The Digest #192
Unpopular large companies, Dopamine culture, Buffett's cheapest stock, Investing in vertical SaaS, The bear case for China, Chris Davis, Michael Mauboussin, and more ...
“No career is the right career if it is undertaken solely to get rich, or to gain public fame, or to throw one’s weight around. Nor is it the right career if it is undertaken to meet the expectations of others.”
Articles
Socrates: A Man for Our Times by
, March 2, 2024. Paul Johnson's biography of Socrates provides an overview of the life of an extraordinary man and the Athenian society that he couldn't live without. (The Rational Walk)After Earnings, Is Berkshire Hathaway Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued? by Greggory Warren, March 1, 2024. “We’ve increased our fair value estimate to $600,000 per Class A share from $555,000 after updating our forecasts for the company’s operating businesses and insurance investment portfolio.” (Morningstar)
For several years, Greggory Warren was on a panel of analysts invited to ask questions at Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings. The analyst panel format was useful and I hope it returns in the future.
Thoughts on Ben Graham's "Unpopular Large Caps" by
, March 4, 2024. “Graham's view on how large caps can get mispriced, a time arbitrage investment approach that worked for Graham and still works today.”(Base Hit Investing)Ben Graham’s View of Unpopular Large Companies, November 4, 2022. I wrote about Meta near the lows! … But no, I never bought the stock! (The Rational Walk)
Warren Buffett Q&A Transcript || Omaha Press Club (1992) by
, February 29, 2024. Among other insights, this interview highlights how much has changed in the media landscape over the past three decades. (Kingswell)How to Break Free from Dopamine Culture by
, March 4, 2024. “These businesses are obsessed with controlling users in the most manipulative ways possible. This is not the purpose of tech. It has never been the purpose of tech—which should empower and enhance our lives, not force us into digital bondage.” (The Honest Broker)The Cheapest Stock Warren Buffett Ever Owned by
, March 5, 2024. “Warren Buffett had a net worth of $19,700 in December 1951. That’s $230,000 in today’s dollars. His net worth had doubled that year, thanks largely to an investment in this little company called GEICO. But in 1952, Buffett found a security he liked even better than GEICO.” (Dirt Cheap Stocks)The Friendship With Warren Buffett That Led to Her $1 Billion Donation by Ben Cohen and Karen Langley, March 1, 2024. This is a long article about Warren Buffett’s friendship with David and Ruth Gottesman. “She could change all these people’s lives by giving up something that wasn’t actually important to her and would be hugely important to thousands of people over time,” Buffett said this past week. (WSJ)
A Warren Buffett Protégée Is on the Hunt for Small Companies. She Now Has Millions More to Spend by Chip Cutter, March 1, 2024 “Though Kanbrick shares many of Berkshire’s principles, it also operates differently. [Tracy Britt] Cool and her colleagues are involved in operations of businesses Kanbrick acquires. She and her co-founder, Brian Humphrey, another Berkshire veteran, join the boards of the companies they acquire, and evaluate whether they have the right people and growth strategies in place.” (WSJ)
The Dumber Side of Smart People by Morgan Housel, March 2, 2024. “The biggest risk to an evolving system is that you become bogged down by experts from a world that no longer exists. The more evolution you have, the more you should expect that expertise has a shelf life. And those most susceptible to that risk are the people you’d least suspect: The smartest and most intelligent, who at one point flashed their brilliance but struggled to admit that it can’t be repeated.” (Collaborative Fund)
Five Simple Tests You Can Do At Home To See How Long You Will Live by
, March 6, 2024. The tests are: one leg stand, VO2 Max, pushups, heart rate recovery, grip strength, and blood pressure. (Dr. Paddy Barrett)Podcasts
Chris Davis: Three Generations of Wealth, March 5, 2024. 2 hours, 41 minutes. Shane Parrish interviews Chris Davis who is Chairman of Davis Selected Advisors and serves on the board of Berkshire Hathaway. “Most families who obtain immense wealth squander it by the third generation. But Chris Davis comes from a family whose grandfather and father all became independently wealthy of each other, and Davis has done the same. How does that keep happening? In this conversation, we find out.” (The Knowledge Project)
Write Like Wall Street’s Best — Michael Mauboussin, March 6, 2024. 1 hour, 7 minutes. “Perhaps the best-kept secret of any writer is the ability to find inspiration in unconventional places. And that’s Michael Mauboussin in a nutshell. Investing, business, reading, writing, luck, skill — name a topic he’s passionate about, and he’s found a way to make money from it in his writing.” (How I Write)
Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, March 1, 2024. 1 hour, 23 minutes. Transcript. “The whole point of this book is that in order to be successful, to truly have what you want in your life, you must stop waiting to be told what to do and how to do it. I can't give you a 10-step process or a checklist. What I am giving you is insight into the mentality of those who have found unparalleled success by trusting their own instincts.” (Founders Podcast)
Permanent Capital Investing in Vertical SaaS, March 4, 2024. 1 hour, 37 minutes. Transcript. A must-listen if you’re interested in Constellation Software. “Daniel Eisen and Paul Yancich are the co-founders of Arcadea Group. We cover their time at Constellation Software and other formative experiences, how they define and look for high-quality growth companies, and the value of a stable, long-term oriented capital base.” (Art of Investing)
The Bear Case for China w/Kyle Bass, March 1, 2024. 1 hour, 4 minutes. Transcript. Video. In addition to commenting on China, Kyle Bass makes a case for his claim that inflation, as measured by the CPI, is significantly understated. (We Study Billionaires)
How to Engage With History, February 28, 2024. 11 minutes. “There’s a quote I love from writer Kelly Hayes who says, ‘Everything feels unprecedented when you haven’t engaged with history.’ It’s so true. History’s cast of characters changes but it’s the same movie over and over again.” (The Morgan Housel Podcast)
The Fate of Persephone
From Web Gallery of Art:
Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by Hades, the god of the underworld, with the approval of her father, Zeus. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld and her temporary return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring and are harvested when fully grown.
In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades.
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