CGJB

This is 100% accurate, imo, especially the first two paragraphs. The refusal of people to acknowledge this -- in general across the collective west and on this board -- is remarkable.

Nothing. I think Trump and Vance see the US, China and Russia as the world's three great powers. And Trump wants differences/conflicts played out and settled via trade, tariffs, access to markets, etc. In other words, he doesn't want shooting wars.

Merry Christmas to all!

Even if the baby Putin had been aborted in his mother's womb, we'd still be where we are now, because this wasn't driven by Putin. Current CIA director Burns warned of this when he was ambassador to Russia during the George W. Bush administration. Many others did as well.

I'm not a member of any fan club. Though if forced to choose, I'd be a member of a Putin fan club before a member of a Zelensky one. Moreover, I don't think Putin is another Hitler or Stalin, and I don't buy the lie that Russia's entry into the Donbas was "unprovoked."

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Russian President Vladimir Putin, born 72 years ago today. By far the best leader Russia has had in more than a century. May he have many, many more. ------------------------

I was listening to a podcast with Louis-Vincent Gave yesterday. He said that China now does more trade with Southeast Asia than it does with the US. I would imagine this trend will only grow over time.

It will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend and the likes of Schwab and Fidelity do the same in the US. I hope not.

Of course he's not right about everything. No one is. But it speaks volumes, and is a huge indictment of the media, that Sachs has been pretty much blackballed for daring to say he believes the US is behind blowing up Nord Stream 2.

I think what you say is true for the mainstream media across the collective west. I live in the US and it's bad here. But I have friends and relatives in the UK who tell me that it's even worse there.

For many years, Jeffrey Sachs would appear on mainstream corporate media networks and be quoted in the major publications. Then he appeared on Bloomberg TV and, in an interview with Tom Keene, said that the US was behind blowing up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Keene's reaction was priceless. It was a textbook case of someone going against the approved "narrative" and Keene didn't know what to do. I don't think Sachs has appeared on any of the mainstream corporate media outlets since. Total black eye for Bloomberg and the rest of the media.

+1

Mind sharing what your average cost is?

It's not easy at all for China to go after Taiwan militarily. But Biden has been playing footsie with the third rail (Taiwan sovereignty), and that's a casus belli for China. Nothing else is. Keep the status quo in Taiwan, and China will take no risks. Taiwan is not defensible with America's current navy. We can't shoot down hypersonic missiles, for example.

I'm so glad to see you posted this. I have some Russian ADRs myself. The action the US took on this doesn't "stick it to Putin" or whatever, it just screws over American citizens. What a mess.

Respectfully disagree that war with China would be more likely if Trump wins. Trump would be very aggressive toward China with things like trade restrictions and tariffs, but he has never shown any inclination to getting into a kinetic war with them.

Spot on. I think this is the bigger threat and has been for the last couple of years.

Happy New Year. Wishing everyone peace, prosperity and health in 2024 and beyond.

That section about Munger from the Snowball is fantastic. Thanks for posting it. For those who have access to Barron's, they have a wonderful article interviewing the lady who was Munger's personal assistant for the last 31 years of his life: https://www.barrons.com/articles/charlie-munger-close-up-warren-buffett-berkshire-bff539ca?mod=hp_LEADSUPP_2

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Ha! We'll just have to agree to disagree. But I'd much, much rather be holding Putin's hand right now than Zelensky's. And I don't think that will change. Time will tell.

I could be wrong, but I doubt the Russians would negotiate with Zelensky. They tried that in Istanbul last year and the talks were making great progress only to be scuttled by the US/UK. That telegraphed to the Russians that Ukraine is a puppet state. So they will likely only negotiate with the US (with maybe a sprinkling of some European countries at the table for decoration). But Biden would have to eat a lot of crow to reach any peace deal that could realistically be achieved. Think about it. Biden went to Warsaw last year and gave an angry speech that he ended by invoking God and calling for regime change in Russia. He was going to do whatever it took to give Ukraine whatever it needed to drive the Russians out of the Donbas and out of Crimea. No way does he want to shake hands with the Russian leadership he wanted toppled, and acknowledge that Crimea and the Donbas are now part of Russia. What does Biden want? Right now, he just wants to keep this thing going past the elections in November 2024. He doesn't care how many Ukrainians and Russians needlessly die in the meantime.

Some people are around so long that, without realizing it, you think they're going to be around forever. And then the day comes when they're not. Rest in peace, Mr. Munger.

Right, Schloss started his limited partnership in 1955. The book "Supermoney" came out in the early 1970s I think. I've always thought that Schloss probably just wanted a low profile for a long time, and after a while didn't mind doing interviews.