DooDiligence

Puff, puff, PASS

http://www.omaha.com/money/oriental-trading-ceo-who-turned-company-into-profitable-part-of/article_0832d1d7-b1e6-5160-8329-3a41bcbfe050.html

I blocked Trump a long time ago. http://uglymule.com/images/Plane-Go-Down.gif

I suggest staring with a good joke. Stick with it, the punchline is great!

Nappy Hoo beer! Oh & MAGA

You asked about stock picks for 2018 so this may not be appropriate but I'm looking at protecting downside for the upcoming year. We don't make money by buying into a rosy consensus & I believe healthcare presents a lot of possibilities for the next 10 to 20 years, without all the good cheer by market participants. I'm around 1/3 healthcare: 3% ABC (trimmed a bit 4 a gain as I believe they're the most threatened in the long term by Amazon) 3.9% BBH (covers biotech biggies which I'm unqualified to look at but want exposure to) 4.6% CVS 6.8% DVA 7.1% EW (owned 4+ years) 6.8% NVO (owned a bit over a year & plan on owning 4 the next decade) I believe CVS will look ugly in the short term due 2 the AET deal but that they could emerge as a the 1st healthcare superstore by taking high margin / low delivery cost biz away from existing providers (hospitals, etc.) Work space is abundant (4 more Minute Clinics) but staffing up will be a constraint for CVS. (if they even execute on this.) --- Overall, long term bullish on healthcare, consumers & Berkshire (short term, no ideas.)

It is & you should own it in a tax advantaged account.

That's a fantastic idea!

tede02 I am so sorry that you lost your Bro to this. --- Personally, I believe that the prescribing physicians should be the gatekeepers here. They have eyes on the patients & should be fully aware of their physical & emotional state (especially when pain management is necessary.) We've become spoiled by not having to endure pain which was commonplace in the recent past. --- After the 1st part of my hernia procedure, I was very paranoid about pain & simply didn't want to give it any chance of occurring but I learned pretty quick that it is easily manageable with OTC medications. I had a failed root canal earlier this year & the endodontist told me that re-working the canal to remove an obstruction would be painless since the nerve was already gone. I believed him & went without numbing & the only discomfort I experienced was from keeping my mouth wide open for 30 minutes or so & there was no need for even an aspirin afterwards. He couldn't clear & re-seal the canal so I had to have the tooth extracted which DID require numbing but the pain medication was only needed for the day after the extraction & after that I was fine. --- Maybe it's quicker/easier to go after the big guys than it is to gather up class action suits going after individual physicians? How much truth is there in allegations against ABC, CAH & MCK? Aren't the payers supposed to intervene here if for no other reason than cost containment? If we start seeing lawyers TV ads searching for clients who want to sue prescribing physicians...? Maybe we should start whacking our kids more often so they'll become a bit more tolerant to pain?

What kind of investor are you? Obviously, sell them to the highest bidder on a shady corner (or Craiglist). You should have asked your doc for another prescription or two, you could have funded your BRK purchasing habit from the proceeds. 8) Cheap bastard that I am, I’ll have to destroy value in this case. I love your characterization of me as a “BRK addict” ;D & I’ll continue funding this habit from legit cash. I’m trying to simplify my studies since I’m devoting more time to other endeavors.

I recently had double inguinal hernia surgery (done in 2 stages, 3 weeks apart.) I was prescribed x40 Oxycodones after each procedure. The 1st procedure, I took all but about 8 or 10 of the pills which I found out was unnecessary. For the 2nd surgery, I quit taking the pills on day 3 following the procedure & started taking Motrin. This was perfectly adequate to control the pain (nothing but time would take care of the discomfort.) I had a follow up exam recently & asked the surgeon why they prescribe x40 pills & got what I thought was a bullshit answer. (I totally trust this guy with regards to the procedures performed but believe that he & others are a bit aggressive with the prescription pad.) I still have a full bottle from the 2nd prescription & a few pills from the 1st one. (gotta Google how to dispose of these properly.) Here's a quick article on all the finger pointing going on. http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article191485574.html and another one re: the Cherokee nation filing suit. http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/local_news/pharm-companies-seek-to-thwart-cn-opioid-suit/article_2531e7fe-47c4-5c7c-82b2-66f4e7ebd60d.html I just can't help but think that everyone is pointing in the wrong direction.

More BRK.B I bought today since the markets will be closed on the 1st & I expect we'll never see sub $200 again. (even so, the bargain hunter in me is filled with cogbias & thus, I'll continue thumb sucking & averaging up while pining for a crash.)

Softbank https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170907006799/en/SoftBank-Sprint-EasTone-TBCASoft-Launch-Blockchain-Consortium also http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-softbank-deal-limits-travis-kalanicks-power-but-hes-ok-with-that-2017-12 "The board has also agreed to aim for an IPO in 2019."

Forgot to add Animal Farm which I usually read every 4 to 8 years. I'll never read this book again.

Yep. --- Stranger in a Strange Land - RAH Revolt in 2100 - RAH Canticle for Leibowitz - Miller Deathworld Trilogy - Harrison The God Makers - Herbert Midas World - Pohl The Saxon Chronicles - Cornwell Ghenghis Khan Series - Iggulden Walking Drum - L'Amour World War Z - Brooks (the movie sucked)

Happy Holidays to everyone & I echo the sentiment that COBF is the best of worlds for ideation. I am much more aware as an investor because of all you guys (and gal?)

All in baby!

One small step refused a single man One giant leap for mankind Onto a desolate landscape --- Move Fast and Break Things is the riveting account of a small group of libertarian entrepreneurs who in the 1990s began to hijack the original decentralized vision of the Internet, in the process creating three monopoly firms--Facebook, Amazon, and Google--that now determine the future of the music, film, television, publishing and news industries. Jonathan Taplin offers a succinct and powerful history of how online life began to be shaped around the values of the men who founded these companies, including Peter Thiel and Larry Page: overlooking piracy of books, music, and film while hiding behind opaque business practices and subordinating the privacy of individual users in order to create the surveillance-marketing monoculture in which we now live. The enormous profits that have come with this concentration of power tell their own story. Since 2001, newspaper and music revenues have fallen by 70 percent; book publishing, film, and television profits have also fallen dramatically. Revenues at Google in this same period grew from $400 million to $74.5 billion. Today, Google's YouTube controls 60 percent of all streaming-audio business but pay for only 11 percent of the total streaming-audio revenues artists receive. More creative content is being consumed than ever before, but less revenue is flowing to the creators and owners of that content. The stakes here go far beyond the livelihood of any one musician or journalist. As Taplin observes, the fact that more and more Americans receive their news, as well as music and other forms of entertainment, from a small group of companies poses a real threat to democracy. Move Fast and Break Things offers a vital, forward-thinking prescription for how artists can reclaim their audiences using knowledge of the past and a determination to work together. Using his own half-century career as a music and film producer and early pioneer of streaming video online, Taplin offers new ways to think about the design of the World Wide Web and specifically the way we live with the firms that dominate it. --- Interesting book review & I suspect that it's true: 2.0 out of 5 starsGreat, if only it was a 30 page book. ByKevin A.on October 11, 2017 Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase Save yourself time and skip right to the last chapter (I loved the co-op economy idea). Everything prior to page 247 (first edition) is a long listing of Taplin's problems. I don't read books to get more problems, I read them for solutions. This man also seems to blame all of America's problems on libertarians, then advocates for subsidiarity. That was just one of the many contradictions I found. He also frequently neglected to point out *any* redeeming qualities of the views that he opposed (there are many). --- We're no different than the Chinese...

Apologies if this already got posted. https://stocknews.com/news/brk-b-berkshire-hathaway-inc-brk-b-to-get-3-billion-from-burger/

Yes, it's the liberals have a lot of soul searching to do. Not the fine people of Alabama who voted for a pedophile. You know, the Christians with the family values and all. SMH. I don't know what it's like to be you, but it must be sad and tough to go through life taking everything seriously, having no sense of humor! It makes you cognitively blind to see the word "funniest." Sad! It's not your fault! It's probably just the way you're wired. I recall somewhere else your saying you didn't like taking imaginative literature or poetry in high school or college. That would explain your inability to detect subtlety and appreciate figurative language. Many of your responses to my posts on other threads demonstrate this. You're in good company. I've pointed out several other prominent board members who need remedial lessons in Professor Munger's classes. You should review the one where he says, "Invert. Always invert." That would be a first step in understanding how humor is made, even if you can't appreciate it when it's right in front of you. TBF high end humor frequently doesn't travel well via BBS, text & email... Correct! Nor in person live, stand-up live, or video! IBTD, the Physicality makes for a better delivery...

Yes, it's the liberals have a lot of soul searching to do. Not the fine people of Alabama who voted for a pedophile. You know, the Christians with the family values and all. SMH. I don't know what it's like to be you, but it must be sad and tough to go through life taking everything seriously, having no sense of humor! It makes you cognitively blind to see the word "funniest." Sad! It's not your fault! It's probably just the way you're wired. I recall somewhere else your saying you didn't like taking imaginative literature or poetry in high school or college. That would explain your inability to detect subtlety and appreciate figurative language. Many of your responses to my posts on other threads demonstrate this. You're in good company. I've pointed out several other prominent board members who need remedial lessons in Professor Munger's classes. You should review the one where he says, "Invert. Always invert." That would be a first step in understanding how humor is made, even if you can't appreciate it when it's right in front of you. TBF high end humor frequently doesn't travel well via BBS, text & email...

LOL. You haven't seen Landover Baptist before? 8) No. Is this real? After seeing that thread on their board, I didn't care to learn more about their god. No, this is not real. LMGTFY: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landover_Baptist_Church Bible quotes there might be mostly real, but you should check your bible first. 8) Nice. I love people like Betty Bowers / Deven Green (Canadian)

Question authority

Yes, it's the liberals have a lot of soul searching to do. Not the fine people of Alabama who voted for a pedophile. You know, the Christians with the family values and all. SMH. I admittedly haven't followed the whole Moore thing too closely, but it is my understanding that he isn't a convicted pedophile, he is a man who is accused of being a pedophile. Let's not engage in witch hunts. If I accuse you of rape does that make you a rapist and should it ruin your career? When someone makes an accusation shortly after they are raped (like say Juanita Broaddrick) I'm a lot more likely to give it credence, but these accusations from long ago coming up just when a politician happens to be running for office strikes me as not quite as believable. I agree but in Moore's case, well; there wasn't a particularly vigorous defense coming from his camp of religious zealots (except during camp meetings.) Law enforcement used to be a lot more tolerant regarding DUI's too. All this was just icing on an already baked cake for me (he's a shit stick, ultra right [except for my rights] twat waffle.)

LOL. You haven't seen Landover Baptist before? 8) No. Is this real? After seeing that thread on their board, I didn't care to learn more about their god.