Castanza

Vat 69

You are entitled to your freedom. You are not entitled to infringe on the freedom of others. Driving a car is a privilege, not a right. A shop owner should be allowed to stay open. The individual will decide whether or not to enter. This isn't difficult. Why is a business license required if it is a right and not a privilege? Can the Health Department suspend a license for business? If so, then it's a flimsy 'right' at best. Covid-19 is a public health risk. Masks are the mitigation; play ball or be shut down. No shirt, no shoes, no mask, no service. Al Capone "play ball or be shut down"

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4348066-global-oil-inventories-build-less-expected-supply-loss-surprises

Looking for book recommendations focused on the business side of tech. Preferably enterprise/corporate, but entrepreneurial would be alright too. Thanks

Moat

I'm gonna disagree with all three: IBKR - they are nickel-and-diming their customers like there's no tomorrow. Pay for quotes, pay trade commissions, pay if you don't have enough trades per month. Some of these may have been removed, but because of competition and not because IBKR are good guys. So zero loyalty to IBKR, screw them. DIS - I think the park prices are ridiculous. High-speed internet - most countries have much cheaper high-speed internet than US. US monopoly pricing sucks. Shrug. I would pay more for all three of these services. Part of it for some of them is being non-USA. IBKR is much better than competitors here in Canada - no free trades for everyone here. Given how fast their customer base is growing it seems I'm not the only person who feels this way. I also think Disneyland is great value. Tickets are expensive, but a lot is included as well. Different strokes for different folks, but enough people agree with me that they keep raising prices and attendance still grows. Obviously we'll see if that holds post covid, but I think it will. High speed is likely colored by being outside USA. I pay $105 CAD (so under $80 USD) for 300/30 high speed, basic cable, and a home phone. I would pay much more than that just for high speed if necessary. My wife drug my ass to Disney World in February. She said, lets go before we have kids. I'm thinking to myself "why? isn't this place for kids?".....I trudged on, and by the end of our week I was decked out in Disney apparel trying to get a reaction out of the storm troopers in Galaxy's Edge. I don't think ticket prices are that expensive when compared to amusement parks. Take Hershey Park here in PA. It's your average park (few roller coasters, nothing special). Tickets are $70 a pop....Disney at what $120 a pop is a bargain. All the free shows, transportation, extreme generosity of workers, general attention to detail in everything, wait time app, wrist band integration, etc. is worth way more than $120 imo. The resorts are what kill you price wise....Animal Kingdom is like $6-800 a night for some rooms....Yeah, I'll pass on that since I spent maybe 2 hours a day (minus sleep) in our hotel room.

Cherzeca, When you are a family of 6-7, husband, wife, 2 kids, parents in-law who helps out with the childcare and a brother in law who lives at home, you wind up going through a lot of everything. TP, wipes, paper towels, steak, berries, fruits, veggies, etc. It is not just the savings by buying bulk. It is also that fact that Costco berries and fruits are much nicer than any of the competition. They do so much volume that the berries go directly from the farm to the store (at least the freshness feels that way). We divide our grocery trips into restaurant depot and Costco. The savings add up. Buying 6 dental floss and 3 packs of toothpastes adds up over time. Costco also naturally caters to a more affluent customer base. It never occur to me when I was younger that being able to buy $300 at a time is an indication of a more affluent customer base. But it clearly is. If you buy the non-perishables, it really adds up to savings. Okay, maybe not the 1/2 gallon mayo. There are some items that you should buy at Trader Joes. If you are a bachelor or a couple in a small NYC apartment, yes, you're better off at Trader Joes. If you have kids and they go through 3-5 half gallons of milk a week. The eggs, bacon, fruits, milk, all adds up. Also, they control their supply chain, so if you have infants and need formula. You go to Costco to buy it because you know it won't be fake. My family literally have relatives in China who will ask us to bring them $1,000 worth of formula, razor blades, and coffee when we travel to China. Now that I am not a bachelor, yeah, even the 8 pack Puma socks, V Neck Calvin Kleins T-Shirts, Jeans ($30), and fleeces, and seasonal gloves and jackets, are all great value. They operate on 10% gross margin. Sometimes, my wife and I will be like "we just spent $500" stocking up on stuff. But everytime we go to CVS or a convenient store, we are reminded of how much cheaper Costco is. We generally get 2x the product for the same price elsewhere. I have a membership simply for the cheaper gas and gas rewards points. Easily pays for itself every year.

Small adds to RTX, BRK, WFC (yee haw)

BRK, WFC, MSGS, RTX

What pushed you to sell DIS? Hi HM - I still like DIS in the long term, but prefer ALX and WFC for now. I bought DIS between $85 and $80 and would likely start buying again under $90. Also, added to WFC and started a new position in DOW. Thanks Lance Got it, that makes sense. WFC has been left for dead. Trump doing his best to put a bullet in the back of their head. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1260206276216266754

Which foreign utopia are you from?

WFC

Yeah, sure developing countries have healthy populations. They are just crushing this chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy Please all go to Africa and work in subsistence farming. You'll be so healthy. Just leave all your stuff for people who decide to stay and suffer in the first world countries. They need it. ::) Healthy with respect to blood pressure and diabetes particularly is what I meant. And those are key issues for this virus as I understand it. Diabetes by country: https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SH.STA.DIAB.ZS/rankings Hypertension prevalence by country: https://www.who.int/gho/ncd/risk_factors/blood_pressure_prevalence/en/ Hypertension deaths by country: https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/hypertension/by-country/ Here is my source for rural Africans as I initially mentioned: https://nutritionfacts.org/2017/04/06/high-blood-pressure-normal-but-not-natural/ I don't know who (population) your source includes. In another article, the same source, Dr. Michael Greger, says the same thing applies to rural Chinese. The key point is a largely vegan whole food diet, with meat a couple of times a year, leads to the good outcomes in blood pressure and diabetes. That is not what rich countries typically have. If Africans and Chinese adopt our diets, they will have the same results. The results cited by Dr. Greger refer to rural Africans with traditional diet. FWIW my sister lives in rural Laos and the diabetes rates are crazy high because of all the sticky rice.

This is being looked at by many (need models and statistics though :) ). {i live in a socialized medicine world and there are costs to waiting just as there are costs for excessive care}. It appears clear that delaying major cardiac surgeries has resulted in people dying while waiting. Also, anecdotally and progressively from more solid evidence, because of imposed shortages and people actively avoiding care, patients tend to come late for various conditions (heart attack, stroke) and obviously this limits the options that could reverse, at least partially, the consequences. The answer will become clearer when excess mortality data will be collected and analyzed. There will be excess mortality from COVID-19 and from the above but it also appears that there will be much less mortality from accidents. i read Spekulatius mentioning that hospitals are open for business but this is far from being the case in my province (especially urban centers). There are many places where a large part of the workforce is either CV+, in quarantine or simply decide to avoid work. Definitely. There are still a lot of hospitals and outpatient centers near us which are not allowed to perform many elective surgeries. In fact, my Mom had to have a series of back surgeries for a herniated disc. She had one surgery in early March and he second follow up one has been postponed (tbd). Now she isn't in immense pain or on any drugs at the moment, but it's still frustrating because he lingering issues still bothers her. Not to mention where my parents live there is not a single Covid-19 patient. I'm no surgeon, but I imagine the timing of a series of surgeries plays some type of role in effectiveness, outcome, and path forward. I imagine there are individuals in much worse situations. The hospital my wife used to work at in Ohio has cut employee pay and laid off a lot of staff simply because they are getting crushed revenue wise for not being able to perform elective surgeries. Not sure how widespread this is, but I have read reports of this happening in other states as well. Unintended consequences...truly a shame...

Exited all but one GOOG $1500 Jan 2022 leaps I bought about a little over month ago at 5.5 for 16.9 F&^k me....could I have missed out on more? Almost certainly! But damn, how can I pass this up in the short term? options = increased risk/reward and emotions Would you have taken profits?

Anyone have any thoughts on how many deaths will be related to elective surgeries being canceled? I guess you could also look at potential factors that lead to premature death as a result of postponing surgeries or treatments but I’m not sure you could quantify that.

MSGS, BRK

https://www.wtae.com/article/upmc-chief-medical-officer-what-we-cannot-do-is-extended-social-isolation/32393261 Head of UPMC in PA - 110 of 5500 beds occupied by covid patients - Average age of covid death in PA is 84 - 65% of covid patients in PA come from nursing home facilities.

Did we drain the swamp yet? His hacienda indeed. And his zombie followers fall for it (thinking he's looking out for the 'little guy') every single time. Now prepare to watch this whistleblower's name dragged through the mud by the zombies willing to do their master's bidding. You’re voting Biden right? ;D

They have to reach the pharynx which is located pretty far in. My buddy had one done for some other test and said it was uncomfortable, burned, and made his eyes water. The videos do look disturbing. He described it as "A prostate exam for your face" ;D

Are you going to get tested now? I am not eligible per prevailing criteria apparently, so no. I've heard that you can pay some doctors $100 for an antibody test. Probably depends on locality and availability though. Dr. Scott G mentioned something about it yesterday.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I’ve looked at this company a few times and it’s interesting but long term I find it hard to be confident in their “moat”. Curious what your quick take is if you don’t mind sharing.

Added both of these and a touch of RTX, VZ

Yea, I dont know but the frauds and hypocrites have been revealing themselves in full color with Biden. At least I've been honest. I could give two shits about how awful a person Trump is or how Biden is a corrupt creep but I could live with him in the WH as well. But the fake contempt people disgusted by Trumps behavior are now showing its all just blabber as they excuse and downplay and rationalize the very same issues with Joe...The #metoo frauds like Milano. Believe all women except when its inconvenient to you, right? Tara Reade doesn't remember what she put in the Senate complaint. She goes out of her way to draw attention to Biden in her complaint filed with the Senate but then doesn't even mention the assault? She complained that he made her uncomfortable and so she was assigned a new spot where she would be away from him. What else are they going to do, reassign Biden? First she went to law school, then a Biden staffer, then a singer, an actress, a cat lady. Her history doesn't point to stability -- drama, yes. Singer, actress -- attention getter. That said, it doesn't for certain mean that she is lying. Those people do exist though and instability and drama are red flags hallmarks. So she is a mix between Julie Swetnick and Christina Ford.... While your response is a reasonable one, people dont get to play this card. Not after how they behaved with the Kavanaugh allegations. Not after the incessant whining about quality of character with Trump. The presumption of innocence was destroyed by liberals over the past 4 years. You dont get it back because your guy is running. Trump is a narcissistic clown, and Biden is a world class establishment creep. Those are our candidate for POTUS. At least lets treat them the same and stop pretending this is a case of Jesus running against Hitler. Try as they might, the Conservatives cannot wash their hands clean when they find one witness against one Liberal. Clinton, yes, there were more cockroaches in the kitchen. When we find another, then another, and another, with Biden we will then know we have a creep. Not even close yet. He's almost 80 and he has been in office for decades and all you've got to show for it is a woman who cannot remember what she complained about in her report.