scorpioncapital

Could this signal some belief that intrinsic value and BV are further disconnected by Inflation?

If will buy back shares above 1.2x why not change the official target higher to 1.3? I don't get this discretionary change and no change in BV floor. Is he saying he wants to buy back between quarterly reports , before financial data comes out ?

Two points, it's not easy to tell if a class is undervalued or correctly valued. Also, it isn't most undervalued class but most undervalued in relation to risk. I'll take a slightly less undervalued class that I felt was less risky than one that was a speculative bet. Again the thing I find is you can very easily be wrong on your assessment. The key is to work on the skills and insights that make you a better appraiser. I think in a year like this arbitrage is undervalued. Also possibly cable stocks though I'm not totally sure, I don't think losses are large at today's prices. I also think some advanced material stocks are good deals , both industrial and biotech. In this case I don't always think in terms of current earnings.

What about growth? I mean, many companies like IBM, ORCL are being penalized with a flat share price for years for having growth either approaching zero, microscopically above zero or contracting slightly. Is Berkshire experiencing organic growth? Growth from acquisitions is a more lumpy process.

That's the output. What's the input? For example, assume Canada has a population of 10. There is 1 billionaire. I then go and steal from him his 1 billion and give it to the other 9 (to be fair I also give him his 'fair share') The average net worth of the 10 go from $0 to $100 million each! Wow, real wealthy..but it was due to theft and socialism. So I think you have to look at the inputs. You can redistribute wealth in such a way everyone looks wealthier, but theft is still theft. If you are the one who had below average before you're happy. If are the guy who had way above average, you want to get the heck out of Canada as early and as fast as possible :)

The US system is far superior in technology, access, and options than the Canadian one. I would not wish the limited features of the Canadian system, the wait times, the state appointed and overworked doctors on anyone. I think something like UK or other parts of Europe have the best system. A hybrid system, with more private clinic options. You can pay cash or get referred via the public system. Faster if you pay cash. Also I'd like to see more options like in the US systems. More technology, more research, more cutting edge treatments. UK has an interesting hybrid mix, Germany and Switzerland too. I quite like these systems.

I think UK also has some sort of remittance basis system if you're resident but have a foreign / EU passport? Something like 20% of remitted income? But...if you say make $100,000 in capital gains, spend 5-6 months abroad and remit half a year of living expenses, you could probably get your total tax to 3.6% of the total gain, maybe less. I would say UK is a massive tax haven if you are a non-British passport holder. Ireland too but they have a physical presence requirement of 6 months which UK doesn't. Let's see if Brexit changes the dynamic.

Tariffs are being used by Trump to dismantle welfare, socialist states - to attack them globally. It is just a pretense. Those who are discussing and debating tariffs and protectionism (including economists) are perhaps missing the entire point. I laugh when I read articles about how Canada is indignant at the national security reason..it has nothing to do with national security...or tariffs for that matter.

I believe the problem with TTIP for the US was the same as for NAFTA, refusal to have a sunset clause. There is a great article why a sunset clause is very important because you don't negotiate a deal 'forever'. Things change. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/13/trump-nafta-g7-sunset-clause-trade-agreement

http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/pdfiles/country/UserValuation2018New.pdf

One is not eligible for infrastructure, it just is for being there. Healthcare has no real additional cost. I mean countries in Europe serve anyone , you just pay cash or through private health insurance (also a pretty small fee). You can go to private clinics (but there are hardly any in canada and that is a criticism of the healthcare system not that the wealthy choose to come to a nation that has limited healthcare options) . I've lived in countries that had no capital gains tax and very low flat income tax. All medical is included in a small fee. What's wrong with that? They get capital flowing in which is spent around. Even investment in real estate has benefits if the owner is living somewhere else. There is a fundamental mismanagement of resources I think in some countries versus others. Also I believe the issue is this wealth is coming but they are not declaring themselves as residents. Smartly so! Canada has a departure tax. If they became resident and their assets globally increased in value they would have to pay a departure tax when leaving even if they don't spend time in canada. Doesn't sound like a great deal so I would probably try to do the same. However I agree that collecting child benefits or gst credits is silly. They should just cross-index it against total assets. But I also believe they should stop charging exit taxes. It's not like there is some great privilege to using the roads. Every country in the world would laugh at the idea of charging for the use of day to day things, even more-so if one is spending more time abroad than domestically.

All I know is there's a scam going on...the price of food seems to be connected with the income power of the people to buy it. This means the same item of food can be sold cheaper, it's just for some reason in some countries they just don't want to.

I think he's just a bit uncertain. So he asked for a particular deal price. Probably too conservative. And they said no...Conservatism pays in the next recession if you need funding. If you don't need it, you just don't need it.

It's amazing, I didn't know this but there's a faq you can see that if you have a government debt you can choose to serve time! yes go to jail if you can't pay the debt. Personally I would just skip the country, but I didn't know debtor's prisons still exist in Canada. Shocking indeed!

I find it strange that at IB some currencies are being charged 4% to borrow and 0% to hold. Example: Polish Zloty. Is this something to do with domestic central banks because it just seems weird to have a differential from 0 to 4%. Even USD is paying something now.

Didn't Putin of Russia also threaten to turn off the lights on gas shipments to Eastern Europe? Guess politicians are the same everywhere, regardless of how much or little tax you pay!

Many systems are rule based. Not sure about ai..but You would need to synthesise various forms of information and tie them to a mental model framework , like what munger describes. It can be as simple as usa will succeed. Having said all that , execution is in the details. And sometimes some luck. I've heard many investors have the right principles but unable to apply them successfully. An old bridge teacher once told me if you keep saying the right idea but making the wrong move you probably didn't understand the concept as deeply as you thought.

One possible scenario , rates double, berkshire stock stays flat , fangs crash 50 percent... Warren said in a recent interview investing is not as easy as just buying anything at any price . I predict in due time the value of moats won't change, high valuation for growth will come down as the noose of rates ratchet up. And the basic principles he describes will be made clear again because like mathematics or gravity its just basic math.

Be happy opportunity cost lost has resulted in at least matching the sp500. It's quite a tribute that a one third pile of cash vehicle can do that...often when companies don't swing enough or make mistakes they tend to severely underperform the index which is the true disaster you need to avoid . Matching averages is not the worst fate.

Is there a fund or specific stocks one can get exposure to eastern Europe? I know Russia has sberbank but seems to be more domestic. Is there a smart way to do this like invest in western companies expanding eastward or index or specific stocks ?

In Europe there's no reporting. USA reporting is simplified compared to t1135 A grab for information .

ROK seems to have dropped like a rock, nibbling a bit more.

Reminds me of that story Zeno's paradox, if you have to get from A to B and cover half the distance, and half the distance again you won't be able to do it. Of course you just move from A to B in reality. Countries that have silly ideals or philosophies (usually socialist ones - and a specific flavour of it) tend to really shoot themselves in the foot with red tape and other hindrances to action.

And the code monkey is now in the same position as the lumberjack.

Can someone explain why Google thought it was a good idea to make a worse product than the existing one? The new system you can't even get annual comparison tables (just quarterly) like before. Have they lost some marbles?