John Hjorth
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Posts posted by John Hjorth
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The world's best beds! - Right in front of you - Listed on NYSE.
They have a sub here on the Danish island called Funen, where I live. It's a totally outstanding sub - generating three figures DKK M profits pretax every year! It's on the top list every year of the best performing Danish companies.
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As with everything else - also stocks - you have have to pay up for quality - here, for a bed, dearly!
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Great, thank you for finding the facts and sharing them with us here, Valuehalla.
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We trust in the Omaha-Vatican. If there is relief in faith (Apple & Airlines) we promise to wake up and think about it. Till than we stay very catholic. Bishop John is on my side ?
<j/k>I have actually written a letter to Mr. Buffet recently, that I think he should consider to buy the Vatican State outright.
After a few days, Mr. Buffet actually gave me a call about the idea. The telephone conversation was about 5 minutes, after which Mr. Buffett passed on the idea, definitely, so I gave up, eventually.
He started up with the following major concerns:
1. What about that flamboyant garden backside the primary Vatican building? - I think his concerns actually was the wages to all those gardeners working everyday to keep it in top & mint shape.
2. Same with the very old building complex, with regard to maintenance.
After that, I just said to him, that if he was in doubt, he could do it with 3G, to reduce BRK invested capital, and Rome would end up with a new skyline from the new skycrapers in Rome.
After that, he said: "Just one moment - I'll have to lay down the phone on the desk to go talk with Marc... - I'll pick it up again after that - please stay on the line."
After a couple of minutes he came back to me on the phone:
"Mr. Marc Hamburg almost suffered a personal breakdown, screaming to me : "Are you asking me to add a further line in the BRK income statement - in a separate line all over the place: "Income from taxing the world of people with a religious conviction being catholic?"
I have thought shortly about that point - however I know Mr. Mamburg's work get harder every time I buy something. He is always screeming when I buy someting. He is getting paid for that. Dearly, I should note. His salary here at BRK is material bigger than mine, actually. He is just getting geriatric - no sweat.
However, my major point here for turning the idea down - as I do now to you - is, that we do no not appoint sub CEOs based on votes in some kind of democracy based on subordinates voting.
It's my job.
-And we don't use white and black smoke either.
-Thank you for getting in contact with me." [After which Mr. Buffett hung up]
<end j/k>
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I don't think owning techs and BRK should be exclusive. I've owned BRK, AMZN, and GOOG for the past two years and they all have been among my best performing stocks.
It's religion, clutch! [ ; -) ]
The ten commandmends :
Exodus 20:1-17:
Thou shalt have no other gods before meBy investing in both BRK and one or more of the FANGs, you are a hethen right now, ref. the above quote - because you have more than one God. Please still note my [fully intended] smiley at the top of this post. I'm not trying to patronize you here. [please put smiley here again].
What is important to note here is, that that every God of ours each of us here on CoBF hold on to - each of them! - has the same God [in the meaning: God of Gods]. That God is called: Time!
So, it's about personal consistency - to try to get the right connection between your gut feeling and what's going on in your brain. The brain simply has to supress your gut feeling to get it right sometimes. Other times your parts of your gut feeling has to rule, to keep your out of trouble.
It is just a so incredible hard and fascinating experience, and exactly that is what drags persons into it, because of the challenge embedded in it.
No matter how you do end up finally - broke after a blow up, or rich, or somewhere between - to all degrees - you will always have the privilege of having tried to test the relation between your gut and and your brain.
Entering the scene with money, leaving with money [hopefully a lot more] - or not, certainly matter [at least to me].
What the experience of successes and and failures has done to you, nobody can ever take away from you, on a personal level.
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longinvestor,
I can't even find it using advanced search here on the board, - I'm soo dumb navigating this board - but I actually asked this question here on CoBF some time ago and a helpful fellow CoBF member answered me [i have forgotten who] - with specific reference to the BRK financials, that the warrants in the BRK book are booked at MtM of the underlying common shares minus the 5 B as payment for doing the swap.
So the accounting effect of doing the swap as such is basically zero on earnings and book value, but USD 5 B cash will get reallocated from cash to investments, at the time when the swap is done.
Naturally the dividends going forward will change from the point in time where the swap happen.
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Thanks, longinvestor,
Absolutely worth to think about - as your posts always are here on CoBF. Yes, it's not near pocket money, what BRK has poured into WFC and BAC now, over time.
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How Warren Buffett’s $16-Billion Bet on Bank of America May Change With Fed Stress Test
Stockpicker’s Berkshire Hathaway could become the U.S. bank’s largest shareholder through a share swap
Who's next? We have what you need! All you need to do is get in trouble.
Well, somehow, I'll have to raise the hand. Are you worried about BRK pouring yet another USD 5 B into major US banks? - Or have I plain simply misunderstood your last post in some way? Or are your thoughts about two US major banks in a terrible adverse scenario, with BRK as an anchor investor, the two banks [WFC and BAC] draining BRK for cash?
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Hey John,
I bought and read it eons ago, and lost it. I bought another copy on the recommendation of the board members for a flight to France tomorrow. I need some light reading for the torturous hours aboard the plane.
Hi Al,
While doing my last post here on CoBF about the book, it hadn't even streched my mind, that this book is actually the perfect diversion under such cumbersome travel activity. But it is!
-Please enjoy the stay in France, your family, and life in general!
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This book is just so entertaining. Last night I just read the foreword and introduction. It's so hilarious, and at the same time so true, if you think about it.
There will never be any GS or MS for me to invest in. [i can't in any way control, what BRK invest in - at conglomerate investing you just have to take it all].
Every fellow CoBF member should try to read this book, in my opinion, already based on what I have read so far. Just try to get it to read at a library ..., you will most likely end up with a strong propensity to own it.
I'm already "sold", based on the nible part I have read so far.
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Joel, please say hi to Jeffrey from me, and tell him that he is now officially an exporter to Denmark. If he had a hardcover, I would go with that, I had to settle with the paperback. This is exactly the kind of book, that I would like to read in the near future. I really look forward to the read.
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.. I whish to see parity EUR USD ;D or below
Valuehalla,
Here we don't share interest, because I have started adding again, in drips, most likely for 3 - 4 years, perhaps 5, if we - all of us - until then - do not hit a recession.
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It looks like this is a Ted Weschler pick.
Store Capital Chief Executive Officer Christopher Volk said on Monday that Berkshire had been studying the REIT since 2014, occasionally holding conversations with management. Ten days ago, Buffett’s deputy investment manager Ted Weschler called the company to suggest a deal because the price had fallen to an attractive level, Volk said.Thanks for sharing, Ballinvarosig Investors,
Now it makes quite more sense to me after reading the article. STO must have had a project pipeline with good prospects that it could not lift because of lack of capital, or it could speed up on execution on the project pipeline. Buy and build.
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I haven't looked at the FANGs today, Valuehalla, but I see BRK relatively stable at closing compared to yesterdays closing measured in USD, while at the same today down relatively much on the monitor measured in DKK.
DKK/EUR relative rate stable.
USD/EUR down about 1.23% for the day. I don't know why, I'm not a macro guy.
I call it the "pleasure" [sarcasm intended] of owning BRK and having a functional currency related to a country on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. It always make me think about all those T-bills and cash in BRK basically pulling only a pittance.
The best I can do now with free cash is 0.85% basically risk free without making it a time deposit at an account in Bank Norwegian, up in Oslo - nominated in DKK - but an overseas account - with extra tax reporting hassle.
Oh well.
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It's even more striking that of the taxable income of USD 592, USD 364 was income from the paper routes, and he had interest income and dividends of USD 228.50, meaning 38.6 per cent of his taxable income was income on capital.
I have read somewhere recently, that he was actually running the paper routes as a real business, with some of the boys in the nabourhood delivering the papers on the major part of the routes, while taking care of the rest of the routes him self. I think it's in Snowball.
The text on the tax return at least partly supports it: "Washington Post paper routes as an independent merchant".
So I see it as he was selfemployed in paper routes and at the same time having an investment arm, where he was pouring the cash generated by the paper routes into stocks in the investment arm to get the ball rolling.
I'm puzzled by the fact that the tax return is filled by the use a typewriter. Perhaps it was his fathers.
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The real question here is, what is Mr. Buffett actually doing here? I simply don't get it. Any kind of sharing thoughts with my fellow board members about this investment in this topic would be much appreciated - thank you in advance.
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Added a bit today to BRK.B.
Added to C today, so it's now a 3 per cent position.
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Reuters: Italy winds up Veneto banks at cost of up to 17 billion Euros.
Finally, Italy has started doing something.
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I was stunned over the cost related to my MILs funeral earlier this year, despite it was modest, however a nice one - I mean, if a funeral even can be nice. It does appear to be no better in Italy, so the advice must be not to have ones funeral there, despite I consider it a real nice place in general.
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I received the book from Amazon today. I look forward to the entertainment! :- P
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Finally started a personal portfolio outside the 401k. SBLK at @ 8.32 a few weeks ago. Pretty conservative industry with large moats if I say so myself. :o
I'm kind of confused or did i misunderstand what you meant by the below statement in the SBLK thread?
Does anyone make money besides management in these damn companies? I'm an idiot and will gladly run the company into the ground if you gave me the chance -- especially while getting PAID.
To clarify I think the industry is very competitive and there is little moat if any -- I was being sarcastic.
Also I looked up when I purchased SBLK and it was May 24th. Less than a month later I am complaining on a message board... My underlying reason to buy never changed so I never sold. I like having the message board records to hold myself accountable and observe the absurdity of my emotional spectrum. It's a self experiment that may be short lived -- worst case I pay for a life lesson and just invest in Berkshire and find a new hobby.
jeffswaldron,
Please don't give up here. Giving up on investing will most likely be your biggest miss-out in your life. It is just soo fascinating, and it will change your line of thinking, thereby change your way of making decisions - changing you - and your life as such!
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- And welcome to CoBF!
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Right now, I'm about 2 thirds through the book.
Despite my comments earlier in this topic, I have come to like it a lot.
My reading method has lately been reading it chapter by chapter, from the beginning to the end, skipping those chapters that I have already read, while I started jumping around in the chapters, when I started on reading the book.
It's like getting dragged into it - like something getting dragged into a black hole - it's difficult to leave it again when you have started reading. I have been really tired a couple of days within the last two weeks, because I started continuing reading it late in the evening - and just kept on reading till the early morning, where the birds outside started singing - telling me that it's time to go to bed!
Personally, I find the chapters about the young Mr. Buffett in his partnership days exciting and fascinating - what a start on long track record!
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... Since the GFC, this forum has been populated with people who would go into cash and talk about market overvaluation in spurts in fits from time to time. These same people would also be invested in what they considered good ideas, but would hold cash because of these concerns instead of increasing their holdings of their own good ideas. ...
Personally, I think this is true. This is what makes this essay valueable and worth reading , and rereading - at least to me.
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cash % seems to me to be very dependent on stage of life and wealth. if you want to get rich, stay invested and concentrated. if you want to stay rich, be cautious and diversified. and if you are no longer working view that cash as a buffer between a happy and unhappy retirement. being cautious in a low interest rate environment is cash since interest rate risk seems to me to be too great. and long/cash seems easier than long/short.
The essay was really only directed to the portion of your portfolio you want invested long-term in stocks. Asset allocation based on life situation is just an entirely different question than I was after.
Really, this all boils down to, it's really hard to time the market. In retrospect, not a surprising outcome, just one that I wanted to verify.
Exactly. As Joel already has posted, it is about being sharp focused on the framework used in the essay, mentioned both in the beginning and the conclusion of the essay.
Guys vs Gals
in General Discussion
Posted
Personally, I agree with Greg here, and to be totally honest, very.
Jeff did not do anything wrong by opening this poll.
Please be nice to newcomers on this board, or this board might perhaps die no later than when you die! [<-Something to think about?]