Life is Crazy or Ask Scott About Life

[John Hjorth]

What's the point of life in general? You're probably going to die anyway, so there's really not much of a difference between if you get hit by a truck tomorrow or live to be 100. I think asking those sorts of questions are sort of counterproductive, as more often than not there's no satisfying answer if you follow the chain of thought to its logical conclusion.

Personally, I don't understand this, and honestly, I don't want to. Life is about making a positive difference that make sense - now or in the future-, to other human beings, near to your, or to other, [- or to your self - in the short term.]

[Mephistopheles]

Scott, you're a high school drop out right? What do you do currently? How did you get to where you are in your career from such a disadvantaged point (in the view of recruiters)?

[moody202]

I know that you have shared your portfolio. If  were to buy one stock today, which one would that be and why?

[ScottHall]

Scott, you're a high school drop out right? What do you do currently? How did you get to where you are in your career from such a disadvantaged point (in the view of recruiters)?

 

I never went to high school. I dropped out of fourth grade, and also community college.

 

It's sort of an interesting story. I applied to the company I work for now three times before I was hired. The first time was for an internship, and I was not given an interview. The second time was for its "Analyst Development Program," and again, I was not allowed an interview.

 

Soon after I began talking with one of the guys who was hired for the program on the company's message boards, and I told him about a company that had just sold half of its acres of the Niobrara shale to Chesapeake for more than its entire market cap, and still had the rest of the acreage on its books. The company was Samson Oil & Gas. I told him I thought it could be a big winner, and he agreed and bought some shares. A month or two later the shares had doubled and he doubled his money on the investment, and I had tripled my money. We both sold out and made off like bandits.

 

We also got extremely lucky, as it turned out, but the money spent the same. And that was the start of it. He recommended I get an interview for the next round of ADP, and although I was very socially awkward at the time (still am, to a lesser extent) I didn't perform poorly enough to not get hired.

 

From there, I eventually was promoted to Senior Analyst, but I grew bored of my role very quickly. A month or two later, someone in marketing ended up asking me if I wanted to come work for him, and I thought it'd be a fun challenge and agreed to do so. So that's what I'm doing now, and how I got there. In a nutshell.

[ScottHall]

I know that you have shared your portfolio. If  were to buy one stock today, which one would that be and why?

 

Just one? I don't think I'd be willing to buy just one stock. If you mean to add a new one to my existing portfolio, that's a bit easier. It'd probably be Priceline. It has consistently been on my list of runners up, and I've just never gotten around to buying it. The economics of that business are very attractive.

[BG2008]

Is Scott Hall a reference to Razor Ramon?  Great video about WWE and its new distribution model.  Looking forward to your video about boxing and MMA fighters' pay.  A few guys that I "knew of" from High School wrestling winded up on UFC's roster. 

[ScottHall]

Is Scott Hall a reference to Razor Ramon?  Great video about WWE and its new distribution model.  Looking forward to your video about boxing and MMA fighters' pay.  A few guys that I "knew of" from High School wrestling winded up on UFC's roster.

 

Thanks for the compliment. No, Scott Hall is my real name. I got that a lot in 1st/2nd grade, kids asked if I was named after him. I didn't even know who he was.

[BG2008]

Any thoughts on WWE itself as an investment?  I kind of peripherally followed the company as it ran up to the $30s when investors thought that WWE would be re-priced as a live sports type of investment.  Stock came crashing down when they couldn't negotiate the deal.  I recall that WWE needed 1mm subscribers to breakeven from their previous model.  They've exceeded that figure now and the stock has doubled from its low.  Under its current model, it appears that any incremental subscriber will flow down to the bottom line.  Any thoughts?  I'm a bit iffy about WWE as a product.  I think that UFC has taken a lot of the audience away from WWE.  However, UFC has struggled itself in recent times. 

[adesigar]

Any thoughts on WWE itself as an investment?  I kind of peripherally followed the company as it ran up to the $30s when investors thought that WWE would be re-priced as a live sports type of investment.  Stock came crashing down when they couldn't negotiate the deal.  I recall that WWE needed 1mm subscribers to breakeven from their previous model.  They've exceeded that figure now and the stock has doubled from its low.  Under its current model, it appears that any incremental subscriber will flow down to the bottom line.  Any thoughts?  I'm a bit iffy about WWE as a product.  I think that UFC has taken a lot of the audience away from WWE.  However, UFC has struggled itself in recent times.

 

ROFL

 

Click the youtube link in his signature.

[ScottHall]

Any thoughts on WWE itself as an investment?  I kind of peripherally followed the company as it ran up to the $30s when investors thought that WWE would be re-priced as a live sports type of investment.  Stock came crashing down when they couldn't negotiate the deal.  I recall that WWE needed 1mm subscribers to breakeven from their previous model.  They've exceeded that figure now and the stock has doubled from its low.  Under its current model, it appears that any incremental subscriber will flow down to the bottom line.  Any thoughts?  I'm a bit iffy about WWE as a product.  I think that UFC has taken a lot of the audience away from WWE.  However, UFC has struggled itself in recent times.

 

At today's prices? Not particularly. I recommended it internally at The Motley Fool when it was half this price a few years ago, though.

 

 

ROFL

 

Click the youtube link in his signature.

 

To be clear, that video isn't a stock pitch. It's just an explanation of a business model. I won't be pitching stocks in any of my videos, just explaining subjects that I find interesting.

[BG2008]

Any thoughts on WWE itself as an investment?  I kind of peripherally followed the company as it ran up to the $30s when investors thought that WWE would be re-priced as a live sports type of investment.  Stock came crashing down when they couldn't negotiate the deal.  I recall that WWE needed 1mm subscribers to breakeven from their previous model.  They've exceeded that figure now and the stock has doubled from its low.  Under its current model, it appears that any incremental subscriber will flow down to the bottom line.  Any thoughts?  I'm a bit iffy about WWE as a product.  I think that UFC has taken a lot of the audience away from WWE.  However, UFC has struggled itself in recent times.

 

At today's prices? Not particularly. I recommended it internally at The Motley Fool when it was half this price a few years ago, though.

 

 

ROFL

 

Click the youtube link in his signature.

 

To be clear, that video isn't a stock pitch. It's just an explanation of a business model. I won't be pitching stocks in any of my videos, just explaining subjects that I find interesting.

 

Scott,

 

Totally understand that wasn't a stock pitch.  In my opinion, that was one of the better "dig a bit deeper" type of knowledge that creates a ton of value add.  The 20 mins or so made me understand the new WWE business model better than days of reading Qs and Ks.  It's the useful wisdom like "Don't buy a mall that David Simon is looking to sell, if he can't make it work, nobody can."  From an operating leverage perspective, I think it's interesting that WWE has cross over the breakeven threshold. 

 

Please keep them coming.  I really do enjoy them.

 

 

[ZenaidaMacroura]

What's the thesis/insight behind optimal payments position?

[Foreign Tuffett]

Scott,just wanted to say that you're far and away the most provocatively idiosyncratic poster on this forum. And I mean that as a compliment.....

 

Now, since this is an investing forum: what are you currently long?

 

 

[LC]

Hey Scott, anything new going on in your life? Post some of whats been going thru your head recently.  :)

[ScottHall]

Somehow I forgot about these.

 

Scott,

 

Totally understand that wasn't a stock pitch.  In my opinion, that was one of the better "dig a bit deeper" type of knowledge that creates a ton of value add.  The 20 mins or so made me understand the new WWE business model better than days of reading Qs and Ks.  It's the useful wisdom like "Don't buy a mall that David Simon is looking to sell, if he can't make it work, nobody can."  From an operating leverage perspective, I think it's interesting that WWE has cross over the breakeven threshold. 

 

Please keep them coming.  I really do enjoy them.

 

Thanks for the compliment. I may do another one at some point; right now I am focusing on shorter videos that tell my life stories. They're much quicker to create, and are on another channel. The WWE video took forever to edit in post production. I'll probably do another one again sometime, but the amount of time it took was unreal. Hours for each minute of video, because I am very new to editing.

 

What's the thesis/insight behind optimal payments position?

 

Sold awhile back; coworker pitch.

 

Scott,just wanted to say that you're far and away the most provocatively idiosyncratic poster on this forum. And I mean that as a compliment.....

 

Now, since this is an investing forum: what are you currently long?

 

Thanks! All of my current publicly traded stock holdings, in alphabetical order: AMZN, AOSDF, CNSWF, CTSH, FB, FIZZ, FSBW, GOOG, IDWM, LBTYK, LSXMK, MAR, MIDD, MKL, NTDOY, OSHC, PDER, PRLB, SFTBY, STRZ (not Starz), VRX, W, WFC-WT.

 

A few of those are just 1 share positions that are leftover from something to do with my previous job, but only a few. 20 of them are real positions, or so.

 

Hey Scott, anything new going on in your life? Post some of whats been going thru your head recently.  :)

 

"Mutually separated" from my previous employer back in April, now working for an affiliate of the other major company in our industry for fun while I wait for a few irons I have in the fire to be ready. I've been reading Billion Dollar Kiss recently, and I find it to be very insightful into the TV business. I've been making some videos for fun, but not business oriented ones. Thinking of moving from where I am now.

 

Not a whole lot that's incredibly exciting is going on. I have a great marketing campaign in my head that I'm ready to unleash. Other than that, just enjoying my "retirement" before I have to really start putting some effort into work again in the next few months.

 

I love the obsession among investors with starting hedge funds. I guess if that's your dream, that's great, but there are much better ways to make money from a person's supposed investing acumen if you're not a major league fund manager.

 

Active investing is kind of a game for idiots, unless you're already rich. Wish I figured that out earlier in my life. There is such a thing as the opportunity cost of time and relatively small capital bases fuck you on that. And by small, I mean anything in, say, the single digit millions.

[LC]

Active investing is kind of a game for idiots, unless you're already rich. Wish I figured that out earlier in my life. There is such a thing as the opportunity cost of time and relatively small capital bases fuck you on that. And by small, I mean anything in, say, the single digit millions.

 

Hahaha this is great. I pretty much agree, I personally treat it as a casual hobby at this point. Thanks for sharing!

[gfp]

Are you working with an Agora affiliate?

[ScottHall]

Hahaha this is great. I pretty much agree, I personally treat it as a casual hobby at this point. Thanks for sharing!

 

I think that's a smart way to look at it. I've beat the market since I've started, and yet, the amount of wealth I've generated pales into comparison to if I had just started training as a DRM copywriter from the start with all that time.

 

Are you working with an Agora affiliate?

 

Yes.

[eclecticvalue]

Interestingly, Martin Shkreli says you can make more money managing other people's money than investing on your own.

[ScottHall]

Interestingly, Martin Shkreli says you can make more money managing other people's money than investing on your own.

 

This is 100% true.

[CassiusKing1]

What's your opinion of the main stocks of this board:  Berkshire, Fairfax and Premier Diversified?

[ZenaidaMacroura]

Scott,

 

 

What exactly does a DRM copywriter do? 

[eclecticvalue]

I think if you make money doing a job and if it brings steady income per month it helps cover your bill and etc. Whereas in investing, the returns are uncertain and to generate income to match let us say $50,000-$70,000 a year you need a lot of initial money in the first place to invest. I think that is why it is tough to make money as an individual investor.

 

Here are some questions.

 

So what is stopping you from being a DRM copywriter?

 

Have you found a compounder through a screener?

 

Have you thought about starting your own business?

 

 

[ScottHall]

What's your opinion of the main stocks of this board:  Berkshire, Fairfax and Premier Diversified?

 

I like Berkshire generally, and have no strong feelings about the other two.

 

Scott,

 

 

What exactly does a DRM copywriter do?

 

DRM copywriters write great, big ads trying to sell you stuff you've never heard about and never knew you wanted. It's direct response marketing (DRM) as opposed to traditional copywriting (brand).

 

I think if you make money doing a job and if it brings steady income per month it helps cover your bill and etc. Whereas in investing, the returns are uncertain and to generate income to match let us say $50,000-$70,000 a year you need a lot of initial money in the first place to invest. I think that is why it is tough to make money as an individual investor.

 

Here are some questions.

 

So what is stopping you from being a DRM copywriter?

 

Have you found a compounder through a screener?

 

Have you thought about starting your own business?

 

I didn't say anything about investing directly making you money... there are ways to make money from your "skills" without actually needing them to be cash generative in and of themselves.

 

Nothing is stopping me from writing DRM copy; I do so now, casually, but my skill level isn't as high as it would be if I'd focused on that instead.

 

No. I don't use screeners.

 

Yes, I have. :)

 

 

[Spekulatius]

Wow! How did I miss this thread!

 

I have a lot of respect for Scott.

 

Scott I know you're a Chipotle fan.

 

Huh, I recall Redding had some very good Mexicans food joints,