There’s no business like shoe business
Reassuring to learn that even the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett occasionally( very occasionally) gets it wrong. Back in 1993: he paid $433 million for a shoe company named Dexter Shoes. Quickly he realised that he had bought a dud as its shoe product was being undercut by cheap foreign imports. By then he had issued shares in Berkshire Hathaway to cover the purchase. 1.6% of the shares. Today those shares would be worth $8.7 Billion! And Dexter? Went into liquidation with BH losing everything. Now THAT’s an expensive shoe purchase!
Meaning the meadows in Spanish, Las Vegas had a population of 8,000 in 1940 and was best known as a major railroad junction. Following successively nuclear testing in the nearby desert in Nye County and then the establishment of Las Vegas as an entertainment centre, the population has grown to 700,000 today but dormitory towns have sprung up nearby and now the greater Las Vegas area has over 2 million inhabitants. More than 40 million visitors travel to Las Vegas each year. That has placed an intolerable strain on the water supply and multi billion dollar investments are being made in pipelines to pump water into the city with demand having increased by 1.2 billion gallons per year over the past 5 years.
Expect some lively days ahead. Following Greta Thunberg leading 10,000 demonstrators in Lausanne on Friday and launching the FridaysforFuture movement, she is now in Davos. On the way there she was quoted as saying: “It is time to abolish billionaires; we cannot afford billionaires.” For the 119 billionaires jetting in to to the Swiss talkfest, this is not the kind of talk that they appreciate- normally it’s more a case of “Your black Amex will do nicely!” Some of those billionaire attendees from Russia and India which are the most numerous after the USA and China have made their money the hard way and or by using tough tactics, so do not expect them to roll over for Greta on that one!
N.B. #FridaysforFuture is a call to students to not attend school on Fridays. SGM-FX’s wannabe climate activist, Euan has queried whether we recognise this movement and will allow him to show solidarity with the students on Friday’s. SGM-FX is of course an equal opportunity employer, but ……..just not that equal, Euan!
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Click Here to Subscribe to the SGM-FX Newsletter
Related Insights
Morning Brief – US Dollar
Humphrey Percy
Mon 29 Apr 2024
US Dollar With the US Election just over 6 months away it is time to think about the implications for USD with a new President. In case you have missed it Trump plans In the event he wins to devalue USD to boost US exports as part of his MAGA philosophy. As we know ex […]
Morning Brief – Japanese Yen
Humphrey Percy
Fri 26 Apr 2024
Japanese Yen With JPY at a new 34 year low versus EUR, the market is set for an ambush by the Bank of Japan if it acts today at the end of their Policy Meeting to support the Yen. The reason that the market is susceptible is because it has convinced itself that the BoJ […]
Morning Brief – Too soon to call USD lower
Charles Porter
Thu 25 Apr 2024
Too soon to call USD lower Those following the US Dollar’s performance in the markets would have noted a recent downturn accelerating as this week has progressed. There have been two factors driving this sell-off but it is far from certain that either may endure long enough to push the Dollar index back to its […]
