers position in SAN today [at a loss]. It appears the account won't stay under the set goal/max. exposure, set now more than 5 years ago. I will drag out the cash [for good], when it's available after two days, if things don't fall back again. ... Sold a bit more SAN today. Sold a bit more SAN today. Sold a bit more SAN today.

Thank you for a hilarius post, Cigarbutt! [ : - D] Personally I'm not sure goats would be a perfect fit for you to herd. Naturally they would be susceptible to your eternal patience with your surroundings, but would the goats exploit it? [ : - ) ] Furthermore, I don't think goats would respond to your expectations and standards with regard explanation and reason, semi-jerky as they are, according to rkbabang. [ : - ) ] The last sentence in your post is definitely a keeper!