DooDiligence

I think the taxicab model is just a path to an autonomous model. Tie ins with insurance could add incrementally? https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2018-02-12/softbank-billionaire-bets-on-a-world-without-car-crashes In the short run, the IPO should be profitable for some (Masa being one.)

I too am with Fidelity and it comes to me without me asking for it. I think within the next two weeks? The postcards have a deadline to send in, think end March or first week April to allow enough processing time for the staff of 24 @ Omaha. That must be a ritual for them that they enjoy. Surely they appreciate the fact that 50,000 show up versus the estimated million shareholders! Thanks, I’d love to go but my semester ends on 7 May & it’ll depend on whether I miss any days between now & then, and if I can arrange to take finals a little early. I suck up to all my professors so (fingers crossed!)

This is my first year as a BRK shareholder & Fidelity is the custodian (I would assume the shares are held in street name?) How do I get a paper copy mailed to me? (I should probably call Fidelity but thought someone here may have another solution.)

I'd be OK with this if it resulted in exchanging my shares for BRK but as John said, prob not gonna happen because of the foundation ownership. I'm OK with that too.

I'm going to build a large deck along the back of my house (probably next Fall; we'll see how labor rates go between now & then.) It will create a ton of value because it'll serve as a stage for performers, and should lead to the formation of some kind of management / production company. A tangible capital expenditure which results in, add on, intangible assets (not the balance sheet kind) & maybe a shallow moat.

Yep. http://www.arborinvestmentplanner.com/quotes-the-most-important-thing-howard-marks/ Pick a quote, any quote...

If anything, big tech is under earning. Google is spending billions on venture-capital-type investments and reinvesting a lot into Youtube growth, Facebook is not really monetizing Messenger, Whatsapp, and is just getting started monetizing Instagram, and ARPUs outside North America are still pretty low, Amazon is reinvesting everything into growth, same with Netflix... Pretty much any of these companies could by choice make its earnings balloon up if they wanted to, but that might not be the best long-term decision for value creation. Regulatory intervention is always tricky. Can have an impact, or can entrench you further by making it impossible for new entrants to compete because the regulation just makes it harder to operate in the industry for sub-scale players. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ China would be a good place to look for the results of gov intervention in tech. I'm not sure how you'd go about defining results but...

My basic assumption is that to first order all gains in health, lifespan and environment are a pure function of one variable: per capita GDP. And per capita GDP is basically a function of rule of law, capitalism and effective government. So I have always had problems with philanthropy because it appears to be a waste of time. I'm very willing to be persuaded I'm wrong about this. Anybody have any good evidence that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has achieved anything? WEB gave them a wad of money? (Thin rationalle, I know, but still...) --- “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ― Albert Pike or for a more sarcastic view, “What would the daughters of the rich do with themselves if the poor ceased to exist?” ― Angela Carter

Zero press releases on the corporate website, so far this year. I'm even more interested in seeing the Chairman's letter.

DooDiligence, Somehow, I get concerned reading this, Sailor. Naturally, you can do both! Where there is will, there is a way. I'm doing both, but between studying & practicing, I have very little time to socialize. Driving time to & from school is 1 hour & 20 minutes (if I had a chauffeur, I could knock out some practice time.) If I was highly concentrated in BRK, I'd have time to get my ashes hauled. As it is now, I choose to read & make annoying posts on COBF & Twitter, instead.

I'm shooting for 30% to 60% BRK (30% if I just keep DCA'ing & 60% if it pulls back towards 1.2) I'm only at 5.1%, so I've got some buying to do. My reason for such concentration would be a limited circle of competence, as well as the desire to reduce my finance related reading, in order to make straight A's in school.

Debatable since the more recent track record is less impressive, but he mentions Buffett's annual letter, has a long term per share scorecard, has been in the business forever, and I happen to be reading it and I like to shamelessly pimp my thread. Nice; I particularly like the final line re: 220 CP South. Pimp away bro.

Lot's of great takeaways here, thanks...

I loved Wired. My fav was Omar. That dude was straight up & took no shit.

"I always tell the truth. Even when I lie." Mr. Market or Tony Montana?

A belated welcome to you here on CoBF, Nell-e! [: - ) ] Personally, I'm more interested in tinkering with Berkshire earnings numbers like attached! BV and analyst price targets less. 5 hundo's per second!

DVA, you can't do dialysis online. But then again, they're getting squeezed by Uncle Sam.

I have now started looking daily on the Semper Augustus website for new interesting stuff from Mr. Bloomstran to read. It seems to be about this time of the year new letters are posted. I'll post here if I see something new comes up. I like their creative writing style.

Either that or he's Steve Buscemi.

On a more positive note; have you read Bernard Cornwell's "Saxon Chronicles"? (It's a rousing tale of motivational murder & mayhem.) Uhtred is my favorite character because he's a stone cold killer who brooks no BS from those who's goal is misinformation & abuse. Also, the whole time Alfred keeps screwing him over, Uhtred remains positive that one day he will regain Bebbanburg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uhtred_of_Bebbanburg BTW, Cornwell paints a vivid picture of Ivar. --- New title & slight re-write, inspired by the words of compounding (and the fact that the professor keeps extending the due date & adding more requirements to the essay.) Jeff Ferris ENC1101C Professor Neuman January 27, 2018 A Body in Motion Maintain a Healthy, Positive Mental Attitude, for Success! I strive to be relentlessly upbeat, which keeps me motivated, and makes it easier to be compassionate towards other individuals. Success naturally follows. A good way to stay positive is to start the day right by using an opportunity clock instead of an alarm clock. An alarm clock wakes you up with a loud, obnoxious sound that’s sure to make you angry, first thing in the morning. On the other hand, an opportunity clock starts your day with an upbeat song, or you may prefer to be awakened by the sounds of the ocean. Whatever your choice is, be sure it’s something that makes you smile. Waking up happy sets a proper tone for the entire day. By the way, my current choice is “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers. We all know that it’s not possible to be positive & upbeat all the time; however, it is possible to change the way we view negative occurrences in our lives, by inverting them. For example: “I dropped an egg on the floor as I was making breakfast this morning, which provided an opportunity for my dog to develop a shinier coat, and I do like my dog to shine.” Next time you feel negative about something, try & think “what is the opposite, or inverse, of this?” Feel free to be silly about it. The real key to being able to “flip” a negative emotion into a positive one, is to look at things with equanimity, instead of with apathy or disdain. Try to accept a negative situation by saying, “it just is; so what can I do about it?” Removing emotion, and thinking more objectively about things, facilitates our ability to see possibilities instead of just roadblocks, and helps us to develop an understanding of, and have compassion for, the people we interact with, many of whom may be in a position to help us achieve our goals. Goals motivate us. Without goals, we’re just rudderless dreamers, floating on a sea of boredom & slack. A body in motion is evidence of a motivated individual, and all my life, I’ve been motivated to reach one goal after another; in fact, without goals, I may never have stumbled my way into any kind of success. My success has; however, been plagued with failures. I dropped out of high school, and my parents told me that the minimum requirement for residence in their home, was a high school diploma, or enrollment in, and attendance at, an educational institution of my choice. Since I was comfortable in my parents home, and didn’t want to further aggravate my failure, I signed up for the Pensacola Junior College adult education program and graduated with a high school diploma. Next, I went on to the Alabama Aviation Technical College and earned an airframe & powerplant mechanics license. As it turns out, I’m a horrible mechanic, as a result of which, I decided that the aviation community would be better off if I wasn’t working on airplanes. Fortunately, one of my mother’s friends offered me a job as a deckhand on an offshore supply vessel, and this job led to my goal of becoming a licensed master mariner. I started working as a deckhand in 1983 and achieved a micro-goal in 1990, when I obtained a 500 ton mates license. In 1993, I passed the U.S. Coast Guard exam and was issued a 1600 ton oceans masters license, which allowed me to set and attain many other personal and financial goals. Along the way, I had a lot of help from boat captains, mates, engineers, and fellow deck workers, and I believe that all these people were motivated to help me because, in my quest to get ahead, I was always willing to lend a hand and help them towards the furtherance of their goals. People are more inclined to help you, when you’re being helpful. I’m a compassionate individual, & I naturally believe that caring about the success of others, is in my best interest as well as theirs. Here’s a great quote by Zig Zigler “If you can help enough other people get what they want, you will get what you want.” Zig Ziglar is a popular motivational speaker, and he’s said a lot of smart things, including the following, “folks, if you see a turtle on a fencepost, you can pert near guarantee that he or she did not get up there, by him or her self,” which simply means, that we all need the help of others, in order to get where we’re going. My maternal grandfather was a super positive influence in my life, and I dedicate a big portion of my success to him and his attitude of compassion, acceptance & grace. I can barely remember him ever being mad about anything, and he always seemed to be able to find the best in people, which naturally drew success into his life, & the lives of his family and friends. Staying positive keeps me motivated, and being compassionate towards the people I meet, facilitates the attraction of mutually beneficial relationships, which we all need in order to live effective & prosperous lives. Of these things, I am positive. UB2…

Yes, and I meant it half jokingly. I was imagining WEB & JB sitting down in Gorat's, with Bezos pitching him the healthcare idea, and Buffett saying "you know what, you'd have a lot more time to crush this idea, if you didn't have to do SEC filings & analyst calls." The joking half was, of course, due to the the seemingly crazy valuation, and the huge leverage they'd probably have to take on to swallow Amazon. Everyone here knows that I'm not a balance sheet ninja, and instead, am a story guy (this will undoubtedly bite me some day.) I just love the concept of how BRK has freed up so many execs to run their businesses & re-allocate divs to capex (I know, no divs to re-allocate at Amazon, just having fun riffing on an idea here.) --- I don't know much about Kroc, other than what was included in the movie "the Founder." I'd guess that innovative processes and a relentless drive would be the main things the two men share in common. Invert. With Amazon growing so fast it will soon be able to swallow BRK. WEB can retire and with Bezos at the helm all of Berkshire's cash can be used to grow Amazon instead of being allocated to buying companies. Bam!

This area of north Florida is really nice and has a lot more leisurely pace than Miami. Maybe he's planning on becoming a big fish in a small pond (the yacht will look kind of ridiculous so he may have to scale that down a bit.) --- Is this anything? http://www.washingtonprime.com

True dat (the stuff of hero's.) I'll bet there's a few, right here on COBF (maybe on a slightly different wealth scale, but modest, motivated & skilled, nonetheless.)

Yes, and I meant it half jokingly. I was imagining WEB & JB sitting down in Gorat's, with Bezos pitching him the healthcare idea, and Buffett saying "you know what, you'd have a lot more time to crush this idea, if you didn't have to do SEC filings & analyst calls." The joking half was, of course, due to the the seemingly crazy valuation, and the huge leverage they'd probably have to take on to swallow Amazon. Everyone here knows that I'm not a balance sheet ninja, and instead, am a story guy (this will undoubtedly bite me some day.) I just love the concept of how BRK has freed up so many execs to run their businesses & re-allocate divs to capex (I know, no divs to re-allocate at Amazon, just having fun riffing on an idea here.) --- I don't know much about Kroc, other than what was included in the movie "the Founder." I'd guess that innovative processes and a relentless drive would be the main things the two men share in common.

Amazon seems like a nice elephant.