Free Articles!
All articles older than six months are now free to read
Dear Readers,
It is difficult to strike the right balance when it comes to paywalling articles. I would like to make my work available to a larger audience but, at the same time, I feel a responsibility to provide a solid value to those who choose to pay for my work.
Going forward, my policy will be to remove paywalls from articles after six months. This will provide an incentive for readers to pay for a subscription while eventually making my writing available to everyone. To implement this policy, I have removed paywalls on several articles which are listed at the end of this article. Future issues of The Digest will include a listing of all articles that have been made paywall-free.
Before listing the newly free articles, I would like to provide a description of what free and paid subscribers can expect from The Rational Walk:
Free Subscribers:
Previews of The Digest. Full access after a six month delay.
Previews of premium articles when they are initially published
Full access to premium articles after a six month delay
Occasional free articles
Paid Subscribers:
Full access to The Digest
Full access to premium articles when they are initially published
Occasional free articles
Comment on all articles, discuss with other readers, and ask questions
During a typical month, you can expect to receive eight emails — four issues of The Digest and four articles, three of which will be paywalled. I might publish more often, as I did last year, but I’d rather exceed expectations than risk falling short.
Berkshire Hathaway articles have been a constant feature of The Rational Walk since I created the website nearly fifteen years ago. I plan to continue writing about Berkshire on at least a quarterly basis and often more frequently. These articles are not investment recommendations but I will try my best to leverage twenty-four years of ownership to provide coverage and insights that are not to be found in mainstream media publications or in typical free blog posts about the company.
Aside from Berkshire, I have no plans to regularly write about other companies. Since I have written very detailed company profiles in the past, some subscribers have been under the impression that this remains an ongoing paid subscription feature. Although I have tried to make the details of the current subscription offering clear, I apologize if anyone signed up based on this misunderstanding and will issue pro-rated refunds upon request. You can reply to this email or use this contact form.
The value proposition for paid subscribers is to gain immediate access to all issues of The Digest and all premium articles when they are published rather than waiting six months. Regular readers know that most premium articles are about business and investing topics. Newer readers can check out the articles in the listing below to get a sense of the type of material I have published in the past.
I am very pleased to have nearly three hundred paid subscribers and I appreciate everyone who has signed up. However, to sustain the level of effort that goes into The Rational Walk for the long haul, I need to at least triple the subscriber base this year. If you value the articles I publish, the best way to keep it going is to subscribe.
The following articles, in reverse chronological order, are now free to read:
Berkshire Hathaway: Reinsurance, Inflation, Worst Case Scenarios, June 23, 2023
Should Berkshire Disclose Performance for Investment Managers?, June 21, 2023
Hedging Against Inflation Using TIPS and I Bonds, June 8, 2023
Markel’s 2023 Omaha Brunch, May 29, 2023
Buffett’s Occidental Endgame, May 19, 2023
Berkshire Hathaway’s Q1 2023 Results, May 10, 2023
Berkshire Hathaway’s 2023 Q&A Session, May 8, 2023
Progressive vs. GEICO: The Battle Continues, May 5, 2023
Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B Discount, April 27, 2023
The Rational Walk published twelve business profiles between May 2022 and January 2023 as part of a previous paid subscription package. As stated above, no new profiles are planned as part of the current paid subscription package. All of the profiles below, each of which took the better part of a month of full-time work to create, are now free for all readers. Each includes a PDF and Excel download.
Business Profile Library — Consolidated Listing
Daily Journal Corporation, January 24, 2023
The Progressive Corporation, December 21, 2022
Fastenal Company, November 26, 2022
Costco Wholesale Corporation, October 25, 2022
Union Pacific Corporation, September 26, 2022
George Risk Industries, September 8, 2022
Burlington Northern Santa Fe, August 25, 2022
CarMax: A Disrupter Faces Disruption, August 16, 2022
Tractor Supply Company, July 13, 2022
Investors Title Company, June 30, 2022
America’s Car-Mart, June 8, 2022
DaVita: An Essential Provider of Dialysis Services, May 20, 2022
If you found this article interesting, please click on the ❤️️ button and consider sharing this issue with your friends and colleagues.
Thanks for reading!
Icebergs in the Atlantic
Copyright, Disclosures, and Privacy Information
Nothing in this article constitutes investment advice and all content is subject to the copyright and disclaimer policy of The Rational Walk LLC.
Your privacy is taken very seriously. No email addresses or any other subscriber information is ever sold or provided to third parties. If you choose to unsubscribe at any time, you will no longer receive any further communications of any kind.
The Rational Walk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.