"The history of much of which we don’t like in modern corporate capitalism comes from an unreasonable expectation, communicated from headquarters, that [corporate] earnings have to go up with no volatility and great regularity. That kind of an expectation from headquarters is not just the kissing cousin of evil. It’s the blood brother of evil. And we just don’t need that blood brother in our headquarters." --Charlie Munger (2005)
"Businesses do not meet expectations quarter after quarter and year after year. It just isn’t in the nature of running businesses. And, in our view, people that predict precisely what the future will be are either kidding investors, or they’re kidding themselves, or they’re kidding both. Charlie and I have been around the culture, sometimes on the board, where the ego of the CEO became very involved in meeting predictions which were impossible, really, over time. And everybody in the organization knew, because they were very public about it, what these predictions were and they knew that their CEO was going to look bad if they weren’t met. And that can lead to a lot of bad things." --Warren Buffett (2005)
Michael Mauboussin: Looking for Easy Games in Bonds (LINK)"Businesses do not meet expectations quarter after quarter and year after year. It just isn’t in the nature of running businesses. And, in our view, people that predict precisely what the future will be are either kidding investors, or they’re kidding themselves, or they’re kidding both. Charlie and I have been around the culture, sometimes on the board, where the ego of the CEO became very involved in meeting predictions which were impossible, really, over time. And everybody in the organization knew, because they were very public about it, what these predictions were and they knew that their CEO was going to look bad if they weren’t met. And that can lead to a lot of bad things." --Warren Buffett (2005)
A compilation of Q1 investor letters [H/T @MineSafety] (LINK)
CNBC’s interview with ValueAct’s Jeff Ubben (video) (LINK)
Invest Like the Best Podcast: Katherine Collins – Impact and ESG Investing (LINK)
Against the Rules with Michael Lewis (podcast): The Alex Kogan Experience (LINK)
The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish (podcast): Catalyzing Success (LINK)
Edge #535: Machines Like Me - A Talk By Ian McEwan (LINK)
The world’s deadliest shapeshifter - by Bill Gates (LINK)