DooDiligence

Great article. No matter your politics in the US - the last thing we all want is a dictator who slowly or quickly strips away our freedom. All Hail Dictator Trump also known as Mr. Deficit. That's Comrade Trump, AKA Mr. Bankruptcy. Anyone want to guess as to when he'll throw out the possibility of defaulting / renegotiating US debt (again)?

https://reason.com/2020/04/15/trump-insists-his-name-must-appear-on-covid-19-relief-checks/ I'm surprised he didn't get his picture printed on the checks. What a douche.

I walk my area regularly & have been amazed by how much traffic there is & by how busy the boat launch has been. There's loads of people hanging out at the launch, parting & completely ignoring social distancing. All of the small locally owned businesses are open (as are the Winn Dixie & Publix). The Ace hardware parking lot is nearly full every time I walk past. I'm guessing that the majority of similarly sized communities are experiencing the same activity levels. People are going to do what they want regardless of potential hazards.

A timely quote from the 1985 shareholders letter, “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” - Woody Allen www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1985.html --- He's probably conflicted with regards to what he feels are obligations to both shareholders & employees, "A few shareholders have questioned the wisdom of remaining in the textile business which, over the longer term, is unlikely to produce returns on capital comparable to those available in many other businesses. Our reasons are several: (1) Our mills in both in New Bedford and Manchester among the largest employers in each town...(2) Management has also been energetic and straightforward in its approach to our textile problems...(3) With hard work and some imagination regarding manufacturing and marketing configurations, it seems reasonable that at least modest profits in the textile division can be achieved in the future." www.gurufocus.com/news/842584/whats-berkshire-hathaways-failure-can-tell-us-about-investing --- Here's a comprehensive visualization of his big wins & losses, to remind us that the Oracle is not infallible, but that he's managed to make a lot of lemonade despite the failures. www.visualcapitalist.com/warren-buffetts-biggest-wins-and-fails/ (This is part 4 of a really good series.) --- I sold all the BRK.B in my brokerage account for a small gain to marshal cash. I'm keeping the BRK.B position in my tax advantaged account, which is roughly double the size of the position I just sold. --- I'm not sure if this post adds ANY value to the discussion but it does help me to understand & tolerate his (apparent) inaction. I'm willing to place my faith in WEB persisting in order to meet the aforementioned obligations & maintain a legacy which historians will both laude & pick nits with for generations to come. P.S. I never liked the airline investments. --- edit: probably should've put this in the BRK section since the 1st quote was the only part that really applied to decisions made re: corona.

It's far worse than a tax. It's a third party capriciously changing contracts after signing. This administration has gone to great lengths to destroy trust. Quite consistent with the way Trump has always operated. This would be the final thrust into the heart of trust.

Good riddance.

All talk & no action.

Damn, I thought Wilbur had permanently retired to his crypt.

Sad day. www.npr.org/2020/04/07/750894794/john-prine-obituary

World on Fire This just premiered on Masterpiece Theatre. Episode 1 was really good.

www.openinsider.com has a nice screener.

I've only been doing Zoom classes for a week but so far, so good. I do miss being able to interact with other students before, during and after class, because our discussions have played an important part in my understanding the material. When the dust settles, I'd be OK with doing 1 virtual & 1 actual classroom meeting each week. --- SD summed it up well, "there will be changes..."

PBS film on the 1918 influenza crisis. www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/influenza/

I went to stock up yesterday at Winn Dixie here in Perdido Key, FL & they were well stocked. I stopped by Publix on the way home to pick up fruits & veggies & they were well stocked too. It probably varies from location to location, even within the same city.

Pace yourself young padawan. The road is long. ;D I have great lung capacity.

If I hear one single Republican mouthing off about socialism, I'm going to scream.

Trumps understanding of oil is perfect :o and he's full of shit 24/7.

[[[ The OPTIMISTIC take on Covid-19 ]]] vs [[[ The virtually unintelligible negative conversation re: Covid-19 ]]]

GEICO temporarily pausing policy cancellations

It's simply just not true, ref. the topic title : "The optimistic take on Covid-19". I'm still at least once a day thinking about when I'll get sex the next time. [Not to be confused with "Was the last time really the last time?" - You know, active [agressive?] approach versus resignation & capitulation.]. I've also been pretty active with regard to keeping the supply chain intact for the household with regard all kinds of groceries [food], beverages [beer & wine] etc. The boat launch near me has been jam packed every day. beer > covid

GPC

Stinker Bid of the Day award

I bought a little DIS yesterday for $80 & sold today for $94. Kept a bit & added it to what I already owned. Would like to do this again. Trading around other stuff with an eye towards adding on the cheap as well. BRK, DIS, EW, NVO, PSX, ULTA, VDE Let's hear it for stinker bids and volatility.

This seems like a bad choice. www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-how-amex-lost-costco/

Yeah, sure thing. No doubt it was an American who was French-kissing a meerkat or a rattlesnake, or whatever other species this jumped from. The Chinese government is a joke. SJ They’re just following the same playbook used by Trump. Blame others for your own failures. I don't recall Trump blaming someone else for something that he did? I know he calls everything a hoax and lies like no other but I don't recall a situation like that. Here’s one. Let me know if you want more. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/mar/06/donald-trump/trump-wrongly-blames-obama-limits-coronavirus-test/ haha fair enough! Sorry if I came off as a bit testy with that. ;)