no_thanks

Thanks everyone, appreciate the tips. I just put us on the waitlist at Noma, and will look into Osteria Francescana tonight. If you are ever traveling to Atlanta, Georgia, let me know! We are really excited about this, and have been saving up for a while for a big trip before we have kids. It is kinda wild that I only heard of Airbnb two years ago, and we are using it exclusively for this trip. We are going to be meeting and staying with two friends in Copenhagen, and then all going to Florence together and meeting two more friends. We are saving so much money sharing apartments as opposed to hotel rooms. Its a brave new world.

hi all, My wife and I are getting to take a trip starting Aug. 21 in Dublin, and spending about four days in each of these cities. I would love to meet up with (almost :)) any of you or hear of any advice or tips for these cities. Thanks!

Sure. To answer your question: I've used it for about two years. So far, it has worked out favorably: investments in Amazon, Markel and Valeant have thumped the market, while Facebook has performed roughly in-line and Google is too new of a position to really say yet, but has outperformed so far. Kraft and Lions Gate are two very recent (and small) positions, and have yet to prove themselves. I also have Optimal Payments, which has murdered the market, but I can't tell you by exactly how much as my account has yet to receive proceeds from a rights offering I was not allowed to participate in as a foreign investor. But substantial outperformance, regardless. All other holdings either predate my move to quality - Pardee Resources stock (which I would actually count as quality), which has underperformed, and Wells Fargo warrants and BAC stock, which have outperformed - or were 1 share work-related purchases and are immaterial (SODA, PRLB, MIDD, and CTSH). Note that many of my high quality names are also some of the companies with higher volatility, so it's no shock they've done well so far. The real test will be over a full cycle, including how well they hold up on the way down. Despite early success, the jury is definitely still out. W/R/T investing generally: one thing that I see way too often with value investors is that they focus far too much on a company's financial statements without giving real thought to underlying business economics. For many companies, I'd rather they generate no free cash flow, not an abundance of it. seems like Softbank might fit in with your strategy? any strong feelings on it? I must say that I haven't looked closely at it as of yet, but have read some posts on it on this board. It wouldn't surprise me if I loved it. I've read enough. Thanks for inspiring me to do so; will purchase some shares next week. Very quick turnaround time on my ideas these days... I've learned most aspects of businesses are completely irrelevant. If I get the main couple of things right, it'll probably work out favorably. cool, thanks for the reply. I bought some last week and am now basically 50/50 between it and Markel. Hoping to use my new free time I used to spend looking into companies learning to build websites. From PlanMaestro on twitter today https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFpGUE9VAAAzKSF.jpg:large

Sure. To answer your question: I've used it for about two years. So far, it has worked out favorably: investments in Amazon, Markel and Valeant have thumped the market, while Facebook has performed roughly in-line and Google is too new of a position to really say yet, but has outperformed so far. Kraft and Lions Gate are two very recent (and small) positions, and have yet to prove themselves. I also have Optimal Payments, which has murdered the market, but I can't tell you by exactly how much as my account has yet to receive proceeds from a rights offering I was not allowed to participate in as a foreign investor. But substantial outperformance, regardless. All other holdings either predate my move to quality - Pardee Resources stock (which I would actually count as quality), which has underperformed, and Wells Fargo warrants and BAC stock, which have outperformed - or were 1 share work-related purchases and are immaterial (SODA, PRLB, MIDD, and CTSH). Note that many of my high quality names are also some of the companies with higher volatility, so it's no shock they've done well so far. The real test will be over a full cycle, including how well they hold up on the way down. Despite early success, the jury is definitely still out. W/R/T investing generally: one thing that I see way too often with value investors is that they focus far too much on a company's financial statements without giving real thought to underlying business economics. For many companies, I'd rather they generate no free cash flow, not an abundance of it. seems like Softbank might fit in with your strategy? any strong feelings on it?

I spend most of my free time figuring out how to make this happen for myself. Started a blog about it to help myself focus on making it happen yesterday. This ties back into healthcare as health insurance being tied to employment is what is keeping a lot of people in jobs they don't like. Imagine if you couldn't really buy car insurance or home insurance on your own, or from out of state companies, or with the exact level of coverage that you wanted because of stupid government regulations. I was really, really close to saying that health care is the major obstacle in this (in the U.S.). Hopefully it won't be tied to your job within 5 years, but that is a really hard thing to predict. Hope it gets there soon. My first idea I plan on starting to get going tonight is Excel support for small businesses. I just started a new job in Oct. at a fairly large company, and it is wild how little they are productively using the program. I took something my boss was spending 8 hours a month on, and have it down to a 30 min. task. As far as secular trends and this theme go, I see freelancing as a part of the move to two sided markets. https://punchcardblog.wordpress.com/ 's recent post on LYV does a nice job of explaining it. Software is enabling a lot more efficient matching of producers and consumers.

I spend most of my free time figuring out how to make this happen for myself. Started a blog about it to help myself focus on making it happen yesterday.

You quote Carnegie, but the Janitor did exactly the same thing as Carnegie...donated his wealth to the local library and community. Perhaps, he was influenced by Carnegie...perhaps he was just a frugal old man who loved investing the way others love crosswords...perhaps he was lonely and selfish. No one really knows unless you know the man. For us to comment like we are doing is a lazy simplification of his life. Cheers! Good point.

I don't know, seems like he missed out on all the good that his hard work and smarts created by dying before he did anything good with the money. Hope I don't end up like him. “The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.”

http://blue.bikeshed.org/ seems relevant....

Have you checked out ERE (Early Retirement Extreme) as well? Next on my list (including the book). What are your thoughts on both MMM and ERE? Are you following the plan (either, both?). Do you prefer one over the other? So far it's mostly stuff I had read years ago in some of the old school versions of this philosophy (Your Money or Your Life, Tightwad Gazette, Simple Dollar, etc), but it's good to refresh the ol' memory and it does provide extra motivation (kind of like reading on value investing, even if the principles don't change). Both MMM and ERE (site and book) are interesting and worthy reads. I have basically taken up the ERE/MMM mindset and it is working nicely. I'm not as extreme, but my expenses dropped nicely. Incidentally, my boosted savings have been put to good use in real estate investments that I probably would not have been able to do had I not been saving as much. Now I just need to find a frugal wife.... much harder than taking up the ERE/MMM lifestyle :/ I would love to hear about the real estate. Congrats as well. Sounds like things are going well for you.

Man, complaining on a ski lift...

Not really trying to knock him, as I think he is a good investor, but I just saw the other day that supposedly his parents are billionaires as well, maybe. Hard to call it completely self made then, but he definitely seems smart and hardworking.

Hi all, really appreciate all I have learned from everyone on the forums. I just read through this FAQhttp://media.mofo.com/files/Uploads/Documents/FAQRightsOfferings.pdf, and feel like I have a real elementary understanding of rights offerings. I was curious though if anyone has any practical experience with them, and if there is something that is easy to miss or if they are always a real good opportunity? SGGH for example, if you buy it today without additional cash to fully participate in the offering, you will get diluted, right? And I guess the funds have to be in the same brokerage account? They couldn't just be under the control of the same person, but a different account? Thanks.

IEP - He has all the personality traits I don't, so should balance me out some, right?

Would love to hear more about Jeremy Deal's track record.