Spekulatius

I didn’t feel the World Cup was that great , although it wasn’t bad either. I did notice empty seats in some of the games past the round #1.

I agree on starting with credit card debt. It seems strange, but a lot of Americans don’t get the concept of “interest rates”, they think in terms of payments and if they can afford it. I would probably start there and explain what interest rate compounding really means. We all know that compounding interest is important to accumulate wealth, but the inversion of this is high interest rate debt (mostly CC debt), so it is an important pitfall to avoid.

Why wouldn’t you match your financing with the duration of the typical 10 year lease? A straight 10 year loan would probably be a decent match for an asset with a 20 year life. If you don’t do that, you just gamble on interest rates.

I am adding to TI-A. I am not even sure what caused the downdraft today.

At $90-95, I will buy some too. I don‘t think that deal approval is likely - China might run out of tariffs to retaliate, which means they will do so in other ways. Doing nothing is either for them.

Hmm, my $35 puts are getting some love today? What‘s the concern with OZRK other than reduced NIM?

The street does pay attention to 41% of NXPI‘s revenues being tied to China..

In the current climate - why would China approve this deal? What is their incentive to do so?

I believe that Europe would agree to a zero percent import tax for cars, if the Us abolishes the 25% “ chicken tax” tariff on trucks.

Right now BCS is making money for the benefitofnalmost anyone, except shareholders. The big question is when is this going to change? Lloyd’s bank appears to be much further ahead with the resolution of their issues, so I would simply buy Lloyd’s stock, before even considering Barclays.

the purported reason they're waiting isn't to get a better set up - it is to maintain power for the ensuing 2 years and then use it. if the enact reform prior to the midterms, they'll ruffle lots of feathers... so waiting post mid-terms allows them runway. Or in other words -the investment thesis here is „Hope springs eternal“

I found Howard Marks book unremarkable too. I know he is revered here, but I really didn‘t get much from his book, other than the idea to think about where we are in a cycle. Even with respect to the latter, it might just be better not to think about cycles at all and look at all Investments case by case and forget about the large picture.

That one is overdue for a distribution cut.

not sure Citi / Costco is the best example - that was a co-brand card deal and a huge deal where the non-Costco spend was very important not just the actual in-Costco spend . Co-brand has more players and much easier to manage then a private label card.. ADS is more competitive in private-label. Fewer large banks want / compete here and that has helped keep the costs of acquiring relationships in check... that said clearly the costs of acquiring customers is increasing and ADS seems to be willing to pay up for this - see for example the Children's Place deal that they won last year. IMO - The bear case is two pronged - 1) this is a credit card company masquerading as a marketing / IT company by indexes and if valued like credit card companies its overvalued and 2) Management is growing card receivables late in the credit cycle so losses will go up as the cycle turns. Something I have never understood is ADS trying so hard to be perceived as tech / data monetization company. They take credit risk like SYF / Citi / JP and other peers, period. Hence, ADS should be valued in line with SYF IMO if not lower given distant #2. Agreed. it’s not an asset light business like a software company. The economics should drive the valuation, not a fancy label from management.

Spekulatius, So you think Mr. Gref is lying here? [sorry, I really can't help it [ : - ) ] - I'm not trying to be confrontational.] I mean: What are the facts? Well the first interview is from 2013, which is before the Krimean invasion. Mr Gref may be capable, I honestly don’t know, but it does not mean he is in control of the situation.

I don’t think the Russian government thinks about Sberbank as a market to market position. It’s a vehicle for influence, to keep the wheels of the financial system greased, including money laundry the choosen few and to keep the Russian economy running - I am not sure in which order.

The price may not have been right for BRK. BAM can pay more, because BIP foots the bill, while BAM cashes in fees, so growth in size benefits BAM. I am also not sure that the assets are utility like, there are some gathering assets in the packet, which generally have a lower lifespan and are hence of lower quality.

Those are good points, backed by historical Berkshire facts, Cardboard, I would add Munich Re to your list. Very few people learn from their own mistakes. Even fewer people learn from the mistakes of others. Going back to the thread, WEB tends to convert public holdings into fully owned ones, if he gets the chance. He uses tax free exchanges. He may be a sloth in terms of value realization, but he is not entirely inactive..

The tariff war which might or might not be enduring is a much larger concern. UPS and FDX are major beneficiaries of international trade.

I swapped some ENB into EEQ yesterday as the price ratio seems favorable. I think EEQ is most likely to receive a bump in exchange rates because EEQ has the same economic rights than EEP, yet received a lower exchange rate, due to the quote being lower than EEP at the time the deal was announced. From a fair value principle, this does not make sense.

I am guessing that the fact that we have not been discovered yet means that the speed of life is very likely is in fact the limit. Too bad, I hoped for hyperspace travel or warp drives to get us moving faster some time down the road.

I agree the optional Amex for $25 per rental (not per day) is a great deal. Primary coverage is key!

Good question. I think my doc just transfers prescription to preferred pharma that's somehow on my docs with him. Which is some CVS branch near my place. I don't really know how to change that - I assume I'd have to talk to my docs assistant. I don't know how they send it there either - fax? call? some online form?? But, as I said, I don't use meds often, so I don't delve into that process much. Which might be another +1 for local CVS: infrequent med purchasers just don't bother to setup online accounts/etc or change the default to them. Same for me. Setting up a new account just for the occasional prescription is just not worth the hassle. FWIW, my best experience with respect to pharmacy was when I was with the Kaiser HMO, where the pharmacy is fully integrated. The doc makes a prescription, there is no paperwork and you just pick up the stuff in the same building 5 min later, swiping your membership card. That’s why I think the prescription service should be integrated with the insurance company. The main thing that AMZN May be able to do is make the whole process simple and quick. I don’t really think that price is the main issue.

Isn’t it far more likely that other civilizations find us than the other way around? It vote for staying low as Stephen Hawkins recommended as no news is good news.

I think ENB is not very likely to break the deal. I think there is some likelihood that the exchange ratio gets sweetened, in particular for EEQ.