Charlie

@John HjorthThanks, great advice. We love great beaches, fresh fish and a stressfree environment. So I think it will be a great holiday. Our 2 boys (8 year old twins) love to play at the beach. I bought a good surf board. I hope the north sea is not too cold.

@Dalal.Holdings Have you been once in Europe? @John Hjorth After the german heat, we are travelling in one week for 3 weeks to Denmark (Vrist). Any recommendations for our holiday?

Wikipedia: Democratic backsliding in the United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_United_States

Ai´s answer to the question "Is Europe or the U.S. more democratic?" Major democratic assessment organizations generally rate Europe as more democratic than the U.S. In the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report at the University of Gothenburg, Western Europe scores significantly higher, with the U.S. having lost its long-term status as a "liberal democracy" due to rapid declines in civil liberties and checks on executive power. Similarly, the Economist Intelligence Unit consistently ranks European nations—particularly Nordic countries like Norway—at the very top of its global rankings, classifying them as "full democracies". In contrast, the U.S. is categorized as a "flawed democracy". This disparity is driven by America's polarized political culture, lower levels of political participation, and struggles with government functionality.

Spain is a top three team together with France and Argentina. They don‘t have standout players like Messi or Mbappe, just a handful or world class one that can play their system. The standout player of spain is potentially Lamine Yamal. He is 18 years old and the most valueable player in the world.

Happy 4th of July to the United States of America!!! Celebrate your 250th birthday!!! The U.S.A. was and is the greatest country in the world!!! Also good luck in the world cup!

Basically it is always better to mend your own faults, than to criticize other peoples/nations faults.

AI´s answer if Europe has free speech: Yes, free speech is a fundamental right in Europe. European laws and the Charter of Fundamental Rights protect your right to hold opinions and share information without government interference. However, the European approach differs significantly from the US model. Unlike the near-absolute protections in the US, European free speech has strict legal limitations. In countries like Germany, for instance, freedom of expression (protected under Article 5 of the Basic Law) is balanced against other rights and public safety. Key differences in European free speech include: Hate Speech & Discrimination: Incitement to hatred, violence, or insults based on race, religion, or sexual orientation are criminal offenses. Historical Taboos: In Germany and several other nations, Holocaust denial and the display of unconstitutional symbols (like Nazi insignia) are strictly prohibited and punishable by imprisonment. Online Regulation: Under the EU's Digital Services Act, large social media platforms are legally required to swiftly remove flagged hate speech and illegal content. While you are entirely free to criticize politicians, participate in protests, and share your beliefs, you must navigate these specific legal boundaries regarding hate speech and public endangerment.

+1 The interesting thing of this victory was that Germany has/had no super stars. They were a simply a great team. I was hoping this tournament the "great team approach with no super stars" would work, too. But it was an entirely new team with less experience. Now the superstars teams will win. I´m betting on Mbappe.

and let´s not talk about the goal you stole us.... The only pleasure of this is that now you can play against France. Bon voyage!

Yeah, it was very hot, here. Next week it will get better. I bought an air condition for my working room in the garden house 2 weeks ago. It is a No-Brainer! Fully tax deductable and it cools in the summer and heats in the winter and is working with electricity from solar panels. Mitsubishi Electronics seems to make the best products.

I recommend the book: "Excellent advice for living. Wisdom I wish I´d known earlier" from Kevin Kelly "The very best thing you can do for your kids is to love your spouse." "If someone is trying to convince you it´s not a pyramid scheme, it´s a pyramid scheme." "Investing small amounts of money over a long time works miracles, but no one wants to get rich slow."

Will Berkshire finally be included into the Dow Jones index? https://www.barrons.com/articles/nike-dow-berkshire-hathaway-alphabet-verizon-2ca2b737 Cheers!

@Sweet "Ever better, ever more stressed? The challenge of modern parenting Why are parents and children under such pressure today? Why has family life become so complicated and challenging? Parents want to provide the best possible support for their children’s development and avoid making mistakes in raising them. The current tendency to take as much as possible off children's hands—in an effort to shield them from the dangers of the world—prevents them from learning to take responsibility and causes them to fall significantly short of their potential; in the process, the needs of the adults often fall by the wayside. Children are far more resilient than we allow them to be today. The authors provide a well-founded explanation not only of the multifaceted reasons behind our culture of overprotection but also of how we can break free from it." The name of the book is "Mut tut gut". Sorry, only in german language. I think the article is this, but it is behind a paywall: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/familie-erziehung-kinder-perfektionismus-ueberbehuetung-bellinger-li.3302867?reduced=true

@Sweet I was also a late speaker (begin with 4 years). My older brother did all the talking. I had some speek therapy and all was fine. We have also twins (8 year old) and my wife always said that she thinks one has ADHS. No, he doesn´t has ADHS. He is just a normal emotional very active boy (he can 5 back flips in a row in a trampolin ). Don´t let the fears of you about your kids let you go crazy. I read a good medical article that children are overdiagnosed and than they get some kind of stigma. I would do some speek therapy and all will be fine.

+ 1 There is no question the U.S. is the inventor of the world. But life/business is no zero sum game and we are profiting from these inventions. If you have a very good job in Europe or you are a Berkshire investor you can probably live better, because everything is relative. I like our democracy, no idiotic president, no ICE.... I heard of $20 beers at the world cup.

I like the successes of some african teams. They are hungry and grippy.

I´m working as a lawyer by helping people with illnesses. The portfolio of probably most old people (that is where the money is) is one underperforming fund with high expense ratio after another. The old people don´t understand what is going on, the money manager is writing their ridiculous macro letters from time to time and send birthday cards and the incentive of the decision maker is a mostly underperforming fund with a very high fee. It´s disgusting. Is their guilt from the money manager? No. I sold an underperforming fund for an old people and the money manager recommended me another underperforming fund. He told me, if he wouldn´t do that he wouldn´t be a good money manager. The trillion dollar theft! The biggest agency cost of the world!

In 2 hours begins the test game of the USA against Germany. It will be interesting to see if both teams are ready for the FIFA World Cup 2026 next week.

It all depends on price. If you can buy Berkshire cheap buy a lot. I wouldn´t buy the S&P 500 at record high. That´s probably not a good idea. Buy it when it is off 30-50% of record high. Beware of low quality companies, low quality managment, low quality countries and companies with too much leverage. Every point can kill you. You have to have conviction in your investments and you have to be right. And don´t buy crypto.

The interesting fact is that Greg Abel in the first months as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is that he is correcting Buffett and Mungers few "business mistakes": - He wanted to sell the Kraft Heinz shares. - He is increasing efficiency in the operating businesses. - He restarted the share repurchase programm. - He is investing in "god" Google, which seems to have great business momentum/ could be the AI winner. Or as Buffett said: "Greg is a very, very, very, very smart business man." We, Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, should be so lucky to have him.

The U.S. health minister is really doing a good job. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/26/us/video/rfkjr-snakes-grab-bare-hands-wrangling

Yes it was Your method is much better. I used yahoo charts. In April there were some days with similar prices. I hope they bought more.

Thanks gfp for sharing. Could be bought at the 24th of march.

Anybody else find it funny that we probably bought a part of our Alphabet shares from Bill Ackman, who markets himself as a mini-Berkshire? Sounds a little bit like Carl Icahn, who sold us the Apple shares in 2016....