Xerxes

I went in 2023 to Japan, my second time after a 15 year hiatus, my first time was in 2005. I missed seeing both times Nagasaki. I have a thing for old Portuguese colonies. You can add Gao, Macau to that list. I did see Malacca and Penang in Malaysia. it is interesting how memory works. I went to see the Shogun palace in Kyoto in 2005. And I had good memories of my visit for +15 years. when I visited again in 2023 the exact same location in Kyoto, the museum of course had not changed, but I have no longer access to my 2005 memories. They are now superseded by 2023 of the same location.

hi well done sir. is there a specific peak or trail you would recommend for first timers in Nepal ? Which is more than a hill but not a killer. I have been up to +5,000 meter in Peru. Not a peak per se, but across the rainbow ridge.

Long Live the Empire

I don’t know where I read this. It was about someone who was watching Masters of the Air who was recounting a conversation he had, I think, in the 60s or 70s with one of those retired bomber leaders post-war, and how someone in his early 20s could have so much responsibility. The person then mentioned that he wouldn’t trust his own 20 year old with a wheelbarrow.

There is nothing wrong with politicians starting wars offensive and/or defensive, as they are there to led and we elected to do just that. Or in some cases they put guns on our head and said elect me. However I expect every one of those same politician to put their owns sons and daughters right in the frontline, ready to give their lives for that vision that was so important. I think this should be in fact a requirement. Skin in the game.

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/frontline-ukrainians-fear-aid-u-083843561.html …. Biden promised the arms shipments would begin immediately and hailed what he called “a good day for world peace.” The reaction here, near the front lines of the war, felt very different. Oleg sighed when The Daily Beast told him about the events 5,000 miles away in Washington, D.C. “Are you serious?” he said. “Now this war will just continue.” ….. …. Soldiers told The Daily Beast Russia hopes to take control of the city in the Donbas region by May 9, the World War II Remembrance Day for Russia and other post-Soviet countries. Throughout much of Ukraine, a collective sigh of relief has been felt, and many far away from the fighting feel that finally, they are receiving the aid they so desperately have needed. But in Kharkiv, 19 miles away from the Russian border, some residents are angry that the U.S. is resuming its aid.

Was never fan of L3. When it comes to the defense industrial complex, I am only interested in their priority and/or consistency in returning capital and the longevity of their program. RTX and Lockheed come ahead as they have a focus on FCF per share and EPS. It is worth mentioning the CEO of Lockheed comes from the American Tower fame. And you can see that in spade. They are the only ones that put in place large ASR when market fell below franchise value. Northrop and General Dynamics comes next. Great franchises and very term runway, but very consistent capital return policy (too consistent as they always return 100% via dividends and buyback). But no desire to reduce share count considerably beyond what their FCF allows them to if a special situations gives them that opportunity. Northrop own’ slides shows a focus on FCF but not on FCF per share. and I don’t where L3 is at

Sorry guys. but again GM had to spend better part of the last decade exiting its global footprint, and invest in its ultiim EV platform. These are done now, or at least the runway has been built. The shares that they are buying back are FAR more valuable than a decade ago. This is not some mindless steel, iron ore or coal company that wants to get some love by buying back.

hahaha it’ an oriental grand fatherly-like thing. Very normal $1,500 doesn’t hurt either

^^^ thank you sir

Peltz was 100% right to go after Walt Disney. And shareholders were 100% right to reject him. Two things can be true at the same time

I think what Nintendo needs is a good old listing in the NYSE. Why does SONY has one but Nintendo cannot ? Incidentally SONY is flat from Oct last year till now. And Yen-USD is where it was last Oct.

Agreed There is also the human individual element of it. Flocking to the patriotic flag during the dire hours of 2022 is one thing, two years later I would imagine there are two different world within the war torn Ukraine. Those in downtown of a major capital, protected like a fortress, with the occasional irritation and reminder of being at war. And those slugging it out in the trenches. Both sides enjoy the material and public support from the West, but only one side has to risk their lives everyday. I was in Tehran during the 8 years war, except for the occasional Scud missiles and air bombing via modified Mig25 (that broke through the F-14 shields) by the Iraqi and some line-ups for meat, live went on. I cannot say the same thing about the cities that were on the frontline with Iraq. I would expect as years go by, folks wanted to be in the camp that is Fortress Kyiv than being pulled

The good professor is on fire !!

Disney => 34% since oct 2023 Nintendo => 16% since oct 2023 cherry picking? of course I am Go Bobby

yeah. even if GM and Ford get left in the dust by Tesla on their EVs, they can create a lot of per share value by returning capital in a slow growing GDP ICE industry. I don’t know what the future will hold, but you don’t get to be a AutoZone by sporting high P/E as the share count goes down. And forget about Ford. With the family controlling 40% of stock, there is zero incentive for buyback. They prefer cash dividend. GM is the really story here

Right. I think we each need define what we mean by West. And Orient as well. For me West, is the heir to Greco-Roman world. All of it. The good and the bad and the ugly. But not based on colour. From that broader definition of West perhaps a narrower subbranch is today’ Western liberal order. Another subranch is its dark side equivalent, which we saw in the 1930s. To think of its, perhaps “people stock” are like the h/w. And Western ideal is like the s/w that runs the operating system. Thus you can have Japanese “oriental stock” (h/w) sporting a high end Western operating system (s/w). But that doesn’t make the Japanese people the heir to the Greco-Roman world.

you cannot just “click” on the filter on Excel to remove “the era” that you don’t like and/or doesn’t suit you. No more than other civilization(s). Ex: The Belgian people cannot just decide “let’s remove our atrocities in Congo from the historical timeline when we were led by King Leopold II and do a rest to improve our “Good Guys” KPI” Ex: Iranians cannot decide to say “1979 didn’t happen”. No it happened. Ex: did U.S. “not” commit genocide against the natives, because the final output benefitted the world on a net basis ? You take it all in. Bad and good. And you never do a “restructuring charge” to kitchen sink. Japan will always be the Orient, as well as South Korea. They just happen to have Western like democracies. Was Chile led by Pinochet turned into an Asian dictatorship, because they throw away their democracy and installed a one man rule.

Fallout is one of the best TV I have seen in a while. It got everything !!

I personally get my non-obvious non-North American news from The Economist. Unlike Businessweek which is very North American centric in terms of coverage, The Economist is very global. Think WSJ vs FT. It is always a week late, but not that I need to act on it.

not good enough. I don’t who is good guy and who is bad guy in Burma. They all look the same. I want a juicy conflict where I am able to walk on the street and able to point a finger to a random person and say you are a Bad Guy ! We can do that only in Gaza. It is so perfect and so unbiased.

@dealraker I don’t think anyone here is buying defense contractors based on defense budget increase or outlook of. Not me anyways. they are just great allocators of capital, going all the way back to the Last Supper in the 90s. That is why I own them. And their programs have long tails and runways. And in any case, they did fabulously well during the 2010s Obama years of defense sequestration.

Speaking of past AGM transcript on FIH, it is worth going back to couple year when they made an analogy to “Ford company stock that was chronologically undervalued trading in a foreign market. (I think Canada?)” That comment was made as an answer to FIH trading at a discount. And that is the case study that they have been looking at. Along those lines.

This was made few days before the $60B aid package. First topic is interesting. I was not aware that “glide bombs” were such a novel thing. The rest is pretty well known.

I need to retake my geography class. If bad guys* are in Gaza, than what is going in West Bank that is so bad, that your biggest fan wants to sanctions you for it. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/22/middleeast/israeli-military-us-sanctions-west-bank-intl?cid=ios_app * bad guys = everyone in Gaza (Hamas or not).