Xerxes

Google the names “greta gerwig” or “margot robbie”, the director and the main Barbie actor the main Google page turns pink

If ever there is a CoBF coffee mug dotted with the handles of the top ten-fifteen posters in the Fairfax thread, I would definitely buy a mug as a memorabilia

I guess if you are a long term buy and hold, this book is a must. One needs to extend the “runway” of the compounding machine.

Absolutely amazing. Thanks for all of your support and generosity. Cheers !

I don’t have a large FFH allocation like most people here. I think I am at 12%. It is not for lack of wanting, but i rarely do trade/swap. That said between FFH, Google and AMZN it has been a good 10 days. Those are three are about 30% of the entire portfolio.

Thank you both. I think to see it as “stock dividend” makes sense.

Canada contributed to NATO 2% target by contributing 1% + a bit of Justin on the top to make up for it Even Steven

I think the pro/con of DRIP is well know for the investor point of view (less/no transaction, a bit of discount) What is the pro/con for the company that has the DRIP program. If company has $2 in assets, funded by $1 of liabilities and $1 of equity, and a 50cent dividend that is paid out as cash dividend. Scenario A: investor takes the cash and walks away. That will reduce asset and equity by 50cents. increasing financial leverage. Simple enough. Scenario B: if the hypothetical investor participated in the DRIP program, that 50cent stays in the company coffers as cash. Company issues new shares (dilution) to back those would-have been dividends. What happens to the right hand side b/s ?!? Scenario C if the hypothetical investor takes the 50cent dividend in cash and him/herself buys is more share (no DRIP no dilution). Like scenario A, this will reduce asset and equity by 50cents. increasing financial leverage. Simple enough. But shareholder balance sheet has now more shares. I am struggling with Scenario B ?

I should add: paradoxically, perhaps that it why Putin would never be able re-assemble the Soviet empire. Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia were the pillars of the Soviet Union, with the first two being major pillars. Without Ukraine willing participation in Soviet Union 2.0 project, it would never be. USSR 1.0 would be nothing without Ukraine. What people get wrong is that, despite all the bravado from Putin about resurrecting USSR, what he really clamours for is the Tsarist empire, where the Russian stock held supreme. But no one wants that. So he talks about USSR and the nostalgia.

If I had a satoshi for everytime folks confused/assumed Soviet = Russian equation l, I would have 1 Bitcoin by now. If Moscow was the nerve centre of the Soviet empire, Ukraine was very much its beating heart: Ukraine was a pillar of the Soviet Union, feeding its population, contributing its engineering know-how to the military industry complex (Antonov is Ukrainian), and provided politicians, generals, soldiers and farmers to the Communist cause. - Trotsky was an Ukrainian Jew - Stalin was a Georgian (Soviet leader) - Khurushev was Ukrainian (Soviet leader) - Brezhnov was Ukrainian (Soviet leader) - Chernenko was Ukrainian (I think) - Mikoyan brothers were Armenians (one was a politician and another was founder of the company that makes MIGs) - 1 of the only three Admiral of the Fleet was Armenian Etc. Quiz: How many years of that multi decade Soviet existence, did an actual full blooded Russian led the empire ?? If you dislike the Soviet Union and what it stands for (as rightly you should), then you need to dislike Ukrainian contribution to it as well. And not to think of Ukraine as Ewoks under Imperial yoke. Or some other Western fantasy. There is nothing wrong for Ukraine to fight for a separate and authentic Western future. But don’t ignore the history just because it suits your own good-guy-bad-guy biases. Soviets committed atrocities against all the people they ruled, including Russians and Ukrainians.

Well said. Too bad no one batted an eye in the West at the time on that casus belli

Ref: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_spring_offensive Ludendorff offensive, named after its master. Looks like I got the year wrong. It was 1918 and not 1917

Didn’t Germany launched one of its strongest campaign on the Western front in 1917, before American troop builder reached critical mass. That 1917 campaign was not a clogged affair like the one in 1916 where all the kinetic energy got absorbed at Verdun.

Not munger. One of the guest on the podcast whose name is Charlie

hi i had a chance to listen to it. Thanks for the podcast. I liked the explanation that the hedges were to protect the insurance entities in a negative real rate environment. Often time i think folks think Prem just woke up one day and said to himself “let s make a big macro bet, shall we?” I like Charlie being so super pumped about it. And the fact that he sold Costco at +35 p/e to buy FFH.

The Christmas bombings of Vietnam. Americans thinks it worked beautifully in bringing back Hanoi to the negotiating table and ending the war. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/12/17/asia/operation-linebacker-ii-50th-anniversary-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html On the other hand, the Allied bombing of Berlin ties up an estimated 1.5 million German troops manning 88mm anti air artillery. Both the troops and the 88s would have probably better served fighting in the east. And the Luftwaffe was very much decimated defending the German proper. IIRC there were only 2 German planes attacking Normandy on D-Day. It works in different ways. I think, in the current context with Moscow, it is more to burst the bubble of the city dwellers. And pulling resources to defend it

I don’t remember exactly but I think it was in year 4 or 5 of Iran-Iraq war, when they started their War of Cities. Scuds flying to Tehran and from Iran to Baghdad. It is two years early in this conflict.

I didn’t say he shouldn’t say it. I just called them lot a f@&:ing crybaby hypocrites. Nuff’ said. The only scenario that I would be concerned about nukes is in a post-Putin world, where a new leader emerges in the Kremlin to win the war but without the Putin legacy baggage holding him back. The fact that Putin has made a miscalculation with this Feb 2022 invasion is I think actually holding him back, oddly enough. Ukraine is fighting a total war, Russia is not as of yet. Perhaps we won’t see much material change either way till U.S. elections.

For me the news was not so much the attack on Moscow but the fact that they took responsibility. Anyone remembers the first time Ukraine attacked Russia proper. I remember. It was a somber affair. They attacked the cross border town of Belgorod with helicopters. It was as if they were testing the bear. And they neither confirmed nor denied their involvement. We are now in the ‘normalization’ phase of the bear getting poked. The other news is Graham stating that a tactical nuclear strike is considered an attack on NATO, even though not on NATO soil, because of secondary impact. Ok fine, it is all about narrative and building red lines. Except that yet again it is one sided Western view. Washington has no problem choking other economies with severe sanctions when it pleases them, without shooting a bullet (not considering secondary impact on local populations), while they cry like fu@$ing babies about secondary impact, when it suits them. Dear Washington. Grow some spine please.

If i am not mistaken last week, everyday it closed above $1,000 CAD …. And stayed on the other side for a drink over the weekend

Anybody read any of James C famous novel. I have heard the famous series but had not read them. Looks like Shogun will be made into a Hulu movie (I guess)

I was ok with his life. It was interesting. but did the crux of the movie needed to revolve around the “authorization for security clearance” like it was a big deal.

In all candidness, I was concerned about tactical nuke exchange in the early phase, but the probability has gone down a lot. In the early phases of war, he could have stunned the West by going nuclear, stunning Sleepin’ Joe and Kiev, instead he stunned himself. In 2023, the mutiny, and a shaky chain of command structure, and a Tsar that still playing the peace-time game of creating division within Kremlin, all speak to indecision and indecisiveness. Will even his orders be followed if orders are given to activate the small-yield nukes … I think in this war, we are exploring how much we can push the non nuclear envelope, and I suspect it can be push further. That said, in a post-Putin world, will only have uncertainty and ambiguity on the nuclear front. The world indeed has changed and not for the better. The Economist had a few good article (as always) in the July 1st edition. They described Putin as a “rusty nail” holding the charade together, even as mutiny was unfolding. With stakeholders not sure which direction to bet on, but sure what the rusty nail is.

Finished watching Oppenheimer. Cannot believe I spend 3 hours on a movie with “security clearance authorization” as a plot point.

So is Markel as an investment for Berkshire. barely needle-moving.