Gyroscopic Investing

Ummm, I think I'll pass. Wait, 80% discount for wire transfer?

Loving the etymology signatures lately, dualstow. Keep ‘em coming!

Vil wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:23 am

dualstow wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:51 am RIP John Conway

(in members with covid thread)
Hm, was not aware John passed away due to Covid. RIP, "Game of life" is one of the first funny things that most of Computer science students around the globe are asked to implement ... Still can recall 'gliders' moving around when space button is pressed - we used to press it continuously to observe how its moving around ...

Yup, good stuff. It’s a nice tribute.
https://xkcd.com/2293/

Whatever happened to RSS?

I've been using Feedly since Google's RSS went black.

Kriegsspiel wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:45 am Whatever happened to RSS?

I've been using Feedly since Google's RSS went black.

It seems to be declining in popularity. What’s an example of a site that you commonly use it with?

I use it for tons of sites, Strong Towns for one.

Kriegsspiel wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:45 am Whatever happened to RSS?

I've been using Feedly since Google's RSS went black.

Same here, I love RSS. For me, the high point of the web was the blogging and RSS era, right before social media came in and ruined everything. I was mad at Google for dropping Reader, but Feedly is very nice.

I’m glad to hear there are still RSS fans out there!
I’m using NetNewsWire, but not every day.

(tortoise’s) vaccine: "matter used in vaccination," 1846, from French vaccin, noun use of adjective, from Latin vaccina, fem. of vaccinus "pertaining to a cow." A mild case of cowpox rendered one immune thereafter to smallpox.

That’s really cool. I’ll be thinking about that the next time I order vaca frita.

Love vaca frita! But I enjoy ropa vieja even more. I really hope my local Cuban restaurant survives this lockdown.

Tortoise wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2020 2:32 pm Love vaca frita! But I enjoy ropa vieja even more. I really hope my local Cuban restaurant survives this lockdown.

Indeed. There's a place in Key West where the vaca frita is a bit too dry but the ropa vieja is good every time. With sangria.

mathjak107 wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 5:32 am

dualstow wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 8:04 pm In 2001, the United States' military airdropped 2.4 million Pop-Tarts in Afghanistan during the US invasion.[11]

but they had no electricity for the toasters ....

I'm sure the Afghans figured out how to heat them up just fine.

dualstow wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 10:01 am I think Smith1776 is here today to talk about Bill Ackman's stock picking successes!

I'm quite fond of Bill Ackman! Ackman, like Buffett, "saw the light" when he discovered The Intelligent Investor. I believe there was a Forbes magazine cover that called him 'Baby Buffett', which I think is an apt description.

What's especially interesting about Ackman is that he's found an extra dimension in value investing that may be a relative safe haven from the ravages of market efficiency. That is, he practices activist value investing. What kind of opportunities can be had when a value investor can influence management?

Going even further to use CDS's in order to turn some 26 million dollars into 2.7 billion dollars. I think an operation like that would fall under Graham's definition of "special situations." I think that can fall under the rubrik of value if one thought the CDSs were mispriced (in this case it appears they were).

All this talk about stock picking is giving me that hankering...

Does anyone on this forum raise chickens?

dualstow so why the question about chickens?

l82start wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:25 am

Does anyone on this forum raise chickens?

dualstow so why the question about chickens?

I'm guessing the "raise chickens" means live ones, not the chicken legs I raise to my mouth and slurp.

We do have a relatively close neighbor in a large new home that has a chicken pen in his yard with a dozen or two birds. You can hear the roosters crow early in the morning. Perhaps they are for eggs, perhaps for meat, perhaps to teach his children some history or how to take care of animals, perhaps for the alarm clock.

l82start wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:25 am

Does anyone on this forum raise chickens?

dualstow so why the question about chickens?

I asked you first.
Nah, I’m just asking because it seems to be becoming a trend. I’ve got a school friend who’s been raising them for years, but the number of friends who is raising them is suddenly increasing.

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:12 am ...
We do have a relatively close neighbor in a large new home that has a chicken pen in his yard with a dozen or two birds. You can hear the roosters crow early in the morning. Perhaps they are for eggs, perhaps for meat, perhaps to teach his children some history or how to take care of animals, perhaps for the alarm clock.

dualstow wrote: ↑Fri Jun 26, 2020 7:40 am

l82start wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:25 am

Does anyone on this forum raise chickens?

dualstow so why the question about chickens?

I asked you first.
Nah, I’m just asking because it seems to be becoming a trend. I’ve got a school friend who’s been raising them for years, but the number of friends who is raising them is suddenly increasing.

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:12 am ...
We do have a relatively close neighbor in a large new home that has a chicken pen in his yard with a dozen or two birds. You can hear the roosters crow early in the morning. Perhaps they are for eggs, perhaps for meat, perhaps to teach his children some history or how to take care of animals, perhaps for the alarm clock.

my sister raises chickens, for eggs/pets, she is living a rural farm style life, so its not exactly trendy..

Cool!

I just noticed this addition to your sig, Smith. Good one!

Knucklehead (noun): Someone who knows the expense ratio of everything but the value of nothing.

Tortoise wrote: ↑Fri Jul 17, 2020 12:38 pm I just noticed this addition to your sig, Smith. Good one!

Knucklehead (noun): Someone who knows the expense ratio of everything but the value of nothing.

I aim to please!

Hal wrote: ↑Sat Jul 18, 2020 12:23 am Aussie GoldSmithPP - 25% PMGOLD, 75% VDCO

Love the sig, Hal!

Tortoise, there are days when I feel galaktos intolerant

dualstow wrote: ↑Sun Jul 19, 2020 7:04 am Tortoise, there are days when I feel galaktos intolerant

Ah, the infamous gas giant...

dualstow wrote: ↑Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:28 pm While Bogleheads focus on parroting Buffett’s comments about gold — I’m not trashing them — they should be paying attention to how gold moves relative to the dollar.

What really gets me is when no one on that forums sees the obvious logical fallacy in Buffett's argument.

Buffett presents a binary choice between all the productive farmland and something like 7 Exxon Mobils versus a block of gold. He then makes the obvious choice of saying the productive assets are the clear choice.

Well, duh.

But in the real world investors don't have a binary choice between stocks and gold. There's an infinite gradation between 100/0 and 0/100. Buffett committed the logical sin of the black-or-white fallacy -- a well known flaw that even a first year philosophy major should have been able to detect.

I honestly expected a stronger argument from someone as smart as him.