parker cassady

posts on investing & the pursuit of dogged, incremental, constant progress • opinions are my own • caveat emptor!

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

@mjmauboussin Looking forward to this one, Michael! Hope you’re doing great.

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

@SleepwellCap Greg isn’t a public securities guy. He’s cleaning up. With Todd C gone, it’s seemingly just Ted W managing public with Buffett being somewhat dialed in still. Greg will own chunky public holdings to either take private or bucket stocks as private-like owning even if minority.

[Shay Boloor @StockSavvyShay]

On this day in 1965, Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway at ~15 per share.

A $10K investment that day would be worth ~$485M today.

[David Senra @FoundersPodcast]

Hahaha I love Charlie Munger:

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

People matter - and some operators can simply do more over a long time period. Applies to all hiring but is especially true of managers/leadership. Worth the few minutes to watch this!

[WOLF @WOLF_Financial]

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY DIRECTOR CHRIS DAVIS ON WHY GREAT OPERATORS ARE THE MOST OVERLOOKED ALPHA IN INVESTING:

"Nobody looks at LeBron and thinks 'I could do that.' But people are very quick to figure the ones who did well in business just got lucky."

His example: Jamie Dimon's career arc.

"Commercial Credit → Primerica → Travelers → Aetna → Citi. Then Bank One, where he wrote one of the best first investor reports. Then JPMorgan, which had completely lost its way, gone from preeminence to almost irrelevant. He turned it into a company not even in the same category as its peers."

His point: most investors don't recognize this kind of operator until it's too late.

"You go visit a company and you meet one person who is just better. It's like watching LeBron play at 18 and thinking 'oh yeah, he's different.' People underestimate that in business."

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

@BRK_Student Congratulations, Adam. The first edition was and is a fantastic resource. Looking forward to this second one!

[Finding Compounders @F_Compounders]

In 2004 Warren Buffett told shareholders that if Berkshire hadn’t acquired National Indemnity for $8.6 million in 1967: “Berkshire would be lucky to be worth half of what it is today.”

This is a conversation between Buffett and Jack Ringwald on the purchase of National Indemnity

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

About a decade ago, a mentor of mine shared this message with me. I took it to heart, and it made a tremendous difference (and will continue to do so). Highly recommend anyone interested in business or investing make a practice of doing this.

[The Biography Society @biographsociety]

How Charlie Munger learned any subject insanely fast:

"I am a biography nut myself. And I think when you're trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them into the lives and personalities of the people who have developed them.

I think you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend.

That sounds funny, making friends among the 'eminent dead' but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better for you in life and work better in education."

Munger took any subject, and viewed it through a historical lens. Was he onto something?

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

Henry Singleton is someone I've studied for years. He was the blueprint for Buffett (Singleton had insurance, too!). Great comments here from Warren and Charlie.

https://t.co/gbvcJCEEnB

[Jason @DukeInShadows]

Fairfax AGM $FFH.TO

[Finding Compounders @F_Compounders]

Buffett on the tax advantage of doing nothing

$25 250 vs $692 000

[Brad Gerstner @altcap]

A new social contract - private ownership for all from birth with @TrumpAccounts. Rather than a wealth tax - “let the wealthy give directly to kids - when they cut out govt middleman & the bloat they are down.” Huge announcements coming. 🇺🇸🚀@AndrewYang @MichaelDell @InvestAmerica24

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

Certainly true in some pockets of the software world, especially co’s with little/no proprietary data, co’s that do process automation, etc.

Not enough people have discussed how AI makes it easier for older-economy, industrial business to layer on software, enhancing moats.

[Naval @naval]

AI is going to drain a lot of moats.

[Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 @pmarca]

My information consumption is now 1/4 X, 1/4 podcast interviews of the smartest practitioners, 1/4 talking to the leading AI models, and 1/4 reading old books. The opportunity cost of anything else is far too high, and rising daily.

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

@MnkeDaniel Nice graphic. This book on Nomad is really great and free on Kindle Unlimited.

https://t.co/N4jesgitEt

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

@TiehackCapital Really sharp and consistent. Really appreciate reading their work.

[parker cassady @parkcassady]

@sidecarcap May be true as measured by intrinsic value. However, PE funds and strategics (a few exceptions) are not willing to invest in organically when their own core businesses are facing similar existential questions. Money big enough to do takeouts tends to be slow acting.