Worldview Investing - Ruminations on the World Economy

                                      SOURCE: NASA                                                                                                    T his is the Crab Nebula in the constellation Taurus. It is the remnant of a supernova event that was seen on earth in the year 1054. Amazingly, it was bright enough to be seen during the day. Because it is over 6,500 light years away, those on earth witnessed an event that had actually occurred thousands of years earlier. Supernovae result from the sudden collapse of a massive star that over time has consumed the majority of its "assets" (hydrogen) causing it to abruptly implode due to intense gravitational forces. As the core rapidly contracts it reaches a temperature of billions of degrees Celsius - causing it to explode.     This  recalls the exchange between two characters in Earnest Hemingway's, " The Sun Also Rises ." One asks, "How do you go bankrupt?" His friend replies, "Slowly, then sudden

       Source: Shutterstock     Warren Buffett is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is a legendary and revered investor who draws massive crowds to Berkshire's annual meetings. Buffett is noted for his investment mantra: "Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy".  His investment strategy has been to focus on established companies that come with large "moats" that make it difficult for others to compete with them. A former holding of his was Norfolk Southern Railroad. No one was going to build another transcontinental railroad any time soon. He has become very conservative in his investing. Hence, our reference to him raising the drawbridge over his moated investments.      He recently sold 116M shares of Apple stock raising Berkshire's cash hoard to an astonishing $189B. When asked why he was not reinvesting those funds he said that he  cannot find anything fairly valued that interests him. While he publi

                                    Reading of the Will,  By Otto Erdmann,  1886        An uncle has died. You and your relatives gather to hear the lawyer read the will. There is nervous anticipation. It is rumored the uncle inherited a sizable estate from his father and his father's father. The lawyer quickly puts that hope to rest. There is but a single item to be bequeathed - and you are the beneficiary! He reaches beneath the table, lifts up a dusty, sealed shoebox, signed by your great grandfather, and hands it to you. Surprised, and not wanting to reveal its contents to your stunned relatives, you leave to open it in private.      At home you open the box. Inside are one hundred, crisp $100 bills, all dated 1913. The $10,000 is not nothing, but not what you hoped for. What you do not know is that the day he sealed the box over one hundred years ago, that $10,000 could buy a very fine house in a lovely, safe neighborhood. Having recently decided to move out of your city that