Xerxes

Mostly in office every day. This and next week are different. National holiday tomorrow in QC and then again next Wednesday which is Canada Day. Quiet week in office. Might as well stay home.

Tragedy in Montreal. Three dead: Dead civilian (a Rabbi) at the hand of an excited police officer, who got jumped during the stand off with the shooter. Another police officer (An Algerian) killed in action in his early 30s. The shooter, a maniac from Alberta, part of the nationwide “Incel” secret society, or whatever the fuxk that is. I worked from home Monday, so didn’t see anything first hand. I drive by there often.

Yeah Lukaku was a bit aloof

They all did great !! Hopefully they sent Egypt packing this coming Friday.

Great game between Iran and Belgium 0-0. Awesome

nothing that cannot be patched over with a gift of a luxury 747 to the Federal Government.

Canada-Qatar 6:0 uffff Between RasLaffan incident (hitting the checkbook) and this game (hitting the pride), I don’t think Ottawa is going to get much infrastructure investment from Qatar.

I have bought this book mentioned in this thread some years ago, I think more than decade ago, but read it recently. I found it enjoyable to read. Here are one I think you and @thepupil will appreciate. I read it but I need to reread it again. Will post a thread on it when I do. Furthermore, I recommend these two on British colonial banks: HSBC and StandardCharter. Have both books but will to read them. These two colonial banks alongside Bank of China (Hong Kong), which is a subsidiary of Bank of China, neither of which are to be confused with People’ Bank of China, hold an oligopoly as issuers of Hong Kong Dollars. Their trio headquarters sit side by side. Picture below is mine. The third building was too small to catch it.

Corner of Goldman Sachs, Berkshire and Fairfax Cherry picking March 30, 2020 Regardless of the cherry picking, Solomon tenure and moving away from a heavy balance sheet has been a blockbuster

Some comments for those heading that way. I completed my fifth trip to Asia since 2023. 10 days in Hong Kong and 10 days in Indonesia. Indonesia - my second trip there. This way a 10 day hiking/climbing adventure with a group 6 like minded individuals. We did the highest volcano in Bali and Mount Rinjani in Lombok and other hikes. This trip was largely completed during the "Asian fuel crisis"; i can tell you that except for me cancelling my flight with Emirates and going with Cathay Pacific, and dropping Shanghai from my travel plans, I did not 'feel' or see any impact on the local economies. Bali was a bit slower because of tourists coming from Europe had to cancel but other than that, Government is doing a good job in keeping Bali alive and roaring. One of the highlight of my trip in Lombok, beside the summit of Rinjani, was chatting with the bartender after the climb and him telling me that "we want Indonesia to be more like Canada" Cathay Pacific - for Montrealers Emirates is the better option as there is a direct flight to UAE, and from there we can go anywhere in Asia; but this 2026 situation forced me to go with Cathay Pacific, which I always wondered about but never bothered because it requires going to Toronto first. All in all, they are great, and I think Hong Kong is great gateway to Asia. It is more likely that I will use them again, because I really prefer Hong Kong than either Singapore or Dubai as the gateway city. The other interesting thing w/ Cathay Pacific is its history with Swire Pacific. The sworn enemies of Jardine Matheson. Hong Kong - If you love history than in HK you are in for treat. While there I did side trip to Macau to see Little Portugal. Now that I have seen both Macau and Malacca, I need to cover Nagasaki, Goa, Hormuz (? ). That would cover the five major Portuguese trading post in Asia. I also did a quick side daytrip in to Shenzhen and back. Trying out the new visa free advantage we have. Tried and failed to book an autonomous taxi Apollo Go near headquarters of Tencent. The side trip was trying out if I could manage the the mainland digital ecosystem.

Congrats @Saluki; I just saw this thread now Hope you are having a great time Rumor has it, having a child is life changing in every way, .... that is except the CFA/CPA/CA point of view crunching the financial headwind and CAPEX requirement

Hi @bearprowler6 I don’t know if you are willing to share; I recall at some point years ago you said you hold Alibaba. Do you still hold it ? is there another position that you hold as long as Fairfax in your portfolio, with coffeecan characteristics. thank you and welcome back

The deal is structured to make Ackman who has trimmed Alphabet feel both smart (Alphabet equity issuance) and not smart (Berkshire averaging up)