This is a timely thread for me. I have been invested in a Permanent Portfolio since 2012. The only bucket in the portfolio that has accumulated consistent (unrealized capital) losses is the Treasury Bond component, especially stark since the stunning gains in gold over the past year. I have been won...

The original post referenced an article which in turn referenced a recent academic paper. For anyone interested enough to go into the weeds and read the 72 page paper, here is a link to it: https://tinyurl.com/bdfh5b9x You may have to click the button to open the pdf in your browser window or downlo...

Inflation is the next biggest threat, but as we also know Browne was mistaken in claiming that gold is an effective inflation hedge. I know this thread is primarily about LTT, but would you elaborate on why you are saying this? I was worried about the same, but looking at how gold has responded in ...

I caught a robotic permaban on Reddit for no particular reason. I just read it now. You have no idea what caused it? I have a friend who continually gets banned but then just comes right back in under another name. The other non-attractive feature for me regarding Reddit is that the communications ...

Also you're glossing over a nasty part of taxation: let's say you're right and the final sales price doesn't increase, but some percentage of manufacturers go out of business instead. Is that a win for society? I would argue it isn't. In the real world you'll get some of both: higher prices and few...

I disagree about the corporate tax rate: that should be 0%. Is your rationale for this the double taxation argument? If yes, it then conflicts with SCOTUS and Citizen's United where they deemed corporations to be "people" with all the rights thereto. FWIW, I disagree with SCOTUS and agree...

Biden too, right? Correct; for the first part of his term (117th Congress). Here is a good list of Presidencies that shows unified versus divided Congress. It's interesting - https://history.house.gov/Institution/Presidents-Coinciding/Party-Government/ LBJ had a unified Congress which maybe explain...

{ from the Meme thread } Let’s go with not-quite-a-landslide for Trump in 2024. But we need a word for what looks like a Republican trifecta now: the presidency, the senate and, I guess, the house of representatives. Unified party government? If the two congressional chambers are effectively subord...

flyingpylon wrote: ↑Sun Nov 10, 2024 12:21 pm The election was not simply about Trump. The result will never make sense to anyone that continues to frame it that way.

Care to share your analysis?

Maybe it is like investing in a company based on the leader, despite unclear fundamentals. The detractor will point to the lack of fundamentals. The supporter points to their faith in the leader. For an early investor who believed in Steve Jobs, it was a good bet. For an early investor who believed ...

It was as obvious as it was awkward that Trump could not look at Harris. Ever. Every time Trump was talking, Harris turned and faced him, probably looked him right in the eye. Every time she talked, he looked straight ahead or down, never faced her. If he was triggered, he looked down or up and to h...

The problem is freeloading If everybody owes everybody then it all cancels out, right? The problem is that debt diverts a large share of actual economic output (goods and services) into passive income (interest paid). Disconnecting productivity from consumption is bad. Communism goes all in on it b...

Pointedstick wrote: ↑Sat Apr 27, 2024 9:37 am

IMO only Canada offers a better deal when it comes to the "tax burden to services provided" ratio. Perks of being a neighboring global empire's protectorate, I think.

Japan says "hold my Sapporo"

A Clockwork Orange, when I was about six.
Probably the root cause of many of my problems but on the plus side it did make me a lifelong Beethoven fan.

I would have voted Steve Jobs if he had been an option.

There is a difference between an investor and an entrepreneur. Investors invest in entrepreneurs. I think of Buffett as an investor.

DogBreath wrote: ↑Sat Aug 19, 2023 2:15 pm

Yep, it doesn't exist. But then, back to the original point of public corporations maximizing shareholder returns rather than political agendas. If they did that, it would be unnecessary / moot.

Pug wisdom right here

D. Is there any proof that tilting an ETF to ostensibly "conservative" or "liberal" companies actually works? Who cares if it works. Maybe some people would just rather invest in companies that share their same values and not invest in companies that "hate them". As lo...

That is a fair point. And the free market IS penalizing Disney. Their movies are bombing and park attendance is way down YOY. Same with Bud Light and Target. But it's not so simple. If I want to not buy stock in Disney or Target bc I don't agree with their "values", that means I can't buy...

Privately held businesses can do what they want (at their own peril), but public corporations should absolutely stay out of politics and remain neutral on social/cultural issues. You literally offend half the country when you don't. In my view, it is also a lapse of fiduciary responsibility to shar...

[ After reading this from this excellent article you hold to the same view? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/07/business/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-interview.html At her sentencing hearing in November 2022, she was visibly pregnant with her second child. That baby was born in February. In March, Ms. ...

Thanks! Just bought a delivered paperback version for $6.36. Will read it soon after it arrives. Let us know what you think of it. O0 The whole story is just so fascinating to me. I often wonder what she's thinking right now. The way Carreyrou broke the story is a testament to the importance of inv...

One of the most troubling things in the Elizabeth Holmes story is her second child, conceived after conviction but before sentencing and used by her attorneys as a basis for her petition for remaining out of prison pending her appeal. The question of course being did she bring a child into the world...

It appears the hugging is contagious. It's the summer of love for the forum.

So I havent dug into the Disney thing, is he not just retracting a privilege that never should have been extended, from a libertarian perspective. That question is worth looking up. From what I can glean, the arrangement, dating back to 1966 is uber-libertarian. What Disney negotiated is relative a...

Mark Leavy wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 9:26 pm Ahh... more pablum.

That's what we were all waiting for.

Hugs.
XO,
Mark

My quest for your approval continues Mark.
Code name El Dorado. Not giving up