Dinar

Holodomor was not Russian Genocide. It was Soviet genocide, oh and the Soviet Union was run by a Georgian - Stalin at the name. How is liquidation of Ukrainian Peoples Republic genocide? Massacres of Tatars? Care to provide details? Or are you referring to deportation of Crimean Tatars under Stalin?

@ValueArb, by the way, there is a history of genocide conducted by Ukrainians against Jews and Poles, or do those do not count? Or and how many Russians were massacred by Ukrainian SS volunteers in World War II - division Galitchina? Bandera & Sushkevich are Ukrainian national heroes, how are they different from Hitler?

When did Russia conduct genocide in Ukraine? j What is exactly the history of Russian genocide in Ukraine? Yes, Ukrainian writers were Russian imperialists, good point! Keep deluding yourself that Russia is a threat to the US, meanwhile Russia cannot even defeat Ukraine.

@ValueArb, when you make up numbers, you lose credibility. Ukraine GDP was $211bn in 2021 and Russian GDP 1.78 trillion in 2021, so how do you get 25%? US is not spending $20K per capita, even if you include Social Security and Medicare. Calling something a Russian propaganda point does not make it incorrect, or if Putin says 2+2 = 4, you will say it is not 4? How did Firstash, Kolomoisky, Akhmetov, Yulia Timoshenko et all make their fortunes? What makes you think that Putin wants to add 70MM Muslims to Russia (Uzbekistan+Tajikistan+Turkmenistan+Kyrgizstan+Azerbajian)? Yes, national defense is the job of the country, not someone else. Russia is not the USSR, neither in population nor in military might. Before 1917, Ukraine (excluding Galicia which was added post World War II), was referred as little Russia in Russian literature, including by authors such as Paustovsky, a descendant of Ukrainian Getman.

No, Poland is a member of NATO, so Russia would not dare.

Actually, it is very easy to show to US taxpayers why we should stop funding Ukraine. Ask US citizens - would you prefer $300 tax reduction for every person in your family or send that money instead to Ukraine and see the results! I would be that if a nationwide referendum was held, not even 40% would vote to help Ukraine rather than their own pocket. Ukraine was derelict in its duty to build an army that could deter Russia, instead its politicians were busy pillaging the country. Responsibility for Ukrainian defense rests with Ukraine, not the US!

Has anyone looked at this? Seems like a very good business (ELS is the best performing REIT by a large margin over several decades) but mismanaged. Anyone have any vies? @Gregmal, @thepupil, @BG2008?

Actually, it is not IMBBY spin-off. It is a 30% owned subsidiary of BTI that is spinning 60% of its Indian hotel business. Brokers think the valuation will be 40x EBIT for the spun-off piece. Some depreciation is economic, some not.

@longterminvestorand @dealraker, gentlemen, in your opinion, how hard would it be to turnaround WTW? Thank you.

It's also a way to get cheap leverage. He borrows in yen at what 1%? Then buys assets at a 10% free cash flow yield. If yen runs up against the dollar, he has a hedge.

Sold MSGE August 18 35 strike puts for $2.10

Ukraine’s Lack of Weaponry and Training Risks Stalemate in Fight With Russia - WSJ Sadly, this is what I worried about a year ago, neither plan nor foresight on the part of the Western countries, and recklessness on the part of Ukrainians.

Sold August 18th MANU puts with a $21 strike for $1.80.

https://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/ Interesting take from Damodaran on where equity risk premium is today vs history

@Xerxes, while I love it, Rashomon and Dersu Uzala are better in my opinion.

https://www.ft.com/content/dc658252-6acd-44fc-8e0c-51a284009762

Aren't the Baltic countries part of Nato? So then obviously the mutual defense treaty applies. I don't understand why American taxpayers ought to bail out incompetence and graft of the Ukrainian government.

Let's keep in mind that nobody owns Ukraine anything. Zelensky's ungratefulness is not helping by the way. It was the job of the Ukrainian government to be ready for Russian invasion, not the job of Macron, Merkel, Meloni, et all to provide for Ukrainian defense.

@Saluki, GAAP is mostly concessions which are expiring soon if I remember correctly. In general airports are great businesses, however: a) Watch out for concessions versus owned outright b) In Europe, Aena is a great business, however may be hurt by environmental movement of switching trips under a thousand miles to rail c) Regulatory framework can be a blessing or a curse. While you want dual till structure (Aena has it), if I am not mistaken, Spanish government forced Aena to cut contract prices during Covid, that's why I no longer own Aena, I do not trust the Spanish government. d) Capital allocation is very important - the Mexican airports (concessions) historically paid very high dividends. Aena is empire building.

What are people's favorite places to go away for the summer with kids? Ideally a place that has ocean or sea where one can swim and a pleasant climate during the summer. (I know of Jersey Shore, Long Island, Cape Cod, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard, Maine, and Hawaii, but wondering if people have other suggestions as the Balearic Islands, Sylt, et all.) Thank you.

On Maui, the 2nd home market is still very strong because there is no inventory for sale.

Just buy SNOXX (treasury money market fund at Schwab) that pays close to 5%, and is not subject to state & local income tax, a big deal in NYC, NY state, California, Hawaii, et all.

@Spekulatius, thank you.

If you hold someone as worthy of admiration as an investor, you should know what his or her returns are, relative to risk that he or she has taken.

S&P 500 return from 12/31/2007 through today was 9.58% per annum, in line with 100 year history. Do you know what the Firm's 2008 and 2009 returns were?