DooDiligence

Good discussion, thanks for posting. I had a music theory exam today & wound up breaking 3 pencils. I was concentrating so hard on double checking my work that I lost track of time & when the prof announced "6 minutes" I still had a good bit of work left. He let me stay an extra 15 minutes and I managed to complete the exam but it stressed the crap out of me. Couldn't concentrate for $h!t in my next class, math for liberal arts. We're doing logic & it requires a completely different intelligence. It feels like trying to turn a bus with no power steering. The stress of school is debilitating to a lot of people. I've seen quite a few of my fellow students melt down into tears over exams (I occasionally break pencils.) We actually had a student in the music program commit suicide last semester. https://www.srpressgazette.com/news/20181012/william-cassidy-schork I'm sure many of you who are college graduates have experienced the extreme pressures of school. Forcing yourself to get outside of your comfort zone is difficult but it can produce good results. Everyone has a different level of stress that they can deal with and still be productive. I took on too much in my 1st semester & have since found a good balance. I still feel overwhelmed on occasion but have learned to chunk my study & practice. I also have a lot of pencils.

MVP = Bill Vinovich

Wow! "Geico was the top-spending brand, making up six percent of YouTube ad revenue in 2018. The insurance company increased YouTube spending by 40 percent year-over-year last year, MediaRadar found." https://marketingland.com/report-youtube-ad-revenue-jumped-11-in-2018-thanks-to-repeat-advertisers-256343 Courtesy of,

P B M s & other non-innovative supply chain participants. I'm not worried about NVO edit: I sold ABC - $625m settlement over illegal compounding. What else is management missing? (Cash will go to ???)

This is my new favorite show. https://www.pbs.org/show/gzero-world/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-details-on-amazon-berkshire-hathaway-jpmorgan-health-venture-emerge-in-court-battle-11548899146

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D Where's the laughing/crying emoji when you need it?

and I like Charlie sooo ;) My knee jerk reaction is to send a copy to Altria management & BOD along with that quote about fishing.

This seems loosely related to a WEB quote, "What the wise do in the beginning, fools do in the end."

https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Allocator-Jacob-Taylor-ebook/dp/B07J4ZZXMB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1548424179&sr=8-1&keywords=rebel+allocator I haven't read this yet but it comes highly recommended.

Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everyone Talking About Him)?

Didn't Peter Lynch call technical analysts "Wiggle Watchers"? (I always thought that was funny.) and then there's this, "Technical analysis is to trading what astrology is to science" from https://www.fscomeau.com/why-technical-analysis-is-bullshit/ ;)

How old is your son? Is he taking lessons? If he has a good ear, he's ahead of the game. If he really enjoys it & might continue playing throughout his life I recommend learning the following (at a minimum): 1. all the Major & minor scales (each key uses different pitch content). 2. understand how Major & minor keys relate to one another & how to switch modes. 3. understand how to transpose keys to accommodate different vocal ranges. 4. learn about triads & 7th chords & the different positions (jazz is big on inverted 7ths & builds improv skills). 5. understand the difference between simple & compound rhythms & how to divide & subdivide beats. These skills will VASTLY improve his abilities. Later on, I recommend Ear Training which will teach him how to recognize intervals (the space between 2 notes.) This will lead to the ability to hear a melody / harmony & be able to get the pitches & chords more accurately. https://www.earmaster.com Ear training also focuses on rhythmic elements which are easy enough to simply hear, memorize & imitate, and being able to see it written out & interpret the rhythm is to me more challenging than identifying pitches. None of this is truly necessary & many keyboardists simply learn finger patterns & watch YouTube videos to learn songs but if you want to be able to write (and copyright the work) and collaborate with top notch talent, these are foundational skills. --- ATM I'm working on Spooky by the Atlanta Rhythm Section. --- Is our young cellist (MarkS) hear/here? Fretless stringed instruments are super challenging.

We're all human. Occasional collisions are unavoidable.

Thanks for the link to Down the Drain. These guys do a ton of shows. Might be a nice source for work after I graduate. --- Classical guitar is extremely picky. It's too formal & performances are lifeless (to me.) You are required to play sitting down with your left leg raised up on a foot stool. I play standing up with a strap & don't enjoy playing while sitting. Classical guitar also requires a LOT of practice which I'm not willing to do (I'd rather practice piano.) I want the best grades possible & to make more progress on the piano (there's only so many hours in the day.) Progress on the piano is much quicker, although the instrument is by no means easy to master. I still play guitar for at least an hour a day but I play what I want to play, and how I want to play it. Even though I don't like playing classical guitar, I now prefer nylon stringed guitars over steel strings. The nut is wider & the strings don't tear my fingernails up. I've always played "finger-style" & almost never use a pick. Haven't touched a steel string in a while. Incidentally, I also prefer playing keyboard standing up but sitting doesn't bother me. My piano at home is set up so that I play standing up, and I sit for lessons & when practicing at school. My technique is the same either standing or sitting. With classical guitar you have to sit in order to generate consistent tone. It's all about developing muscle memory so your fingers strike the strings exactly the same way every time (bah...) I find it uncomfortable. This is all about having fun & the piano is fun regardless of the musical genre. Playing popular music with a guitar strapped on is fun. Classical guitar bores the crap out of me.

My Math for Liberal Arts instructor has given us an extra credit assignment. The assignment requires a 5 minute oral presentation (with visuals) about a historical individual who made an impact on the world & how this person used math to accomplish their work. I'm doing mine on John Bogle & index investing.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D That one's going to be hard to top.

A chink has finally appeared in WEB's armor. I'll be using a postage stamp for the first time in forever, since there's no email link on Berkshires website (for all the good it'll do...)

Disturbing. Howard appears to be a "wannabe" warrior who just happens to have enough money to be included in the gang. If this article is true (and it's pretty detailed) it presents him as a potentially disturbed individual. Unless someone can present compelling evidence that this story is false, I will definitely be voting against his retention as a board member.

This wouldn't be an immediate needle mover, but it could probably be expanded at a faster pace under Berkshire. https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercarbonara/2017/08/22/buc-ees-game-of-porcelain-thrones/ Buc-ees came to my attention because they're building one near me. "Power to the Beaver"

I used some more of the school $$$ to bump BRK.B up to 18% today. --- Oh, and I called the top back in November! (unfortunately as I was buying.) I'd like a segment on CNBC & some OPM.

Please keep me out of this. [sorry, I couldn't help it.] [<- What smiley is appropriate here?] Just keep creating the demand and we'll leave you alone. socalled MA humor is soo relentless and harsh, that I'm now going to dig up that particular hurt feelings report posted somewhere by Jeff [DooDiligence], which will be filled and filed at Sanjeev! - Just to give Sanjeev a good laugh, too ...! Hurt_Feelings_Report.pdf

Searched AirBnB for, "Farnam Street, Omaha, NE 68131, USA". Plenty of listings but haven't seen WEB offering a room. Wouldn't that be sweet though?

N.O. says no to the Bucs!

Your 1st sentence mirrors my exact thought that the article "did not age well". The idea was to start a conversation which would expand from there. WEB himself has remarked in nearly every shareholder letter that the future prospects of insurance are gloomy & yet... As I've said in other threads, I am primarily interested in preserving the future value of what I own & am not looking for big gains. To this end, I am trying to follow Howard Marks comments regarding "protection from downside". I think it's delusional, at best, to look at any company & imagine what COULD happen to make the price of the stock go up (happens a lot on Yahoo finance boards but not here) & although it may be equally insane to believe that I can imagine potential disasters, I believe that it's far more constructive to attempt to do so. The difference between a sell side & a buy side analyst, no? Keep in mind that this goes far to the opposite end of my normal, every day, optimistic outlook, which is nearly indomitable. --- in·dom·i·ta·ble /inˈdämədəb(ə)l/ adjective impossible to subdue or defeat. "a person of indomitable spirit" Synonyms: invincible, unconquerable, unbeatable, unassailable, invulnerable, unshakable, unsinkable.