Daily Journal Annual Meeting Questions

[Charlie]

Next Wednesday the Daily Journal Annual Meeting will take place.

 

So i think it´s a good idea to think about good questions for the meeting, not to bore

Munger with dumb questions about Bitcoin.  ;)

Last year Munger was in particular good shape, eating See´s Candy after the meeting.  :)

 

 

Here are two questions from the Motley Fool board:

1. What book need to be written that would interest you very much?

2. Buffett always talk about your 30 second mind – could you roughly walk us through how you think when facing an issue?

I will add 3 more questions:

3. Could you talk about the tax cut effects to Berkshire Hathaway and the economy?

4. Do you have some advice how to include mental model thinking in your everyday life?

5. What advice would you give parents to raise their kids?

 

 

Additions to the list and asking these questions at the meeting are welcomed.  :)

[zippy1]

Is it ok to ask for Charlie’s perspectives on WFC’s recent development?

[Charlie]

Of course. That's a very good question.  :)

[Compounder]

Thoughts on compelled speech around gender neutral pronouns, NBC's regulation of hugging in the work place and the wider implications of that i.e. Can men and women work together, third wave feminism, et al?

[eclecticvalue]

Do you know about Claude Shannon?

[netnet]

Thoughts on compelled speech around gender neutral pronouns, NBC's regulation of hugging in the work place and the wider implications of that i.e. Can men and women work together, third wave feminism, et al?

 

You never know when you'll have the opportunity to ask a 94-year-old legend another question again; in my opinion, your thinking is spot-on to get life's biggest questions out of the way first. This sort of inquiry will doubtlessly lead to a mental model that can carry 80% of life's freight by itself.

I'm not sure everybody is going to get ScottHall's irony here.

 

Translation of what ScottHall was saying: Ask a big and interesting question where Munger can add value. [My commentary: why would you waste your (and everybody's) time asking a guy who was born before women could vote questions about women's roles in 2018? He is a wise man, but geez...]

[netnet]

Next Wednesday the Daily Journal Annual Meeting will take place.

 

So i think it´s a good idea to think about good questions for the meeting, not to bore

Munger with dumb questions about Bitcoin.  ;)

Last year Munger was in particular good shape, eating See´s Candy after the meeting.  :)

 

 

Here are two questions from the Motley Fool board:

1. What book need to be written that would interest you very much?

2. Buffett always talk about your 30 second mind – could you roughly walk us through how you think when facing an issue?

I will add 3 more questions:

3. Could you talk about the tax cut effects to Berkshire Hathaway and the economy?

4. Do you have some advice how to include mental model thinking in your everyday life?

5. What advice would you give parents to raise their kids?

 

 

Additions to the list and asking these questions at the meeting are welcomed.  :)

#4 and 5 have been asked regularly.

On 4, he always suggests, gaining fluency and using a checklist.  A refined question might be does he use a written checklist before major decisions?  Unfortunately that would only elicit a yes or no response.

 

On 5, he always says with a chuckle, I have barely done a decent job with my own kids.

 

 

[Charlie]

Thank you, netnet.

[Jurgis]

Here are two questions from the Motley Fool board:

1. What book need to be written that would interest you very much?

 

IMO, don't ask abstract or meta questions.

 

Have fun. 8)

[Guest longinvestor]

Fwiw, @ the Omaha meeting, I've noticed some questions Munger doesn't like,

 

1. Tell me the formula you used so that I can (easily) get rich.

2.  Which competitor / rival would you take out.

3.  Macroeconomic questions in any flavor.

 

Others?

 

Asking a question to Munger in public always comes with the possibility of getting dismissed as a stupid question. It may be a good idea to review publicly available videos (Berkshire / DJCO meetings for the past two years, other public interviews etc.) before asking any question. Chances are they have all been asked, in one way or the other. 

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

[nickenumbers]

Great topic about Charlie-

 

Speak loud, slowly and clearly.

 

Don't ask him get rich quick stuff.  Zero of these.

 

Don't ask him for the 3 easy steps of this or that.

 

Don't ask him for the 3 most important mental models..

 

He will tell you there is no easy way, and there is no shortcut and they all work together.

 

I want to hear him talk about BRK's cash pile, and the plan to buy or send out a special dividend.

I would also like to hear him talk about which of his favorite ideas he has trashed in favor of a new and better one.

[redhots]

Ask about BYD!  (They bought more in 2017)

 

How will all of the EV competition effect BYD?  Is their vertical integration a competitive advantage?  Can they be the low cost producer?

[Guest longinvestor]

I would really like to hear from him why Graham doesn't work. The whole Quality versus Cigar butt thing in more detail.

[wescobrk]

Ask about BYD!  (They bought more in 2017)

 

How will all of the EV competition effect BYD?  Is their vertical integration a competitive advantage?  Can they be the low cost producer?

 

Interesting, how much more did they buy in 2017?

[redhots]

You can assume its BYD by comparing the fair values in the 2015 and 2016 10-K and see that they closely align with BYD share price. 

 

From the latest 10-K

The fair value of the foreign marketable security held in Hong Kong Dollar was $55,000,000 with an adjusted cost of $14,710,000 and $32,814,000 with an adjusted cost of $9,697,000 as of September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

So we know they spent $5,013,000 since the cost went up.    If you look at end price and it is in fact BYD then they bought 929,224 shares at $5.39 a share.  It looks like purchased those around Dec 2016/Jan 2017.  (just looking at closing prices).    So an increase of 19%.    BYD is 25% of their portfolio as of 9/30/2017.

[SlowAppreciation]

I've always wanted to know if, given carte blanche to redo GAAP accounting, what major changes would he seek out?