Jurgis

I think we are risking to derail this thread but I'll post a bit more and if we get into long discussion perhaps we should split thread. OK, I agree with this claim (somewhat 8) ). E.g. I agree that Google was not a slam dunk because they had best search engine - although they did - but because someone was genius enough to create AdWords and integrate that into the whole system. But I have somewhat of an issue with your claim above. IMO sales and marketing - and their effectiveness - and you most likely mean more than just superficial sales/marketing but also brand promotion/support/etc. - seems to be very hard to evaluate from outside the company. E.g. let's go with Google - or Coke - or Amex - or whatever company/brand you prefer to choose. Assume I learn a lot about sales/marketing. How will that help me to decide if KO or AXP is a buy or not? Do you really see specific issues with these companies in terms of sales/marketing that yell "buy" or "avoid" or "sell"? I guess it's easy to bash Sears or JCP Ackman/Ron Johnson restructuring as not paying enough attention to sales/marketing. But these are obvious targets (perhaps). Can you really get deeper insight for not so obvious companies? Maybe you can give some examples... Take care

Thanks! I wonder how triple entry will affect companies like Robert Half which provides temp & ad hoc accounting & audit personnel? My skepticism for cryptocurrencies has blinded me to the opportunities in blockchain. I've frequently been blinded a by knee jerk, distaste for ideas based upon their most visible characteristics (unable to see the forest 4 one big ugly tree) (Blackberry & AIG come to mind...) And why do you think that your skepticism blinded you? I agree more with zkorman guy that the Bitcoin and blockchain is a solution in search of a problem. Or to rephrase it, the cost of a blockchain likely outweighs the benefits. There are a lot of smart people working on blockchain and there will be likely be useful products based on it. But 90%+ of bloggers are just fanboys looking at the world through blockchain-colored glasses and claiming it to be a solution for everything. It's like VR/AR people. If you listen to them, VR/AR is solution for everything. And it might be for some things, but not as much as they claim. And if I had to bet on long term impact, I'd bet on VR/AR much more than on blockchain. But then Bitcoin/Ethereum are all going 10x up, while VR/AR... oh well. (Likely my last post on this thread, since I expect a huge pushback from crypto fanboys and I'm not looking to slug it out) Peace ... can only be achieved via blockchain

Oddball, I agree with you. :) What you say still does not contradict the fact that there are people who don't want to do marketing/sales. And I've already said that they might suffer for it. But possibly they suffer while knowing why they suffer. ;)

This is such a great point and something SO MANY minor league hedge fund managers simply don't understand! Which is quite amusing, when you consider that they analyze opportunity cost for a living. It's not that people don't understand it. It's that people don't want to do it. It's likely a lost opportunity, but you can't force people to do it. To pick on oddball ;), he doesn't do it either... where is his $10B fund? 8) ;D

1) No. 8) But if I was in a different situation at a different point in my life, I would take this offer with pretty much the curriculum of me picking an investment and discussing it with them - how they would value it, what kind of info they'd gather, what questions would they ask management (if any), etc. - in essence learn process. Also letting them shred the investment - and vice versa - them picking an investment and me shredding it and getting a feedback. In longer term, assuming they agree to meet week-on-couple-weeks-off, discuss buy/sell decisions perhaps and ongoing portfolio management. As aside, I would probably want this in my professional area. I also feel it's as unrealistic there as it is in investment area. ::)

Not unrealized gains though. And not realized gains in tax advantaged accounts. These would make overwhelming majority of my investment "income".

Completely gross pre-tax pre-everything?

I'm not really interested in this topic, but everyone harping about 2 days should change that to 2 hours for Prime Now. 8)

Damodaran? He has likers and haters. His models are a bit more complex than simplistic DCF. This has pros and cons (that reader/user should internalize). I'm probably a bit more liker than hater though I don't use his framework and models.

It's actually a Turbo Tax online issue. With the purchased turbo tax I can upload my IB trades. It is not Turbo Tax Online issue. It is IB issue. They refuse to provide TT API to access their data. The purchased TT uses IB crappy CSV export for their import. IB is the only company out of big banks and brokerages that refuse to provide TT API access. Nobody else does that. IB sucks.

Amazon Prime Now 2 hr delivery service has Auto Parts "department". Currently selection in it seems to be crap. Amazon could grow the selection if they pushed for this business. I personally don't find Amazon Prime Now service useful at this point, but YMMV and all that.

Not true according to this: http://www.boston.climatemps.com/vs/toronto-aero.php Though I have not vetted this data at all, so FWIW.

Last time I tried the mattress, they had to change the sheets, some kids had to have emergency "birds and bees" talk... and we are not welcome at Ikea anymore. Great mattress though. 8)

We've had these discussions before. People who claim that IB is much better than other brokers are mostly not US based or they are advisors using IB SMA platform, which is something not available from other brokers. It's possible that other brokers outside US are crappy. For US based person IB web interface is crap; customer support - depends - for some people it's OKish for some it's crap; not supporting Turbo Tax Online is complete hogwash. So screw them. 8)

So apparently it's not available. :-\

Nothing changed. Same misogynistic attitudes. Not a single gal will admit that she's a gal. There's one or two still posting AFAIK.

If you get screwed by a mattress store, you just have to go to the mattresses! 8)

If Toronto/Vancouver RE was not nuts, it might be good time to move there. In 20+ years, it's gonna be temperate climate... maybe. :-\ 8)

I'd also suggest to grab onlinemed.com if it's still available. If you guys don't get it in a week, I might grab it myself... 8) I'm a nice guy though, so you'all have the opportunity to get it first. 8)

We've bought IKEA bed and mattress ~5 years ago. No negotiation, not very expensive and good quality for us. FWIW. OT: parts of the bed frame were made in Lithuania... oh the patriotism. 8)

The hard part about "sell when the story changes" is that the "story changes" part is usually only obvious after the fact and you may have lost quite a bit by the time it becomes certain. Or you may jump on every "story change" before it's confirmed and get whipsawed. E.g. did story change for AAPL in 2012? In 2015? Now we seem to know that it did not, but I've heard different opinions at the time (look up the thread if you want). Did story change for IBM? (I guess even Buffett now says it did). How about NKE now? How about CVS? I don't expect these questions to be answered here, but IMO the principle is not so easy follow.

This has been discussed multiple times in the past and even recently somewhat. (One related thread: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/cash-for-real-estate-vs-mortgage-vs-margin/ ). I don't think there has been a single definitive thread on this. The answer is of course "depends". Depends on your age, on your employment status, salary, the size of the mortgage, the size of the cash (compared to mortgage and salary and investment portfolio), what kind of investor you are, etc. The somewhat "situation independent" answer is what you thought yourself: cash is option, once paid into mortgage it is not easily obtainable again, so don't pay off especially in the cheap mortgage environment we are in. Like Buffett said in 2010 (?) 30 year mortgage is the best investment available. And I'll say that 30 year mortgage is an asset and not a liability.

I am really bad at this - especially after reading the stuff abovethread - so take it with a grain of salt. I've only bought used cars. Last one I bought 2011 Camry in around 2014... got pretty much zero drop in price from dealer Internet ad. Part of the reason it was I believe the "draw" car - i.e. a car that dealers post on Internet to attract customers to their dealership and then sell them other crap when buyer can't drop the price on the "draw" car - V6/options/etc. Trouble was I wanted V6 and by the time Camry/Accord/Altima/Maxima (that's the only models that I wanted to look at) were 80-90% majority V4. So either you're really patient to try to find V6 that dealer wants to get rid of or you pay. I paid. At least I avoided the super scummy dealers where the "draw" car does not exist at all. I.e. you find the ad, you call, you go there and it was suddenly "sold". Anyway, people on this thread are pros. Tip of the hat. I'll never be able to do this crap. ;) At least when I buy, I keep them forever. Still driving 2003 Accord with... 70K miles on it. Getting bald a bit though. :( Might get Model 3 - I'm in the queue, but not sure gonna take delivery - depends on how bad are options (Autopilot, Sunroof, etc.) priced.

Yeah. Lithuania by now lost about 1/3 of its population due to emigration. You'd think those people would wanna stay in the "free and capitalist" instead of leaving for the "controlling and socialist". Wanna "free and capitalist" country that needs people? Just go there. Have fun. Tell us how it works out for you. 8)

So is he basically putting neurological foundation for Thinking Fast and Slow? Sorry, I haven't heard about him till today.