chrispy

Very interesting, thank you all

I moved mine to Fidelity and am able to buy individual securities

Yes, that is a much more concise way of thinking about it.

From WSJ: After Dec. 31, 2019, parents can withdraw up to $5,000 from a retirement account within a year of a child’s birth or adoption. The law waives the 10% penalty owners younger than 59½ would normally owe. But they must pay income tax on the withdrawal. We are expecting our first child in April and both have work retirement plans we could do this from. Both of our 401k only allow for investing in mutual funds. While we don't need the cash, I am trying to think of ways to use this new option to our benefit. I most likely won't max out my HSA next year so i could withdrawal from 401k, put into HSA, therefore canceling out the income tax and then have the ability to invest in anything. Could pay the income tax and use it to start a "college fund". Would need to have a high enough return to justify the income tax though. Spitballing other options would be to put the money towards our mortgage which would provide a guaranteed 4.25 percent return. Any thoughts from the clever folks here?

It seems that a correction of some sort is required before BRK can deploy any of it's cash. Therefore, BRK will also be more cheap.

Has anyone looked at ALRM? It has been hammered since past earnings call but has nice metrics. I am not sure how much something like Ring actually affects their business. Moving to small businesses now too. Stock has been dropping every day so I am just waiting to see a glimpse of it stopping.

Berkshire invested in AMZN and JPM. I do not hear any concerns about insider trading. What is so much different about MSFT?

Grouping all "tech" companies together is like grouping all real estate holdings together. A portfolio of NYC is not comparable to one of Cincinnati

He always states how short selling is a bad idea but yet always discusses it as a way to invest

Thank you, a succinct read on key concepts. A quote that gave me a kick, " Companies that decide on their own whether they want to raise or lower prices are in control of their own pricing destiny. Commodity businesses don’t decide for themselves to raise or lower prices—the market decides for them. Great businesses control their own pricing. " I have come to realize while learning about investing that this concept of great companies having a long runways is applicable to many things in life. Outstanding people, personal relationships, neighborhoods, etc often stay that way and are well worth prioritizing

BIAL is also discussed further in the Fairfax India report. The letter from Prem is fine, and I like it more then previous years. But, mentioning that value has been losing to growth and value will someday outperform again is a little ridiculous in this context. Their investment results aren't just trailing the indices by a percent of two, their picks have been bad. Hence why he always has to justify them. Buy profitable, simple companies and stick to reasonable position sizes.

Remarkably similar to his Google talk and hits many of the same points. The way he describes the three legged stool analogy is very important to and approachable

I have listened to his Google talks several times and I'm very much looking forward to the new (different) material. Thanks

Hobbit, where did you see this? I am having trouble finding anything besides Bradstreet with my quick search

BAM and a small position in FOCS

Shalab, Fairfax India Holdings would check the boxes to what you are describing, right?

Backcountry has 20-30% off camping/traveling gear. Fresh air and new experiences are the best medicine

A nice read, thanks

"At September 30, 2018 common shareholders' equity was $2,014.4 million, or $13.08 per share, compared to $2,132.5 million, or $14.46 per share, at December 31, 2017, a decrease of 9.5% primarily related to unrealized foreign currency translation losses as a result of the weakening of the Indian rupee relative to the U.S. dollar, partially offset by net earnings in the first nine months of 2018." A decrease by 10% over the past nine months seems to me to be a win. A benefit to holding private companies

Great post vinod. Thank you for sharing and I love the Superman shirt analogy with tech

After reading the Bloomberg article, I'd say alpha hit it on the head

It is startibg to look like it has been oversold. I need to do some reviewing this weekend but a few back of the envelope numbers that are from MEMORY: Currency depreciation: -20% IIFL: 50% drop / 10% of holdings = -10% I need to review what other percentage of holdings are publicly listed but a lot are private. Ffxdf is down nearly 60% from high which was probably a bit expensive at the time. Edit: I'll add that I have not convinced myself to buy more yet... Emerging markets funds seem to plummet and stay down for a while and I did not have the stomach for it back in 2015.

"Seaspan, the world’s largest non-operating containership owner, has announced its first significant investment outside the sector, suggesting it intends to diversify its business model." https://gcaptain.com/seaspan-diversifies-as-it-steps-in-to-take-control-and-save-swiber/

Not until the cash can be deployed and deployed in good businesses.

Almost half a mile, wow.