Say You, Say Me
Say You, Say Me
w.188 | In Memory of Wilfred Watson, A Heart That Works, BH Annual Letter, Cash as a Weapon
Dear Friends,
We are keeping it brief this week. The workweek became the workweekend. I lost my Saturday morning to A Heart That Works. Which is what it is.
Today's Contents:
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Book Review: A Heart That Works
Song of the Week: Say You, Say Me.
Good Reads: Sensible Investing
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter 2022: This year’s letter is shorter than usual but filled with Warren and Charlie’s timeless wit and wisdom. Berkshire had an impressive 2022, and it’s interesting to compare its performance against the market in 2022 and 2020. Basically inverse.
Charlie and I are not stock-pickers; we are business-pickers.
Our satisfactory results have been the product of about a dozen truly good decisions – that would be about one every five years – and a sometimes-forgotten advantage that favors long-term investors such as Berkshire. Let’s take a peek behind the curtain. (Author’s note: This is critical, and I see it in my investing and career clearly. It’s easy to forget in the day-to-day).
The weeds wither away in significance as the flowers bloom. Over time, it takes just a few winners to work wonders.
You don’t, however, need to own a lot of things in order to get rich.
You have to keep learning if you want to become a great investor. When the world changes, you must change.
I’m attending the annual meeting this year in Omaha, May 5-6. Let me know if you will be there as well :).
Lowest Margin Ever In History Between TBILLS and Investment Grade Long Bonds - market perspective from David Neubert. I’m just copying his take below.
You have to really believe that inflation is back to a normal 2-3% and the economy is going to get really bad for this to make sense. And if it does make sense this would be a disaster for equities which are currently near historic high valuations. High valuations like this usually happen in the middle of a bad economic cycle when earnings are about to take off.
Rising interest rates, worries about a recession while equites are at high valuations and rising reminds me of the set up before the 1987 crash. That crash recovered fairly quickly and was a great time to buy. But to buy in a moment like that you need cash. And today cash is yielding 5.0% in the right places. It pays to wait and miss out on exciting rallies. Now more than ever cash is set up to be an offensive weapon in the portfolio.
Book Review: A Heart That Works
Here on Amazon.
I can remember who recommended A Heart That Works to me, but it ended up on my Libby list and, in the early hours of Saturday morning, was sent to my Kindle, and here we are. It’s written by Rob Delaney, an American comedian, and writer who starred in Catastrophe, a show on Amazon. I didn’t know any of these facts before reading the book.
This book was about Rob’s experience with his third child being diagnosed and eventually passing from cancer. This isn’t my usual genre, but it’s good to intersperse investing and research reading with something more gripping to the human experience. From that view, the book didn’t disappoint. It was an easy read and only took a couple of hours. It’s well-written, open, and vulnerable. It made me reflect on my experience with the NHS and private practice health systems. It also pushes on the tradeoffs between work and personal life.
Song of the Week: Say You, Say Me
Here on YouTube.
The song and picture of the week are a dedication to the memory of Wilfred Watson. Wilfred was a champion at making friends, enjoying life, and going on adventures. Well into his nineties, he’d drive like a madman around London to the perfect pub for a drink. His signature handlebar mustache and quintessential Britishness were unmissable. His voice is so distinct in my head.
Wilfred is my dear friend Tom’s beloved father. Tom generously loaned him to me while I was living in London. Wilfred would come to my publication launch events and public forums, always grinning and sitting in the front row.
Say You, Say Me is a Lionel Richie hit from a movie called White Night. The film follows a Russian ballet dancer's ill-fated defection from the Soviet Union and his unlikely friendship with a tap dancer who defected from America. It’s about being in a foreign city and the power of friendship.
For over a decade, Wilfred’s west London flat was a welcome home for me in a city where it is easy to feel alone. I almost started an investment firm named Baker Street Capital after the location.
Wilfred will undoubtedly be missed.
“Say You, Say Me” by Lionel Richie
As we go down life's lonesome highway
Seems the hardest thing to do is to find a friend or two
A helping hand someone who understands
That when you feel you've lost your way
You've got someone there to say
I'll show you
[Chorus]
Say you, say me
Say it for always, (Oh) that's the way it should be
Say you, say me
Say it together, naturally
Selfie of the Week - In loving memory of Wilfred Watson
Thanks for reading, friends. Please always be in touch.
As always,
Katelyn