Xerxes

I seem to have not seen this (missed this), Stelco declared a $3 special dividend. And the stock largely bottomed in the low $30s.

Lol thank you @John Hjorth the reason why i made the comment is because the Business Insider article referenced John Malone. I figured only AI would randomly pull “recent” cross references (in this case Malone) on a Berkshire related article.

I wonder if that Business Insider article (shown on Yahoo) was written by AI. Prompt AI : write me an article about Buffett. Focus on cash pile. Extract and include recent Mungerism references (if any).

yeah. That would be a fatal blow to Markel’ Berkshire aura. That said I would think that Berkshire investment team’ bandwidth is better spend looking at stand alone operating businesses, where they can bring to bear their expertise. Than opaque conglomerate-like creatures like Markel and/or Fairfax.

Certainly this must be a blow to Markel fanboys. Position cut by 66%. At the end of the day, while Berkshire might be a cornerstone foundational investment for Markel, the latter is just a security/tracking stock for Berkshire. They come and go. Ping me, when there is a +$15 billion position.

There was a time in the 90s, the stated goal was to get a ROE of 20%. That target was downgraded to 15% as the overall franchise grew. I don’t remember when but maybe late 90s. All this to say that there would a time (2030s ?) in the future that the goalpost might change to 10-12% from 15%, as the franchise grows further.

Few folks from my family and friends had also crazy low rate right before Covid, I think all of them bought back the car (exceeded the option) to re-sell as second hand in late 2022-23. Unknowingly all of them were very (correctly) shorting the bond market with their unintentional trade.

The book (and conventional view IIRC) considers the pulling of two army corps and one cavalry division from the outmost right-wing sweeping through the Low Countries as fatal.

i am on a self directed tour in south east Asia. Seeing five cities in three countries. Kuala Lumpur was two cities ago. So already left. Now in north of Thailand in Chiangmai. Will probably do Vietnam and the rest of Thailand in 2024 on a different tour. Hope to be able to do this in India soon. Assuming I can figure out which part to tackle first. The sheer size of India is staggering. But like compounding I guess you never start until you start.

Meanwhile looks like Modi is scrambling to save face with Qatar government after its sailors were caught spying. The eight are facing the death penalty. https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/India-lobbies-for-8-nationals-facing-death-penalty-in-Qatar but worry not a local YouTuber says it is masterstroke by Modi. Came up first on the search engine.

Non-state terrorism “coolness” is cyclical. “Coolness” comes and goes with interest rate. State terrorism is always cool. Must be the use flashy gadgets.

the trailer : https://youtu.be/yAN5uspO_hk?feature=shared

@This2ShallPass this too shall pass

Reading a book that covers the last chapter of the Romanov dynasty. I am half way through the book about when the first war starts. There are some eerily similarities to 2022 and the way it was conducted. ^^^^ …. on the Russian side “the Supreme Command ordered, but the railroads decided” …. ^^^^ the jealousy between the minister of war and C-in-C who was a Grand Duke. The then minister of war in 1914 sound very similar to today’ minister of defense: Shoigu ^^^^ The minister of war holding up ammunitions and artillery shells to undermine the Grand Duke … lol ^^^^^ The Kaiser summarizing von Moltke battle plan: “Lunch in Paris, dinner in St Petersburg”

From WeWork to WeBankrupt

I am certainly not as nearly knowledgeable as others, but I think with “portfolio maturity” you get that average number of years left, as you indicated. With “duration of portfolio” you get a that time aspect along with the size of the cash flows. And since that last cash flow at the termination is lumpiness of all, the duration is always back-weighted and always lower than maturity. an example from Google on how it is calculated. Maturity of this on-the-run single 5-year is “5” but it’s duration is slightly less than 5; which is “4.55” as it is weighted to the size of the cash flow with respect to time.

On all the bullish assumption on FFH “It's not what we don't know that gets us in trouble. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so'?“ - Mark Twain Xerxes is party popping from his new base in Kuala Lumpur

Fascinating ! sounds like an interesting book

Damn No question about Blackberry’ recent news, highlighting what a big mistake it was not to sell it in 2021.

Costa rica is great. I remember they were getting mangoes from the forest and chopping it and preparing for us. I stayed close to the border of Panama for a week or so. I guess you are American. In my case, (as Canadian) we had to pay in US dollar or “adjusted local” currency. So not exactly LatinAmerica like cheap.

Thanks. Did all the “Gardens by the bay” related stuff yesterday. Awesome place. Since I like history I am heading to the boring fortress complex of sentosa (or what remains of them). The cannons were pointing to the sea even as the Japanese descended on Singapore from the north through Thailand and Malaysia. I am heading next to the Kuala Lumper, Malacca, GeorgeTown, before heading to Thailand. ps: I actually held GRAB. And got “SPACed and whacked” during the drawdown.

Currently in Singapore. On my way there, passed through the Middle East. This must have been the closest I have been to Iran in decades !

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/acquired/id1050462261?i=1000633030747

Either that, or Chuck Norris was the captain of USS Ranger. And he refused to fight easy enemies.

I am/was not familiar with that name. Not sure why it was not part of the famed “six” that I had back of my mind.