DooDiligence

Crap :-\ Goats, cows & pigs are friggin' delicious but I couldn't eat a friend. Might have to go to chicken only. Please don't post a lovable chicken link. Chickens are great! Our chickens used to jump on our laps and follow us around. One of them was so lovable my kids used to call her lovebird. If you raise them as chicks and hold them a lot they grow up liking to be held. When you get them a little older they just run away from people. All animals have "personalities". If it makes you feel better there was one chicken we had that was such a jerk we hated her and all the other chickens did too. She was a bully and would boss all the others around. The other chickens eventually rebelled. One morning we found Ofelia (that was her name) with no feathers, because all of the other chickens had plucked her nude overnight. Then they started not letting her in the chicken house, there was always at least 2 chickens guarding the entrance 24/7 so that she couldn't get in. She would go into the woods to sleep outside and we'd try to find her before dark and put her in the chicken house. One day we couldn't find her and we never saw her again. Jeez, a guy could starve to death. http://www.eatplantsdrinkbeer.com/readup/2017/9/7/plants-have-feelings-too Does anyone have an opinion on whether dirt is cute? To live is to kill. IKEA conducts bullying experiment on plants — the results are shocking https://globalnews.ca/news/4217594/bully-a-plant-ikea/ Screw it, I'm making bacon cheeseburgers tonight. Me too! Only I'm going to throw a fried egg on mine in memory of Ofelia . ;D ;D ;D

Crap :-\ Goats, cows & pigs are friggin' delicious but I couldn't eat a friend. Might have to go to chicken only. Please don't post a lovable chicken link. Chickens are great! Our chickens used to jump on our laps and follow us around. One of them was so lovable my kids used to call her lovebird. If you raise them as chicks and hold them a lot they grow up liking to be held. When you get them a little older they just run away from people. All animals have "personalities". If it makes you feel better there was one chicken we had that was such a jerk we hated her and all the other chickens did too. She was a bully and would boss all the others around. The other chickens eventually rebelled. One morning we found Ofelia (that was her name) with no feathers, because all of the other chickens had plucked her nude overnight. Then they started not letting her in the chicken house, there was always at least 2 chickens guarding the entrance 24/7 so that she couldn't get in. She would go into the woods to sleep outside and we'd try to find her before dark and put her in the chicken house. One day we couldn't find her and we never saw her again. Jeez, a guy could starve to death. http://www.eatplantsdrinkbeer.com/readup/2017/9/7/plants-have-feelings-too Does anyone have an opinion on whether dirt is cute? To live is to kill. IKEA conducts bullying experiment on plants — the results are shocking https://globalnews.ca/news/4217594/bully-a-plant-ikea/ Screw it, I'm making bacon cheeseburgers tonight.

How do you reverse a brainwashed, irrational electorate?

Crap :-\ Goats, cows & pigs are friggin' delicious but I couldn't eat a friend. Might have to go to chicken only. Please don't post a lovable chicken link. Chickens are great! Our chickens used to jump on our laps and follow us around. One of them was so lovable my kids used to call her lovebird. If you raise them as chicks and hold them a lot they grow up liking to be held. When you get them a little older they just run away from people. All animals have "personalities". If it makes you feel better there was one chicken we had that was such a jerk we hated her and all the other chickens did too. She was a bully and would boss all the others around. The other chickens eventually rebelled. One morning we found Ofelia (that was her name) with no feathers, because all of the other chickens had plucked her nude overnight. Then they started not letting her in the chicken house, there was always at least 2 chickens guarding the entrance 24/7 so that she couldn't get in. She would go into the woods to sleep outside and we'd try to find her before dark and put her in the chicken house. One day we couldn't find her and we never saw her again. Jeez, a guy could starve to death. http://www.eatplantsdrinkbeer.com/readup/2017/9/7/plants-have-feelings-too Does anyone have an opinion on whether dirt is cute?

Politicians aren't subject to insider trading laws and their portfolios returns regularly do better than the average retail investor. Go figure. >:( >:( >:(

Crap :-\ Goats, cows & pigs are friggin' delicious but I couldn't eat a friend. Might have to go to chicken only. Please don't post a lovable chicken link.

Why should he quit shitposting when it's great for his private account. Short & cover, short & cover, short & cover. I'll bet he's levered to the hilt.

Nah, they're used to seeing Trump file for BK :-\

When will people start caring about US budget deficit again? When their own personal deficits become unendurable. --- I don't even know why I bother setting budgets & balancing my accounts.

True & a perfect example of how much smoke & mirrors get used in politics.

I think the issue of cramming algebra to kids who are not interested in it is relatively minor in the education picture (although still important). The much bigger issue is teaching kids who have little to no background/motivation/parental supervision/parental role models/peer support/supporting environment/etc. skills that would allow them to make something productive from their lives. Possibly to ambivalent or even hostile kids. This is very hard to do and it's not surprising that even best intentions and programs don't work (like Bill Gates discovered). I think it depends on where you are at, which school district, and sometimes even the school. As was highlighted in the article link by LC, there are NUMEROUS children (and families & culture) who do not value education. Some might say that they are even hostile towards education. So why force them to do something they don't want/appreciate? Society is spending billions & Billions & BILLIONS on this. Why not make education voluntary? Promote it, work with community leaders, run PSA announcements like "Mr. T says Don't be a FOOL, STAY IN SCHOOL!". Let ANYBODY who wants an education in the system. Work to educate them to the best of their capability to learn. HOWEVER, the student has a duty to be reasonably well behaved, show up the vast majority of the time, attempt to do the work to the best of their ability, and so on. If they mis-behave or don't want to be there, that is fine. If a child mis-behaves, they are EITHER out of the system OR if the parent consents, they will be disciplined and if the behavior is bad enough, they are sent to remedial classes where they will dealt with appropriately. If the child & parents don't care, why should we? Why should burn precious capital in a futile gesture? Perhaps most importantly of all, why should we allow trouble makers to sabotage OTHER children's education? Change is desperately needed! What about the children who are mis-behaving because their home life is a catastrophe and their parents don't care about them or their education? What responsibility, if any, does society at large (via its government) have towards those children? Should public schools be, in part, an effort to try to help those children overcome the handicap of parents who don't care? Or should we just wash our hands of them? I'm no education expert, but I agree that more money probably won't help teach someone who doesn't want to learn. I believe it's in our best interest to make an effort because otherwise these future losers will be a drag on all of us, whether through crime or going on the dole or being charismatic enough to get a job & then being extremely crappy at it. It's like healthcare. A healthy, competent & motivated populace is better for all of us (in the US & the entire world). I also really think that elements of philosophy & psychology should weigh in as well in an attempt to try & get youngsters to understand the difference between reality & delusion so they don't grow up to be mouth breathing Fox news sheeple. Many will never get it but that's humanity.

The Burger King down the road from my house has had this exact sign out front for months now.

@ DooDiligence- I just want to tend to my cash flow. =) @ JayGatsby- How passive was it? I think we expect to visit the shop once a week at the beginning (for 6 hours), then eventually drop down to once 3-4 weeks. Not sure if this is the right expectation. From what I understand, no small business is really an absentee business, even though the broker markets it as such. Seems like a pretty easy business to passively run. --- I had a DUI around 15 years ago (never again) & was required to have a DUI interlock device installed on my vehicle for 1 year after my license was reinstated. This required a visit to a small garage facility once every month to have records downloaded from the device (how many times the vehicle was started & the results from every request for a breath test from the device). The tech would also reset & calibrate the device. The cost was around $90 US per month plus a one time installation & removal fee. I had to drive an hour to the nearest shop (every month) & they had people wrapped around the building to get serviced. --- I looked at a few device manufacturers & have listed 1 below, https://www.guardianinterlock.com/about-us/guardian-provider/ I was amazed at how many times a visitor being serviced would be told by the tech that they had blown a few positives & would be getting a notice from the probation officer of a violation of probation (people can be idiots). Now that I've started thinking about this again, I am going to look into doing this in my area. Not saying it'll happen but if I'm going to wind up playing in bars over the next few years, I will be meeting a lot of prospective clients.

How about an idea with a larger addressable market? DUI interlock devices.

Plenty of arguments here in favor of abortion remaining legal.

Personally, I think the whole readin', writin' & 'rithmatic model needs to change. Up until 2nd grade, kids learn to read & then they read to learn. Basic numeracy shuld be related to real life (finance, budgets, understanding measurements). After that, students should be evaluated for what they have a facility for & encouraged to learn the things that they enjoy. If a kid likes solving math problems, put them on a heavy math track. Same for science, history, writing, music, etc. These could all lead into the various disciplines associated with the basic skill sets. I know this is an oversimplification of a difficult task in creating individualised syllabuses but I don't believe that cramming algebra down a kids throat when they are clearly more interested in liberal arts (and vice versa) will motivate anyone.

I've had other students ask me to read papers they've written & all I can say is damn. Anyone who has to read some of that crap & give it a grade & write in critical notes, deserves to be compensated. All joking aside, the exams we have to take for my major are not simple multiple choice & the instructors have a lot of work on their hands when grading them. Not to mention the difficulty of conveying the concepts to students throughout the semesters. The attrition rate is high & we just lost half our class going into the 3rd semester so it does become a bit easier for the instructor. We can & should be criticical of our educational systems, but a lot of the criticism should be directed at uninvolved parents who send their little poorly disciplined snowflakes to school expecting some miracle to happen. Either way, the US & Canada have done pretty well & will continue to do so as our educational systems slowly evolve for better & for worse.

Fingers crossed that Omaha will receive interest payments for borrowing! That'd be a new twist on loan sharking. Next stop Europe?

Does anyone believe that WEB might be giving us every opportunity to buy for our own accounts before he goes on a tear?

You guys did a great job! I'd take a pontoon boat over a goat. --- Vacation rentals are starting to look more attractive to me than equities. 1. More thorough knowledge of what you own. 2. More direct control over what you own. 3. Don't have to stare at whipsawed market values every day. 4. Ability to personally enjoy your property.

I need to max out a student loan quick.

Can I ask for your view on EW and its prospects? It's not a company that gets a lot of analysis or opinion. I'm not a very good or diligent analyst & tend to go with my gut on a lot of things. My thoughts on Edwards will be riddled with bias based on the fact that it has been the single most successful investment I've ever made. .... Thanks! I've been looking at it for awhile, but haven't gotten super comfortable yet. I think the price is way too high ATM & I sell a little every now & then to keep the allocation down. It just keeps going up.

Can I ask for your view on EW and its prospects? It's not a company that gets a lot of analysis or opinion. I'm not a very good or diligent analyst & tend to go with my gut on a lot of things. My thoughts on Edwards will be riddled with bias based on the fact that it has been the single most successful investment I've ever made. I bought Edwards back in 2013 when they were going through a patent dispute over the TAVR (trans-aortal valve replacement) with Medtronic. They prevailed in the suit & have since made acquisitions which got them into mitral with the PASCAL & Cardioband products. Mitral is proving to be much more difficult but has more potential patients. Their main product is tissue vales & they also offer the newer minimally invasive trans-catheter products. The pivotal acquisition which got them into the Sapien market was done at a quarter of what Medtronic paid to acquire the same technology. The minimally invasive Sapien valve replacements are approved for use on patients who can't tolerate having their chests opened for a traditional procedure & recently the company's Sapien valve has expanded its indication to include the intermediate risk pool, and is expected to include low surgical risk patients soon. Continued domination of the tissue valve market & the expansion of indications to lower risk patients & eventual (maybe) mainstream use of minimally invasive valve replacements are what I pin my hopes on.. Sales reps are highly trained & sit in on procedures. I remember reading something that said they tied sales reps compensation to successful procedures instead of sales volume but this may be faulty memory as I can't find any reference. Gross margins have increased steadily. I like that they rely more on organic growth. Slow & steady buybacks. Executive compensation that seems aligned with shareholders. Bonuses are tied to revenue & FCF instead of earnings. Their main competitors are Medtronic, Abbott & Boston Scientific. Morningstar has a pretty comprehensive writeup with potential negatives. EW_:_Edwards_Lifesciences_Corp_Analyst_Report_|_Analyst_Report_2019-08.pdf

Wouldn't it be fun if publicly traded co's started demanding that shareholders pay them a dividend?

I do not.