Being a Stockbroker is a Sales Job, not a Financial Job

a great investor. But when I first got started when I was 22,
I really didn’t know what I was doing. I’m fresh out of college from University
of Illinois. And I thought being a stockbroker was a financial
management or analyst type job. But after I actually started doing it, I realized it was
a sales job. And so, I went to one of the
most experienced people in our office at the time. We had about 100 and I think we had
105 brokers in our office. And Leo Samet, he was around 80 years old, and he had started with A. G.
Edwards 60 years prior. And he’s very successful. So, I went into his office, and I was like, hey,
Leo, I’m new, you’re successful. Can you share a few tips with
me on how to have a long career in this industry and be successful like you are?
And Leo is funny. I remember this like it was yesterday.
And this was I guess what, 30 years ago? Yeah, 30 years ago, this
happened. But it’s still so fresh in my mind. He looked at me.
I mean, it was probably just for like, maybe 10 seconds, but it seemed like it was for at
least a minute, like just sizing me up. And I guess in his mind, he was thinking,
should I really share the secret of success with this kid? And so,
he didn’t say a word. All he did was he put his hand on a piece of paper,
and he slid it over to me across his desk. And he goes, just put
all your clients in this. And what he slid me was a Value Line report on a
company called Berkshire Hathaway. And so, this is back in 1991. Berkshire Hathaway was less than
$10,000 a share. I think it was about $8,000 or something like that.
And he was like, just put all your clients in this. And I looked at
him, and I was like, my clients are not buying an $8,000 per share of stock.
Don’t you have anything that’s like $10 or $1, like a penny stock?
And that’s what I was thinking in my head because I didn’t know how to
value a company. I didn’t know what the value of Warren Buffett who
ran the company. I didn’t know how to value the free cash flow being generated by the company.
I didn’t know how to predict that interest rates might drop from 10% base or
down to zero over the next 30 years, which would increase the value of the company.
And so, I was just unaware. And so, I never bought the stock. And over the next 30 years, Berkshire
Hathaway went from $8,000 up to over, I think today it’s like $410,000 or so,
and they’ve never had a stock split. And so,
that’s where I learned that don’t pay attention to the price. The price is not what matters.
It’s the value that matters. And I equate that to Bitcoin today because
a lot of people are looking at Bitcoin at $61,000 a coin.
And they’re like, oh, I don’t want to buy it’s too high. I can’t buy a whole Bitcoin.
I’d rather buy like Dogecoin at 23 cents. And that just doesn’t
make sense to me. Because there’s a value to Bitcoin, there’s really no

The Twilight Of Bannonism

According to Mr. Wolff, Mr. Bannon also predicted that a special counsel investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and any coordination with Trump aides would ultimately center on money laundering, an assessment that could lend credibility to an investigation the president has repeatedly called a witch hunt. “They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV,” Mr. Bannon was quoted as saying.

.. The only thing I know is true about the Wolff excerpt is that Steve Bannon had a chance to be a genuinely significant figure in American politics and he blew it.

.. Now that Bannon has trashed his old boss without first having established himself as a political force, he is GOP kryptonite. Neither anti-Trump nor pro-Trump Republicans will trust him. Who, exactly, does he speak for now?

Donald Trump Deepens GOP Divide

President’s turbulent week fuels frustration in his party, though core supporters remain loyal

President Donald Trump’s tumultuous past week has widened rifts in his party, between those who vocally support the president’s combative style and others who bridle at it ..

.. After a week that included the president attacking his attorney general, the collapse of a GOP health bill, a surprise effort to bar transgender people in the military and a White House staff shakeup, divisions that were largely set aside at the start of 2017 have emerged anew.

..“Particularly among some of my former colleagues in the House, there is a frustration and lament about opportunities squandered in what should be a prime time for a GOP legislative agenda,” said former Republican Rep. David Jolly of Florida.
..“They are going to stick with Trump—they like him the more combative he is and the more his back is against the wall,” he said. “He captured a very angry base, and Trump has mastered the suggestion that fighting and being angry is actually accomplishing results.”
.. Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) said that Republican leaders were complicit if they didn’t call out Mr. Trump for his behavior. “We can’t respond to everything,” he said. “But there are times when you have to stand up and say ‘I’m sorry. This is wrong.’ ”
.. On the other side are Republicans who echo Mr. Trump’s behavior and tone.Rep. Blake Farenthold (R., Texas) last week suggested that he would have settled differences with Ms. Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska), who both made decisive votes against a GOP health plan, by challenging them to duels had they been male. Mr. Farenthold later apologized. Rep. Buddy Carter (R., Ga.), asked about Trump’s decision to attack Ms. Murkowski on Twitter over her “no” vote, used a confusing but coarse phrase that suggested resorting to physical assault.

.. Rep. Chris Collins (R., N.Y.), the first member of Congress to endorse Mr. Trump, said that instead of turbulence, Mr. Trump last week “had one of the best weeks he has ever had.” Pointing to his calls to crack down on the street gang known as MS-13, Mr. Collins said that “he is addressing one of the scourges of America.”

.. Signs are emerging that the intraparty battle could threaten the party’s standing in the 2018 elections and the president’s beyond that. Mr. Jolly, the former Florida congressman, said he is part of a group discussing how to put together a primary challenge to Mr. Trump in 2020.
.. Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman and lieutenant governor of Maryland, said “the president is in his element when in front of a crowd of 40,000 instead of behind his desk dealing with the minutiae of governing. That’s not governing, that’s theater, a reality TV presidency.”