thowed

Not normally (publically) critical of Trump. Maybe this is a stupid question, but... why have a Sovereign Wealth Fund when you have a lot of Sovereign Debt? Norway is a slightly different beast.

Small adds to TPL and ANET.

@ValueMaven Did you buy any today?

Fascinating to hear about US wedding customs - I had no idea. Do you have Wedding Lists at all? In the UK, you tend to have a List at a classic Department Store, so people can pick something at the price point they want, and the bride/groom know they'll get something they want (traditionally useful stuff for starting a home, though this is more arguable as most people have it all by the time they get married). Had never heard of the plate concept & don't see how you find out the value of the plate? I don't think UK people would spend $250 but then these days we are '(albeit ex) Euro-poor)'. Of course, all these things vary depending on demographics - middle classes etc. Charging is a tough one - if you have to, then I think you have to explain to your guests why, make sure you're keeping things to a minimum, i.e. if people know you're short of cash & aren't being profligate, they'll be more understanding, as they want to celebrate. Kids - yes, unusual to not have them there, as finding babysitters a pain in the ass etc. - more likely only with younger people getting married.

Thanks for this @dealraker. I only looked at these recently - I think due to @Red Lion's very good posts. I am really impressed by Ares, but not the price so just got a tracker last year, and am going to try and patiently wait.

We're both civil people so I think we're going to have to agree to disagree - I don't think we're going to change each other's minds on the subject. As for your statement, I would 'invert' and say - all the murders in schools with assault rifles in the US isn't exactly protecting daughters. Thanks @Spekulatius for talking some sense, but this is all too much like the Politics thread of old, so I'm out.

OK. I don't mind a joke, but if you post something without comment, it's harder to know whether it's meant seriously or not. On not reading good things about London, I don't know where you're based, but I'd suggest you're reading the wrong things. It's very easy to read bad things about most countries in the world at the moment, but when you visit them, you tend to find that it's business as usual. Sure we've got stupid politicians etc. but if that was a problem I wouldn't invest anywhere...

@james22 I'm not going to watch that video above, because it's obvious clickbait, but ffs, with all due respect, I don't know what makes you think stuff like this is appropriate? I've lived in the UK all my life, and have travelled around the world, and London remains a world-class city. Of course it's not perfect, but neither is anywhere else, especially in the US. I just don't see how this is helpful here. That sort of stuff is for Twitter, not for this board. Thank you.

If I was to re-design the CFA course, I'd put much greater emphasis on Behavioural Investing & the psychology of crowds. What I've learned is that it's easy to start off young and smart, knowing about valuations etc. but after a while you learn that, as Keynes put it so succinctly, the markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain liquid. And you have to be able to invest around that fact.

Top! Seriously though, I think the point is that nobody knows. There could well be crashes. But you can't predict them. And maybe there won't be. I think all you can do is invest according to your personal risk tolerance.

Yep, at risk of taking this further off-topic. I can't really figure out Chapters. Rales likes it - the Chair is a respected Value Investor (with his own fund) but not yet clear if this is the real deal or another over-priced attempt at a copycat. Any thoughts?

It's called Arcadea - don't think Rales is involved, but has backed it privately.

This thread is turning into the new politics thread. - Some poor people are dumb. Some rich people are dumb. - Is Europe becoming investable? No. There are some great companies. But I wouldn't buy the index - compare it now with 20 years ago, versus S&P now and 20 years ago. Says it all for me. Nothing to add.

Yep, I think there's a transition period where you need to be on both. Bsky is happening slowly but gradually, and Twitter/X is just getting more hideous in terms of content, Musk (if you know your Second World War history, it is pretty uncomfortable having someone that rich/powerful voicing support for hard right political leaders the way he is at the moment), and the lack of Ticker Search (due to Crypto sh1tcoins taking them over). However there are still some great people there for niche subjects (e.g. Community Banks, Energy Royalties) so I'm reluctant to leave completely just yet. But I continue to encourage people to make the move. For people here, a notable draw for moving to Bsky may be the presence of Dave Waters from Alluvial/otcadventures.

Yes, agree, but also couldn't help myself.

Amazing! Don't want to be a misery-guts, but am tempted by some Jan 2026 Index Puts for next year. Feels like a lot of optimism about Trump is baked in, & silly Memecoin stuff going on. It's been a good run since Oct 22. Will hold on to what I've got which seems reasonable e.g. FFH, TVK, CSU - thinking of that old line about how great companies with great operators can take advantage of a downturn. Community Banks - some of which seem cheap still and growing. And a few other small things, like Laurent Perrier (family-controlled illiquid value) and FPT (outstanding tech company in Vietnam - I think one of the highest quality cos in SE Asia).

Happy Thanksgiving And I give thanks to everyone here whom I have learnt so much from.

Swiss ETFs are kind of crazy, as Nestle, Roche & Novartis are nearly 40% of it. On other hand, since two of them are at multi-year lows, and while boring, fairly blue-chip, it might not be an awful time to buy. CHF currency is pretty solid too.

I thought Swissquote was pretty decent? But IB generally best.

Just wondering if anyone here is on BlueSky? Seems to be gaining traction as an alternative to Twitter, which a) is full of idiots, b) is hard to search for company tickers, as they've all been hijacked by Altcoins and c) has Bill Ackman trying to impress Musk by making teenage boy jokes (he actually made a 69 gag - unbelievably cringe...). I found a couple of friendly faces, but would be great to know if any more. Cheers.

Because BTC is experiencing high speculation?! I think it boils to simply that Bitcoin is THE Brand in Crypto - a lot of people buying in now may have barely heard of ETH. It still seems bizarre to me that the big brand is one where a) the creator is unknown (can you imagine the red flag in any other industry?!?) and b) based on older, slower technology than the competition (though precedent in VHS/Betamax etc.).

Bill @wabuffo did something similar recently & referenced brklyn, but I can't remember where - Twitter? Don't know if that prompted this?!

Black-swan opportunities. Asymmetric super-nova. There are a whole load of great indie band names in that post.

Certainly feels like this at the moment.

Look, a headline about seals being kidnapped and having headphones put on them is stuff straight from a comedy skit! All I meant by 'political' is that people are taking this cartoon stuff seriously! It's just some Twitter clickbait. Anyway, nothing else to add.