Cevian

The Media (and readers) loves these stories. I prefer Nassim Taleb's take in Fooled by Randomness. The book is about "luck disguised and perceived as non-luck (that is, skill) and, more generally, randomness disguised and perceived as non-randomness. Reverse engineering (re: backtesting) a process that has worked for one doesn't mean one has found the recipe that will work for all in the future.

Depending on the opportunity, I may have some investors in mind that may be interested. Feel free to PM me.

From what I understand basically the investment strategy was collecting pennies by writing out of the money options using a lot of leverage to amplify returns.

Your best bet is probably going to be through either one of the ishares ETFs: SMIN or INDA Other options include investing in Fairfax India or Pabrai Funds which has a high exposure to India.

Thanks for sharing this Jurgis. I look forward to reading the article with interest. I just finished a very depressing book, "Straw Dogs" by the philosopher John Gray. Not for the faint-hearted. He had a sentence in there I highlighted which seems appropriate here: "Scientists searching for extra-terrestrial life ponder anxiously whether mankind is alone in the universe. They would be better occupied trying to communicate with the dwindling numbers of their animal kin." The way we treat other life on earth is appalling, not sure why we continue to look for life elsewhere.

I really hope this isn't going to end up being the perfect case study for a falling knife one day. I can't believe there are sellers are this price but there doesn't appear to be any sign of a bottom.

Same here

I love them both and they are both extremely intelligent, however, as a mental exercise, if you imagine a word where Charlie didn't exist and Warren was doing this on this own, Warren would still be a billionaire. I can't say the same about Charlie since without Warren and the opportunity to invest in and work at Berkshire, his net worth would have been considerably less. He would still be a millionaire but not a billionaire. Granted we're talking about intelligence here but it takes a highly intelligent person like Warren to have been able to recognise the talent in Charlie, get Charlie on-board, give him is unique niche in California, create a cult around him, without ever jeopardising the relationship or stepping on his ego. Having said all of the above, I would personally still prefer to have Charlie's life since he seems well rounded, multi-dimensional, having created a great family and involved in multiple causes and also, back in the day at least, pretty anonymous in terms of being able to go out and live life with no one recognising him.

Buffett has had a major influence on my thinking in business, investing and private life over the past 30 years. I only learned he was human after having read "Snowball" when it was just released. He will always remain a hero and someone I try to emulate in many ways. Having said all that, the one thing that surprises me is that, with all the influence and respect he has across the world, he doesn't use this platform to comment on several items which seem obviously concerning including the perpetual, and seemingly unending, annual deficits and borrowing by the US. One word from Buffett on this topic and the attention of the media and politicians would focus. I can just see the headline "Buffett worries about US debt level!". He used to be more vocal about such things in the past (remember WMD?). Lately it seems to be more about preserving a "good guy" legacy. We need people of influence and wealth, particularly those who have benefited from the system, to step up and be more vocal about such issues including the unsustainable level of borrowing. This is not a political point but one of fiscal discipline. Otherwise, all these big businesses just got a tax break but the government debt increased as a result. There is no ownership of this problem because the government isn't run like a business and no one has any skin in the game. Politicians don't care. Voters don't mind so long as they are getting a benefit. It seems business don't mind either so long as they are paying less taxes. The government is being milked for all its worth and all that will be left is a debt-ridden carcass eventually. Berkshire would never be run that way because Buffett has a legacy (and shareholders) to protect. When it comes to government, it appears to be no ones legacy since no one person can be identified as having cause the problem. Sorry, the rant isn't about Buffett per se but about important issues that need people of influence to speak out about. The one dimensionality of it all gets to me.

This is a book! :)

Power Corporation (POW) - Desmarais Family Conglomerate

I would guess Overstock was the largest driver of returns for him this year.

misterkrusty, have a look at the following link if you want to contact him directly: https://seekingalpha.com/author/silky-oak-capital/articles#regular_articles

I'd like to get into the habit of re-reading classic books which have made a major impact on my thinking, as opposed to just checking the box on a book I've read and always looking for the next great one. What books have you (or still do) read multiple times? The main ones I've read more than once are Nassim Taleb's books mainly because they are difficult reads. I'm tempted to re-read Against the Gods by Peter L. Bernstein since I seem to remember it was an eye opener such a long time ago.

A useful feature I used to enjoy in the old google finance was the list/comparison with other companies in the industry. Please let me know if you come across this feature somewhere else.

SlowAppreciation, I'm really enjoying this screener. Very well done and simple to use. One wish list that may be a feature that is far fetched and difficult, if not impossible, to achieve, would be to be able to track the level cash as a holding of the collective portfolio. I believe this would be a wonderful indicator, over time, of the bearishness or bullishness of the group.

I would have thought the following would be apparent by now but might be worth reiterating. Most people have lost complete confidence in: 1. Government and Politicians 2. The Mainstream Media Therein lies the explanation to many of the disruptions we are seeing over the past few years and will keep seeing. A close third creeping up on the "loss of confidence" list are "Big corporations".

I agree with you. Here is a website I use for the moment: https://tradingeconomics.com

The US has a debt of ~$20 Trillion and approx. ~$3.6 Trillion in receipts. At a normal ~3% interest rate this amounts to $600 billion in interest payments only. If you told me my next door neighbour spent 16% of his salary on interest payments only, I would not call him rich.

From his website: "Baker Street Capital Management is a value-focused investment firm". A lot of people calling themselves "value investors" or "value focused" but not adhering to concepts of Prudence and Moderation (Two of Plato's Cardinal Virtues).

I own a few vacation rentals I rent out short-term through websites such as Airbnb and Homeaway. When a unit is booked much in advance, the customer ends up paying immediately upon booking and I as the landlord only get the funds on or a few days after check-in. In the meantime, between the booking date and the check-in date (which could be as far as 12 months for those booking in advance) the prepaid funds must be sitting somewhere. Would this classify was float for these companies? Although I'm sure these funds are "held in trust", the interest accruing on these don't accrue to the renter or the landlord.

One additional element I would add to the question is whether the idiot wants to intervene or remain passive. In my experience, the worst idiots are the ones that don't realize their idiots and do damage by trying to do something. If you had an idiot, perhaps best if they were also lazy idiots or, better yet, monkeys. This thought came to mind when I saw the comment regarding Hershey (my favorite chocolate bar), which I agree with, except if the idiot in question decided they want to tinker with the recipe or size (has anyone seen the new toblerone bar?).

Over the last 40 years, how many years has the US had a trade surplus or a budget surplus?

I also practice mindfulness meditation and would recommend the following wonderful books as starting points: Mindfulness in Plain English: 20th Anniversary Edition - Henepola Gunaratana Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Shunryu Suzuki A quote from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few"

Warren has had an huge impact on my life (financial and other). He is my hero and original Jedi Master. I have been a Berkshire Shareholder for a two decades and consider what he has accomplished a true Miracle and a Fort Knox. Having said that, I'm open to disagreeing with him on political and economic outlook. If we assume a $19 Trillion Debt level with a 320 million population, I believe we have a per capita debt (i.e. per head) of $59,000 in the US. Please correct me if I'm wrong. How can this be a positive thing? How much is this compared to 1930? I don't agree with the always rosy outlook picture of things. "All will be well!". "Greatest country in the world!" "We're the best and always will be!"