Be nice to people. This changes the whole environment.
- Manlobbi
Investment Strategies / Mechanical Investing
No. of Recommendations: 1
" By Elizabeth O'Brien | Sunday, August 10
Fees have fallen across 401(k) plans as passively managed funds edge out pricier actively managed offerings. Yet a new development threatens this progress. This past week, President Trump signed an executive order opening the door to private assets in 401(k) plans. The move will democratize access to investments that had once been the purview of the wealthy and provide better returns and diversification for the nation’s savers, the administration said.
Yet it remains to be seen whether so-called alternative assets will boost returns enough to justify what are certain to be higher fees. The evidence suggests they won’t: A study last year found that pension funds, many of which invest in complex and illiquid private investments, don’t outperform simple passive investments over time.
The mechanics of the executive order haven't been worked out yet. And even once the Department of Labor issues guidance, 401(k)s are governed by companies that fear being sued by participants over their investment selections. These plan sponsors are likely to proceed with caution. Investors should do the same. "
Wouldn't it be great if Buffett agreed to a zoom call on this platform? Since the annual meeting has become almost worthless, we could submit our questions to Marc Hamburg for review, no got ya questions. While Buffett is still alert this year is the opportunity to do it.
Berkshire is a unique public security. When brk buys back a share of brk that buy figures to reduce the issued and outstanding of brkb shares forever. In 2011 I predicted buying ibm over brkb would have an opportunity cost of tens of billions of value long term to brk shareholders. Since 2011 how much stock-based compensation has been granted to ibm management? How many shares of brkb have been granted to brk management? Has ibm management been taking 2-4 % of the company annually in compensation regardless of stock or management performance? Has Chris Bloomstran pointed this out on many occasions? Thats why buying back a share of brk is very different than buying a share of any other public company, Berkshire is unique, period. Many old timers here will never get it, that's ok. I wonder IF Buffett gets it yet? Buying a share of any other public company has a material hurdle for brk, is that other share more dear, more valuable long term than brkb? Since 2000 Buffett never appreciated the value of buying back, precious brk, does he agree today?
Becky will never ask substantive questions; a zoom call right here will help to solve many riddles! Marc H, make this happen, thank you, hc.
No. of Recommendations: 3
I don't think he will say anything. He is not Munger, having uninformed opinions on everything and saying them publicly.
Private markets have gotten big enough in the last decade to be considered an asset class. Offering them to retail investors is not outrageous.
Of course what is outrageous are the fees and the lack of disclosure in sharp contrast to stock ETFs and public stocks respectively. But it's a free country. If you want to get fleeced in the hopes of beating the (public) markets, be my guest! Worked for BTC HODLers after all.
No. of Recommendations: 2
" I don't think he will say anything. He is not Munger, having uninformed opinions on everything and saying them publicly."
Hasn't Buffett opined on gold, bitcoin, the crypto space etc? Did he opine on ibm and ginny for many years?
No. of Recommendations: 17
Private markets have gotten big enough in the last decade to be considered an asset class. Offering them to retail investors is not outrageous.
Of course what is outrageous are the fees and the lack of disclosure in sharp contrast to stock ETFs and public stocks respectively. But it's a free country. If you want to get fleeced in the hopes of beating the (public) markets, be my guest!
Oh, I'm pretty sure that private equity gives you value for your high fees. The thing you get in return is heavily smoothed, occasionally fake, almost never dropping, prices. With public markets you see the true mark-to-market price of things, and nobody wants that. Not institutional investors, that's for sure.
Jim
No. of Recommendations: 5
a zoom call right here will help to solve many riddles! Marc H, make this happen, thank you, hc.
As long as you're making requests, please ask God if he can spare Benjamin Graham and Charlie Munger for a few minutes to join us and Buffett on our Zoom call. Thanks.
No. of Recommendations: 2
" Oh, I'm pretty sure that private equity gives you value for your high fees. The thing you get in return is heavily smoothed, occasionally fake, almost never dropping, prices. With public markets you see the true mark-to-market price of things, and nobody wants that. Not institutional investors, that's for sure.
Jim"
every now and then we agree which is a beautiful thing!
ucmtsu,no way.
No. of Recommendations: 10
<<With public markets you see the true mark-to-market price of things, and nobody wants that. Not institutional investors, that's for sure>>>
As you point out—Non institutional investors, too. I’m convinced if Real Estate prices were quoted by the seconds like stocks, many people would be frightened into homelessness. 4% RE CAGR with no published quotes over 10% Equity CAGR with daily moment by moment marks.
Even with stocks, Warren points out that many if not most would take a smooth 8% over a lumpy 12%.
Really the only small issue with private markets is—occasionally people want their money—they’re funny that way. And the quoted price then becomes required. This was the only issue Bernie Madoff had, too. Other than that, it’s fine.
No. of Recommendations: 5
Not institutional investors, that's for sure.
I have to scratch my head at why public pension funds like CalPERS are allowed to invest in private credit, private equity or hedge funds.
I can understand BlackRock offering cr@p like a bitcoin ETF. They are not fiduciaries for their customers. Pension funds are.
Apparently in Ben Graham's time, state-run entities had strict rules about what kind of stocks and bonds were acceptable as "prudent investments".
Maybe there is something to this new-fangled theory of regulatory capture, after all.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Of course what is outrageous are the fees and the lack of disclosure in sharp contrast to stock ETFs and public stocks respectively.
So you turn from the public markets to the private markets because you sense that private markets are different from the public markets.
And then you are literally "outraged" that private markets are different from public markets!
That's like not marrying a girl because you know she is not a virgin. When you are in fact the one sleeping with her.
R:
No. of Recommendations: 0
WHY? “ As of August 11, 2025, five of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks currently pay a dividend:
Apple (AAPL): Apple pays a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, according to Apple's latest earnings report.
Microsoft (MSFT): Microsoft pays a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share.
Nvidia (NVDA): Nvidia's dividend per share was $0.01 per share as of July 3, 2025.
Meta Platforms (META): Meta announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share.
Alphabet (GOOGL/GOOG): Alphabet announced its first quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share earlier in 2024, which has since been raised to $0.21 per share. “
No. of Recommendations: 0
“ Nvidia, AMD to Give U.S. 15% Cut on AI Chip Sales to China
Unusual arrangement follows Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s meeting with Trump.” Of Rev? Ucmtsu.
No. of Recommendations: 1
“ Here are some of the key figures and trends:
Quarterly Record: S&P 500 companies repurchased $293.5 billion worth of their stock in Q1 2025, setting a new quarterly record.
Monthly Record: July 2025 saw a record $165.6 billion in announced buybacks, significantly surpassing previous July records.
Year-to-Date Record: Year-to-date announced buybacks (as of early August 2025) reached $926.1 billion, outpacing the previous year-to-date record set in 2022.
2025 Projection: Analysts anticipate that total buybacks for 2025 could exceed $1 trillion, a first for the S&P 500.
Sector Leaders: Financials, Technology, and Communication Services are the top three sectors in the S&P 500 for buyback activity, accounting for $689 billion in 2025.
Top Companies: Apple (AAPL) continues to be the largest individual repurchaser, setting multiple records. Meta Platforms (META), NVIDIA (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), and JP Morgan (JPM) also rank among the top five companies for Q1 2025 buybacks. “
No. of Recommendations: 0
Does Buffett still like SPY today ?
" From there, I laid out what I think is the real danger: how financial markets are structured today. I explained the “passive bid” problem—how “people are buying the ETF, and that’s driving Apple higher” regardless of fundamentals. I said the danger is that when redemptions spike, “a lot of these funds don’t have cash liquid to absorb those redemptions” and instead “have… taken on leverage specifically so they don’t have to sell.”
With 40% of S&P index money in just 10 stocks, “we’re really in a situation where we’re putting so many of our eggs all in seven baskets. And that’s frightening.”
I also talked about the options market, which I see as one of “two giant f*cking trap doors underneath the market.” When dealers sell calls or puts, “there’s a certain percentage… they have to hedge against,” which can force huge amounts of buying during manias like GameStop. I said, “The entire market has become leveraged gambling. I mean, top to bottom.” The same mechanism can work in reverse, and “when that happens again, you’re going to see options weaponized in the other direction, which I think could be extremely dangerous.”
We also got into specific names and the market darlings. I didn’t hold back on Cathie Wood and ARK Invest. “She promised 40% compounded returns some years back and ARKK has gone nowhere in comparison” The gap between the promise and reality is “just a little bit off.” I said bluntly, “There hasn’t been a piece of pre-order, pre-revenue dog sh*t that these people haven’t fallen in love with.” Without Tesla’s 10x run from late 2019 to mid-2020, “no one ever hears this woman, ever.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/market-game-rigg...
No. of Recommendations: 3
And then you are literally "outraged" that private markets are different from public markets!
I am not outraged that they are different. I am not even outraged that fees could be higher because of liquidity and active management. But the fees go way beyond that and are designed to fleece people who do not read the fine print. For example, high fees for a fund of funds that invests in the funds of the same company. Which are also charging high fees. Public funds of funds, like target date Blackrock ETFs or Vanguard mutual funds don't do that.
On top of that, valuations are made up. Public companies have accounting rules that require level one, two, or three validation of asset values. No such disclosure needed for private companies.
Plus, as Jim mentioned, the artificial smoothing out of volatility.
So in summary, it's not that they are just different, they are actively taking advantage of retail investors, in sharp contrast to somebody like Berkshire, who consider themselves to be a sort of fiduciary for their less savvy shareholders.
No. of Recommendations: 2
“ So in summary, it's not that they are just different, they are actively taking advantage of retail investors,“ Buy blackrock, Blackstone, even Jpm and the others who will be offering these products, not the products.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Yesterday was the perfect day to prove the value of knowing what brks 13 f will disclose with respect to new buys. If you buy the week before it’s disclosed and sell into the inaccurate reporting you can make 3 -5 percent in a week, 3-4 xs a year. I wonder if Buffett ever inspected our brokers books?
