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@skanjete - I visited Prague and it is magical. But, can one get a good enough job there like NYC, Silicon Valley? My son and I saw the Prague Astronomical Clock (The Orloj) in Old Town Square is widely considered one of the city's most underwhelming tourist experiences. lol. But, the people were nice.

If it's not a sneakhead finish eating the tadpoles, it's another invasive specie that ravishes an eco-system. Laws of the jungle.

Cheap drones are the new Molotov cocktails for their age. We have fast fashion in retail and now fast destruction in defense.

@Xerxes - I have the Li-Ka Shing book. Rags to Riches story, but turns out he was connected through his wife... so, in reality it is riches to more riches. But, definitely will look into those other books. I'll be in HK next month and hope I can find some non-Western/US centric business books -- just to see Eastern business theory. Thanks for the recommendations. HSBC was noted in Studwell's book as the financier for some of these tycoons.

@Peregrine Where do Chinese fit into this? lol

@Ronchong @pricingpower - Thanks for your comments.

He should have hunkered down and not try to raise cash... Ride out the wave. As a microcap, you didn't have any control via board seats or influence him with control? Again, this is all in hindsight, but I'm glad you're trying to rebuild.

@DegenerateGambler - With a PE of .7, I don't know why the CEO wouldn't just allow the cash to build up. There was no need for a forced sale. He could have just allowed it to compound and buy back stock. That's really bad in terms of capital allocation. Every year, he was getting his stock price back... eventually, the stock market would reward it.. Cash don't lie.

@DegenerateGambler - You didn't put some on the side... so, you didn't have this risk of ruin situation?

I just heard about this on a sports talk show today and found this article. Fascinating. https://sports.yahoo.com/horse-racing/article/kentucky-derby-2026-how-algorithms-are-changing-horse-betting--and-outraging-gamblers-in-the-process-132352101.html

I was reviewing the different data services subscriptions on IBKR. Does anyone use Level 2 or any paid subscriptions for options or non-US markets? My options are 10-20 minutes delayed, but the spreads is so wide in general...but, I wonder if there's much value for a low-volume options trader like me. I guess the larger question is do people get a lot of value from advanced data services from any platform, if you're not day trading? Or even as a value investor -- are you just looking at being roughly right versus precisely wrong?

@Ice77 - What stock would that be? I haven't read the Santa Monica Letters, but is it referenced in one of them above?

@thepupil - I was trying to make parallels between early democracies in the SE/HK relative to the robber barons in the US. The early robber barons definitely used a lot of political clout to defend their markets and access new ones. Yet, I think one could have made money aligning themselves with JP Morgan and Rockerfeller companies and do well. It doesn't seem to be the case in certain SE countries. I have family in HK and I knew there was corruption and "special" deals via preferred land sales... but, never put into context that it was this bad. The glass ceiling is that thick. I'm still trying to reconcile his stance on Singapore and the Lee Kuan Yew family. I've been watching videos of "Harry" since Munger highlighted the Singapore marvel. Now this book is making me re-think some of the angles and motives there. Again.... I am surprised at the marketing of HK and Singapore as global money centers, but Joe's stance on how they came to be -- is very dark and murky. It's interesting to get a counter-argument. Again, I would love to see/hear that these bear traps are getting resolved, but I wonder since there's not enough transparency and enforcement/teeth in those markets.... is it really turning for good? Generally, you get that from activist investors and P/Es.. but, Japan (which is not included in the book), HK, Singapore are markets that are very insider base to prevent the spotlight on inefficiencies. It's not even like early Ben Graham investments where they can get 10-20% and vote out the board. The rule of law and their SEC is weak. There's still a huge disadvantage to outside investors. The only markets that Joe mentioned might be investable are S. Korea and Taiwan possibly. Again, I think both have protected markets. But, Coupang's failure in Japan, Singapore, yet success in Taiwan seem to support that point... but, SE asian investment are really put into a too hard pile me... based on this book.

@John Hjorth - If you like, I do not mind sending you my book. Just DM your address and I'll ship you my copy. I'll even autograph it for you, but that might depreciate it value more! LOL

@John Hjorth I read the one on the left, but I believe the content is the same. For "How Asia Works" -- this is an interesting comment I found “A good read for anyone who wants to understand what actually determines whether a developing economy will succeed.” —Bill Gates, “Top 5 Books of the Year” It must have been a slow year... LOL. Joe provides an interesting perspective and some behind the scenes details that you normally don't get in the West. For example, I've been trying to the get autobiography of Morris Chang, Founder of TSMC. I emailed the publisher and see if they will do a translation to no-avail. I've also purchased and bought the Li-Ka Shing book.. which is all PR and marketing.... a lovefest for the richest person in HK. I like how Joe Studwell gives you a different take. I wish there was more written about asian CEOs.

Decent book that talks about moguls and elites in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and how they acquired their wealth. It does talk about how they leveraged government sway to extend their wealth and how some of their greed caused the Asian Financial Crisis. Nothing new in that respect, but nobody really put it all in one book. There are a few useful tidbits I added to my investment playbook. For example, interesting points out why low P/E stocks in HK such as Wheelock, Chueng Kong Holdings, CK Hutchison with 10% insider ownership ... seem like you're aligned to the insiders, but they use private JVs to siphon money back to their families. So, essentially, they're the ultimate bear traps. They're making off their partners, not with their partners. The writing style is academic and a tough slog at times. I probably won't re-read this in the future, but definitely interesting how they used certain transactions to screw the population, government and also, fellow stakeholders. Also, reaffirms my general thesis on banks as conduits of government and all need access to them to get into the billionaires club.

For those around Baltimore, The Book Thing of Baltimore is pretty cool once a month event. The books are free and they have a good selection of everything. The business and biography sections are pretty expansive, which is a focal point to my collection. https://bookthing.org

Just came back from a recent trip to Seattle and Vancouver... A few comments on the book scene relative to business/finance/econ books. Tacoma Book Barn - Supposedly has 1/2 million books and has a lot of different genres (history, sci-fi, etc.) They have 2-3 shelves dedicated to business and econ. Nothing noteworthy. Half Priced Books (3-4 stores around Bellevue and Tacoma) - Good selection of business and finance books. Interesting to see the types of books that are bought in different areas. Bellevue seems to have a huge emphasis on management and design, which is close to Microsoft HQ. Twice Sold Tales and Magnus Books - nothing noteworthy. Small business section with general business textbooks. MacLeod's Books (Vancouver) - Definition of book hoarder. Smelled like urine when you enter. 1 shelf of business books.... Some older books, but all over priced. Nothing you couldn't find on AbeBooks or Amazon at a better price.

I took the plunge and purchased the audio book on Spotify. It's not the authentic book - it's a catfish. The whole book was spoken in the 3rd person. It was essentially a summation of various talks online, written in "fake Track 1-12 chapters", which no titles. It didn't have 50% of the material noted in the Novel Investor summary above. It's 55 minutes long with no authentic family history or meaningful detail. Sad that this exists out there. Definitely not worth it. Just google and watch the existing YouTubes out there.

@Fly - I've been looking at MP Materials ($MP), which has an DoW equity investment and also, a floor pricing arrangement.

Anything oil or energy would have worked. But, buying RTX with all the missiles fired and radar systems...is a good play too.

@Fly - I was looking at the rare minerals trade for these batteries, drones, EVs.

Anyone have any thoughts on the best energy/oil trade if there is an Iran/US invasion? What the best oil stock to play from a valuation perspective? PBR? OXY? I haven't kept up with all the investment topics on energy in general. Just wondering if anyone is exploring it as a "Kashi trade" LOL.

@Spekulatius @Saluki - Thanks for the replies. Many of these exchanges have been on an acquisition spree... so, getting speciality markets like Philadelphia Stock Exchange, AMEX into NYSE was part of their roll-up strategy. It make senses. I would suppose there are legacy whale oil exchanges that obsoleted themselves along the way. I was looking for distressed sales like Bear Stearn or Lehman Bros crisis situations, where you are getting pennies on the dollar... if at all. Those specialty exchanges acquisition seem to work out well for most of their shareholders.... which is a good thing.

Does anyone have any examples of markets that died? They probably got taken over/purchased. But, what is the case study of long standing exchanges that withered away?