ERICOPOLY

I understand it to be the case that "Rollover IRAs" are ERISA accounts (because they originated from an employer-sponsored plan), but a "Traditional IRA" or "ROTH IRA" are not ERISA. http://finance.zacks.com/ira-accounts-erisa-qualified-6814.html

Ohhhh, in that case the easiest remedy is to take up poker to get the rush. Actually I don't know if playing poker tames risk taking or fuels it, but it definitely trains our mind on evaluating risk. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/21/health/cnnheroes-exercise-addiction/ One of his first preclinical studies on the subject showed lab rats that had access to an exercise wheel in their cage were much less likely to self-administer cocaine than their sedentary counterparts. Other addictions, like gambling (probably the driver of indiscriminate leverage for many people), are perhaps managed similarly.

It's very concentrated -- just a tablespoon (diluted in larger volume of water) is needed to treat my citrus trees which are being devoured by aphids. It's cheaper than ladybugs which just fly away to the neighboring yards. It's the same stuff that is used on children's heads to treat lice. Also used in over-the-counter flea treatment for cats and dogs. Organic and poisonous: we have oleander growing in the garden. Don't eat that stuff!

Yes, I imagine that many of us have been hit by cars too. But the goal isn't to minimize mortal risk, but to minimize financial risk given that we live. There are investors who are self-proclaimed "naturally risk averse". They are wired to avoid risk they say. But looking into their lives, this is not true. There are places where their natural wiring is failing them. So I wonder if people who have an addiction to investment risk could be made more "naturally risk-averse" if they were introduced to road biking, or skiing, or hang gliding. Some sort of non-financial outlet for their adrenaline. My option trading was risk-averse to a degree. There are times when I'm terrified to use leverage, and there are times when I use it. I don't rely on it for adrenaline all the time. I have other places in my life where I get that. So perhaps when looking at people who blew up their portfolios, they disproportionately lack outdoor pursuits in their lives.

I went out to my garage and took this photo. See the label: "For Use in Organic Gardening"

However. Despite risking our lives, we as investors can congratulate ourselves as being naturally risk averse if we put our money in the lifeboat before our bodies.

I was just thinking about ERICOPOLY as an example of asymmetric risk-reward payoffs. This, to me, is the way to proceed. Now, I have no fuckin' clue about the bike riding reference - can you elaborate on what you are getting at? Do you mean that many on this thread are too risk averse in various areas of life but not risk averse enough in others - like biking? Or something else? The bike riding reference is an allusion to our troubles as humans. We worry the most about exotic risk. You'll find people who are afraid to swim at the beach because of sharks, but they don't plan their daily life around driving fewer miles on highways. They would feel safer driving across the country and fell more relaxed in the face of that greater risk. Personally I'm terrified of riding a bike on the road. I focus too much on the downside. But I go in the water at the beach, I drive on the road, ski, skateboard. I used to hike alone in the wilderness. And I used options for leverage.

I imagine that many of you ride bikes on the road (as does Mohnish), where your margin of safety is the thickness of your lycra. Mortal risk.

But today, these buybacks drain trillions of dollars of windfall profits out of the real economy and into a paper-asset bubble, inflating share prices while producing nothing of tangible value. Where is his proof that the shareholders have done nothing with this cash that was returned to them? They might have taken the money and invested it in nascent companies. He seems to assume that it is not invested in anything at all. It reminds me of a child that asked "and then what happened", only this author never even went through the first iteration of that.

This stuff is insanely good -- and no sugar or fat: Scott's Spicy Carolina Barbecue Sauce http://tinyurl.com/qyed9h6 I smoked a couple of brined chickens in the Big Green Egg -- with this sauce it's heaven. Apparently a no-sugar vinegar based BBQ sauce is North Carolina style. First time I tried it -- so divine.

I thought the flag in your profile meant that you are in Canada.

The social skills I learned the most in school were to follow rules and to try to emulate the popular people and the people in positions of authority. I wish I hadn't learned them. AI would guess that behavior existed before schools. It sounds a lot like social instincts. Popular people (celebrities) exist outside of schools, and the masses want to know them and copy what they wear, etc...

The CBO forecasts that deficits will rise from here. AKA: stimulus. In other words, people currently working will retire and be replaced by other workers. The government will borrow at low rates to pay the retired people their promised benefits -- 100% of which will be spent. It's kind of like the expected net increase in retirees is like a net increase of people getting a paycheck (only retirees get their checks for staying home).

What do you mean by major mean reversion event? An annualized ROTE of 6.9% last quarter is far below the mean, but you seem to imply something other... A major mean reverting event might mean a yield curve that restores their profits. We're currently living in a phase that is far below the mean, and we're HOPING for a reversion to the mean. It's just not here yet. Mean bank profitability is WAYYYYY higher than this.

Imputed rent for a homeowner is tax-free income. It's hard to see why that would be ignored. I certainly don't put my head in the sand and pretend it isn't there, but there again I'm not a real estate instructor.

He would still qualify if his wife were a realtor. However it would not meet the "active" management test -- it would fall under "passive" criteria if he were to hire a professional manager. So that would would prevent him from deducting losses against earned income.

There is an exception for "Real Estate Professionals". They can deduct all expenses no matter what income level they're in. I took advantage of that when I was a software engineer... my spouse qualified as a "real estate professional", she was a full time realtor. It didn't even matter that the properties were in my name and I did all the property management -- we still got to deduct unlimited expenses without being limited by our income levels.

I paid $350 for my 2014-2015 skiing season pass at Bear Valley here in California. Skiing on those terms is dirt cheap. We went for two weeks after Christmas for about 10 days of skiing and that amounted to $35 per day for lift tickets. We have another week booked there for spring break, and that will only bring the average price paid down. Without a season pass, it's $65 a day.

So it's just like Florida, which is also a full-recourse mortgage locale. Yet Florida had a large decline. I think it was one of the hardest hit US markets. Would the US decline have been less severe if the entire country was full-recourse, just like Florida? I can't see what to make of the full-recourse aspect if Florida was one of the hardest hit states.

It is roughly 33% tax rate for capital gains in the US. The highest rate in the entire world. Except in the areas outside of California. I sure hope they can stop the dominos of communism from spreading here. Hit the pinata and grab the candy that falls out.

You can't copy Tiger woods. Try as you might, you can't just copy his swing and get the same score as him. Investing is different. You can cheat over Buffett's shoulder or just buy stock in his holding company and earn the same returns as him.

Do tanks really run on gasoline? I've always assumed they ran on diesel, like large industrial engines. It would certainly be more efficient... The gas turbine engine is quiet.

Working weekends/evenings. What a waste of youth.

So don't the russian oil companies incur extraction costs in depreciated local currency and then export the oil where it is priced in USD? It seems like that gives them some sort of relief, or does it?

You should read The Coldest Winter. That will make you feel relatively better.