DooDiligence

This is just a short clip to introduce Johnny Costa along with Fred Rogers. I'd never heard of Costa before, and was unaware of his role as the music director on Mr Rogers Neighborhood. I love the way he didn't dumb down the music for children, and instead just launched right into their ears with complex harmonies and melodies. His dynamic control is incomparable. He was right up there with the great Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum, in terms of virtuosity and originality. This short clip introduced me to a whole new catalog of great jazz piano.

Collecting premiums and occasionally getting assigned. Another great way to back into a position.

Good advice on the blend.

Thanks for the ELF tip.

Thanks, I noticed that with regards to WBD recently hitting the top 10 holdings. I agree on VTI too. I appreciate the tip on VTV too.

Awesome, I was unaware of that subtle difference between RSP and XMAG.

Gonna add VTI in there. Actually, after thinking about bit it seems like VOO + VTI + VXUS + BRK might do the job. Just need to figure out the weighting.

I saw someone make a post recently but can't find it. I have a girlfriend who has accounts with a firm charging the usual 2% & 10 and she's tired of the churn and associated weak returns after fees. I'd like to get her into a simple setup via Fidelity with some BRK, VOO, VXUS and one or two other funds that reduce the tech exposure of VOO. I searched Reddit and saw XMAG and RSP. XMAG seems to be smaller, with less liquidity and 0.35% expense. RSP has slightly lower fees and better liquidity. What other options would be recommended for someone who has no interest in trading, or would these be sufficient.

Done Also donated to: my local public broadcasting station (WSRE) my local YMCA to help someone who can't afford membership

It's really hard to ignore the run ups. Fear of retracing bothers me more with some issues than others. For instance, I couldn't care less watching Nintendo retrace (high conviction), but a double on Novo Nordisk would tempt me to trim a bit (gun shy). There's so many factors that can influence an early sale. I'm working hard to develop an ownership mindset. Anchoring is hard to break, but I actually have managed to do it. The cost basis in my first NVO purchases was $12ish (from 2016) and I bought more from $80 on down to the high $40's over the past year. Similar with Edwards Lifesciences (first purchase in 2012) and even the venerable Berkshire. I had trimmed a bit on all three of these before repurchasing. A big difference between these and Fairfax was simply not being familiar enough to be comfortable holding, selling and then paying more, and the relatively quick runup was also definitely a factor.

Went to see the newest Avatar movie today at the Landmark theatre in Coral Gables. It was OK. These theaters make any movie enjoyable. Notably, the preroll showed a trailer promoting the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy movie (due to release next April), and it looked friggin' fabulous. The graphics are stunning. I wouldn't be surprised if this does every bit as well as Super Mario did at the box office in 2023. Nintendo gettin' paid to show smash hit infomercials.

As to why I don't own Fairfax, well I did at around the $500's and sold for a small gain because I didn't really understand the business and was too lazy to read Viking's work. I chose to continue with BRK as my semi-conglomerate / ETF holding. Now I find myself anchored to a significantly lower price for Fairfax. I write this as a lesson to others on being too lazy to read the writings of proven intelligence on here.

I cleared the decks starting in 2024 and largely wound up concentrated in six positions by April of 2025. Added heavily to Novo Nordisk in 2025 and repurchased some BRK.B that I'd sold in non-taxable as it dropped below $500. Return for 2025 has been a meagre 6ish% largely due to NVO & the recent drops in Nintendo. I don't care. Plenty of un-investible cash for 3-5 years of living + travel expenses (ridicule the cash drag if you like but I sleep like a baby). I'm terrible at trading and am sticking with these six names for the long haul. BRK.B 13.3% DPZ 8.2% EW 15.6% GOOGL 12% NTDOY 20.8% NVO 24.3% Investible cash 5.8% Weightings based on today's market. I screwed around and started shorting GOOGL OTM calls (1 or 2 week durations) and was getting to keep the premiums until this month when I got assigned on 25% of my shares. Still made more than a triple but kinda regret screwing around because Google is going to be a freaking monster over the next decade.

Hasn't the Crossroads Capital thesis been playing out? Nintendo's console cycles do in fact appear to be successfully moving from boom-bust to more of a recurring revenue model. The OG Switch is pretty long in the tooth and still selling well. Switch 2 is just an incremental upgrade and has been very well received. As to projecting revenues a decade out, LOL. Nothing is certain, but it does look promising that the next generation of brand ambassadors are being introduced to Nintendo characters by their parents now. Something would have to go horribly wrong for this not to continue into the next decade at least.

"the average American doesn't want to be educated, but there are ways you can interest him in a campaign that we have ever found successful. You can put up a fight, or you can put up a show." https://wrestlenomics.com/2023/12/05/audience-composition-income-and-education-demographics-for-wwe-aew-impact-new-japan-wow/ Pretty sure the same demographics disproportionately feed partisan politics. " I love the poorly educated" - Mango Mussolini

That pretty much covers why I dropped it after 5 or 6 episodes.

You used to be able to get your appendix taken out by a barber for next to nothing.

Pharmacy benefit management seems like it would be a normal business function for an insurer. Doesn't matter whether the insurance company is the actual payer, or is working under contract for a self insured business. They have the data to determine efficacy, negotiate prices and create formularies. The current administration wants to eliminate PBM's? Does this mean that insurance companies will have to vaporize a business function? As a Novo Nordisk shareholder, I hate to say it, but the problem seems to be that 80% of prescription drug spend goes into 20% of prescription volume (branded), while 20% of spend goes into 80% of prescription volume (generics). It's going to be a delicate balancing act to allow the pharmaceutical industry to make a profit and continue innovating. Patent thickets are likely to be weakened and margins are going to be challenged. Big pharma needs to get competitive with their own generic programs.

Love those guys (they have a very large catalog)! Here's a few more, if you like an eclectic mix of jazzy, funky, lofi. I stumbled onto these a decade or more ago. Was sick and tired of listening to the same old classic rock. Could still go the rest of my life without ever hearing Stairway to Heaven or Sweet Home Alabama again. Gimme jazzy funky lofi all day long!!!!!!

Same. I'm also eager for some skeptics to get tuned up and drive the price down into serious buyback territory.

I frequently make poorly thought out posts here, and I almost always get really good comments that help shape my thinking. Thanks to all! Special shoutout to @oscarazocar for introducing a brand new genre of business reading, "Big Company Disaster Porn"

I get that part. BTW, you're supposed to yell at me in all caps for being a heretic and saying they should get rid of some of the businesses.

Tried watching Landman and I just can't. First episode started out good and then it went steadily downhill. Couldn't possibly be a more unrealistic depiction of oilfield operations. NTM, I can't stand 90% of the characters. Too bad since the subject matter would make a great series, if they'd just start at the beginning of the oilfield(s) (where there actually were a lot of unsafe work sites and serious accidents), and then roll it up to modern day. There's plenty of room to switch back and forth between field work, boardrooms and law offices. Oh, and nobody wears as many hats as Billy Bob's character. There's enough actual historical drama in the industry without resorting to blatant bullshit.