CGJB

Merry Christmas to everyone everywhere

My total gold exposure is roughly 15%. 10% in gold bullion through IAU. 5% in gold mining stocks. Most of this in GDX, with smaller amounts in OPYGY and AUCOY.

I reside in the US and use Charles Schwab. They told me you can buy China Mobile, CNOOC, etc. in Hong Kong but you can't sell them after Biden's executive order expires, unless he extends it. IIRC, his order expires on August 2, though I could be wrong.

This week I sold the remainder of my GBTC position.

Friday I sold half my position in GBTC. It had doubled from where I bought it, so I got my original capital back and let the rest become a free ride.

This week I added to HES and OGZPY. I also added tiny amounts to GZPFY, LUKOY and SGTZY.

CGJB, are you familiar with the Japanese recruitment market? I've never understood it, as it seems hardly anyone applies to a job (don't want to get rejected?) and everything is arranged behind the scenes by recruitment companies. Some of these companies are very hands-on and growing quickly, e.g. 2124 was cheap during Covid at 10% FCF yield and 20% growth at 30% ROE. And then there are pure online companies as well, which don't really seem to fit in the culture. I don't think of Japan as a fast growing economy, but seems like the recruitment market is changing perhaps? Are people moving jobs more often maybe? Not sure where this growth for recruitment firms is coming from. If you know anything about the Japanese recruitment market, I'd appreciate your views. Sorry to hijack the thread. We could move this to another thread if there is much to say. Sam, I actually don't know much about the Japanese recruitment market. I bought Pasona in late 2018. It came to my attention through a couple of investors I respect. It has a 50% stake in a listed company (Benefit One, symbol 2412) that wasn't reflected in its stock price.

Cash 36.6% Gold Bullion 18.5% -- Ishares Gold ETF (IAU) Gold Mining Stocks 12.6% -- VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) -- VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) Everything Else: Pasona Group (2168 JP) 3.0% B.P. Marsh & Partners (BPM UK) 2.9% Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) 2.8% Gazprom ADRs (OGZPY) 2.6% Hess (HES) 2.5% Sanwa (3187 JP) 2.4% Energy Resources of Australia (ERA AU) 2.4% Oisix Ra Daichi (3182 JP) 2.3% Cenkos Securities (CNKS UK) 1.9% Ride On Express Holdings (6082 JP) 1.9% CareNet (2150 JP) 1.8% Thalassa Holdings (THAL UK) 1.5% Alina Holdings (ALNA UK) 1.1% Gazprom Neft ADRs (GZPFY) 1.1% Lukoil ADRs (LUKOY) 1.1% Holdings Under 1%: Anemoi International (AMOI UK) Surgutneftegaz ADRs (SGTZY)

Sir John Templeton was driving a Kia Opirus in the years before his passing. The Oprius was marketed as the Kia Amanti in the US. It's now called the Cadenza. https://money.cnn.com/2008/11/27/news/newsmakers/john_templeton.fortune/index.htm "Each morning, he drove his four-door Kia Opirus - which he told me had the same qualities as a high-end German luxury car but was a good deal cheaper - a few blocks down to his office, where he sat on a butterfly-upholstered couch to review proposals and take notes."

I see that Sir Ronald Brierley has stepped down from his Mercantile Investment Company Ltd. (MVT.ASX), because of age and health reasons: https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/raider-ron-brierley-steps-down-from-last-listed-company-role-20190606-p51v9f.html The linked article reports an anonymous source saying the health issues aren't life-threatening, which I certainly hope is true. I live on the east coast of the US, but came across Sir Ron in a Forbes article years and years ago, and always respected him. Pending shareholder approval, MVT will be merged with Sandon Capital Investments (SNC.ASX), run by Gabriel Radzyminski, who is also a Non-Executive Director of MVT. Here's a Barron's article from 2016 on Sandon Capital and Radzyminski: https://www.barrons.com/articles/sandons-activist-approach-shakes-up-aussie-stocks-1463104553

Good grief, talk about hijacking a thread. There's nothing wrong with Og posting that he'd interviewed a member of this board for his podcast. The fact that the person interviewed is a member of this board makes it relevant to the board. I can't see why it's a big deal that a member of this board used to post under his real name, then decided to post under a made-up name -- especially since the vast majority of board members use made-up names. Is that against the rules or guidelines set by Parsad for posting on this board? If not, there's no issue here. Certainly no reason to start questioning the person's "integrity." And I bet there's plenty more to the story than what the linked news article reported. But that's neither here nor there, especially since it's a settled matter legally. I wish Parsad would delete everything in this thread except Og's original posting, then only allow comments pertaining to the interview.

I've really enjoyed the members of CoBF you've interviewed in the past. Episodes with NoCalledStrikes and DTEJD1997 especially come to mind. I'd enjoy hearing you do podcasts with Spekulatius, rb and Junto about investing, if they'd be willing. I'm sure there are many other members of this board who'd be worthwhile interviews as well. Outside of CoBF, I'll suggest a couple of money managers who would be interesting. I don't see them in the financial media much at all, if at all, so maybe that means they'd welcome doing a podcast (unless they want to keep a very low profile). Let me stress I don't know them personally. The first is Adam Seessel of Gravity Capital Management, LLC. I occasionally see him mentioned in an article in Fortune or Barron's, but that's it. But I always find his thoughts interesting. The second would be either Hhu Ng or David Briggs who manage the Tempered Global Value Fund at Tempered Investment Management in West Vancouver, BC. They both worked alongside the late Peter Cundill. I remember reading Briggs interviewed in OID in 1997 or 1998 when Cundill was investing heavily in Japan. Since they're in West Vancouver, maybe Parsad knows them and could make an introduction of sorts if needed.