Xerxes

We both seem to have gas turbine background. Yours I think is in industrial application and more hands-on than mine. I think it is exactly as you say, or as Petraeus framed it : "jet engines with armours around them". And jet engines needs maintenance. The other thing aside logistics, I think is the military doctrine (how to use it). These are not going to be used (I think) in the same way the Russian used their tanks advanving toward Kiev. Abrams are powerfull machines but if misused, or without proper infantry support, they could be sitting duck as well. And this could be compounded by the maintenance requirement. When the U.S. forces were dashing toward Baghdad in 2003, unlike the 1991 Gulf War, they were advancing on a narrow path, which really exposed their flanks and overstrechted their lines of communications. The Americans could handle that given the training etc. and all their war planning. You are not going to see that level of complexity of operations with Ukrainians. Petraeus also talked about Abrams being the 'core' around which battalions and brigades are built. That notion of the tank serving as a 'backbone' to a brigade may be well understood in the West as a doctrine, but the Ukrainian military may not be there in terms of doctrine. So to me, it is less so about Ukrainian being able to operate these machine. They are afterall an extremely industrious folks. But more to do with their field commanders understanding how to use them. The last thing Pentagon wants it to see Abrams getting disabled and sitting duck around Bakhmut in an artillery kill zone.

Folks, I hate to break it to you, but Fairfax's performance in 2023 probably has a lot to do with how S&P500 performs in 2023. A 15-20% (Grantham style) drop on S&P500 by year-end, would probably have Fairfax rally to a healthy premuim to BV. A major bounce back at the indices level, would probably be a flat/modest gain for Fairfax. So what is your bet on S&P500 for 2023 ....

I love this line/expression. I got to try to use this more often. Which would probably apply to a lot of things.

Ehhhh ... What happened here, folks ... I thought we were talking about M1 Abrams

“The New York City taxi cab drivers are now bearish on Big Tech” ~ Dan Ives on CNBC

Every American general’s wet dream has been to see M1 Abrams roaming the fields of Eastern Europe. Even if they are symbolic to allow to more available Leopoldo get released. I think the purges in Kiev, the secret (not so secret) visit by CIA director and the tank approval are all linked. Message to Zelensky: clean up the corruption in your government. PS: There is a lot of good commentary on line about Abrams. It is clear that they would be “few months” away at the very least given all the logistics that is needed to support them vs the readily available diesel engine powered Leopolds.

They learned this from Jack Welch

In Canada, tipping has completely gotten out of hand since the pandamic. It was one thing to tip those who went out during the Dark Days to deliver food etc in 2020, it is entirely different thing to have the machine set in such a way that the 15% is now lowest of the three options. A place where I buy flowers (had to go to two different funerals) after telling them I was paying via credit, I was told I had to answer option on the credit card machine. What she meant was that I had to choose to tip on the machine for the funeral flowers !

Nothing to do with people getting away or not getting away. Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George Bush all got away from it. The world didn’t stop turning. Support should continue (or not continue) for the right reason: geopolitical, humanitarian and economical (ramp up the war industry or not). The combination of these vs. alternative.

There is an interesting bit on why M1 are not suitable for Ukraine and why Leopold II are the best bet. M1 is indeed running on a gas turbine engine. Powered by Honeywell !! https://aerospace.honeywell.com/us/en/products-and-services/product/hardware-and-systems/engines/agt-1500 A shame though as those armoured beasts were design to operate in the battlefield of Eastern Europe fighting off the Warsaw Pact, and we are not going to get see that.

@hardcorevalue @giulio Thank you

Anyone seen this from 2014

hi i vaguely remember the $1000 figure by Prem. Do you remember if he meant US or CAD$ ? also is it normal for CEO to quantify an actual share price target. I know Brookfield does it with “plan value”, but based on framework.

^^^ I watched it only because I knew C Bale wouldn’t be in movie with bad writing. Yes based on a book but still writing and directing can be bad. I finished “Treason” the so-called “spy thriller”. OMG. Who wrote that thing. So cheesy, and predictable. Good actors and good budget but clearly the actors are just there to squeeze a fist full of dollars. Contrast that to “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”, that you need to watch a few times and still not catching the whole plot. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_Tailor_Soldier_Spy_(film)

“Pale Blue Eyes” with Christian Bale is a really good movie. Really well made, you really feel the pre-Edison look of it, even during the day time where most of the lighting comes from the sun when the scenes happens in a room. (surprisingly for Netflix)

lol. Yeah. That is true. FIH own dry powder was used to buyback at $14 and $12. And I am heading less aggressively at $9. You just don’t know how low it will get.

The WW2 analogies are based on a snapshot point in time. If you add a time dimension to the analogies, a symblic Doolittle raid on Tokyo in April 1942 snowballed into Lemay firebombing of Tokyo in May 1945, some three years later !

FIH recent rise is a catch-up proxy for those who missed out FFH’ Q4 last year rally.

Romulan warbird de-cloaking off the coast of Hawaii https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/01/19/coast-guard-russian-ship-off-hawaii-liebermann-cnntm-vpx.cnn

Russia’ massive multi-time zone landmass which was competitive advantage during Swedish, French and Germanic invasions is a liability in this current context of an enemy not interested to mount an invasion but to wage asymmetric warfare.

nice ! the “lost decade” was not just about the equity hedges. Also the abnormal interest rate regime. oddly enough, FFH feels like Microsoft out of its Steve Balmer era and into its third act.

7) laser-guided precision buyback 6) B-52 carpet bombing buyback

From AW

For me the real story is not how much ammunition, shells and out of the box ideas Russia can conjure up to keeping lobbing toward its enemies, but rather how effective has been the use of SMARTArtillery by Ukraine for it to be able to punch above its weight*. *Above its weight measured by the sheer size of the arsenal.