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In the simplest terms, it's a money/economy thing. The north of Italy has much more than the south. Naples is a relatively poor city, and has a certain historical notoriety. It's certainly got its charms too, though, and I don't remember any problems when I was there en route to Pompeii. Your trip sounds great, and should prove no problem. If you're from NYC, then I really think you've nothing to worry about - I think anyone from a big city has all the street smarts/common sense they need for any place. Y'know, don't have handbags open, keep your wallets in a safe place (or have one of those concealed belt ones for travelling), and be alert if you're in a packed bus crushed up next to others etc. No different really from how I'd be alert on a subway. I think the golden rule is 'be normal' i.e. try to blend in, and don't be too loud, so you don't attract attention to yourselves. Sorry to hear you had your stuff stolen before. Sometimes it's just bad luck, and there's nothing you can do. Only other things I'd mention are maybe buy a paper guide book (just because I find the internet e.g. TripAdvisor to be unreliable) to read up on good places to stay and general neighbourhood info. And also that if you're going in the Summer, Venice is INSANELY crowded (and I haven't been for a while) and Hot! Florence will be pretty crazy too. Traditionally, areas around train stations are also places to be a bit on your guard (a bit like I found with Greyhound neighbourhoods back in the day) as there are a lot of backpackers/tourists arriving and looking lost. Nothing really to worry about though, just if someone tries to be friendly and help, I'm generally suspicious... Hope that helps. Memo to self - travel tips is easier/more fun than working..........

We're all guilty of this. It wasn't that many years ago I told my dad that I had some investments in the US and he frowned and said, 'Isn't that a bit risky?'. Sorry for going off-topic again...

To bring things back to topic, if you have any more specific questions about Italy e.g. where you're thinking about going, do say and I'll do my best to help.

I laughed when I read this, then thought - this is why it's so important that we all travel as much as possible - it's the only way to educate ourselves, because what we read or hear can often be exaggerated for effect (the media doesn't make money by saying everything was 'normal' today). I think a number of Europeans might ask the same question about the US, with all the shootings we read about in supposedly safe spaces like schools, cinemas etc. And if people are like the President, why they must all be so rude! I have had wonderful times travelling through a number of states in the US, and the vast majority of people I've met have been incredibly charming. But I might not have known that if I'd only read the papers. BG2008 - I hope this is clear that I'm not having a go at you - just saying how misinformation spreads to scare us. And what the others said - it's a common sense thing - avoid dark alleys on your own at night! Tourist sites can attract pickpockets so don't flash your money around. However, as ever, also DYOR (for specific cities). e.g. If you're going to somewhere like Naples, then you do want to be a bit more careful than Milan. I hope you have a great trip.

It's pretty easy to read into it what you want, but I did pause on the part about the four major dips, as well as the lack of attractive acquisition opportunities.

ARs from 05. 13 and 15 missing. Cheers again for your essays. Ann11.pdf Ann14.pdf Ann12.pdf Ann10.pdf Ann09.pdf Ann08.pdf Ann07.pdf Ann06.pdf Ann05.pdf

Many thanks for this - I always find he has something interesting to say. He's on pretty fiery form there, and it all seems pretty reasonable (unless you're a hedge fund manager...).

I don't know enough to have a view, but at $600m down, I think one can generally say: 'Well, he would say that, wouldn't he'.

I hope this relates enough to the OP, but this got me thinking about the future of the A shares i.e. the current holders will have had them for quite a long time, and won't be spring chickens themselves. What happens when they die? How will their heirs be disposed towards a US$300,000+ share that doesn't produce any income, especially when WEB is gone? I wonder if Howard etc. have any instructions on doing a split at any point? p.s. Apologies if this has been discussed previously - I don't read every BRK thread.

Can it be a fund? This seems interesting and has been going for a decent amount of time. Other people at the company (i.e. other funds) are very decent. http://www.aimskl.com/funds/phoenix-gold/newsletter.php Alternatively, how about Franco-Nevada, i.e. go for the royalties, which should be lower-risk.

You'd think with all the smart people they're meant to have at Google, they'd be able to make a site with a decent design. The new site is UGLY. The main font is too big. I mean, this is not rocket science... The old site is working at finance.google.co.uk too.

Separate post for a separate thought. I like the type of companies in KCLarkin's post i.e. those who make (and are able to make) smart acquisitions in down-turns. However, I wonder how much we are all coloured by our bias of the recent past i.e. the fact that things bounced back so fast in 2008, rewarding companies like these. If we were to consider a situation where a future crash then led to the markets not recovering for years and years, e.g. Japan post-late-80s, would we think differently? I wish I had a better historical perspective to provide an answer. Perhaps it's time to dust off 'Anatomy of a Bear' again...

Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio It's not quite right, but it's certainly proved pretty resistant to breaking. You might want to modify it a bit now e.g. add some TIP$ into the mix with the Gold. I'm not suggesting it's the right investment for anyone, but I have certainly found some very interesting things to consider in his writing.

Thanks for this - I'd be interested in more detail on the pitches, in particular Lanyon's. I've been very impressed with what I've read about them. It's good to find a Sydney person here - what a great city. I'm more a funds person than a stocks person, and there are clearly some great managers that don't seem well-known outside the country - I only recently came across EGP for example, and Forager seem very impressive (shame about the LIC premium). I've no doubt you know many more. Thanks again.

My head just exploded. Thank you!

Thanks for your answers. Amongst other things, I research funds and so am always curious to find out more about interesting people. John - your reply is interesting and gave me some food for thought i.e. separating frameworks, strategies etc. (I think we all may use different words for these things). Basically, I have read so many letters / reports etc. explaining how a manager believes in value, focus, the long-term etc. This gives an initial flavour of what to expect. But it's not until you see what a portfolio consists of, when things were bought/sold, rationalisations for why it was done, that you can start to make an evaluation. Perhaps to encapsulate, I believe that value investing can mean different things to different people, and so you have to look at what they do, as well as what they say. I remember the thread on the book, but hadn't connected it to Austin. Joel - I have very much appreciated your writing and ideas, particularly the pieces on Price and Returns, and holding Cash. Thank you. Cheers!

This is very cool and useful - I'm surprised nobody replied to your OP. Great of you to share it. Sadly I use LibreOffice and Excel add-ins don't work with it. C'est la vie.

This might be of interest: https://webb-site.com/articles/enigma.asp If you don't know him, he's a legend in HK corporate governance. Not long after he put this out, a load of the companies' share prices bombed. Again, not to say all Chinese companies with lots of subsidiaries are bad, but murky patterns of cross-holdings need to be checked.

Thanks - this is very interesting stuff and beautifully presented. Also, thanks for mentioning Braddock - I had no idea Akre had a L/S strategy. Couldn't find any details, though I presume there's a fair bit of overlap on the long side. He's a hero. And obviously I'm now fascinated to know more about Austin's strategy. @investmd Giverny, you've heard about, nothing to add, they're a great example of holding quality GARP. Arlington - they're closed to new money, the track record is insane, I wouldn't know how to describe them, but search this site for more info. Braddock - look up the Akre Focus mutual fund for details - more outstanding, long-term, quality GARP.

Ha - you and me both! Probably for about the past 4 years. Unfortunately I've still been overly cautious, which has cost me so far. I take your point about allocation - for me, I am happy to let them do the asset allocating for me, as they're far more clever than I am. But I basically see them as Cash & a bit. Would you consider a good Long/Short fund? City Financial AR's David Crawford has been pretty impressive over the years in terms of good, non-index-related returns - he seems to be a genuinely decent Shorter. I used to find the reporting a bit opaque, but it's got better recently. And if you can access them (the odd occasion seems to crop up), Ennismore, I think they rode out 2008 pretty well, though possibly not 2011, from memory.

I think you're UK-based? Are Investment Trusts ok for you to invest in? If so, how about one of the absolute return ones like CGT or PNL? I see them as usually doing better than cash, with low volatility, and pretty honest managers. You could probably add RICA in there as well, though I'm less convinced by it. If you don't mind adding to your EM exposure, you could look at one of the Vietnam ITs. It's not as cheap as it was a year or two ago, but not crazily expensive.

I'm not smart enough to pick stocks, but I spend a lot of time researching funds globally. I think Jurgis is right that not many people here do it, which is a shame, as I'd love to have more people to have nerdy fund discussions with. Having said that, 99% of funds are pointless, so it's a pretty ridiculous endeavour. Akre is great, though he's old, and I don't know what'll happen if he retires. Broadrun are similar (they're his old team) and do mandates and a mutual fund with Hennessy.

I've only had a skim-read of this, but it reminded me a little of this: http://www.oddballstocks.com/2017/01/homemade-economic-indicators.html "When I consider everything I'm seeing it's easy to say that we must be nearing a market top. But it was another two years from what I witnessed in 1999, 2006, and 2014 before the top finally blew off. Oddly I've been consistently two years early in noticing these trends, so maybe the bottom won't fall out until 2019?"

Lads, if you're still looking: https://anonymoosenotes.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/notes-on-brian-gaines-of-springhouse-capital-management/ btw - thanks for your big thread - it's been a fascinating read.

Susie Rippingall, Scottish Oriental Investment Trust Claire Barnes, Apollo Jenny Jones, Schroder US Mid and Small Caps Some of the best investors in the world are women. My personal take is that not many women go into fund management for the same reason I haven't - there are too many over-confident idiots around, and the decent, smart people mostly exist on the margins. This to me is the real issue, not gender.