"The odds are very good that there'll be opportunities from time to time. You cannot study financial history and observe the way markets and people behave and not believe that. Will we do something in the next five years? I can't say. In ten years, yes, we will." -Warren Buffett, 1988 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting [via OID] [H/T Linc]
Q: What’s in your portfolio now?
A: One good stroke of good fortune was meeting Warren Buffett in 1968. It led me to realize that I needed to invest in Berkshire Hathaway (ticker: BRK.A), although I didn’t do it until 1982. It’s my single investment in the stock market. It’s like a broad value-stocks equity index. I hold it in lieu of VTSAX [the Vanguard Total Stock Market fund]. It does about as well with no current taxes to pay. VTSAX has dividends that are taxed annually. I also have some hedge funds, but I consider them not as good as Berkshire, so I use them to spend and finance other things I do.
Q: Why not go out and find better investments, as you did in the past?
A: When I was 35, I had lots of time and less money, so doing 10% or so better than the index, with little risk, was attractive and fun. At 85, the marginal value of time is higher and the marginal value of money is lower. These are strong disincentives when I can make a long-run 10% or so by doing nothing.Warren Buffett’s vision for NetJets is now the company mantra, new Europe CEO says [H/T @pcordway] (LINK)
Whitney Tilson reflects on the end of his hedge fund (LINK)
The Cambridge Analytica Scandal, in 3 Quick Paragraphs (LINK)
WorkLife with Adam Grant Podcast: Is Your Personality More Flexible Than You Think? (LINK)
Peter G. Peterson, a Power From Wall St. to Washington, Dies at 91 (LINK)
Bertrand Russell’s Advice to People Living 1,000 Years in the Future: “Love is Wise, Hatred is Foolish” (LINK)
There are a couple of great deals on Kindle books today ($2.99):
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
WTF?: What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us