Links

"Doing nothing often leads to the very best something." --Winnie the Pooh

Warren Buffett says stock buybacks make 'nothing but sense' (video) (LINK) [I haven't seen the full interview yet, but Yahoo has slowly released some clips. There isn't much, but some of the others can be found mixed in with other things HERE.]

The Man Who SOLD The WORLD [John H. Patterson] (video) (LINK)

The Anatomy of a Great Decision (LINK)

Uber Questions - by Ben Thompson (LINK)

You, Dear Investor, Are Patient, Prudent and Calm - by Jason Zweig ($) (LINK)

Budweiser Boss's Recipe for Growth: More Time Away From the Office ($) (LINK)

Kraft Heinz Names New CEO ($) (LINK)

Mattel: Buybacks, Barbie and dead babies - by John Hempton (LINK)

I am short Mattel based on seemingly dysfunctional management and too much debt. I regarded these in part as flip sides of the same problem. Too much debt meant that Mattel found it hard to take risks, to invent new toys, to hire and nurture the talent that keeps a toy company fresh. 

Debt meant that Mattel had to "milk" brands, prioritising short-term cash for stock repurchase and eventually for interest payments. This led to cashing the iconic American Girl brand in for a short-term sugar hit when it was stocked in Toys R Us. 

I knew management were dysfunctional. Churn in the c-suite proves it. But recent stories leave me reeling. Mattel have morphed into a truly evil company. One that kills babies.

EconTalk: Paul Romer on Growth, Cities, and the State of Economics (LINK)

The First Sheep Farmers and Their 10,000-Year-Old Urine - by Sarah Zhang (LINK)

You can't save time...

From The Tao of Pooh:

The main problem with this great obsession for saving time is very simple: you can't save time, you can only spend it. But you can spend it wisely or foolishly. The Bisy Backson has practically no time at all, because he's too busy wasting it by trying to save it. And by trying to save it, he ends up wasting the whole thing. 

Henry David Thoreau put it this way, in Walden:  

Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. Men say that a stitch in time saves nine, and so they take a thousand stitched to-day to save nine tomorrow.

Links

"And when you try too hard, it doesn’t work. Try grabbing something quickly and precisely with a tensed-up arm; then relax and try it again. Try doing something with a tense mind. The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard – one that thinks too much." - The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff 

The Latticework Podcast: Tom Russo on Global Investing and Mental Models in a Changing World (LINK)

See's Candies finds that brick-and-mortar stores are still a sweet spot [H/T Linc] (LINK)

Oaktree Insights: Investing in Real Assets Today (LINK)

Who really owns American farmland? [H/T @chriswmayer] (LINK)

This Robot Ship Experiment Could Disrupt the Global Shipping Industry [H/T Matt] (LINK)

Take a look at Uber’s first pitch deck from 2008 (LINK)

The Rise of Market Power? - by Tyler Cowen (LINK)

Don't forget the second step - by Seth Godin (LINK)

Why so Sirius? - by Phil Plait (LINK)

How Mushrooms Became Magic - by Ed Yong (LINK)

The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not.

From The Tao of Pooh:

"A fish can't whistle and neither can I." Coming from a wise mind, such a statement would mean, "I have certain limitations, and I know what they are." Such a mind would act accordingly. There's nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you're a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren't designed for. Fish don't live in trees, and birds don't spend too much time underwater if they can help it. Unfortunately, some people—who always seem to think they're smarter than fish and birds, somehow—aren't so wise, and end up causing big trouble for themselves and others. 

That doesn't mean that we need to stop changing and improving. It just means that we need to recognize What's There. If you face the fact that you have weak muscles, say, then you can do the right things and eventually become strong. But if you ignore What's There and try to lift someone's car out of a ditch, what sort of condition will you be in after a while? And even if you have more muscle than anyone alive, you still can't push over a freight train. The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not. 

...A saying from the area of Chinese medicine would be appropriate to mention here: "One disease, long life; no disease, short life." In other words, those who know what's wrong with them and take care of themselves accordingly will tend to live a lot longer than those who consider themselves perfectly healthy and neglect their weaknesses. So, in that sense at least, a Weakness of some sort can do you a big favor, if you acknowledge that it's there. The same goes for one's limitations, whether Tiggers know it or not—and Tiggers usually don't. That's the trouble with Tiggers, you know: they can do everything. Very unhealthy. 

Once you face and understand your limitations, you can work with them, instead of having them work against you and get in your way, which is what they do when you ignore them, whether you realize it or not. And then you will find that, in many cases, your limitations can be your strengths.