DooDiligence

Warren is 87 years old. How much longer do you want to wait? At this stage, his chances of still being around in 5 years are 50:50. Berkie has what, $100+ billion of cash sitting around and not being deployed? That strikes me as plenty for an elephant hunt, if that's what Warren and Charlie want. At this point, institute a healthy dividend (perhaps $20B per year) and stop accumulating cash. It's virtually certain that the next management team will be far worse capital allocators than the current team, so institute that healthy dividend now so they'll have less cash available to waste. As we know, once a divvy is in place, they can be pretty tough to roll back.... SJ I don't want it to happen until I get my fill of shares. I know, I know, quit thumb sucking & just go all in.

I think WEB & Chuck have planned for the evolution of Berkshire & a dividend would be super smart (not now please, but eventually.) Also, what about the possibility of upping the buyback threshold & a highly publicized (AGM) repurchase/conversion event. "Scuse me but is this the line for those who want to tender/convert?" "No sir, this is where you make reservations for Gorats."

I stay in touch with former co-workers (mud boat trash) & will post as soon as I hear about boats being pulled out of stack. Don't know how much of a front-run this will provide but prob better than nothing.

Klause certainly was a douche (I’ll bet he wears monogrammed sweater vests, a lot.) Kirchner was a loud mouthed twat too. It all just struck me as a very different use of scuttlebutt (these guys play for keeps.)

I ran a projection of my 2017 taxes on a 2016 copy of HR Block software & even with cap gains (which turned out to be more than I remembered) my tax bill should be zero dollars (starting 1 Jan 2018 everyone will be required to say ZERO DOLLARS instead of FREE.) I got one last check in Jan which covered the last half of Dec working offshore. I may even get a small refund! Paid a buttload of taxes in the past decade.

I have been long and have decided to close out the position for now. The information on this board has been helpful with the investment but it's a small position for me and I am looking to up my liquidity position so this one fits the bill for the following reasons: Sentiment seems to have shifted, its been nothing but good news for a the last few weeks. Stock has moved from low 50's to low 70s in a very short time period. Major analyst bullishness/upgrades last few days. $4.9B number received for the medical unit was well above estimates. Buyback announcement was only a month ago. Add in the broader market being on quite the euphoric run. All these things seem very positive, which to me may indicate things could be ahead of themselves. There's still question marks and regulatory stuff that presents risk. As a value investor you buy when something is out of favor and sell when it is in favor. It usually doesn't happen in 3-4 months, but it has here. I entered in August and have a 60%+ IRR. I still like it, but am fine walking away with a respectable return and enhanced liquidity position. Congrats! I think I did the same with AZO for the same reason. Cash got a shade below 30% & AZO had a nice quick run.

Ouch, por que?

Particularly after spending a decent amount of time digging into it. For me it’s Reckitt Benckiser A short while back it was CAKE

Amazon has 2 of his books on their Kindle deals in the Business & Money category for $3.99 each: https://www.amazon.com/Media-Control-Spectacular-Achievements-Propaganda-ebook/dp/B00541YJPM/ref=sr_1_22?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1513109007&sr=1-22 --- And this one: https://www.amazon.com/Profit-Over-People-Neoliberalism-Global-ebook/dp/B004J4X74Y/ref=sr_1_11?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1513109154&sr=1-11 --- I bought both but won't get around to reading them until maybe next Summer.

Vroom, vroom...

DD - we're voting you in on that one. Get up at 2:00am, get in line, and you'll be first guy at the mike I'm sleeping in! Can't, Munger scares me & I love a good Porterhouse but not in that way. Still might go though since I'm an owner now!

http://uglymule.com/images/Borat-Evangelical.gif :) :D :o

Here's to there being no skeletons for a douche like Singer to get ahold of.

Awesome Q to ask & very pertinent in light of succession speculation. Who's gonna nut up & get in line to ask? I'd be tempted to show up this year just to watch that (especially if it was someone from COBF!) And to watch Munger try to beat the crap out of the guy with a gigantic Porterhouse in the parking lot of Gorat's!!! (this would only happen if the question blindsided him, which I doubt it would...)

and results in the toppling of government leaders (Kirchner was a twat anyways...) http://fortune.com/2017/12/07/elliott-management-hedge-fund-paul-singer/ (BWT, found this in @ShitFunds Tweets)

I'm embarrassed to say that I forgot this commitment. Also forgot the benefits of being owned by BRK: 1. No more SEC filings 2. No more dog & pony shows 3. Former divs getting reinvested in the biz for more advantageous returns 4. ??? OK, I had abstained but now cast my no vote.

I wouldn't want to see a breakup / spinco event until after I fill up. How about this though? Are we agreed that Berkshire is not being valued today as a sum of the parts entity? (if not, then my premise breaks the rest of this post.) What if everything except Geico & reinsurance was spun out in the most tax efficient manner possible and you have the option of rolling into the new entity like 1969? (prob have to keep See's too out of honor.) I'd elect to own the new entity over MOST of the spinco's without hesitation! You get the float. Able, Jain, T & T get the privilege of starting the whole thing over again for another 2 or more generations! --- A "Maybe" option should be added.

Courage! I'd be prepared to go to 33 1/3 if the damn thing would drop but since it won't cooperate, I'll continue the DCA program (thanks to Fidelity for dropping trou (trow?) on commissions & making this possible.) Need to free up some study time & I'd sleep like a baby owning that much BRK.B (I'm giving DQ gift cards to all my young friends & fams in an attempt to garner a new generation of biz for them & just realized that I need to add some See's boxes into the mix.) If I were more generous, I'd buy someone a trailer...

I've read plenty of brutal honesty here & on FinTwit regarding losses & hope to see more postmortems as they give huge value to the examiner & those who read the results. My half assed Express Scripts postmortem is scattered around here & Twitter & I felt wonderful after taking the loss (in a tax advantaged account no less.) It was a victory of sorts, in that I could have paid a shit ton more $$$ than i did, for such a valuable learning experience (also could have paid incrementally less since that warm dog turd has since crept back up.) I've gotten pretty decent at the "read & walk away" superpower & downside protection (ala MrHolty, UCCMAL & Howard Marks...) The honesty & integrity I've been fortunate enough to be a part of here is refreshing & educational & if we (as a group) butt heads occasionally, that's all a part of it. Thanks for participating!

Sold AZO after a 40% + ST run. I think management is chasing DIFM when ORLY & GPC have a lock on. Also ignoring e-commerce & subsequently not skating towards the puck where their core customers are going to be. Hazards of operating leverage biting them in a downturn + working capital maybe going to shit if vendors regain power (GPC doesn't appear to abuse their vendors as badly.) Negative owners equity WTFK? I have no replacement & am happy to keep GPC / NAPA as I like the owner / operator model.

I'm feeling a consensus forming around "psychological & behavioral" as super important areas to develop competence in.

Dish up on ortho bro.

For all Apples' bluster, Siri still can't pronounce some of my friends names right (I've told her again & again...) I lay claim to possession of artificial intelligence.

Agreed. As it turns out, the Q in this topic is a Reggie question like those posed to Late, Late Show guests (James Corden) & the answer is "you are all correct." Not that I'd ever be a guest on the show (would kill to be invited on Carpool Karaoke), my answer is officially changed to "it's not what, but WHO is in your circle that makes you competent."

me = nothing but I'm working on healthcare delivery & pharma supply chain (or rather, others are noodling hard & I'm getting schooled in the process) entertainment & consumer (def & disc) & these are where I believe I may have a shot (which means I should totally stay away)