Rare footage of Mrs. B - Rose Blumkin.

Mrs. B founded Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1937 with $500 of savings, selling 90% to Warren Buffett’s $BRK 50 years later for $55 million.

Even at 94-years old, she continued to work 70 hour weeks, pricing rugs and carpets from memory. 🧵👇

“We like managers who are in love with their business…who feel like I do - I want to tap dance when I get to the office,” is how Buffett answered Adam Smith’s question about the Berkshire Hathaway culture.
1/x
Mrs B barely spoke English when she started NFM; she sought a $75 business loan and was denied.

50 years later, what did she think of the doubters?

“I still hate them. Anybody who does you dirty, you should never forgive and forget.” ☠️

- Rose Blumkin at 94 years young

1. $COIN just reported Q3.

Most people assume it makes its money as a crypto exchange.

True...sort of.

Its rev comes as much from interest income on its cash balances + its share of $USDC's cash ($COIN owns a share of USDC owner, Circle) as from transactions.

Worrisome.
🧵👇 2. Interest Income is Lower Quality

Even as $COIN's core transaction revenue has declined by nearly HALF, its interest income has skyrocketed with rising rates.

In Q2 2022, interest was 5% of revenue; in Q2 2023, it was 35%...

The Rise of Temu.

Temu launched first in the US and is owned by Chinese e-comm giant $PDD, targeting the value-oriented customer.

It's a 3P model but w/ the experience controlled by Temu in more of a "1P" manner (pricing, warehousing, shipping).

In just 1 year (credit $GS):
🧵 2. Value Buyer

Given its low-priced proposition, it's no surprise that Temu is winning more business in states that have lower average per capita income.

In the next 9 days, we will learn the fate of the cable TV industry.

Disney has pulled its programming from Charter's TV customers, launching a momentous battle.

For years, content owners like $DIS held the upper hand.

Now, $CHTR is poised to win. Let’s talk about why.
🧵👇 1. Why now?

So-called “carriage battles” (CHTR “carrying” DIS content) ALWAYS surface around important sports, generally football.

$DIS's key TV asset is ESPN - ESPN is THE home of college football.

Today is opening day.

$DIS chose to pull its content 36 hours before kickoff.

Today, Enovix, a science project battery company, posted a long letter trying to stop a reporter from investigating it. The letter culminates by calling me "ringleader" of a short group that coordinates trades.

False.

One might ask, "why is $ENVX so afraid of inspection?"
🧵👇 2/ There really are some $ENVX "ringleaders" on Twitter, but they are insanely bullish. They're also bullies: Marc Cohodes and Greg Reyes. They lie, distort, attack, and malign anyone who questions Enovix.

They claim to have a special relationship with ENVX Chairman, TJ Rodgers.

The @SECGov crypto enforcement team has been busy af...

...today it sued $COIN, after suing Binance and @cz_binance yesterday.

Gary, I can only summarize lawsuits so fast...

Let's dig in.
🧵👇 1. The Dog that Didn't Bark

As you can see in the below image, in yesterday's Binance suit, Binance founder @cz_binance himself was listed as a formal defendant in the SEC complaint.

In the $COIN lawsuit, no individual is included.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong just exhaled...

I really didn't want to do a Tweet thread on the @SECGov suit against @binance, but then I read it and...

...it's absolutely FULL of GEMS. I can't not do it.

Example - Binance CCO in 2018:

"we are operating as a fking unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro."😱😂

🧵👇 1. It's worth stating that it's not just a suit against Binance - the SEC is also suing @cz_binance himself.

I suspect we will never see CZ voluntarily set foot on US soil again, nor countries with whom we have strong extradition treaties...

I’m racking my brain to see if I can recall a dumber premise for what’s basically a factless political opinion.

NYT argues $WMT demands lower prices from suppliers leading suppliers to require higher prices elsewhere to compensate.

If true, $WMT would not have seen inflation. So, did $WMT see grocery inflation?

Yes. Tons. Inflecting in 2021.

From a Yahoo! Finance article:

$TWTR CEO Prediction Time:

✅ Is a woman

✅ Loves rockets

✅ @elonmusk Follows her

✅ She’s retweeted Elon recently

✅ a16z partner (big $TWTR coinvestor)

@KTmBoyle twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Loves rockets.

Believes in America.

Former reporter at @washingtonpost.

1. I just read Carl Icahn / $IEP's response to the @HindenburgRes short report.

Talk about a waste of my time - near-zero rebuttal, but using a few thousand words.

$IEP also quietly ignores the fact Hindenburg was right about misleading valuations of at least 3 key assets.
🧵👇 2. The "rebuttal" does not establish any meaningful factual errors by Hindenburg.

$IEP also acknowledges Carl's investment performance has sucked for several years...

...but says unit's oddly high valuation vs. NAV is deserved based on Carl's status as an "iconic" "legend." Ok.

1. Evan do what Evan want to do.

$SNAP is Exhibit A of ATROCIOUS governance, highlighting the risk of Super-Voting.

Public owners have ZERO voting and are being fleeced.

Shareholders should *never* again accept a near-perpetual situation like this...

...but they will.
🧵👇 2. $SNAP is Run for the Employees

In 2022 alone, Snap granted 134+mm RSUs (shares with a 4-year vest)! 134 million! WTF?!

~8.5% of the company given to employees IN ONE YEAR.

And it's not an anomaly.

1. If you love science project battery-tech companies that you think were awarded "massive" US Gov't / DoD contracts... $ENVX

...you may want to look up how much a CWB pack sells for + how many soldiers are in the US Army (hint: $100/pack + <500k soldiers).

Annual TAM is...🧵👇 2. ...~100k CWBs, so maybe $10mm ANNUAL jump ball w/ FOUR qualified bidders.

Estimate what % of that "TAM" Inventus (Enovix's partner) gets & then $ENVX's $ share of that.

Sell-side says it's a 9-figure annual opportunity!

It may not even be a 7-figure annual opportunity. lol

Banking fragility has worried
@BillAckman for decades.

A 28-year old Ackman “from New York City” once asked Buffett about Salomon Bros’ 30:1 leverage at $BRK 1994 AGM.

That risk profile catalyzed the GFC in 2007-09.

Now he’s worried about systemic risk again.

A short 🧵👇. 1. Perhaps this line of investigation contributed to Bill’s famously successful short of $MBIA and its GFC implosion…

Or his observation that CDS spreads might blow out during early days of COVID…

And who knows how he’s positioned now?

But we know he’s worried…

Read on.👇

Art anticipating life.

As it relates to the CoCo, I recommend you avoid both the financial and nostril variety. Reference:

https://twitter.com/compound248/status/1637565740118147073?s=46&t=SmRs2hs8UVYDbY_ZrGe0XA

If you’re “taking a flyer” on a wounded and wobbling US bank stock with “takeover” as your thesis, bear in mind $UBS is basically being forced to acquire $CS for $1 billion…

…and the market cap of $CS at Friday’s close was $8 billion. 😬

Not good, Bob. Not good. 😂 …and an insanely loose MAC clause.

https://twitter.com/puppyeh1/status/1637474650782408706

Well, we know who’s going to acquire $FRC if it ever fails…

Jamie ready to buy the Crown Jewels. $JPM Some banks have better franchises than others.

https://twitter.com/compound248/status/1634690992619294720

The problem Silicon Valley Bank faces today is VERY different than the 2007-2009 banking crisis.

$SIVB was thriving. Credit losses are fairly low. Its deposits TRIPLED from 2019 to ‘21.

How’s that a problem?

It sounds great, right?

Well, it’s a Wonderful Life…

🧵👇 1. When banks accept deposits from clients, they OWE the client that money. So deposits are liabilities to the bank.

Liabilities cost money…

…”cost” both to serve those clients (branches, tellers, apps) and any interest the bank pays you on your checking account (deposit).

I literally was the Head of Strategy at Twitter.

Not even kidding.

Anyone who followed me last year knows this is true - @elonmusk can verify.
Other key Twitter Leadership:

GC: @chancery_daily
Asst GC: @LionelHutz_Esq
COO: @akramsrazor
CFO: @AndrewRangeley
Outside Counsel: @ProfEricTalley and @AnnMLipton
Independent Director: @SJOldValueGuy
Head of Risk Management: @halfkelly

Twitter revenue is down -40%.

In the BeforeTimes, $TWTR exited 2021 with ~$5B of revs.

-40% puts revs closer to $3B.

Assuming 70% Gross Margins leaves:

+ $2.1B Gr Profit
- $1.2B Interest
= $0.9B to pay SG&A + CapEx

SG&A + CapEx WAS ~$4B…

…I’d guess it’s now <$1B.

Wild. It’s fairly crazy that Twitter originally budgeted for ~$750mm in just CapEx in 2022. I bet Elon gets that to $100mm for 2023.

For context, $META is expected to spend $58 BILLION on cash SG&A + CapEx this year and $SNAP $2.7 billion.

Twitter likely <$1 billion is jaw dropping.

Whoops!

“FTX identified a deficit of $8.9 billion in customer funds it can’t account for, the first time the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange has pinned down how much money has gone missing.”

https://twitter.com/WSJBankruptcy/status/1631448046092288001

I’ve discussed FTX extensively, here…

https://twitter.com/compound248/status/1598446656634191872

3,787,464%...

...the return on $BRK since "present management" took over in 1965. WARREN BUFFETT continues to crush, returning +4.0% in 2022 vs the S&P's -18.1%.

His famous ANNUAL LETTER just dropped.

I read it so you don't have to (but you should).

Highlights follow:
🧵👇 1. Inefficient Markets

Buffdawg opens with love for $BRK's mission...then dunks on the idea of efficient markets.

"...stocks often trade at truly foolish prices, both high and low. 'Efficient' markets exist on in textbooks. In truth, marketable stocks and bonds are baffling."