Castanza

+ = US Gov't/Policy + = US Citizens

Yes and gun crime went up with the ban for law abiding citizens ownership....irony 1. You said Russia securities are banned because of the current invasion of Ukraine 2. I said ok, why are Chinese and MX securities not banned because of the current drug situation 3. You said the drug history goes back further in time then the quoted 6 years 4. And I said yeah and Russia Ukraine conflicts go back further as well so why are securities only banned now? 5. You said securities of KNOWN enemies should be banned or excepted to be banned. So why the inconsistency is my point...and why the double standards on which equities to ban. That is my point. Russia and China have both invaded countries in the last 5 years. Yet every talking head on the news and hedge fund manager is saying "We need to start investing in China." When China is doing far more directly against the US than Russia is. Blocking investments is just a stupid way to handle the situation. Either let people assume their own risk and invest where they want (free market) or don't and block all foreign adversarial exchanges. I knew the risk when investing in Russian ADRs...that's why it was a small beer money bet. But my initial point was pointing out the hypocrisy that it wasn't Russia who stole my shares....it was the US. That was decades ago and although linked, it was different than the conflict in 2018-2020.... China broke the agreement to maintain the segregation of govt and laws in Hong Kong post handover from the British. CCP worked their way into Hong Kong through legislative annexation. They imprisoned protesters and advocates of democracy since the mid 2000's and additional change in 2018-19 basically removed all freedom or independence of Hong Kong. Simply a different approach. Many many changes - Freedom of press gone - Bogus elections with CCP stooges put in office - Extradition laws on the books and anti protest/democracy laws put in place to silence any dissident. Same thing China will likely do with Taiwan imo....China is damn good at invading through means of the nuanced legal process with no small degree of corruption. _________________________________________________________________________________________ All this to be said: Investing in foreign countries comes with risk 100000%. But that risk is not consistent and often times the risk does not come from the foreign power. It comes from out own country. So to the initial post I responded to....Russia was not the problem with Russian ADR's....it was the US who screwed it's own citizen shareholders. Some consistency from OUR government would be nice. Either make it clear what we can and cannot invest in or don't interfere. Also the brokerages are to blame to an extent. Some of them took it upon themselves to block ADR's and I think that's very wrong. Right in line with banks choosing to lock up finances of businesses they don't support. That's not capitalism and free market.

So which is it? The here and now that matters for which equities are banned and blocked? Or further back in history? Because Russia owned Ukraine a dozen times over the last 800 years. I also seem to remember Russia being a vital ally to the US during WWII....again...inconsistency regarding actions in both the historical and present perspectives.

China and Mexico are flooding our country with Fentanyl which has killed close to 500k US citizens in the last 6 years.…are their equities banned? China took over Hong Kong just a few years ago…they also leaked a virus that killed millions globally and caused untold amounts of financial damage. There is zero consistency to this nonsense. “Morality” and investing don’t go hand in hand.

My Sberbank investment in Russia is actually mostly impossible to access because of the US not Russia. My 5k investment that’s worth 45k is just stuck….in limbo until the US decides to allow ADRs again if ever.

100% on the stimulus America is quickly becoming a Corporatacracy with an overly political and corrupt judicial/legislative system. That’s a recipe for destruction of capitalism. Look at our presidents and look at congress lol zero leadership. It’s been almost 3 years now since Congress has allowed bills to be amended on the floor. 100% of them are written and handled by a handful of people (mainly lobbyists) behind closed doors. Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer the US system to anything else out there. Its short term benefits are unmatched in history. Capitalism will always struggle with the above but its flavors exists on a sliding scale based on current political appetite and environment. I guess the question always is how far can you stray and still be able to find your way back to something that resembles your founding principles. Looking at the panel of presidential candidates…..well nothing inspiring there to say the least….

I think about them like a heirloom of sorts. My Dad wears a Tudor that he got from his Dad in his will. I’ll probably get it one day as well. Purely mechanical devices are just interesting and can last a very long time. Sometimes analog is just better. I got my Nomos when my son was born this last year. Plan to give it to him down the line. Prior to this I wore a cheap Casio…still wear it for house work etc.

Although I agree that Capitalism is the way I think you’re a bit short sighted to think China is just going to disappear. China has been around for 3500+ years. The US and other capitalist nations have barely been around for 200 years. The jury is out on how this goes long term for capitalism. I’m seeing a few cracks in the US and to me they seem to be a result of capitalism and growth/success culture at all costs. Short term, so far it does wonders. But if survivability and endurance is your game, there are other models out there that have clearly worked for a long time. I think over the next 100-200 years it will become apparent whether unfettered individual growth/success is a recipe for the long term survival l of a nation.

Nah, there has been so many former and current NSA members and security experts who comment on this question frequently. The NSA could and definitely has the talent to develop something like that, but really there is no reason to do so. They have a 1000 and one other techniques of acquiring the data. Project PRISM and Pegasus come to mind. They don't need to create a crypto currency to track down black market money flows. The NSA is extremely talented and tbh BTC is probably way below their capabilities. Plus you can read the code yourself. It's tantamount to saying Linux is a govt run OS with backdoors as well. A lot of terrorists use Monero and other crypto currencies as well cash. BTC emerged just after the 2008 crash as an alternative to govt backed currencies. Do you really think the NSA development BTC with a plan to launch it after the next financial crisis in the country with zero way of knowing whether it would be adopted or not? I'd say that's highly unlikely and not worth their time. Also it's pretty damn difficult (probably impossible) to move large amounts of BTC anonymously. The NSA, CIA FBI, and Secret Service cyber departments don't need a backdoor to track down BTC transactions. There is no shortage of stories out there of them doing exactly that.

I wear a Nomos Ahoi ... very nice watch imo. Bought used at maybe 3/5 the price of new. Can't justify a Rolex but would consider a Tudor Black Bay 54 if I was in the market for another used watch...Definitely not a watch collector, but enjoy having one nice watch.

House layout > house size

~40% currently across accounts (disclaimer though as the SAVE saga is still open....). Overall really solid year for me....But I did lot more trading than anticipating simply because of how the market was. So that's good and bad imo...I try to keep an open mind with investments and not get tied to anything I hold (outside of MSFT and RTX). I think it's important to take what the market gives you and not get caught up in diversification etc. Great thanks to all of you on here for the very solid DD and idea aggregation! BY FAR the best investment forum out there! CORE - MSFT - RTX (added to in Oct) - BRK.B (re-bought in Feb) - AIV (doubled in Oct) - ALCO (re-established a position on the dip back in Sept) - FRPH (new this year) - FFH (new this year thanks Viking) - JOE - BRO (new this year) - WFG (doubled in Oct) - GENGF (new this year) - NTDOY - CPRT (new this year) - PARA (new this year) - PFMT (new this year) - BTC OPEN PLAYS - SAVE (stock cost basis sub ~$11.20 and call options Jan 2025) still open....fingers crossed here - BAC (options) bought 1/16/26 $40 calls at .94 sold half for ~3.20 - GLASF (some core some trade...overall small position) SOLD - GOOGL (bought last March sold in the 120's) <---- kind of regret this but had other things in my sights - MSGE (no issues with the thesis, just had other things I liked better) - SNCAF (solid gain on the year...decided it wasn't a company or industry I wanted to keep up with though and the position was not large enough to make holding worth it) - INTC (took a loss on this but nothing major...should have held lol) - VTS (Solid - HQI (sold for ~13 sold high 16's) - M (stock and options. Paid .11c for $20 Jan 19 2024 calls sold mid Dec for ~.55) - CASH (buy under 45 sell over 50 rinse and repeat...) - PCYO (I trade in and out of this at least once or twice a year....CEO gives shareholders zero reason to hold currently.) - MANU (.....) - TFC - USB - ATCO (forced out unfortunately...)

Basically smart contracts to enable off chain transactions between verified peers. It doesn’t have to verify every transaction on chain because it sort of hold open that verification. So it can handle a million times more a transaction volume vs the main BTC chain which verifies every transaction. layman’s description here. https://www.coinbase.com/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-lightning

Depends how you transact. If you’re doing it right in chain with BTC it’s expensive. If you’re doing it on Lightning network it’s negligible.

Merry Christmas to everyone! Enjoy your family time!

Well I didn’t feel like doing the math on tax after certain amount lol but it’s not that far off. Tax incentives are bad either way imo.

Yup a quick look at the Federal tax brackets shows just how poor the incentives are to earn more at the lower brackets. Especially when you stack it against what jobs and wages are actually available/attainable out there for the average person. That jump from 44k/yr to say a job at 55-60k a year is not worth it in many cases. Especially if you take into account education costs/requirements which is probably required for most jobs in that 50k+ income bracket. Most people probably don't see north of 80k for at least 5-10 years in their jobs if ever...So when you add in those 8-9% student loans on 40-50k, general cost of living, housing, vehicles....it's almost like it makes sense to just be poor and go after handouts in those lower ranges lol 12% bracket after tax at 45k a year is: ~40k 22% bracket after tax at 55k a year is: ~47k 22% bracket after tax at 65k a year is: ~59k And the IRS wonders why there are so many people doing under the table work in those lower brackets...

Urban warfare is a major bitch, especially when civilians still occupy the area. What Israel has to do right now is like taking a jar full of red and green M&Ms; mixing them up and then trying to remove only the red ones by opening the top and shaking them out one by one (impossible). Between Israel and the US (consulting) you couldn't ask for a more capable force at doing exactly this. But yes, it's a slaughterhouse anyway you slice it. Now imagine another force (not US or Israel) trying to take this endeavor on. I do not think Israel has a choice here. Very similar situation to the US with Mosel and Raqqa where ISIS was deeply intrenched and roughly 12k civs lost their lives. War is never black and white and people should stop discussing it in such terms. There are always pre-cursors, prerequisites, causes, effects, other doors (open and closed), impossible choices, justifications, tragedy and suffering. _________________________________________________________ Regarding the Houthis.... The powers at be have never had a better excuse to do what they really would like to do... time will tell....It's a bad time for poor leadership (is all I have to say about that). Oil supply shocks are definitely on the table here.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/alibaba-jd-com-stock-price-china-stimulus-2af87e63 "The People’s Bank of China offered commercial lenders a net 800 billion yuan ($113 billion) in one-year loans Friday—a record cash injection into the banking system through its one-year policy. In a bid to boost the country’s struggling property market, Beijing and Shanghai implemented new measures Thursday including cutting down-payment ratios to buy homes and extending mortgage repayment deadlines. There could be more, as state media reported this week that China will step up policy adjustments to support an economic recovery in 2024."

The problem is rules of engagement for many of these piracy attacks. Not sure if it's still the case but for a long time ships weren't allowed to have lethal force on board. They were told to perform evasive maneuvers to create wakes and to turn on the water hoses. When the pirates figured out how to get by that you ended up with situations like Captain Philips getting taken hostage. Everything was reactionary instead of proactive. Parka few Merchant Marines on board with some small arms and your flip flop wearing chum bucket pirates would disappear.

I added quite a bit on that 11/15-11/16 dip after adding a reasonable amount with it was sub $10. If it weren't for that my cost basis would probably be 12-13ish which imo isn't bad either as a long hold. Been slowly adding more as I sold off other position (HQI and M) for profits. Shares are held in my Roth and options in brokerage (not ideal) but is what it is!

$SAVE This is now a 22% position for me not including options which is another ~3%. Share cost basis of 11.20.

$SAVE shares

Trimmed my M position (calls and shares). Playing with house money now. Thanks @Parsad

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