John Hjorth

@Dalal.Holdings, -Aaannd *POOF* - Mr. Breton is history : Edit :

What has Elon Musk and X to do with this topic - Both Elon and X are today considered American, I think, X not even listed [, and thereby unavaiable for us] - - - o 0 o - - - Personally, I speculate it's about some material and basic differencies in attitudes and opinions about societal design and entrepreneurship, and the attitude towards the concept of 'Everybody is the smith of his own luck'. There exist the phenomen called Old World, and there exists thereby the opposite of that also. It's based on history and roots so deep in differencies among cultures : Wkipedia : European immigration to the Americas. [Those who outwandered from Europe to the US, likely saw more opportunities than challenges for the future, based on self confidence, self esteem and optimism], while those staying put were willing to accept available, but miserable living conditions, as they were.] In that light, the economic miracle of the United States of America, has almost been a given thing, so far. But it does not embrace everything. I.e. think luxury, where the concept of vanity is rooted in a prior, then decadent and totally opulent European Upper Class, exploiting and suppressing other, lower classes, before basic human rights evolved over time in Europe.

@Luke , I haven't even tried to draw any conclusions from the numbers exersises done by me above. I'm just stuck like another terrier in the pant leg of Super Mario's statements above and the sentiment expressed in this topic, thus leaving the conclusioins up to you. Questions for every reader: 1. Are any of these companies uninvestable, and in that case, for any of them - why? 2. Are any of these companies, in particular uninvestable, because they are headquatered in Europe, respectively in an EU member country? [Needless to say, I personally consider much of the EU talk in this topic, really biased, because I consider it overblown, and based on generalizations.]

Here, some - more or less random - ramblings related to this topic : - - - o 0 o - - - Source : World's Largest Companies by Market Cap. - - - o 0 o - - - Top 100, by country [page 1 on the website, without any filtering, here sorted by country, numbers only, no names] : Australia : 1 Canada : 1 China : 9 Denmark : 1 France : 4 Germany : 1 India : 3 Ireland : 1 Japan : 1 Mexico : 1 Netherlands : 2 Saudi Arabia : 1 South Korea : 1 Spain : 1 Switzerland : 3 Taiwan : 1 United Arab Emirates : 1 United Kingdom : 6 United States of America : 59 Total : 100, af which Europe : 19 ['Europe' not to be confused with 'EU' here.] Limit : USD 151.76 [#100,= UNP]. - - - o 0 o - - - Next, reverse calculation of EUR 100 B limit to USD, at today rates, as I personally see them : EUR/DKK = 7.46 & USD/DKK = 6.74, thus EUR 100 B = USD [ 100 * 7.46 / 6.74 ] B =~ USD 111 B. USD 111 B set the limit at # 146, [= 6501.T [Hitachi]]. Next, mess around with data, sort and such, this time downloading the .csv file from the website and converting it to Excel format, format as a table, with filters avaiable and such, providing this time, this with names on European companies : Australia : 2 Belgium : 1 [Anheuser-Busch InBev] Canada : 1 China : 13 Denmark : 1 [Novo Nordisk A/S] France : 7 [LVMH, Hermes, L'Oreal, TotalEnergies, Sanofi, Schneider Electric & Dior] Germany : 4 [SAP, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens & Allianz] India : 4 Ireland : 3 [Accenture, Eaton & Medtronic] Japan : 5 Mexico : 1 Netherlands : 3 [ASML, Prosus & Airbus] Saudi Arabia : 1 South Korea : 1 Spain : 1 [Inditex] Switzerland : 4 [Nestle, Novartis, Roche & Chubb] Taiwan : 1 United Arab Emirates : 1 United Kingdom : 6 [Astra Zeneca, Linde, Shell, Unilever, HSBC & Arm Holdings] United States of America : 86. - - - o 0 o - - - Files attached. companiesmarketcap.com - Companies ranked by Market Cap - CompaniesMarketCap.com.csv Worlds largest companies with market cap above EUR 100 B as per 20240915 - 20240915.xlsx

Personal note here : I'm a proponent of the Danish opt-outs from the European Union. Stories like the above about attached caps, crumbled and curvy cucumbers and knobbly carrots, however, I do not let get under my skin or affect my mood. In material aspects the issue at hand here about EU there is a point though, ie. the redistributive effects of what's going on in the EU budgets, with the funneling back of memberships contries EU contributions into enormous subsidies to agriculture and farming, distorting prices and production of foods.

There is no reason for limiting your personal line of thinking in this way as an European citizen, Linus [ @linus_md ], subject to your broker isen't limiting your access to the american markets. Likely you can make your personal picks on both sides of the Atlantic pond.

I one thinks carefully about it, then this statement from 'Super Mario' is actually just so lame, verging to hilarious. [No critism of you bringing it up here on CoBF meant by that, @Sweet .] The man argues for and is a proponent for central planning and regulation with EU as the proposed vechicle for imposing such things, as a liberal socialist, from his stool in EU, as the opposite to the concepts of capitalism and competition. He is not able to comprehend, nor accept, that exactly his political views and orientations are the direct cause of the - almost correct - facts he mentions. ['almost' here, because @Dinar and @Spekulatius , ref. above, have already proven the statement false and invalid by two three specific counter-examples.] It's just plain dumb.

And now we are back to the question : 'Who started this?' Putin won't dare, otherwise he will be swept away from the surface of this planet.

Barrons - From AFP News [September 13th 2024] : Biden Says 'I Don't Think Much About Putin,' After Russia War Threats . It is a bit funny, actually ... almost like the former POTUS talking about the little 'rocket man'. I guess Putin is fuming in his office over being ignored. -Is he worried about the risk exposure of his 'modest cottage' [read : flamboyant palace] ?

James [ @james22 ], Thank you for the elaboration here. Your very short post before the above left me really confused, with no understanding [ I may add : for the first time ever for my part about your posts here on CoBF]. I hope all is well with you and yours in retirement.

Now, what [the ****] do you do, when you wake up in the middle of the night, just by routine checking our phone, your Facebook app then asking you if you have just tried to log on near Neresnytsya, Ukraine? -You do nothing, but just thinking, 'thank God I'm here, and not i'n '[th]ere!''

Indicative of the seriousness of the posts in this topic, considering this forum is populated by a majority of North American citizen.

Here, I can naturally only answer for my own part, and as a Dane, I'm embraced by The Danish Opt-Outs from the European Union, of which I am personally a supporter. There are political forces here, that have made it their meaning of life to minimize EU bureaucracy and pointless detail decisions, regulation and interferrence concerning the lives and freedoms of the citizens of EU member states. Some of them are sitting on a chair in Bruxelles, actually, elected to tear the instituion down from within. Actually, not much different to the perception of Washington DC for many Americans, I would guess, here without streching this comparison too far.

@ander, I with with you on this. But this is CoBF, the place for all kinds of Berkshire enthusiasts and nerds, likely due to overdoing things at times [, but certainly not always, nor on avarage]. If it was Greg [ @Gregmal ] posting about it like you , I personally think he would be calling it something like a bit more more than a 'nothing burger', perhaps meaning a 'nothing Big Mac'.

Haha Damn, it's so annyoing with those attached caps! - I did not know it was an EU thing. Story from earlier about EU crumbled cucumbers : The Guardian [November 12th. 2008] : EU bends the rules on cucumbers.

@UK & @Spekulatius, Again : Reuters [September 11th 2024] : Kremlin warns of escalation if US allows Kyiv to hit Russia with long-range missiles.

The Politico article title does not fairly represent the factual content of the article, which is not about Europe, but about Germany. And, yes, Germany is hit by that related to material mistakes of both commision and omission, related to German energy policy.

Thank you to @UK for bringing some balance to this subject brought up by @backtothebeach above, stressing that I certainly understand @backtothebeach concerns after what he has read. I would suggest to read the Wikipedia article about Mario Draghi, - 'Super Mario' -, Italian, economist, academic, banker, statesman, civil servant, liberal socialist, who lives in a delution of thinking he decides everything, which he obviously and luckily does not. And he also does not have a clue at all about running an automaker in dire straits.

@Jaygo, I think I likely was the one who started and / or initiated this by now ongoing discussion about SAI and SAIs product[s], based on how Mr. Bloomstran reacted on X related to a The Economist article recent published about if 'Mr. Buffett has lost his touch' with a lot track record talk, that is to me a horse already beaten to death, making the X post by Mr. Bloomstran a bit ridiculous to me, and also meaning I don't need his advice about personal subsciptions, I consider myself fully cabable of handling such task and decision thing personally myself without his advice. In short, the man is publicly [on X] demonstrating a patronizing behavior, that offense me personally. He should feel him self above talking anything down / short, because it's not his game at all. If he focused hard on his primary task [the return on his clients capital], he would not have time to talk publicly about such matters. It demonstrates 'increasing confusion' between AUM and return to clients, if one ask me. Some posters above have presented to us some countering, balancing views here about how to think about SAI and SAIs product[s], which is great and what CoBF is always about, as a basis for honing or adjustning own opinions and stances on a certain matter at hand. Like you and so many others, @Jaygo , I sincerely appreciate what Berkshire related Mr. Bloomstran has been sharing with us. He is really good at it. - - - o 0 o - - - Also and thus, thank you to those of you providing above those arguments based on reason above, so far.

Somehow, we should take and accept at par what the man himself has to say about it - in writing to his clients : Latest SAI Client Letter, p. 145 : I don't know how you read it, but I read it as material matter of a conscious a priori decision now 25 years ago about achieving and sustaining staying power in this game, not to end up as day fly in a constantly changing investment universe. Personally, I do not only understand that stance, I actually respect it. It is about defining 'the mission', so clients understand it, and can relate to it. Satisfied clients are a prerequisite for wanting to go to work, otherwise you're ruining your own life. It is about creating an upwards spinning wheel, not a downwards. - - - o 0 o - - - I dare guess that Semper Augustus' investment vehicle[s <- ??] is [ are <- ??] some kind of a non-permanent capital legal entity, by the way. I may be totally wrong about that.

Thank you, @UK !, Added to wish list. [For once, a book where I share interest with the Lady of the House, I think!] - - - o 0 o - - - Edit : I saw your edit now, expanding proposed readings or where to look from one to three. Thank you again!

Point taken, @Dinar , Where would you propose to read about that?

Thank you for sharing, @UK, Deeply worrying. Today I have pressed 'Follow' on Reuters at the subsection 'World' <dropdown> -> 'Ukraine and Russia at War', by the use of my free Reuters account. Better be prepared than sorry. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen has been in the political game for several decades and he is an experienced, driven and astute politician, not naive. I have seen him interviewed on TV where he openly and honestly admitted that some time now years back he made the serious mistake to trust Vladimir Putin on any matter, remembering being in Restaurant 'Grøften' [<- translates to 'The ditch' [mind the symbolic]] in Tivoli in Copenhagen, getting a beer [likely Carlsberg] with Putin, thinking he [Putin] was an OK guy : [Obviously Putin liked the beer, and has now taken the Russian Carlsberg subsidiary. Carlsberg booked a loss of DKK 48 B [~ USD 7 B] in 2023 related to this 'transaction'.] I thank God that I did not own Carlsberg shares when that story broke, it would certainly not have been good for my blood pressure!

Today, I received a letter and a brochure in my digital inbox from the Danish State, the Danish Emergency Management Agency, containing advice about how to prep, for the purpose of staying self served for three days and nights. I do not recall ever in my life before to have received something similar from the public here in nice and cosy Denmark. It says a lot about the general sentiment here and it is certainly related to the geopolitical sentiment in society here. Beredskabsstyrelsen - Letter - 20240909.pdf Beredsskabsstyrelsen - Prep Brochure - 20240909.pdf -forberedt-pa-kriser_en-.pdf

Mind you, you're on the Berkshire Hathaway turf of CoBF. I don't know Mr. Bloomstran personally, nor am I a Semper Augustus client [, nor will I ever be], so I have not asked him any questions, - at all, at anytime. Latest SAI Letter speaks for it self. To me, at least, and at all, pretty candid, actually really nobody protected. What tf is it with you? - Don't you understand how lame your proposal is with regard to ever ask any - what so ever - a question - again - after asking this question? Here, I'm guessing / speculating, as well as you are. Personally, I think the quoted text above can't really be misunderstood, but that may just be me. Now, enough of this. I have really had enough of this. Take the discussion up with Mr. Bloomstran yourself. I'm not his shrink, nor his client. Next time, you ask a question like you did in this topic above, you may not only 'miss' reactions from me, perhaps also from others, whose opinion may be of your interest. Meaning you are welcome to dump my comment about 'lack of trust' from Mr. Bloomstran towards mr. Mr. V. Prem Watsa, for your own part, however Mr. Watsa may very well be aware of that, already, as a fact. Thank you.