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So since IDF HQ is in and around Tel Aviv (the Kirya), Israel uses human shields and many areas of Tel Aviv are legitimate targets for 2k ton bombs, am I following the logic of this thread correctly?

Patrick Byrne has been half-batshit for about 20 years. Remember the Dark Sith Lord of naked short selling or whatever he used to go on about? How could any of this be a surprise?

Yes agree and GE is a great example - worked under Welch, fell apart under Immelt and immediate successors, then a bargain again under Culp...etc. World keeps moving.

Is this what Bitcoin people are on to now? Bitcoin is valuable simply because it takes a lot of computing resources to maintain the network? Sort of like saying if I hire a few million laborers to dig up ditches and fill them back in, my ditch-digging company should be worth trillions because of the labor power I have under my control. Well, no, they aren't producing anything of economic value, they're just wasting calories. Buying a bitcoin doesn't give you *access* to those computing resources. If I had a few trillion to buy Amazon and Microsoft I could *use* the computing resources.

Yeah no don't apologize I watched it independent of this forum - not blaming anyone here at all. On another note, I watched Mulholland Dr for the first time last night. Oh my god!! Fabulous...must watch again ASAP.

Allied is great, always liked that one. I watched Rebel Ridge which some of you spoke about. I honestly thought it was one of the worst movies I've seen in some time. Very simple, very predictable, evil villains, Mary Sue good guys, etc. Quite surprised the positive reviews. New season of Slow Horses is great so far.

Excellent! I do like that. Chopin is great.

Never been into classical but I found some Bach I like late, the keyboard concertos specficially. F Minor (all the movements) is great! G Minor too. I'm hoping to land and expand and find some other stuff I like - I have enjoyed some Rachmaninoff in the past.

Have lived on the East Coast my whole life and cannot imagine why I'd need a 2MM house for any reasons, there are plenty of <1MM houses w/ 4 br in nice areas of this country. Not sure why you'd need to commute to NYC if you're functionally retired but that's attainable even in the CT suburbs. One should be able to get a decent ACA plan for $1,500 esp if your income isn't super high. Which in the scenario we are contemplating, it wouldn't be. Try the ACA calculator kff.org. To be fair I'm not currently using an ACA plan so maybe I am overestimating but I don't think I'm far off. $1,500 is a good chunk... I included things like home repairs in the extra 1k/month I chucked in but of course once in awhile you might need to withdraw 4.5% instead of 4% to cover those things (that'd be an extra $15k), or one can borrow on a HELOC and pay it back over time, etc etc I don't think it changes the point.

Where? My 4BR is ~13k in taxes. >4k sqft. Wouldn't say I live in a low tax jurisdiction at all. Supposing I could get family healthcare for 1.5k/month, that would be ~2,500 for healthcare and property taxes. Add in 500/wk for food (w/ kids at home, going out etc.), that's $4,750, utils another ~$700-800 (heat, AC, electric, internet), that's $5,550 for the "basics". House maintenance/mowing/pest control adds another ~$200-300. Add in $1k/month for other stuff and basic fun living and that's ~$7,000/month, maybe $10k/month pre-tax (assume all-in 30% tax rate), so roughly $120k/yr gross needed if no mortgage/car payments. At 4% withdrawal that'd be $3 million liquid to be financially independent, plus a free and clear house. Not too easy a bar for most, but not totally out of reach either. Obviously I'm painting an upper-middle class lifestyle.

Oh, thanks - sorry did delete my post as I saw you answered above. Thanks!

That SA article is atrocious and doesn't do any real analysis. The first one alone (BNSF) he failed to notice with his "thousands of hours" that BNSF paid out a bunch of dividends in the early days reducing BRK's cost basis almost immediately. It has also distributed substantial cash and would be worth >$100B at market today. Where is this in his "analysis"? Also, BRK has tax advantages to owning something 100% versus owning the index, which he doesn't mention. PCP and Kraft were disasters as everyone already knew. I agree that BRK's disclosures suck but WB seems to do that purposely for competitive reasons.

Fascinating! I imagine you had some false starts along the way but both impressive (as well as BRK and MO) especially if you held on to them all these years. I’m attracted to the idea of buying things to hold for life, difficult to put into practice though. Appreciate you sharing.

Thank you. When did MSFT & AAPL first become investable under your framework? (eg quasi monopolistic etc)

Thanks for sharing your experience. Have you made any significant errors along the way? (Of commission) How often do your purchases come along and what sort of stake (as a % of your net worth) do you generally take when you do go in? Thanks again.