The Digest #213
Berkshire's Trillion Dollar Milestone, Will Buffett attempt to acquire Chubb?, Intel's Prospects, Personal Bots, Bitcoin, AI vs. Reality, "Useless" Knowledge, Jay Bowen, Rudy Havenstein, and more ...
Quote of the Week
“It’s no disgrace for a man, even a wise man, to learn many things and not to be too rigid. You’ve seen trees by a raging winter torrent, how many sway with the flood and salvage every twig, but not the stubborn — they’re ripped out, roots and all. Bend or break. The same when a man is sailing: haul your sheets too taut, never given an inch, you’ll capsize, and go the rest of the voyage keel up and the rowing-benches under.”
Articles
, September 3, 2024. “It’s a number that would have been scarcely imaginable when Warren Buffett started buying bargain-priced shares of Berkshire for his partnership nearly six decades ago. How could a failing New England textile operation transform itself from a discarded cigar butt into one of the most admired (and valuable) companies in the world?” (Kingswell)1968 - Sun Newspaper & Blacker Printing Company by
, September 1, 2024. “Buffett’s love of newspapers started when he was 13 years old. He would deliver copies of the Washington Post at 4:30 am while his father served in Congress. At the end of 1968, Berkshire purchased Sun Newspaper and Blacker Printing Company for $626,000 and $600,000, respectively.” (Becoming Berkshire)There May Be Something Big Going On Behind Buffett’s Selling by Jim Sloan, September 4, 2024. Warren Buffett has been building a position in Chubb over the past several quarters. This has led to speculation that Berkshire might make an offer for the entire company. At a current market cap of $118 billion, and considering the control premium likely required in an acquisition, Chubb is not minor pocket change for Berkshire. Jim Sloan speculates that some of Warren Buffett’s recent selling of stocks might be in anticipation of a deal for Chubb. (Seeking Alpha)
Intel Honesty by Ben Thompson, September 3, 2024. “… My initial response to the meltdown over Intel’s earnings was to defend Gelsinger; what is happening to Intel now is downstream of mistakes that happened years before Gelsinger came back to the company. That remains true, but Gelsinger does have one fatal flaw: he still believes in Intel, and I no longer do.” (Stratechery)
Beat your Bot: Building your Moat against AI by
, August 28, 2024. “In the months since I was made aware of the Damodaran Bot, I have thought in general terms about what AI will be able to do as well or better than we can, and the areas where it might have trouble.” (Musings on Markets)Trump’s call for a bitcoin strategic reserve is a very bad idea by Vitaliy Katsenelson, September 3, 2024. “What will happen if strangers fall in love with another story that is not green and doesn’t have pictures of the US presidents? The demand for the US dollar will decline. Foreigners will stop financing our lavish lifestyle beyond our means. The interest we are paying on our debt will go up. Our budget deficits will rise…” (The Intellectual Investor)
Google Thinks Beethoven Looks Like Mr. Bean by
, August 30, 2024. Should search engines highlight AI generated images for historical figures? That appears to be the case for several long-dead individuals, including many that have portraits or even actual photographs readily available. This raises obvious questions regarding the distinction between fiction and reality. (The Honest Broker)They’re Breaking Every Retirement Rule to Be Off Now, Not Later by Oyin Adedoyin, September 4, 2024. Rather than aiming for very early retirement, known as FIRE, some young people are taking “sabbaticals” during prime earning years without having much of a financial base. Some justify doing so by reasoning that they will be physically unable to be active later in life. But personal experience tells me that, with proper diet and exercise, there is no reason that middle-aged people cannot do almost all of what these young people want to do right now. (WSJ)
Not Useless: We Just Don’t Know What It’s for Yet by
, September 4, 2024. “‘The pursuit of these useless satisfactions proves unexpectedly the source from which undreamed-of utility is derived,’ wrote [Abraham] Flexner. He also acknowledged that not every investigation or experiment would yield profitable results. But the point, as he argued, was to create settings for discovery and invention—which happens to be the only way to ensure profitable results in the long run.” (Miller’s Book Review)From the Labor Camp to the Pantheon of Literature: How Dostoyevsky Became a Writer by Maria Popova, September 1, 2024. “Fyodor Dostoyevsky … was twenty-seven when he was arrested and sentenced to death for belonging to a literary society deemed dangerous by the tsarist regime. His sentence was repealed at the last moment, prompting him to send his brother an ecstatic letter about the meaning of life. But he was not set free — instead, he served four years in a hard labor camp in Siberia.” (The Marginalian)
Podcasts
Value Investing in a Changing World with Aswath Damodaran, August 29, 2024. 1 hour, 9 minutes. I often link to articles by Aswath Damodaran due to the rigorous approach he applies to valuation. His approach differs materially from what he sees as unwarranted rigidity applied by many value investors. He’s particularly critical of attendees of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting even though he has never attended a meeting. From my experience attending past meetings, I don’t think that Berkshire shareholders are quite as rigid as his caricature suggests. (Excess Returns)
Crushing the Market Over 50 Years w/Jay Bowen, September 1, 2024. 2 hours, 12 minutes. “William Green chats with Harold J. (“Jay”) Bowen III, President & CIO of Bowen, Hanes & Company. Jay & his late father generated dazzling returns for their biggest client, the Tampa Firefighters’ & Police Officers’ Pension Fund. The fund’s stock portfolio has achieved an annualized return of 14.4% over 50 years.” (Richer, Wiser, Happier)
Rudy Havenstein, September 3, 2024. 55 minutes.
has mastered the art of simultaneously being a truth-teller, particularly on monetary policy, while also maintaining a sense of humor. Rudy’s X account is widely followed on fintwit and he also publishes a newsletter on Substack. In this interview, he discusses the Fed’s misguided policies, his investment approach, and much more. (Kontrarian Korner)New Revelations About Saudi Arabia and the CIA’s Actions Ahead of 9/11, September 2, 2024. 1 hour, 13, minutes. 23 years after 9/11/2001, the Saudi villains who facilitated the attacks have never been held accountable.“Demetri Kofinas speaks with Bob Kerrey, the former governor of Nebraska, a U.S. senator, and a member of the 9/11 Commission, about the latest revelations regarding support for the 9/11 hijackers by Saudi Arabia and troubling details about the CIA’s actions in the lead-up to 9/11.” (Hidden Forces)
The Bible Triggered Two Communications Revolutions: The Codex and the Printing Press, September 3, 2024. 52 minutes. “We discuss the story of the Bible’s journey around the globe and across more than two thousand years, showing how it has shaped and been shaped by changing beliefs and believers’ different needs. The people who received it interpreted it in radically different ways, from desert monasteries and Chinese house churches, Byzantine cathedrals and Guatemalan villages.” (History Unplugged)
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