Anthony Harris on why the vaccinated should wear masks in public

We don’t want a subsegment of the population walking around without masks in a setting that requires masks to be worn.  That’s just such an awkward precedent for the remainder of individuals who don’t have access to vaccinations at this point in time.

~ Anthony Harris, M.D., medical director at WorkCare, "Will You Need the COVID-19 Vaccine to Travel?," AARP.org, February 25, 2021

Warren Buffett on investing and quality

Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it's marked down.

~ Warren Buffett

Ron Baron on selling 21% of clients' Tesla stake

It was painful selling every single share.

~ Ron Baron, "Billionaire investor Ron Baron’s firm sold 1.8 million Tesla shares despite saying price will hit $2,000," CNBC, March 4, 2021

(Baron did not sell any of his personal stake in Tesla, just over 1 million shares.)

Jim Grant on risk tolerance and life's tradeoffs

I am seventy-four years old and every day I get out of bed I am beating the odds.  The idea of suspending ordinary living pending the arrival of a vaccine is absurd.  Still worse is the forced suspension of the lives of people seventy years younger than I.  My grandchildren, for instance.  “We can’t sacrifice our children out of our own fear,” said Dr. Scott Atlas in so many wise words. 

Life is a matter of tradeoffs.  And early on people would plague you if you held this view in public by saying, “You mean to tell me that you are willing to trade off profits for human lives?”  Well no, I’m willing to trade off risks, and it’s what we all do, whether we realize it or not, whether we can express this or not.  We are all, at least subconsciously, living according to our tolerance for risk.  We look both ways or no, we don’t look both ways.  We scrupulously observe fifty-five miles an hour or we are young and quick and bold and drive seventy-five miles an hour and probably not run a risk to ourselves or others.  So people by and large, not exclusively and not entirely, but people by and large know these things about themselves.

~ Jim Grant, "Bulls, Bears, and Beyond: In Depth with James Grant," The Austrian, Jan-Feb 2021

Kevin Duffy on writing

Writing is storytelling.  Writing style is imitation made your own.

~ Kevin Duffy

Murray Rothbard: "Who wants good people in government?"

Who wants good people in government?  Good people should be in the private sector, helping us out.  We want schmoes in government.  We want people who can't find the doorknob.  Why waste productive people, as well as looting the taxpayer?

~ Murray Rothbard

(Today marks Rothbard's birthday: March 2, 1926 - January 7, 1995.)

Paul Singer on "head-smacking craziness in the American stock market"

We believe that hindsight will show the champion of head-smacking craziness in the American stock market to be the period playing out right now. 

[...]

‘Trouble ahead’ is signaled by a rare combination of low-quality securities, staggering valuation metrics, overleveraged capital structures, a scarcity of honest profits, a desperate dearth of understanding evinced by the most active traders, and economic macro prospects that are not as thrilling as the mobs braying ‘Buy! Buy!’ seem to think. 

[...]

Pulling out your hair is an option, though only if you have hair to spare.  Hiding under the bed to avoid people who gloat about being long Bitcoin can get…tiring.  Deep breathing exercises can work, but only for short periods.  We continue to press on for the day when we can say, ‘We told you so.’

~ Paul Singer, $42 billion AUM Elliott Management letter to shareholders on January 28, "Paul Singer Warns of Trouble, and Is Eager to Say ‘Told You So’," Bloomberg, February 26, 2021