Dinar

I disagree with you, I find Xerxes commentary to be generally on point and quite interesting. Let's keep it civil, please.

Thank you, why not EQR or ELS or AVB? Thank you.

We will have to agree to disagree. I do not see consumers protesting about Google or Microsoft to politicians - consumers get the service either for free or do not see/feel the hidden costs. When annual cost of electric and gas reaches $3-$4k per annum per household, not counting heating, in NYC, there will be consequences. Healthcare I would agree with you, oil & gas unclear at least to me.

I think that you are missing political risk in utilities. Unless I have made a mistake, utility rates in NY for instance have doubled in the last decade or so. There is a limit to how much pricing utilities can get before consumers=voters say no more, and then ROE gets cut.

No, you are not thinking about it correctly. Think about a 30 year mortgage as two things: a regular amortizing 30 year mortgage that you cannot pre-pay and an option to refinance at any moment. Given the recent extraordinary volatility in interest rates, the value of the option has skyrocketed. Hence, the spread widened drastically.

Mesa Petroleum did not do so well either if I remember correctly

Thank you for the idea, do you by chance know who sold and why? Also, are you not worried by 1) very high percentage of criticized loans? 2) impact of sharp increase in interest rates on the value of their loan book and net interest margin?

I think it is definitely culture, and culture often changes over time. Something tells me that the ancestors of the people you refer to were not lazy when they were farmers. Similarly, look at Scots two hundred years ago and compare to today. Look at Mormons in Utah or Germans or Chinese immigrants to the US.

I am sorry, but I do not understand your point. I did not mention race or ethnic origins, so why are you implying that I am saying that this is a black or hispanic problem? In NYC, I know for a fact that this is a very big problem among immigrants from the former USSR. Am I allowed to say this or will you brand me anti-Russian/Ukranian/Armenian/etc zealot? Does the fact that I am from the former USSR absolve me of this "terrible" sin?

We are told that there is a shortage of people to work at Dunkin Donuts, there is a shortage of people to work in childcare and in old age homes, these people cannot do these jobs?

There is a third choice - expand the labor force. Cut welfare & similar programs (Section 8, Medicaid, food stamps, subsidies for telephone, utilities, and the list goes on) and watch how labor force magically expands

There is a logical flaw in your argument, you are implicitly assuming growth = 0%. 1% free cash flow yield is fine if it will 10x in 2 years. At an equity discount rate of 7%, if a company can grow cash flows at 15% per year for a decade, and then in line with inflation = 3% per annum, assuming 100%+ returns on marginal capital like tech companies, gives you a "proper" multiple of free cash flow = 75x

Any reason why you do not own Aon? Thank you.

I bought Remy Cointreau today at E 154 after the negative reaction to H1 FY 2023 sales announcement + disappointing H2 FY 2023 forecast.

China covets Siberia, which was seized from China by Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Thank you. I hold in a taxable account, so I am holding. Yes, in a non-taxable account, I would probably sell too.

Why did you sell?

a) Forgiving student loans was a huge mistake that will cost us dearly b) What makes you think that US interests will be served by destroying Russian military? China is a much bigger threat to the US than Russia, and it would be nice to have a strong Russia as a counterweight to China, since China is very interested in regaining Siberia, and Russia is afraid of China, and hence a natural enemy of China.

I am sorry, but I do not get your point. My point is that when objective criteria is used, blacks are under-represented by a factor of 40. When unclear criteria is used, they are overrepresented by a large margin (18 or 15.2% is a big deal vs 12-13%. ) That leads to certain conclusions. By the way, your own data hints at the problem: % of black applicants enrolled in Harvard - 5%, while overall acceptance rate = 3.19%. Also, this data actually understates % of blacks admitted to Harvard, since not 100% of accepted students actually enroll. So according to your own data, a black student has roughly twice the likelihood to be accepted to Harvard than a typical applicant, and more than twice than non-black applicant.

Spek, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/04/harvard-college-accepts-1968-to-class-of-2025/ it was 18% for class of 2025. You seem to be missing my point: when objective statistic/merit is used (Stuyvesant test), the ratio is 1% when population is 40%. When a "combination of factors" is used, then it is 15-18% versus 12% for the population as a whole. See a problem?

What names on the long side do you like? Thank you.

pupil, I can't seem to find your post from yesterday. Would you mind posting the cusip or another identifier? Thank you very much

Ah, makes sense, I was not paying attention to the Northern Ireland issue.

What's extremist about cutting taxes? If done properly, it can reduce inflation, boost economic growth and reduce budget deficit. I would not have done what Truss did. I would have not offered energy subsidies, but eliminated income tax on those making under 45,000 per annum if single, 90K per annum if married, and say bigger tax break if one has kids. I would NOT have touched dividend tax or corporate tax. I would have also eliminated the 45% top rate the way she did it. You need to induce people to work, and make it more appealing to work rather than sit on the dole. I would have raised consumption taxes - say on football matches, soft drinks, chips, gambling (keeping in mind that too high of a gambling tax may drive the market off-shore/underground)

I agree with your last paragraph. I would not trust wikipedia statistics - as an immigrant who came to the US at the age of 13 and went to public schools with a lot of immigrants who all became doctors, lawyers, financiers, et cetera it is hard for me to buy into the narrative pushed by wikipedia. Sure as hell not true in NYC, anybody who works hard gets ahead. Seriously, social mobility is worse in the US than in Portugal? Why are there so many Portuguese immigrants in the US? Malta? France? Have you seen unemployment in France for young people vs US?