“To be successful, concentrate on the companies you own, not on the market itself.” -Walter Schloss

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05

2022 - $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05

2024 - - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | - 08 | $CR?? - 08 | $CR?? - 10 | - 10 | $EVVTY - 11 | $F? - 12

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

*EVVTY originally was purchased in 2022, but sold at the end of 2025 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Sold out of two holdings that were not revealed (paid subscribers get same day and weekly updates) both for profits ranging from 15%-40% I’m not planning to reveal them here because potentially I would like to buy them again in the future so both are on my watchlist, I will say that both are related to commodities.

Otherwise I have not been too active, been doing more thinking and trying to slim down portfolio, I will say that I been buying a lot more Onfolio and since the screenshot above, ONFO is now my 2nd largest position in main port and largest if you include all the Prefs and SPVs that I own related to ONFO + in my IRA account.

13Fs

I like looking at new 13Fs, they don’t give full story but this is one way to find new ideas and see what other investors are doing or better said … did since its looking backwards.

sometimes sells says as much or even more then the buys…

a few more Earnings

Petty Cash

Viemed Healthcare Q4 FY2025 Update – VMD

Disclosure: I own shares in VMD. I am not a professional. Please do your own due diligence…

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a month ago · 3 likes · Dean

Gabelli’s 36th Annual Pump, Valve, & Water Systems Symposium

When I told my wife I wanted to go the city at 8am and listen to different companies talk about pumps, valves, and water systems - she looked at me like I was crazy and even though she trusts me I thought I would show her the link to the event hahaha

But yes that’s the kind of things that I find interesting because you never know what you might find and that’s another way to do scuttlebutting research + getting your self out of your circle and learning about something new and I think pumps and valves can definitely be in my circle of competence if I find that one company that will interesting me… and that one company I did find!

The Gorman-Rupp Company is one of those “boring” companies but very interesting! + there was another company that is indirectly related to my private investment so I did learn a ton!

I want to give big thank you to Mr Gabelli (who was present and was asking questions at the event!!!) and Gabelli Team overall, especially Sara Bakrow for providing me with access to the event really appreciate it!

I highly recommend checking out Gabelli’s website and their YouTube channel where you can find all other companies that presented that day.

(this is not paid by anyone and this is my personal honest review)

Fireside Chat with Bill Gurley & Malcolm Gladwell

Another event that I went to was Bill Gurley and Malcolm Gladwell firechat

I don’t know a lot about Mr Gurley but it was interesting listen to him and Malcolm Gladwell have a chat about personal life and VC investing and I did go to the event with who of my investing friends so overall I’ll call it a good time.

Book

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished one audiobooks:

Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage by Eamon Javers

YZ:

This was an interesting read, not because I think I would be able to implement it to be frank I think the tactics that are used are a bit cringe for my taste, but it is interesting to know that there are people and companies that would go to such length to try to uncover competitors secrets or to try to find “dirt” sometimes literally in dirty trash.

I think by reading a summary of the book you would get the basic understand of it but if you want to get actual real life examples and to get some real life thriller into your reading life this book should scratch that itch.

Goodreads:

Award-winning reporter Eamon Javers’s Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy is a penetrating work of investigative and historical journalism about the evolution of corporate espionage, exploring the dangerous and combustible power spies hold over international business. From the birth of the Pinkertons to Howard Hughes, from presidents to Cold War spies, Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy is, like Legacy of Ashes and Blackwater, a first rate political thriller that also just happens to be true.

I give it 3.75 out of 5 stars.

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I had to repost (actually recreate) this update as the original post disappeared. I’m not sure how that happened (still trying to figure it out). If something is “off,” my apologies as I tried to quickly recreate it.

Quote for this month:

“You must survive the bad days, not just look good on average.” - Howard Marks

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I’m going to keep quote from last month’s update for this one too, as a reminder for myself…

*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05

2022 - $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05

2024 - $M?? - 01 | $BKTI - 04 | $BOC - 09

2025 - $IAC - 01* | $GRVY - 08 | $CR?? - 08 | $CR?? - 10 | $ONFO - 10 | $EVVTY - 11 | $F? - 12

2026 - $BUR - 01* | $MITK - 02* |

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

*EVVTY originally was purchased in 2022, but sold at the end of 2025 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

*BUR originally was purchased in 2023, but sold at the end of 2025 for tax tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2026.

*MITK originally was purchased 2022, but sold at the end of 2025 for tax tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2026.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Buying back BURFORD and MITEK

2026 has been tough so far but luckily I’m not the only one who’s experiencing that (lol? not really) given that I do not add cash and working with the capital that’s already in there it makes it a bit tricky and maneuver the markets on the down side and sometimes “you need to move faster” but given that during the day I have my own business to run and I”m a father to 2 girls “moving faster” is not always possible.

Cant say I’m too upset about performance but I’m sure we all would be much happier to see green days > red days…

Big chunk on portfolio is leaning towards BKTI which is already up 300% and I’m not planning to sell for now and ONFO which is a microcap that so far market thinks its going to zero … I have different opinion from the market but I’ll be honest its not easy to go against the crowd … I really don’t care what others are saying on the web because a lot of times people will quote your famous investors and figures about holding companies and not stocks and back up the truck when there is blood on the streets and bluh bluh bluh but the problem with a lot of them they will post they will tweet and if sh!t hits the fan they will delete the post they will delete the tweet and maybe they will even delete the account or just restart with different post as if history doesn’t matter … I do not do that I been doing this publicly since 2021 and as I said I will be doing this at least until 2030 to build the public track record with good and the bad (I just hope there will be more good lol)

Enough with “yelling at the clouds” I’m doing my best with what I got and I do what I think is right and let time show if my unconventional way is alpha positive or not.

I bought back BUR, because until judge gives final “call” anything is possible…

I bought back MITK, although I was not sure I want to but I waited until earnings came out and I’m happy with the turnaround and what the current management is trying to do and so I’m back in it, again the problem is I need to rotate something to get more cash since I do not add money in main portfolio.

I also sold the rest of my WBD to get some more cash for purchases of BUR and MITK

Dealflow Discovery Conference + bonus

I went to Dealflow Discovery Conference in Atlantic City, see the images below for the companies that presented…

Above you can see check mark are those that I have attended

Here are a few that I found interesting:

• Grown Rogue - I’m gonna keep an eye on this one, CEO was very interesting and it reminds a bit of Cronos (but not really)

• Perfect - I been following it and there is a lot of write ups or mentions on Substack but it’s basically a net-net but there is just something off IDK need to do more work on this

• Access Newswire - I did a write up on

Charlie Holdings - potentially might be interesting to those who willing to dig deeper, President Heny Sicignano, interesting guy…

I must also speak about American Rebel Holdings as that one was a wild card

They gave me their beer to try and company called American Rebel … I mean like what else do you want , right?

Do your own due diligence…

BONUS

Check out Virtual Investor Conferences for more interesting ideas (image above is clickable to go to their website, its not affiliation, I don’t get paid, I’m just sharing more ways to get interesting ideas to turn over more rocks and look for gems)

Tax Season

Tis the tax season (almost…) I got my 2025 Tax Doc from Webull and figured I would continue the tradition to compare my Webull results on yearly basis based on tax docs. Started it with this post…

This is just for fun

ST - Short term, LT - Long Term, QD - Qualified Divided

• 2019

  • Short-term Profit - around $170

• 2020

  • Short-term Profit - around $3,000

  • Long-term Profit - around $400

  • Qualified Dividend - around $400

• 2021

  • ST Profit - around $12,000

  • LT Profit - around $8,000

  • QD - around $5,000

• 2022

  • ST Profit (Loss) - around (-$8,000)

  • LT Profit - around $6,000

  • QD - around $2,000

• 2023

  • ST Profit - around $3,000

  • LT Profit - around $4,000

  • QD - almost $3,000

• 2024

  • ST Profit - around $1,600

  • LT Profit - around $15,000

  • QD - around $2,500

• 2025

  • ST Profit (Loss) - around (-$5,500)

  • LT Profit - around $88,000

  • QD - almost $3,000

Earnings

Speedwell Memos

Evolution: 4Q25 Business Update

Welcome to Speedwell Memos. Our main website is SpeedwellResearch.com…

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2 months ago · 20 likes · Speedwell Research

Do Not Distribute

Evolution and the Doom of Playing It Safe

From its founding in 2006 until 2023, Evolution grew at an incredible pace…

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2 months ago · 41 likes · 1 comment · Ali Gündüz

https://appinvestor.substack.com/i/188112711/gravity-co-inc-grvy

VC Investing and venting

Before going to good news I need vent a bit… as some of you might know / remember I posted about a year go that I invested into ElevenLabs and I was very excited … well I got notified not too long ago that ‘investment” was canceled and they returned the money but I actually wanted to invest and signed everything but company just decided they can (A YEAR LATER) not fulfill on their promise, I’m not really sure how it works and the investment was only in THAT huge amount but still, I think its really NOT COOL to hold on to the funds for a year and then be like “nope here is your money back you cant invest” VC investing is interesting game I have to say and I’m learning something new every time.

Also learning that trying to do investment directly rather then via some platform also makes a difference VC is about connections and people so when doing it via platforms sometimes that gets lost…

Anyways , that kind of played out in different way (good) because I increased my stake in Ivee which you can learn about click here.

But that’s not even the good news, the good news is that Our Bond went public!

I invested into BOND or now $OBAI via Wefunder and its my first official VC investment that went public (via direct listing) so not an IPO but still (little wins). With BOND going public I also learned a few more things about VC investing again you live and you learn …

I will share a bit more about it later on in the post but here just wanted to celebrate a little win in public.

Read more

“You must survive the bad days, not just look good on average.” - Howard Marks

Subscribe now

*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05

2022 - WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05

2024 - $M?? - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | - 08 | $CR?? - 08 | $CR?? - 10 | - 10 | $EVVTY - 11 | $F? - 12

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

*EVVTY originally was purchased in 2022, but sold at the end of 2025 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Sold out of and

I sold BUR and MITK given the end of the year to harvests the losses with idea that I will be buying back BUR but I’m contemplating if I want to buy back MITK or just move on, still thinking about it as there just been too many changes with MITK.

Buying back holding that is only shared with paid subscribers for now (its up 25% YTD)

2025Y Review Investing +

Every year I like to review how I did for the last year and just compare things while also keeping “a log” to be able to look back, and also show to everyone consistent and transparent journey…

BKTI has been the clear winner for few years now…

Some “fun” stats from Account for maximum transparency:

When it comes to my best trades of 2025Y:

I guess from P&L point of view my best trades have been selling out of and while also still holding on to

When it comes to my worse trade of 2025Y:

Last year I cant say there have been “worse” trades, because even thought I sold out of I’m planning to buy it back and I do not count it being bad trade even if the stock went down (due to court hearing with Argentina which is still in play) but I will say holding on to and have been opportunity costs… I guess I will say that has been the “bad” that I have sold and need to really think hard if I want to buy back or just move on…

Forgot to share the yearly update last month for my Substack (it became a tradition now for me):

December 2025 marks another year on Substack and this blog has come a long way…

December 11 2020 - 2 subscribers

December 11 2021 - 327 subscribers

December 11 2022 - 1,155 subscribers

December 11 2023 - 2,321 subscribers

December 11 2024 - 3,547 subscribers

December 11 2025 - 3,952 subscribers ( I did big clean up in 2025)

Above numbers are after removing inactive subscribers

January 1 2025 - 5,561 - all followers as per Substack’s stats.

January 1 2026 - 8,345 - all followers as per Substack’s stats.

New Favorite Show

- Landman -

I am not the one commit to any shows …easily … (yes I have show commitment problems) but I really enjoyed Landman (did not watch the last episode yet so no spoilers!) and watching it from perspective of a father and investor makes it so much more … fun.

Highly recommend it!

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished three audiobooks:

1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History--and How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin

YZ:

I really enjoyed Andrew Sorkin’s 1929 and all the details of how the crash unfolded and how people reacted vs how things have happen with in the last 10-20 years and how people react … a lot has changed and yet many things still stay the same…

Goodreads:

From the bestselling author of Too Big to Fail, “the definitive history of the 2008 banking crisis,”* comes a spellbinding narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history. With the depth of a classic history and the drama of a thriller, 1929 unravels the greed, blind optimism, and human folly that led to an era-defining collapse—one with ripple effects that still shape our society today.

In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. But behind the flashing ticker tapes and panicked traders, another drama unfolded—one of visionaries and fraudsters, titans and dreamers, euphoria and ruin.

With unparalleled access to historical records and newly uncovered documents, New York Times bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin takes readers inside the chaos of the crash, behind the scenes of a raging battle between Wall Street and Washington and the larger-than-life characters whose ambition and naivete in an endless boom led to disaster. The dizzying highs and brutal lows of this era eerily mirror today’s world—where markets soar, political tensions mount, and the fight over financial influence plays out once again.

This is not just a story about money. 1929 is a tale of power, psychology, and the seductive illusion that “this time is different.” It’s about disregarded alarm bells, financiers who fell from grace, and skeptics who saw the crash coming—only to be dismissed until it was too late.

Hailed as a landmark book, Too Big to Fail reimagined how financial crises are told. Now, with 1929, Sorkin delivers an immersive, electrifying account of the most pivotal market collapse of all time—with lessons that remain as urgent as ever. More than just a history, 1929 is a crucial blueprint for understanding the cycles of speculation, the forces that drive financial upheaval, and the warning signs we ignore at our peril.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Retail Gangster: The Insane, Real-Life Story of Crazy Eddie by Gary Weiss

YZ:

Retail Gangster is one book I did not think I would listen/read never mind the fact that I would enjoy it, but given that I live in Brooklyn (be it different years) it was too nostalgic hearing the stories and the streets! Crazy Eddie is a real story that should of not happen and yet it did. If you enjoy the likes of Enron, Madoff, etc … you will enjoy story of Crazy Eddie.

Goodreads:

Back in the fall of 2016 we heard the news about the passing of Eddie Antar, "Crazy Eddie" as he was known to millions of people, the man behind the successful chain of electronic stores and one of the most iconic ad campaigns in history. Few things evoke the New York of a particular era the way "Crazy Eddie! His prices are insaaaaane!" does. The journalist Herb Greenberg called his death the "end of an era" and that couldn't be more true. What's insane is that his story has never been told.

Before Enron, before Madoff, before The Wolf of Wall Street, Eddie Antar's corruption was second to none. The difference was that it was a street franchise, a local place that was in the blood stream of everyone's daily life in the 1970s and early '80s. And Eddie pulled it off with a certain style, an in your face blue collar chutzpah. Despite the fact that then U.S. Attorney Michael Chertoffcalled him "the Darth Vader of capitalism" after the extent of the fraud was revealed, one of the largest SEC frauds in American history after Crazy Eddie's stores went public in 1984, Eddie was talked about fondly by the people who worked for him. They still do--there are myriads of ex-Crazy Eddie employee web pages that still attract fans, and the Crazy Eddie fraud scheme is now taught in every business school across the United States.

Many years have passed since the franchise went down in spectacular fashion but Crazy Eddie's moment has endured the way that iconic brands and characters do--one only need Google the media outpouring that accompanied his death. Maybe it's because it crystallized everything about 1970s New York almost perfectly, the merchandise and rise of consumer electronics (stereos!), the ads (cheesy!), the money (cash!). In Retail Gangster, investigative journalist Gary Weiss takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most unbelievable business scam stories of all time, a story spanning continents and generations, reaffirming the old adage that the truth is often stranger than fiction.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Fairfax Way: Inside Prem Watsa’s Secret to Lasting Success by David Thomas

YZ:

Well timed book given the retirement of Warren Buffett … Story of Fairfax and story of Prem Watsa, I wish I read book existed 5 - 10 years ago because I think there just have been sooo much misunderstanding and distrust about Fairfax and for no real good reason (except that’s what Wall St. wanted I guess) if you ever wanted to learn about Prem Watsa and Fairfax, The Fairfax Way is a perfect book to get better understanding and appreciation for what Prem Watsa and the team at Fairfax has build and more importantly what they potentially can build in the future!

Indigo:

Even those who have heard of Prem Watsa and Fairfax Financial probably don’t understand them. The company sprawls across more than 100 countries and is known for its complex finances—so complex, they once attracted a who’s-who of Wall Street short sellers who misread the company as the next Enron and decided it could be profitably pushed into an open grave. The hedge funds even had Bob Dylan lined up to sing at the company’s funeral party. Fairfax stared down regulators and fought back. Dylan never got the chance to sing.

Watsa, now 75, stole a page from Warren Buffett in building a $45 billion global empire built on value investing and insurance assets. Its bold and creative trades are legendary, often moving against the herd and making billions while others lose their shirts. These days, the company is back winning billion-dollar bets, but away from the headlines. The Fairfax Way explores the lessons learned and why skies are now blue above a transformed company.

In its 39-year history, Fairfax’s annual compound return of 19.2% trounces the S&P 500’s 11.3%. Lately, it is outperforming even Silicon Valley tech stocks and winning back an investor following. It’s time to get to know Fairfax better. The company’s holdings include strategic investments like Bauer hockey sticks, William Ashley wedding gifts, Sleep Country mattresses, Golf Town stores, and Seaspan container ships. If you took home Swiss Chalet chicken last week or went for steak at the Keg, you ate at Fairfax restaurants.

It’s time to get to know Prem Watsa better, too. People long misjudged him as a recluse. Truth is, he simply always wanted to build a business, not talk to the media. After 40 years, he and his executives have finally decided it’s a good time to open up.

For all the colourful dealmaking, billion-dollar bets, high-stakes hedge fund wars, Thomas reveals an inspiring story for our current troubled times. What emerges is that many people just had trouble believing Fairfax had the audacity to build a company culture based on the golden rule—treat others as you would have them treat you. The Fairfax Way captures the inside story of how a culture of treating people right can be a secret competitive moat to long-term outperformance.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” - Henry Ford

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 |

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - ($M??) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | $GRVY - 08 | $C??? - 08 | $C?? - 10 | $ONFO - 10 | EVVTY - 11|

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

*EVVTY originally was purchased in 2022, but sold at the end of 2025 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

We are moving into (are already there?) in holiday season, with a bunch of holidays and schools having winter break means that I will be spending more time with family and probably a bit less time on investing (that’s probably not true lol I live and breath investing) but I think these two last weeks we all deserve a little break. I think 2026 will have a lot of developments if nothing else just the fact that I will be doing a lot of re shuffling within this and the next month or so but you will of course hear about all of it in the following monthly updates!

ONFOLIO the new chapter

Just a month ago a revealed that I have established position in and since then there have been big changes and I think 2026 will be an interesting year for ONFOLIO

Onfolio is shifting to a hybrid model that pairs operating cash flow with a diversified digital asset treasury which basically means they are still looking to acquire profitable businesses but also (now) buying $BTC $ETH and $SOL.

I have my thoughts on it and I would rather not go too much in it yet, and I would rather let time show how things will develop, but if you want my option you can always DM me or I’m more willing to share things behind a wall. I don’t have any original thoughts but I usually think in a bit “weird” and not “standard way” and I would rather not have to explain my self (or become pray to trolls) to every single person, if y’all know what I mean.

I would suggest reading these two articles:

• Building a Modern Public Holding Company: Why Onfolio
  Is Pairing Digital Assets With Operating Cash Flow

• How Our Acquisition Strategy Is Evolving

Again you can always DM me (my DMs are open) or even better if you have questions regarding ONFOLIO you can ask Dom Wells. Find him on LinkedIn or use contact page on https://onfolio.com/contact/

GRAVITY

I did collab write-up with on check it out below:

Buying back EVOLUTION

As I mentioned in last monthly update, this month I already started buying back shares in $EVVTY

There are also a few other changes that are coming in tomorrow or sometime this week that I will discuss in more details in paid section

GOING LIVE

On December 19th (Friday) at 11:00am (EST) I will be going live with another (much smarter) investor and a friend from .

I will be doing “schedule” tomorrow and everyone will receive an email notification when live will be starting, this will be the first time I will be doing something 1) live and 2) showing my self on camera … Just for the live session … will see how that goes…

It would be awesome to hopefully “see” someone of you at live session and we could interact … if you can’t but want to ask question, you can DM me or reply to this email.

See y’all on December 19th!

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Earnings

Private Investments

I put a few five figures capital into companies that I’m already invested in. These three are making some good moves and I thought I would share more about them:

• Ivee

I first learned about Ivee when invested in it via Republic and then I look cab (couple of times) from one of the airports in NY and they kept coming up, so that’s when I decided to get in touch with founders … and good thing I did …

Learn more about Ivee via their website : https://www.goivee.com/ or if you would like you can DM me with questions or I can try and get you in touch with the team…

• RAD Intel

I been following RAD Intel for a few years and had a chat with CEO and Jeremy and his team (seems to me) are on to something. Very interesting company and they are moving fast…

Some of their clients are - Hasbro, MGM, Sketchers, and many many more big names!

Learn more about RAD Intel via their website : https://www.radintel.ai/ or if you would like you can DM me with questions or I can try and get you in touch with the team…

• UpShift

Similar theme as with the other two, I been following UpShift for sometime and I think Ezra and the team is doing something different (in a good way) from many other start ups specially with the whole AI / self driving vehicles hype…

Learn more about UpShift via their website : https://www.upshiftcars.com/ or if you would like you can DM me with questions or I can try and get you in touch with the team…

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished one audiobooks:

Merger Masters: Tales of Arbitrage by Kate Welling and Mario Gabelli

YZ:

Merger Masters was an interesting book / case studies on different famous investors and how they did their M&A. No one thing really stood out (because really each of them had their own spin on the idea of M&A) and it was a breezy listen while on long drives but what did stood out is the fact there is many ways of doing M&A and in fact you must have some kind of advantage (be it time or knowing how to execute options) or knowledge (or thinking in probabilities better say) that others might not posses or willing to dig into work but also be humble enough to know that sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them to work out because of politics, human factor, etc.

Goodreads:

Merger Masters presents revealing profiles of monumentally successful merger investors based on exclusive interviews with some of the greatest minds to practice the art of arbitrage. Michael Price, John Paulson, Paul Singer, and others offer practical perspectives on how their backgrounds in the risk-conscious world of merger arbitrage helped them make their biggest deals. They share their insights on the discipline that underlies their fortunes, whether they practice the “plain vanilla” strategy of announced deals, the aggressive strategy of activist investment, or any strategy in between on the risk spectrum.

Merger Masters delves into the human side of risk arbitrage, exploring how top practitioners deal with the behavioral aspects of generating consistent profits from risk arbitrage. The book also includes perspectives from the other side of the mergers and acquisitions divide in the form of interviews with a trio of iconic CEOs: Bill Stiritz, Peter McCausland, and Paul Montrone. All three took advantage of M&A opportunities to help build long-term returns but often found themselves at odds with the short-term focus of Wall Street and merger investors. Told in lively, accessible prose, with bonus facts and figures for transaction junkies, Merger Masters is an incomparable set of stories with plenty of unfiltered lessons from the best managers of our time.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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“The genuine investor in common stocks does not need a great equipment of brains and knowledge, but he does need some unusual qualities of character.” - Benjamin Graham

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 |

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - ($M??) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | $GRVY - 08 | $C??? - 08 | $N??? - 10 | $D??? - 10 | $C?? - 10 | $ONFO - 10 |

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

There has been a lot of things happening under the hood for the last month or so …

So I wanted to provide more information now that I finally can…

ONFOLIO

First of, the stock that I said in the last update that I couldn’t speak about was … Onfolio - $ONFO … paid subscribers know that I been following this company for a while and I have been dollar cost averaging into it via my IRA account + I am invested into ONFO via Pref and SPV …

I did a one pager on it in June:

I participated in the the private offering that was completed at the end of the October and although I did mention that I was taking out $30,000 from this account, the investment was a bit larger but for purpose of keeping this dollar for dollar, I have added ONFOLIO to my Portseido portfolio at the price that I participated at, so even though its in the separate account after some time it is possible for me to try and transfer those shares to my Webull account (at some future point).

So moving forward ONFOLIO will be in the main portfolio even if it does not reflect so in Webull, it will be reflected in via Portseido since be it “up” or “down” that $30,000 was invested in public company that has trackable share price (although given the volatility sometimes it can be stomach turning)

I think for now I will leave it at that, but I will be sure to come back to this holding in the near future…

GRAVITY

A new holding that I have been building up since August is $GRVY …

This one is interesting because company is a net-net

A few people have written about it over the past few years and yes there is a reason why its a net-net

Altay Capital - Mostly Value Investing

Gravity - Cheap but an Obvious Value Trap

Gravity Co., LTD. is a video game developer based in South Korea and trades in the U.S. (GRVY) and is extremely cheap. It’s cash rich and trades at TTM P/E of 8.3. Net income TTM is $35.5m USD vs $295m market cap…

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3 years ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · AltayCap

Value Degen’s Substack

How do you solve a problem like Korea? Gavity Co. $GRVY

Of all the trends in the world today, one of the most confusing has been the strength of the US dollar despite the 6% - 7% fiscal deficit that our congress has been maintaining. For all of our concerns about debt service payments and unfunded liabilities, it hasn’t translated into a weakening currency, yet. Perhaps with the US access to cheap energy, …

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a year ago · 19 likes · 8 comments · Unemployed Value Degen

I recommend reading the two write up above plus follow for more up to date updates on Gravity

The parent company that owns large stake in $GRVY - Gungho Online Entertainment, a Japanese listed game developer is being targeted by an activist - Strategic Capital, Inc and they have been more active with Gungho …

Strategic Capital has been pointing out on multiple occasions that current management or more precisely Kazuki Morishita is not fit to run Gungho and has been running it for his own benefits and not for the benefits of Gungho (or Gravity) shareholders. I highly recommend checking out Strategic Capital website and more in details the website they have created for GungHo Online Entertainment.

Both Gungho and Gravity are ran too conservatively (regrading capital allocation) and my hope is that if Strategic Capital can change management then both Gungho and Gravity value can be unlocked.

I’m new to activism but I know in Japan its not been looked at “nicely” at least not until recently with Japan changing its ruling towards publicly traded companies and outside shareholders and I also know in Korea its even worse then in Japan so my hopes are not that high but I think it’s interesting situation, especially given that Gravity is actually making good progress with expending Ragnarok. I should definitely write more about Gravity especially with emphasis on Strategic Capital’s activism towards the parent co.

EVOLUTION and ???

I have sold out of $EVVTY and another undisclosed holding for tax loss purposes. As of right now I have over $80,000 of realized profit and before the sale of those two it was almost $100,000. I will be looking to get back in those two before the end of the year / beginning of next.

I know Evolution has been seen as disappointment to the X community, but I don’t think the results were that bad + as long as they are generating cash as they are and buying back shares (as they are), I think in the long run things will work out … similarly how I think about $PYPL.

Earnings

Compounding Your Wealth

Paypal Q3 2025 Earnings Analysis

Financial Results…

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5 months ago · 10 likes · 1 comment · Sergey

Darius Dark Investing

PayPal - Finally Waking Up?

For several years, PayPal has been a source of frustration for investors. Before its latest earnings announcement, the stock had lost approximately 17.7% since the beginning of the year, a performance that displayed the pessimism surrounding its future. Yet, following the release of its third-quarter 2025 results, something shifted. There was a surge of…

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5 months ago · 8 likes · 2 comments · Darius

AppInvestor: Tracking the Business of Apps

Gravity ($GRVY) Q3 Preview: Good Quarter, Strong Pipeline, Market's AFK

Data-driven insights on the mobile app economy, ahead of earnings: AppInvestor tracks mobile app through real-time store data (App Store, Play Store), identifies trends with AI models, and analyzes financials…

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5 months ago · 7 likes · 2 comments · AppInvestor

Petty Cash

Viemed Q3 2025 – $VMD

Disclosure: I own shares in VMD. I am not a professional. Please do your own due diligence…

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5 months ago · 4 likes · Dean

Do Not Distribute

Evolution's Q3 2025: Quarter in Review

“Evolution remains the product leader in Live Casino and its sales have just declined year-on-year for the first time. Guess the year…

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5 months ago · 36 likes · 7 comments · Ali Gündüz

The Wolf of Harcourt Street

Evolution: Are Asia’s Problems Becoming Unfixable?

Executive Summary…

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5 months ago · 41 likes · 14 comments · Wolf of Harcourt Street

Doing this review and it was a bit exhausting, what I mean I own to many companies … need to slim down because when I was writing on a few things I actually did not really remember well enough how the earnings went which is honest truth but also I understand is concerning because a lot of times I’m on the move and do not have time to write thoughts/comments … really need to re think about this…

Events

I had a pleasure of attending to two events in the month of November…

1 … by at Fordham University Gabelli School of Business

Mr Green gave a talk on how passive investing “kind of (lightly said)” ruining the investing world, because of passive investing markets are more irrational then ever and in the bubble zone, the problem there is really no real solution (per se).

I also enjoyed the chat between Michael Green, Paul Johnson, and another Mike (I forgot the last name) who runs a hedge fund. Three of them had a great conversation on passive investing and how it has changed the markets (for the worse) over the years.

2 … by at NYU Stern School of Business

I want to say big thanks to Joost for letting me be present at his Fire-chat with CEO of Unity - Matthew Bromberg - I have never been to any events like these (or NYU for that matter) so if was really nice to listen on conversation on Unity but also gaming in general. Mr Bromberg was very generous with his time and had more then a few of good advises for those who seeking to be in the gaming business + lots of interesting personal stories.

For most of my life I been a big gaming nerd so it brought a bit of nostalgia and got a few of my neurons fired up when listening to gaming but from more of a corporate / investing angle.

I highly recommend checking Joost’s Substack:

SuperJoost Playlist

A weekly take on gaming, tech, and entertainment by business professor and author, Joost van Dreunen.

New 13Fs

13Fs are out…

Bill Ackman - Pershing Square Capital Management - Nothing interesting this Q

Lindsell Train - Nothing interesting this Q

Francis Chou - Chou Associates - Added to $STLA

AltaRock Partners - Nothing interesting this Q

Valley Forge Capital Management - Nothing interesting this Q

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“If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.” - Dan Rather

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 |

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | (Second ???) - 03 | (Third ???) - 08 | (Fourth ???) - 08 | (Fifth ???)

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

I want to start with saying that this is not the update I wanted to do, but the update that is necessary for monthly update purposes, and what I mean by that is there is something currently happening that I can not talk about in terms of one stock but I really was hoping that by the time I would release this update that I could.

If you noticed (maybe or maybe not) the picture to this update has different amount then the screenshot of portfolio that was taken on 9/30 which was 418,696.97 and the amount that was on post preview was 377,186.55 and the reason is that (no my portfolio did not drop by that much) I actually had to withdraw $30,000 for something I cant discuss yet due to NDA…

Even without that company to discuss I have a few things to talk about:

There is a new addition to the portfolio that I added just today, its very tiny as of today but will grow especially closer to the next year … spoiler alert it’s another royalty company but I will give more color on it later in this portfolio update (behind paywall)

SPOTIFY

I had to sell out of to meet the required amount (plus a bit more from my own pocket) for the NDA stock.

As you can see from the screenshot above at the lowest buy point to the highest, I clocked in 800% while on average Spotify was a 400% return for me from 2022-2025.

BLACK STONE MINERALS

BSM had September 2025 Investor Presentation (audio link here)

2025 09 Bsm Investor Presentation Final

6.08MB ∙ PDF file

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and basically BSM’s management is now very bulling on things in 2030 / 2035 … given AI / Data Centers / etc demand … and honestly I’m not sure how I feel about that, to me it was kind of out of the blue for BSM to now be bullish for 2030-2035! like that’s farrrr awayyyyy … idk .. I’m bullish on BSM because of their structure but nat gas prices need to pick up and I don really understand how they can be confident for 2035 like I’m not sure what will happen tomorrow lol don’t mind next year or 2035 but again little to no debt / light structure and Thomas Carter largest shareholder is buying gives me confidence to hold shares but idk about 2035 … i don’t do macro.

NINTENDO

As some of you may notice - I’m big on boots on the ground / scuttlebutting / sleuthing type of research aka drinking apple cider from or playing Pokemon games on Switch 2…

Which brings me that in July Update I discussed my annoyances with Nintendo Switch 2 not having third party apps or that it cant really run any new power hungry games or upcoming GTA which all was fine because when I got my Pokemon Legends ZA I thought it would be worth it… and to some extend it was … and to some extend it was not … which got me into a rabbit hole thought process and research …

Before you watch any of those videos (as either someone who wants to buy Nintendo Switch 2 or the new Pokemon ZA) please scroll down and read my honest opinion which is similar to the videos but not quite so as I look at it as both gamer and investor type of lenses.

… I can keep going with these videos…

The reason for my excitement for Pokemon Legeneds ZA was that I played a bit of Arceus and since I haven’t really played any Pokemon games since the Gameboy days it was really refreshing and exciting to play something like Arceus that I borrowed from my relative. That’s how Nintendo got me …

Pokemon Legends Z-A Launch Sales 40% Lower Than Pokemon Legends Arceus In The UK

Now fast forward to like May to October of 2025, my wife got my Nintendo Switch 2 which came with Mario Kart World Bundle which at the beginning was fun to play but after a few games with my daughters its all pretty much the same and only fun because my 7 y/o is enjoying and I want her to like video games but that game is NOT worth 80 bucks! Moving to Pokemon ZA again my wife got me a present and yes I have amazing wife lets move on … and I been play quite a bit of Pokemon ZA and I wasnt aware in the beginning but you need to buy DLC (which wifey got of course) and have Nintendo Online to fully enjoy that all together is over 100+ bucks and lets not start that technically you can just play ZA on Switch one and not really feel any difference.

What Nintendo got me at is the nostalgia and something I missed as someone who has not played video games in a long time and someone who was a big fan of Pokemon, but you can only EASILY do that once. Yes Pokemon is not made by Nintendo but Game Freak but Nintendo owns like 33+ % of it and Nintendo owns the Switch… I feel like GF really dropped the ball on making Legends ZA really fun and interesting long term game which from the reviews that have failed very much so, I am enjoying it but for a lot of different reasons I think then most of the gamers and those reasons will most like will not be why I would be excited for the next game or console.

Nintendo should have a really strong and profitable end of the year with all of the holidays that are coming, but after that? I don’t know … Nintendo has really been disappointment after disappointment so far when you actually get the products and test them out (and those are the things that I actually did think would be the cases)… As investor sure I can see all of these profits getting milked but that wont last and wallets are as fat as they are until they are not because gamers are not enjoying being used which to me it feels like what Nintendo is doing right now…

EVOLUTION

We finally know who was behind 2021 “short report” (drum roll) Playtech!

Read more below

Playtech Unmasked As Black Cube Client

161KB ∙ PDF file

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WARNER BROS DISCOVERY

Warner Bros. Discovery says it’s open to a sale

WBD looking to sell it self, but the whispers are that board is looking for $30 and Paramount’s $20 is “too low” - we will see. I have sold bunch of shares 18-20 and the rest have in call options that are due in Jan of 2026.

Latticework

On October 7th I attended Latticework 2025 conference by MOI Global, it was really interesting and educational day + got to chat with lots of smart folks!

Latticework by MOI Global

Takeaways from Latticework 2025: Bloomstran, Gayner, Miller, Robotti, Russo, Thomson, Tsai, Wachenheim

Tyler and I had the pleasure of hosting MOI Global’s Latticework 2025 summit at The Yale Club of New York City on October 7th. It was wonderful to see many of you and hear the featured guests’ thoughts on the market environment and high-conviction ideas. We are delighted to share the following highlights…

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6 months ago · 47 likes · 1 comment · John Mihaljevic, MOI Global Equity Research, and Tyler Howell

Some thoughts on it from David Park:

https://x.com/investingdpark/status/1975565007258808607 - If you look very hard you can actually find me there on one of the pictures.

Some thoughts on it from Christopher Tsai:

https://x.com/tsaicapital/status/1976714741394350169

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick

YZ:

Book was okay, to be honest I don’t remember much that I have listened to but what I do remember is that we should embrace AI/LLMs and implement them in our work/school like calculators (in a way)

Goodreads:

Consumer AI has arrived. And with it, inescapable upheaval as we grapple with what it means for our jobs, lives and the future of humanity.

Cutting through the noise of AI evangelists and AI doom-mongers, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick has become one of the most prominent and provocative explainers of AI, focusing on the practical aspects of how these new tools for thought can transform our world. In Co-Intelligence, he urges us to engage with AI as co-worker, co-teacher and coach. Wide ranging, hugely thought-provoking and optimistic, Co-Intelligence reveals the promise and power of this new era.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Who Knew by Barry Diller

YZ:

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook … its raw … its unfiltered … its honest … I feel like this is a type of biography I would like to do. If you want to learn more about Mr Diller I would highly recommend reading or listening to this book!

To be honest by the middle end ish of the book I was thinking … I should probably sell my IAC stake … but I haven’t yet, mostly because I’m stubborn and hate selling losing stocks but at least I’m honest … I still have more soul searching to do with IAC…

Goodreads:

Barry Diller, one of America’s most successful businessmen, reveals himself here—his successes, failures, and struggles—with surprising candor and intimacy in a memoir rich in Hollywood lore and filled with business acumen.

Writing in his singular voice, Barry Diller delivers an astute business memoir, an unvarnished look at Hollywood, a primer on media, and a surprisingly frank coming-of-age story.

“I want to work in the mail room at William Morris.” So begins Diller’s show business life. Diller did not aspire to be an agent, nor was he a glove fit for William Morris, the legendary talent agency he describes as resembling a “Jewish Vatican.” But he was a good assistant and student and took it all in.

Before long, Diller was offered a job at ABC. His ascent was meteoric, launching ABC TV’s Movie of the Week at age twenty-seven, becoming CEO of Paramount Pictures at age thirty-two, and launching the Fox TV network at age forty-four. Along the way, Diller oversaw the production of classic films such as Saturday Night Fever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Home Alone (a film he credits with saving Rupert Murdoch’s career) and hit TV shows such as The Simpsons, Married…with Children, and Cops. He programmed and developed by instinct—not by research or data.

Diller’s media savvy changed the course of American culture. His championing of Alex Haley’s Roots put long-form miniseries on the map. He was never cowed by the talent—actors, directors, and producers—and worked with them all. Indeed, throughout his career, Diller championed “creative conflict,” encouraging argument in every business he managed (“I’ve never thought decision-making should be peaceful,” he writes). Diller also recognized our digital future, founding IAC and growing it into a billion-dollar constellation of brands, including Match, Tinder, and Expedia.

Moving beyond business, Diller recounts his family life, personal struggles, and regrets, his joyful marriage to Diane von Furstenburg, and where he has found fulfillment.

Intimate, candid, and moving, Who Knew is a different kind of business memoir, one that holds nothing back.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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"You see, but you do not observe" - Sherlock Holmes

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | (Second ???) - 03 | (Third ???) - 08 | (Fourth ???) - 08

*IAC originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

First of all I wanted to start with a bit of celebration (although a tiny one as anything could change) but for the first time ever Sept. is the first monthly update where we closed above 400,000!

and the big thank you goes out to….. no not me … BK Technologies

BKTI is executing well on everything that company has promised so far and a big surprise was the significantly improved gross margins from 37.3% in Q2/24 to 47.4% in Q2/25! The orders are coming in for the new BKR 9000, everyone loves it and BKTI is working on BKR 9500 and RelayONE and working slowly but surely on InteropONE.

Since last update I have initiated 2 starting positions which I’m still trying to buy more of so discussion about those two are behind paywall.

What I will say is one is based out of Canada and the other is in South Korea, so although based on the chart of Portseido that I’m mostly (65%) invest in US based companies, I would say at about 30-40% of that 65% is either very niche US based or do business outside of US too.

Lastly, two weeks ago (August 25th) I was back to Omaha for Annual Meeting for BOC.

Alex Bossert has been doing a great job following BOC so I highly recommend, checking him out on X and reading what he has to post:

https://x.com/alexbossert/status/1960417697227006194

As for comments from me, I’m still holding my shares (even have been buying a bit lately) but there are a few key things I’m looking to happen with in the next 6-12 month and if those things do not happen, I would consider changing my stand on the company, until then “💎🙌”

13Fs

The fund below called Longleaf Partners is a new fund that I saw on dataroma. Interestingly enough the reason it picked my curiosity is the almost 20% addition to IAC holding … its top position. They also own PYPL.

Returns since inception are lagging SPY (by about one percent) but I think maybe this fund is potential for idea generations as some of the names are very familiar to me so might be looking at it on quarterly basis.

Notable mentioned:

Lindsell Train - 10,000%+ increase in & 8%+ increase in

Valley Forge Capital Management - Nothing interesting this Q

Terry Smith - Fundsmith - Nothing interesting this Q

Prem Watsa - Fairfax Financial Holdings - Nothing interesting this Q

Francis Chou - Chou Associates - Nothing interesting this Q

Francois Rochon - Giverny Capital - Nothing interesting this Q

WWE On Netflix

Last month (or so) I finished watching documentary on Vincent McMahon and watched a few episodes of the new documentary on WWE…

The above trailers are for just that purpose to get snippets, if you are interested take a look at both of them available on Netflix.

The reason I decided to bring these up is that $WWE used to be publicly traded company and I used to own it before it became when Endeavor bought them out and merge WWE with UFC.

First documentary gave me an interesting perspective on having to be a big fan of WWE (watching wresting, PPVs, playing video games WWE, playing wresting with friends) the documentary gave me a nostalgic flashbacks to being a kid while at the same time it was an interesting thought processes of 1) a kid and 2) of an investor and how two had such a different perspectives and “feelings” and reasons for having attachment to WWE and at some point they both intertwined and disconnected.

The first documentary also gave me a better understanding and some respect to Mr McMahon, I say some because as a businessperson he did a lot for wrestling and yet as a human … well I am not the one to judge, but I do have my thoughts … as a human and the one that’s worth billions sometimes life is not that easy … I will leave it at that..

Which brings me to the second documentary and the one that I would call Part 2 or the new beginning of WWE and how they are revealing things behind scenes almost in real time and well to be frank, I don’t like it… I didn’t like watching it as an old fan or an old investor … the one theme that I kept coming back in my head is …. why? like seriously why reveal all of these things? It’s like telling a 5 year old that Santa is not real or even better example (I think) come to the house in Santa costume, give a 5 y/o present and then take off custom and reveal that you are the friend of a family (or something a long those lines) … to me that’s just killing the magic …

To be honest I don’t know why I really wanted to share this with all of you as I no longer own shares of WWE/TKO and I’ll probably will not in the near future and I do not watch WWE and don’t play WWE video games … but I guess that little kid inside me just wanted to share the frustration with the future …

We want to keep the things that we love the same and have them never change, but in order to stay alive and hopefully succeed we must evolve and change… the only thing change is not always for the best …

"the only constant is change" - Heraclitus

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

Suit Yourself: A Portfolio Strategy for Every Personality Type by Benjamin Tan

YZ:

I met (virtually) Ben back in the day when Commonstock was a thing and recently have reconnected with him via Substack. Ben has (recently) written a book and was kind enough to provide me with a copy to read. Also check out his Substack:

Consume Your Own Tech Investing

Covering human psychology in investing, consumer, and tech sectors. It is also about managing a portfolio based on your "personality tech." The author is a seasoned investor/tech startup co-founder pursuing a grad degree in clinical mental health.

By Benjamin Tan

Suit Yourself provides a framework for self-awareness in investing, encouraging readers to understand their unique cognitive and emotional inclinations using the Enneagram. Until Ben has mentioned Enneagram, I have never heard of Enneagram, so it was interesting to read about something new especially when it comes to investing and behavior/psychology.

Basically Enneagram framework helps you figure out which out of 9 types are you while paring with another 2 types to help fight biases of the type that is closest to you. Its not an exact science but again one “framework” to better understand yourself and help you better understand yourself as investor.

Ben provides Enneagram (more serious) with pop culture (more relatable) to make it more fun to read and easier to be able to connect, a great balance I shall say.

I’m (like Ben) more of a type 5 which is Sherlock Holmes, get a copy of this book and find out which type are you, I think this book would be helpful to both seasoned and novice investors.

The better you know yourself the better you can navigate the market and the real world too!

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

How the World Really Works: A Scientist's Guide to Our Past, Present and Future by Vaclav Smil

YZ:

How the World Really Works is one of those books that I would love to finish listening, but I will be honest its just a bit too dry and long for me (+ I been pounding this/similar topics for a bit now too), when listening to it I had the similar feeling as when I was trying to read / listen to Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman … I just cant get to finish it … I will try to pick it up at some later point (maybe)

Goodreads:

We have never had so much information at our fingertips and yet most of us don't know how the world really works. This book explains seven of the most fundamental realities governing our survival and prosperity. From energy and food production, through our material world and its globalization, to risks, our environment and its future, How the World Really Works offers a much-needed reality check - because before we can tackle problems effectively, we must understand the facts.

In this ambitious and thought-provoking book we see, for example, that globalization isn't inevitable and that our societies have been steadily increasing their dependence on fossil fuels, making their complete and rapid elimination unlikely. Drawing on the latest science and tackling sources of misinformation head on - from Yuval Noah Harari to Noam Chomsky - ultimately Smil answers the most profound question of our age: are we irrevocably doomed or is a brighter utopia ahead?

no rating

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“My intention is to hold stocks forever, but the harsh reality is every stock has different shelf life.” - Ian Cassel

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | (Second ???) - 03 |

* originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

I have fully exited - the reason for exit is combination of profit taking, time spend in OPFI (mental burn), and the biggest one CEO’s conversion of V shares into A shares. I have originally bought OPFI when it was a spac - FGNA in 2021 … four years later and in 2025 its OPFI …

When I say this was not an easy hold, well you can see from the picture above … its not always fun catching “a falling knife” … with average price $2-$3 and average exit price $12-$15 … but when done right and when you get lucky …

… falling knifes become multi baggers…

So far OPFI is holding 3rd place for my largest win in $$$ (SFM 1st, and SPOT 2nd)

As always a reminder that if you are paid subscriber, I provide same day trades and weekly updates on the portfolio, with that said I don’t trading per se , which means sometimes I’m very active with portfolio and sometimes I am not. This is my real portfolio and my real money, I’m here to make more money, not to look cool.

Earnings Season

Lets keep off the earning season…

The Reservist

Spotify: A Q2 That Reaffirms the Long Game

Sometimes, the quarters that disappoint investors are the ones I like the most. Not because I love seeing stocks I own drop (although with Spotify after I recently sold a third of my position I’d love a large pullback, which you can read about in ‘Discussing Profit-Taking…

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8 months ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Yehoshua Zlotogorski

Bob’s Payment Stock Substack

What’s the matter with PayPal?

It’s déjà vu all over again…

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8 months ago · 2 likes · Bob Hammel

Petty Cash

Viemed Q2 2025 Update - $VMD

*Disclosure: I own shares in VMD. I am not a professional. Please do your own due diligence…

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8 months ago · 4 likes

Do Not Distribute

Evolution's Q2 2025: Quarter in Review

KPIs below High-Water Mark…

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8 months ago · 37 likes · 4 comments · Ali Gündüz

The Wolf of Harcourt Street

Evolution: Stopping the Rot

Executive Summary…

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9 months ago · 38 likes · 9 comments · Wolf of Harcourt Street

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished one audiobooks and one physical book:

The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life by Sahil Bloom

YZ:

Before “The 5 Types of Wealth” if I was asked whats one book that I would recommend, I would say it would be a book by David Chilton called The Wealthy Barber, but I think I will be giving that title to The 5 Types of Wealth now.

Sahil Bloom really hits it home with not just wealth (money) type of well wealth but also time, family, personal health, etc.

Although I will not say that I agree with most of it FOR ME since a lot of things I’m already happy/comfortable with … for someone who is still looking and trying to figure out life, this book is a must!

If you can’t afford this book and you DM me about it, I will send you a copy for free!

(No, Sahil Bloom is not paying me, he probably doesn’t even know I exist)

Goodreads:

A groundbreaking guide to rejecting the default path and designing your dream life—a life centered around The 5 Types of Wealth. Launch your journey to fulfillment with this transformative system from inspirational writer, speaker, and entrepreneur Sahil Bloom.

Harsh You’ve been lied to. Throughout your life, you’ve been slowly indoctrinated to believe that money is the only type of wealth. The Your wealthy life may involve money, but in the end, it will be defined by everything else.

In The 5 Types of Wealth, Sahil Bloom offers a transformative guide for redesigning your life around five types of wealth—Time Wealth, Social Wealth, Mental Wealth, Physical Wealth, and Financial Wealth—that will lead to a durable satisfaction and happiness you can build and maintain across the seasons of your life.

Whether you are a recent college graduate, mid-life warrior, or a retiree, this playbook will unlock new levels of freedom and fulfillment,

• Control over how you spend your time
• Depth of connection with those around you
• Clarity of purpose, presence, and decision making
• Improved health and vitality
• Simple pathways to financial independence

Bloom’s unique blend of storytelling, questions, and actionable insights enables readers to make immediate positive change and build the joyful, balanced lives they’d previously only dreamed of.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

10½ Lessons from Experience: Perspectives on Fund Management by Paul Marshall

YZ:

101/2 Lessons was a quick read and didn’t really teach me anything new, but it was nice to get some reminders about practice vs theory and human psychology (when it comes to investing).

Personally book was a bit too much about Marshall Wace (almost like it was selling, but it wasn’t really) but Mr Marshall did say in the first pages that it will be his experience with Marshall Wace, so yeah…

Goodreads:

In 10½ Lessons from Experience, Paul Marshall distils the experience of 35 years of investing, including over 20 years at Marshall Wace, the global equity hedge fund partnership. He describes the disconnect between academic theory and market practice, in particular the reality and persistence of 'skill' - the continuing ability of the best practitioners to beat the market. But he also underscores the prevalence of uncertainty and human fallibility, showing how a successful investment management business must steer a path which recognises both the persistence of skill and the pitfalls of cognitive bias, human fallibility and hubris.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

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“To be great at something, you don't need to be special. You just need to be what most people aren't - Consistent. Determined. Willing to work for it. No shortcuts.” - Tom Brady

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | (Second ???) - 03 |

* originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Got few things I would like to chat about this month…

Starting of with WBD is splitting into two companies:

• The Streaming & Studios company will consist of Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO, and HBO Max, as well as their legendary film and television libraries.

• Global Networks will include premier entertainment, sports and news television brands around the world including CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the profitable Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report.

When they say investing is simple but not easy to me … this is one of those examples … one of the original reasons / thesis of why I was investing into WBD is the HBO brand and potentially turning DC Studios into the brand that was pre covid for Marvel … and when did I invest when WBD just became a spin off with all of the debt and uncertainty and I was riding in hopes for things to play out as they should… Instead of holding WBD since 2022, could of “easily” just wait and buy in 2025, right? If only investing was this easy…

But enough of me crying and back to investing, 2026 should be really interesting for WBD … Theatrically so far they been doing very well and if James Gunn can do what he did for/with Guardians of the Galaxy for DC Studios, WBD will be in very good shape! First test for that is Superman which came out this week, the thesis is playing out real time 2025-2026…

Moving on to Nintendo

I will need to admit, I have spend a bit too much “researching” ah who am I kidding playing my Nintendo Switch 2. To be more specific I been playing Cyberpunk a lot … before my first daughter was born I was a big gamer (staying in the line at 3 in the morning waiting for Wow, CoD or Borderland) … PC / Xbox / Playstation /etc you name it I played it and love it! So since 2017 ish I have not really played anything, well except the most amazing game of all times … stock market …

I played a bit first Nintendo Switch that I borough for research purpose and I enjoyed but wanted to wait for second one to buy for me, so to say that I was excited to get my hands on Switch 2 is well said very lightly … Cyberpunk was first game that I wanted to play (because it was available when Switch 2 came out) but my next one (and the one that I really want to play) will be Pokemon Legends: Z-A to be released later this year …

So far so good right? Sure … except if you are NOT 30+ y/o who only plays when he puts the kids to sleep and if you are 15 year old who takes his Nintendo Switch 2 on the go … there are no freaking apps !!! No YouTube, Hulu, Netflix or even browse web … yes sure you can “hack it” but that’s not the point … first of all first Switch had YouTube and a few others apps but not Switch 2 … Google has confirmed that YouTube is coming later on but not when … I think things like YouTube, Spotify, Netflix should be a given for portable devices and if Nintendo wants to capture larger audience, I think those apps will be a must!

It was a big lat down to know there is no YouTube on Switch 2 from the start …

Moving on to ElevenLabs

ElevenLabs (EL) is an AI voice company that is basically “potentially” a competitor to Spotify and the reason I say that is not because EL does music but because EL does audio and Spotify is know and wants to be know as audio company, everything audio … music, podcasts, books, etc…

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I been using EL to listen to articles on the go, you just drop the url into EL and you can listen to anything that is in text from any website… Spotify has actually teamed up with EL to do text-to-audio books

Spotify is now accepting Audiobooks narrated by ElevenLabs

Now I don’t want to do any predictions, but its possible that Spotify would acquire EL as I see it a good fit for Spotify and the future that Spotify is moving towards

Lastly, I want to touch on Burford

One thing I’m wrestling with is BUR’s issuing of notes to pay down other notes … and new notes are at a higher rate … Most of you know I don’t kid around to pretend like I understand BUR’s in and out , I do not and most people do not and if they say they they do well I’ll be polite and just say they don’t, because BUR is very secretive and confusing company when you dig too deep … I know they are legit company with legit management but my thesis is getting money for YPF from Argentina not company it self because frankly its too complex for me. But with YPF case its pretty simple either they win or they lose and if they win how much they will win and how quickly BUR can collect that cash … question though … what are they going to do with that cash when they get it ??? I have a few speculations but I will keep those to myself, just in case…

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished one audiobooks:

Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less by Alex Epstein

YZ:

Let me start with … I would love for us all to get our home power/energy from solar and wind (for pennies on a dollar), drive our electric driverless cars and well I wont go in deeper… I think (even before listening to this book) the reality is that we still need fossil fuels and will need them for a long time. Now, should we try to figure out how to be more eco friendly SURE! Should we go full blown out solar/wind only SURELY NOT! To me that’s impossible, it just doesn’t make sense that we can do full 100% solar/wind/etc. I’m against extremes (good or bad) and this book is a good and easy read on why we should still keep fossil fuels while we are developing others ways that will complement it and maybe over some long long time can replace, but I do not think it will be any time soon.

Goodreads:

In Fossil Future , Epstein, applying his distinctive “human flourishing framework” to the latest evidence, comes to the shocking conclusion that the benefits of fossil fuels will continue to far outweigh their side effects—including climate impacts—for generations to come. The path to global human flourishing, Epstein argues, is a combination of using more fossil fuels, getting better at “climate mastery,” and establishing “energy freedom” policies that allow nuclear and other truly promising alternatives to reach their full long-term potential.

Today’s pervasive claims of imminent climate catastrophe and imminent renewable energy dominance, Epstein shows, are based on what he calls the “anti-impact framework”—a set of faulty methods, false assumptions, and anti-human values that have caused the media’s designated experts to make wildly wrong predictions about fossil fuels, climate, and renewables for the last fifty years. Deeply researched and wide-ranging, this book will cause you to rethink everything you thought you knew about the future of our energy use, our environment, and our climate.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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“Having, and sticking to, a true long-term perspective is the closest you can come to possessing an investing superpower.” — Cliff Asness

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01* | (Second ???) - 03 |

* originally was purchased in 2021, but sold at the end of 2024 for tax loss purposes and re-bought back in 2025.

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Since last update I have sold out of and I also sold one of the ??? holdings that I purchased earlier this year.

ANGI was sold because it was spinned out of IAC and after some thinking I decided I do not want to own it, as for the ??? holding - I sold out of it day before earnings as I did not want to go into earnings be it good or bad, I decided it was not large enough for me hold it into earnings and wouldn’t want to DCA into it if earnings were bad, funny enough earnings were good but mentally I do not want to give more mental space/capacity for a holding that is barely 1% of my portfolio. I will give a bit more color on it for paid subscribers as it still might be potentially in play.

A bit more color on portfolio will be provided to paid subscribers…

13Fs

Phil Town - Rule One Fund- Founders Class

Vitaliy Katsenelson - INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES INC (IMA)

Notable Investors with no change , only reduction, or no new buys that are over 1% of port:

• Greg Alexander - Conifer Management

• Clifford Sosin - CAS Investment Partners

• Valley Forge Capital Management

• Li Lu - Himalaya Capital Management

• Josh Tarasoff - Greenlea Lane Capital

• Lindsell Train

Shoutout

I been wanting to give a shout-out to Yellowbrick for a while now…. this is not sponsored and no affiliated links.

Yellowbrick is the best source of market-beating stock pitches in the world (taken from Yellowbrick’s X page) and I think Connor (the founder) is not excruciating…

When I get emails from Yellowbrick I might not open them right of way but I damn sure open them within a week or so and I never just delete them, if I cant get to them ASAP I will save them for when I have time.

I read / scan every email that I get from Yellowbricks, mostly looking for write ups on my own companies (to get a feel for what others are saying/thinking about companies that I own), Yellowbrick is very similar to what I do with my BWM so its almost like I’m “sponsoring” my own competitor, but I do not look at it that way. I really believe in win-win-win and what Yellowbrick does benefits everyone.

If you are looking for a good source of new stock ideas then I think you should definitely check out Yellowbrick’s website and also follow him on X.

New Additions to VC Portfolio

I have closed two VC investments within the last 30 days:

• Discord

• KUTT

Discord is a voice, video, and text communication app used by over two hundred million people to hang out and play games with their friends.

KUTT is a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) social betting platform that allows its users to wager on the outcome of sports, politics, pop culture, finance, and other events in a fun and engaging way.

Check out my other VC investments:

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"The most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect. You need a temperament that neither derives great pleasure from being with the crowd or against the crowd." - Warren Buffett

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portseido has introduced new format for screenshot of portfolio so I hope you enjoy a better transparency / detail.

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01 | (Second ???) - 03 | (Third ???) - 03 | - 04

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

To be honest a big chunk of this month I either was away on conferences or I was too busy to run my day to day business with couple of other projects that I am/was working on.

(My portfolio was “luckily” able to weather out all of the market volatility much better than the overall market)

I have not spend enough time on investing and researching / staying on top of companies and I’m realizing that, which means I will need to try to get back to basics.

There are only couple of things that I can really focus on and my day to day business + investing are at least 2 of those things that I ether enjoy or need and everything else (not family related) is secondary.

I added a bit more color for paid subscribers on CMC part but for the most part please check out “Events” segments and I hope you enjoy it

Events

- LD Micro -

LD Micro was my second conference this year (or any year lol) and I had better time here than at Microcap Conference, but I was only able to make for April 10th day.

Here are my top 5 from that day:

1. Dolphin Entertainment, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an independent entertainment marketing and premium content development company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Entertainment Publicity, and Marketing and Content Production. The Entertainment Publicity and Marketing segment offers public relations, entertainment content marketing, strategic communications, social media and digital marketing, creative branding, talent publicity, and entertainment marketing services, as well as produces promotional video content. The Content Production segment produces and distributes feature films and digital content. In addition, it offers strategic marketing and publicity services to individuals and corporates in the entertainment, hospitality, and music industries; and marketing direction, public relations counsel, and media strategy for video game publishers, as well as eSports leagues and other entities in the gaming industry. The company was formerly known as Dolphin Digital Media, Inc. and changed its name to Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. in July 2017. Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.

2. Kingstone Companies, Inc. - (“Kingstone”) is a northeast regional property and casualty insurance holding company whose principal operating subsidiary is Kingstone Insurance Company (“KICO”). KICO is a New York domiciled carrier writing business through retail and wholesale agents and brokers. KICO is actively writing personal lines and commercial auto insurance in New York, and in 2024, was the 12th largest writer of homeowners insurance in the State of New York. Kingstone is also licensed in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Maine.

3. Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. manufactures and sells optical sighting systems and assemblies primarily for the U.S. department of defense, foreign military applications, and commercial markets in the United States. It offers periscopes, such as laser and non-laser protected plastic and glass periscopes, electronic M17 day/thermal periscopes, and vision blocks; sighting systems, including back up sights, digital day and night sighting systems, M36 thermal periscope, unity mirrors, optical weapon system support and maintenance, and commander weapon station sights; howitzers comprising M137 telescope, M187 mount, M119 aiming device, XM10 and aiming circles; and applied optics center consisting of laser filter units, laser filter interface, optical assemblies, day windows, binoculars, and specialty thin film coatings, as well as other products, such as muzzle reference systems, binoculars, collimators, optical lenses and elements, and windows. The company also provides various periscope configurations, rifle and surveillance sights, and night vision optical assemblies. Its products are installed on various types of U.S. military land vehicles, such as the Abrams, Bradley, and Stryker families of fighting vehicles, as well as light armored and armored security vehicles. The company offers its products directly to the federal government, prime contractors, and foreign governments. Optex Systems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Richardson, Texas. Optex Systems Holdings, Inc operates as a subsidiary of Sileas Corporation.

4. Electromed, Inc. develops, manufactures, markets, and sells airway clearance therapy and related products that apply high frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) therapy in pulmonary care for patients of various ages in the United States and internationally. The company offers SmartVest airway clearance system; SmartVest SQL System that consists of an inflatable therapy garment, a programmable air pulse generator, and a patented single-hose that delivers air pulses from the generator to the garment; and SmartVest Connect, a wireless technology with personalized HFCWO therapy management portal for patients with compromised pulmonary function. It also provides single patient use SmartVest and SmartVest Wrap products for health care providers in the acute care setting. The company offers its products primarily to home health care market for patients with bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, and neuromuscular disease. Electromed, Inc. markets its products primarily to physicians and health care providers, as well as directly to patients. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in New Prague, Minnesota.

5. Usio, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated electronic payment processing services to merchants and businesses in the United States. The company offers various types of automated clearing house (ACH) processing; and credit, prepaid card, and debit card-based processing services. Its ACH transaction processing services include Represented Check, a consumer non-sufficient funds check that is presented for payment electronically rather than through the paper check collection system; and Accounts Receivable Check Conversion, a consumer paper check payment that is converted into an e-check. The company also offers merchant account services for the processing of card-based transactions through the VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB networks, including online terminal services accessed through a website or retail services accessed through a physical terminal. In addition, it provides a proprietary web-based customer service application that allows companies to process one-time and recurring payments through e-checks or credit cards; and an interactive voice response telephone system to companies, which accept payments directly from consumers over the telephone using e-checks or credit cards. Further, the company offers prepaid and incentive card issuance services; and operates a prepaid core processing platform, as well as provides additional services, such as electronic bill presentment, document composition, document decomposition, and printing and mailing services for various industry verticals, including utilities and financial institutions. It markets and sells ACH products and services primarily through resellers; and prepaid card program directly to government entities, corporations, and to consumers through the internet. The company was formerly known as Payment Data Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Usio, Inc. in June 2019. Usio, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

- Planet Microcap -

Planet Microcap was the third conference that I have attended this year (first one was The Microcap Conference in Atlantic City and second one was LD Micro in NY) and I must say by far my favorite was this one!

There was a lot of cool companies (a lot of companies from Canada), there was a lot of investors some fund managers and some just "regular” micro cap investors that manage their own money and yet all very nice and relaxed and fun to chat with.

I was even able to meet a few familiar “substack names / people” and put a face to the name sort of speaking and . I highly recommend this conference … oh and it was in Las Vegas (duh!) although to be honest with all the learning and connecting there was not much time for me to get out, although I did get to check out Fremont Street in Las Vegas which was a blast, thank you Noah!

Here is a link to all of the companies:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-Z16PmL9VgVmfrb4-YXv_PYaTQeUgLzf

My top 5:

1. BluMetric Environmental Inc - World class environmental consulting and water technology delivered by world class people. Our dynamic team includes scientists, engineers, industrial hygienists, environmental auditors, project managers, water system specialty trades, financial management specialists, and support personnel.

   We do more than assess and recommend environmental solutions. We also design, build, deploy and manage turn-key water solutions throughout North America and the Caribbean.

   

2. Creative Realities, Inc - NASDAQ: CREX - (CRI) is a leading provider of digital signage and media solutions. The Company clients use the latest omnichannel technologies to inspire better customer experiences. CRI designs, develops, and deploys consumer experiences for high-end enterprise-level networks, and is actively providing recurring SaaS and support services across diverse vertical markets, including but not limited to automotive, advertising networks, apparel & accessories, convenience stores, food service/QSR, gaming, theater, and stadium venues.

   

3. EMX Royalty Corporation - EMX Royalty is a precious and based metals royalty company founded in 2001 by CEO David Cole. EMX has seven producing royalties, >140 royalties in development and exploration, plus another >100 properties in its 'land bank' for future royalty generation.

   

4. Kingsway Financial Services, Inc - Kingsway is a holding company that owns or controls subsidiaries primarily in the extended warranty and business services industries. The common shares of Kingsway are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "KFS.”

   

5. Titan Logix Corp. - For over 25 years, Titan Logix Corp. has designed and manufactured mobile liquid measurement solutions to help businesses reduce risk and maximize efficiencies in bulk liquids transportation. Titan’s TD Series of tank level monitors are a market leader in mobile fluid measurement, and are known for their high level of accuracy, rugged design, and solid-state reliability. Our solutions are designed for hazardous and non-hazardous applications, and we serve customers in a wide range of applications including petroleum, environmental solutions, chemical, and agriculture. Founded in 1979, Titan Logix Corp. is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and its shares trade under the symbol TLA.

   

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- Omaha -

Value, Vision, & Volatility: Mr Pabrai in Conversation w/ Jane Liu (I did attend):

Link to the whole thing is supposed to be available soon, so if I do not forget, I will add it when its available.

VALUExBRK 2025 (Did not attend):

This year I did not get to join on ValuexBRK, luckily Guy Spier had the whole thing recorded for those who was unable to attend.

16th Annual Gabelli Omaha Value Investor Conference (Did not attend):

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv8JUCrxryp0g1Lq5CcdAJkp6wDpaiyKg

Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting (I did attend .. of course):

2025 Markel Group Omaha Brunch (I did attend):

Fireside chat with Bill Ackman and Ryan Israel (Did not attend):

https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealthmanagement/insights/chief-investment-office/house-view/2025/multimedia-features.html

Behind the Balance Sheet

3 ½ days in Omaha

This is a free post for all subscribers, in the spirit of the Berkshire weekend…

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a year ago · 30 likes · 1 comment · Stephen Clapham

Warren Buffett & Becky Quick having dinner in the same restaurant as me & few of my friends

Earnings

Petty Cash

Viemed Q1 '25 Update - $VMD

*Disclosure: I own shares in VMD. I am not a professional. Please do your own due diligence…

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a year ago · 4 likes · 10 comments

The Reservist

Spotify Q1 2025 earnings

I'm always reminded that even if I knew a company's earnings in advance I'd have no idea how the market would react. Case in point: . Spotify reported Q1 earnings on Tuesday, I read over the release before looking at the market. A few things jumped out…

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a year ago · 1 like · Yehoshua Zlotogorski

Speedwell Memos

Evolution: 1Q25 Business Update

Welcome to Speedwell Memos. Our main website is SpeedwellResearch.com…

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a year ago · 11 likes · Speedwell Research

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished two audiobooks:

Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution―and Why America Might Miss It by Susan P. Crawford

YZ:

I decided to listen to “Fiber” to get better understanding why is going so hard on fiber in rural (ish) areas and just to get better understanding of what fiber is and how it is related to 5G and how it compares to likes of coppers , etc…

It was an interesting read and gave me a better appreciation for fiber and just again gave me an understanding that if companies that I shall not name, have monopolies on fiber in big cities there is no intensive for them to evolve and make progress when they can just collect profits…

Goodreads:

The world of 5G, the next generation of telecommunication technology, will be as different from what came before as the world after the advent of electricity. The massive amounts of data we’ll be able to stream through fiber-optic connections will enable a degree of virtual presence that will radically transform health care, education, urban administration and services, agriculture, retail sales, and offices. Yet all of those transformations will pale in comparison to the innovations that we can’t even imagine today.

In a fascinating account combining legal expertise with compelling on-the-ground reporting, Susan Crawford reveals how the giant corporations that control cable and internet access in the United States use their tremendous lobbying power to tilt the playing field against competition, holding back the infrastructure improvements necessary for the country to move forward. And she shows how a few cities and towns are fighting monopoly power to bring the next technological revolution to their communities.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry by Jason Schreier

YZ:

Press Reset was more of a casual read as it picked my curiosity after listening to Blood, Sweat, and Pixels.

While / After listening to the book, it made me sad how often non upper managements (or even upper managements) get tossed around by gaming companies depending on the projects, budgets, and of course pursue of profits.

Book didn’t really give a solution (I did not except it to), but more this book gave understanding and hopefully appreciation to those who are looking in from outside, how NOT easy it is to keep a steady job in gaming industry (even if you are top talent and even if you do everything right).

Video games world is hard…

Goodreads:

From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart -- and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.

Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.

The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games -- Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more -- on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, PRESS RESET tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.

Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games -- and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.

I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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“Volatility is not a risk to be avoided, but an opportunity to be seized.” - John Templeton

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01 | (Second ???) - 03 | (Third ???) - 03 | - 04

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Just a few things to discuss…

What a difference just couple of days make.

Interesting to me that a lot of people started to share their Q1 numbers and cheering that they did “okay” (although some have been more transparent and showed that they have not been doing so good, and I personally really appreciate those) but I wanted to just show that just couple of days can make / deceive the reality vs what people show.

Where am I going with this ? IDK just thought not everyone out there as transparent as they “show to be” … some might say that about me (maybe?) but I try my best to be as transparent as in reality its possible without automation.

Moving on…

IAC spinned out ANGI so now I have shares of ANGI that I’m contemplating on selling or keeping, I been trying to sell calls on them to get some premium but with market in down move idk…

Nintendo revealed Switch 2 and I’m looking forward to getting it

I will give a bit more market / portfolio commentary in paid section.

Not really market related, but something that made my day:

I do not get a lot of notes from paid subscribers so whenever someone does a note with kind words it brightens my day! Sometimes doing these month on nonstop feels like screaming into a void… I just wanted to say thank you and messages like this make me really really happy :) with that said I cant promise anything, I’m just a guy who has a dream and a passion … a passion that gets tested by Mr Market especially on days like last week and days to come next week…

Also I been (and still am) working on a few projects with launching couple of products related to medical supplies so I been stretching myself thin a bit with everything and have not had enough time to reflect on investing or read books … also tariffs are not helping lol, but hopefully I get them to some kind of Alpha stage that I can feel proud to share with y’all.

P.S.

If you have some topics/questions/ideas that you want me to explore and give me opinion/thoughts on please do share them as I sometimes don’t really have anything to think of sharing but I do “learn a lot” and I feel like I need to somehow share the knowledge but I’m not really good at that…

Inner Scorecard For Life & Priorities

One topic that I had sitting on the side lines to share at some point was an idea of Inner Scorecard that Mr Buffett has spoken a lot about. Too many times in our lives we try to please others and by so doing something that at later point might not feel good about / regret. Inner Scorecard or Inner Moral Compass, I think is very important to understand and learn about (try to master it?), the concept really brings me back to EGO and how at times we know “whats the right thing to do” and “what feels like good to do” and they are not always the same thing, but EGO tries to be selfish and do whats best for IT and not whats best for everyone.

By no means I’m perfect (faaarrr from it) but I always have this feeling of “you gatta to do whats right, not what feels good” its not always easy and I do not always succeed, but I try. I wonder how many people actually consciously try vs just talking about it…hmmm some don’t even talk about.

I think its why books like The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle can be so powerful, but also there are many different books/authors that discuss the same thing differently but with the same end goal in mind and I think its important for everyone (does not matter at what stage they are in in their life) to try and find that enlightenment.

I don’t have an answer / solution, I’m just bringing a menu (topic) to the table but its for you to find the right dish to be served.

Busy/Exciting Month

Next week I will be at LD Micro in NYC - April 10

Following by Las Vegas’s Planet MicroCap Showcase - April 22-24

BRK.A Annual Meeting in Omaha - May 1-5

If anyone is attending any of the above events, let me know would be awesome to meet up…

Webull Premium

For like 40 bucks a year you get:

This is not sponsorship and I’m not affiliated with Webull, I enjoy the platform and just sharing … not sure how they make money from it but they perks worth it in my opinion.

If you have Webull with substantial amount of money on it, I think its worth to take a look…

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"The difference between successful and unsuccessful investing is not intelligence or access to information. The difference is emotional discipline and keeping your nerve when everyone else is losing theirs." - Bill Miller

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09

2025 - - 01 | (Second ???) - 03 | (Third ???) - 03

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

Given the volatility in the market I decided to start two starter positions. They are both very tiny right now but I’m looking to build up the positions over time, in one of them I will probably do it a bit quicker while with the other one, there is a chance that it will take me a year or longer to establish full position or I might not be able to do it in full because it might run up in price and in either case I’m okay with the out come.

I will discuss both in greater details later for paid subscribers, but most of the paid subscribers already know about both of them, because of the complimentary paid chat feature.

Quick note on PayPal, I listened to the Investor Day and I think company is moving in the right direction, its just sad that it took a new CEO to do so, I just image how much better the company would be if the old CEO implemented the changes that Alex Chriss is doing right now.

Earnings Recap

Part 1

Part 2

Latest 13Fs (That I think are worth looking at)

Rule One Fund- (RULRX)

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES (IMA)

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AltaRock Partners - No interesting changes

Li Lu - Himalaya Capital Management - No interesting changes

ValueAct Capital - No interesting changes

Valley Forge Capital Management - No interesting changes

Clifford Sosin - CAS Investment Partners - No interesting changes

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished one audiobook and one physical book:

The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources by Javier Blas and Jack Farchy

YZ:

It really is fascinating to read about how traders and investors did business pre - internet age … Truly wild wild west (before and potentially in any new things to come that are not well overseen like crypto for example) and in a way shows that they way you made money before - yo can not make the same way now (given the regulations), but I guess you could learn from history … adopt to the present and succeed in the future…

I think The World For Sale is worth a read or listen to anyone who cares about history, investing, or trying to learn from the past to understand were we came from and/or can potentially end up (this I mean more towards the psychological level) especially when it comes to different commodities (and geo political situation) …

Goodreads:

Meet the traders who supply the world with oil, metal and food - no matter how corrupt, war-torn or famine-stricken the source.
The modern world is built on commodities - from the oil that fuels our cars to the metals that power our smartphones.

We rarely stop to consider where they come from. But we should.

In The World for Sale, two leading journalists lift the lid on one of the least scrutinised corners of the economy: the workings of the billionaire commodity traders who buy, hoard and sell the earth's resources.

It is the story of how a handful of swashbuckling businessmen became indispensable cogs in global markets: enabling an enormous expansion in international trade, and connecting resource-rich countries - no matter how corrupt or war-torn - with the world's financial centres.

And it is the story of how some traders acquired untold political power, right under the noses of Western regulators and politicians - helping Saddam Hussein to sell his oil, fuelling the Libyan rebel army during the Arab Spring, and funnelling cash to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin in spite of strict sanctions.

The result is an eye-opening tour through the wildest frontiers of the global economy, as well as a revelatory guide to how capitalism really works.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Oil: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides) by Vaclav Smil

YZ:

I decided to read “Oil” as one of the books in physical format, but to be honest I think you could have 30-60min conversation with ChatGPT and come out with similar understanding. I’m planning to do so with the other commodities get better understanding and not to spend as much time reading.

Again, its a beginners guide so if you know nothing about Oil or ChatGPT, this book is a good start…

Goodreads:

Packed with fascinating facts and insight, this book will fuel dinner party debate, and provide readers with the science and politics behind the world’s most controversial resource. Without oil, there would be no globalisation, no plastic, little transport, and a global political landscape that few would recognise. It is the lifeblood of the modern world, and humanity’s dependence upon it looks set to continue for decades to come. In this captivating book, the author of the acclaimed A Beginner’s Guide, Vaclav Smil, explains all matters related to the ‘black stuff’, from its discovery in the earth, right through to the political maelstrom that surrounds it today

I give it 3.75 out of 5 stars.

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“Where there's a will, there's a way” - George Herbert

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | TCS 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09 |

2025 - - 01 |

Complimentary Monthly Commentary - CMC

I decided to change “Quick Complimentary Portfolio Update” to “Complimentary Monthly Commentary”

If I have anything that I want to share in public about my holdings I will do so here.

Also here I will share (if there is any) thoughts on whatever is that I want to share about that is related to me, investing, philosophy, etc. kind of like a little space of my own to filter out thoughts if there are any to do so in public..

Or maybe just share something interesting like this link below:

Horizon Kinetics Q4 2024 Portfolio Update - January 30, 2025

It’s a quarterly commentary from Steven Bregman at Horizon Kinetcs, its about an hour and half long and its free and you can listen to it or watch whenever you have time, I found it interesting and a refreshing compared to some other PMs out there

Lastly after some “back and forth”(in my head) I have decided to make subscription to my Substack $55 dollars both monthly and yearly. I know I had this questions/concern raised not too long ago but this blog from origin was not about “making money” but sharing my investing journey and although I do spend A LOT OF TIME on this on monthly basis its not about money. There a lot of blogs out there who charge much more (or less) then me and provide debatable value and that’s okay.

Back to the roots! The point of paid substack is to get a bit more of me (YZ) on personal level and a bit more extra transparency an details on portfolio which I realized some like and some don’t care about and that’s okay. Transparency and consistency has been here for free from day 1 (or about four years now) and I need to remember that this is my little niche corner of the Substack that although everyone is invited to, not everyone cares about it.

So, no other changes everything else the same (I’m actually looking for a way to do more deep dives, but time is limited so no promises… if you have any ideas I’m open to suggestions) but the price will be $55 (a year) or less than $5 dollars a month … and if that’s a bit too much just DM me and we can figure something out.

“Where there's a will, there's a way” - George Herbert

For those who have became paid subscribers before this announcement I will give a year complimentary to even out.

I try my best to be as fair as I can in life (in general) to others and myself and some times what I do … it does not really make sense to others, and I have to be just be okay with that, because it makes sense to me.

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished two audiobook:

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made by Jason Schreier

YZ:

This was very interesting to listen to as someone who used LOVE & play video games a lot and now as an investor and a business owner to learn what it took to get some of the titles to the market is incredible and just shows that real world is a lot more complicated and uncertain then what we think AFTER the product gets delivered… at one point there WAS a possibility of whatever that is not being what it is (if that makes sense)…

Goodreads:

Developing video games—hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous.

Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart.

Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Default: The Landmark Court Battle over Argentina's $100 Billion Debt Restructuring by Gregory Makoff

YZ:

Talk about uncertainty and perseverance… 15 years … Default was a REALLY REALLY GOOD book to listen to as someone who is (currently) investing in Burford and YPF case.

Now…just because Elliott (and other HFs) where victorious at the end it does not mean that this is 100% what will happen with Burford cases, lets not kid ourselves … real life is not a movie, we do not have full script ready …

But, Default did give me a much better understanding of how litigation against sovereign state could play out and what you can and can not expect - sort of … This book gave me a better “comfort” in Burford’s secrecy and limited or indirect answers to questions regarding on going litigations… things seems a lot less shady now … less shady, but not less uncertain…

Goodreads:

The dramatic inside story of the most important case in the history of sovereign debt law

Unlike individuals or corporations that become insolvent, nations do not have access to bankruptcy protection from their creditors. When a country defaults on its debt, the international financial system is ill equipped to manage the crisis. Decisions by key individuals ― from national leaders to those at the International Monetary Fund, from holdout creditors to judges ― determine the fate of an entire national economy. A prime example is Argentina's 2001 default on $100 billion in bonds, which stands out for its messy outcomes and outsized impact on sovereign debt markets, sovereign debt law, and IMF policy.

Default is the riveting story of Argentina's sovereign debt drama, which reveals the obscure inner workings of sovereign debt restructuring. This detailed case study describes the intense fight over the role of the IMF in Argentina's 2005 debt restructuring and the ensuing bitter decade of litigation with holdout creditors, demonstrating that outcomes for sovereign debt are determined by a complex interplay between financial markets, governments, the IMF, the press, and the courts.

This cautionary tale lays bare the institutional, political, and legal pressures that come into play when a country cannot repay its debts. It offers a deeper understanding of how global financial capitalism functions for those who work in or study debt markets, international finance, international relations, and international law.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

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"The idea of caring that someone is making money faster than you are is one of the deadly sins. Envy is a really stupid sin because it's the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There's a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?" - Charlie Munger

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | 08 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | TCS 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09 |

2025 - - 01 |

Quick Complimentary Portfolio Update

Although I did mention that most of my updates will be provided behind paywall, I thought it would be good idea to let know on exits and “some” entering (entering that are liquid enough or known well enough I have no problem sharing).

As said before in December Update… On Jan 15th, I have exited and got back into and getting back into IAC at actually lower cost basis!

Most up-to-date portfolio revealed behind the paywall if anyone is interested.

2024Y Review Investing +

Every year I like to review how I did for the last year and just compare things while also keeping “a log” to be able to look back, and also show to everyone consistent and transparent journey…

2024 was the first year that I underperform S&P500 but with My Portfolio finishing up the year “up only” 15%, which I will take it as I think that’s “not too bad”.

Some “fun” stats from Account for maximum transparency:

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Two years in a row both SFM and TCS take the spot light, for at least one of them there definitely will not be a third year in a row(if you don’t know why, its because TCS went bankrupt…Divine Comedy…)

When it comes to my best trades of 2024Y:

Like last year I have not fully exited any investments, but honorable mentions are , of both I have trimmed and which I’m still fully holding … fundamentally I think SFM and SPOT are running a bit in front of their numbers while BKTI I think still in its early beginnings…

When it comes to my worse trade of 2024Y:

My worst investment is with no doubt is …. is … … which I will discuss in separate segment (next) but honorable mention is with shares trading more or less “flat” and having a new CEO coming in with the previous one getting “kicked out” on some what similar theme is with previous CEO “retiring into the sunset” and a new guy coming in gives me “hope” that he can steer the ship in the right direction. Yet, both LKQ and MITK are on the “short leash” giving both companies about another year before I would consider selling out and moving on… its not about stock price its about not seeing fundamental improvements in the companies with LKQ having a bit longer leash then MITK

Forgot to share the yearly update last month for my Substack (it became a tradition now for me):

December 2024 marks another year on Substack and this blog has come a long way…

December 11 2020 - 2 subscribers

December 11 2021 - 327 subscribers

December 11 2022 - 1,155 subscribers

December 11 2023 - 2,321 subscribers

December 11 2024 - 3,547 subscribers

Above numbers are after removing inactive subscribers

January 1 2025 - 5,561 - all followers as per Substack’s stats.

TCS & What Went Wrong

Where do I begin… conformation biases, this biases, that biases …

On the day I went to check out the custom closet from TCS, I was filled into my first 100 shares or better say my first 1 contract from selling put options and on that day numbers from report did not sound too great, but even though I had a bit of a weird feeling in me I went to keep that 1 contact and of course then those first 100 shares…

But that was all more or less anecdotal… or was it…

What really kept me a believer and not willing to sell my shares was not just that I didn’t want to take a loss but that I really thought TCS could of turned around and I still do, its that management in my eyes based on the information that I have (currently) has failed to fully swing for the benefit of the shareholders and instead opted out to safe their warm and comfy corporate seats … again I might be wrong I have never spoken to management although I did email them once with no respond …

All the way to the end and still now, instead of focusing on collecting “cash” and saving, management opted out to open new stores and grow, again maybe they really thought they can save company this way, but they didn’t and so they failed…

A few things that I wanted to point out in all transparency … I did not know that there was a big payment had to be made by the 2025 but again!!! management knew!!! and they needed to save and make that payment!!!

I don’t know why but high gross margins really kept my spirit high with possibility of a better future, but if no one is buying high margins can go down the toilet and I learned a lesson that high gross margins are only one data point from my check list and can not be the north star…

https://www.from100kto1m.com/i/102494661/personal-touch from my write up the first question I ask in Personal Touch … “Does This Company Meets The Check List Requirements?” and the answer was “No” and yet I still went on to invest and “buy into the story” that I told myself.

I went to a two or three locations personally and most of them were not really empty but definitely not “really busy” either but staff was friendly and helpful.

I thought that because there was another fund - Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. - invested into TCS that since there is a big player that they would voice something out but look at the end none of the management has too much skin in the game and LG&P probably has their clients money and not theirs (cant confirm that) so who cares right? again maybe I’m wrong… I will say that Satish Malhotra did take a pay cut and at some point even bought some shares which even more clouded my judgement of thinking…

Another red flag that I did notice but I was already too deep into my own biases was when company went with activating a “poison pill” against a small ish player from Florida that was buying up a lot of the company … the guy was not an activist (from what I gathered) and yet management chickened out and went for drastic take like why????

What I never did was I never pushed harder on getting in touch with management and asking them some questions in the moment, always thinking that wouldn’t make any difference, but would it? or would it not? now we wont know…

I am a business owner myself, I know running a business is not easy.. running with employees is not easy… running a public company is probably even harder no doubt … but I really think that there was definitely an alternative universe were things went a lot different. I’m not saying a 100 bagger (or even 10 bagger) but a modest successful turn around over maybe 3-5-10 years…maybe…maybe yes…

I’m planning to hold the rest of my shares and go through the whole experience that comes with a public company filing for bankruptcy. To really experience it and really feel the discomfort that comes with it. This is the first time and I’m hopeful will be the only/last…but who knows, you know? No one in investing has a perfect batting average and I never thought I would have one, I don’t even like baseball…

I guess its much better that it happened with $30,000 rather then $300,000 or $3,000,000…

PS I’m planning to frame TCS Bankruptcy into a frame and put it in front of my desk as an internal reminder of what went wrong and I will be calling it “The Wall of Shame” I just hope that there wont be too many of those on the wall…

And of course:

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished two audiobook and did NOT finish two audiobook:

AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor

YZ:

AI Snake Oil is very basic and yet for a layman gives a bit more color and reality check on what AI can and cant do yet, and some things that it will probably wont do either. Being on X or surfing the web + using our imagination and medias narrative can be a very dangerous recipe for creating unnecessary scary imaginary scenario… with AI Snake Oil, the book kind of brings you back to reality a bit…

Like with previous inventions and generations, we should embrace new technology… learn about them, implementing them in daily life / work and not be afraid of them that they will replace us.

Use it to your advantage or be left behind because of ignorance or stubbornness…

Goodreads:

Confused about AI and worried about what it means for your future and the future of the world? You're not alone. AI is everywhere—and few things are surrounded by so much hype, misinformation, and misunderstanding. In AI Snake Oil, computer scientists Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor cut through the confusion to give you an essential understanding of how AI works, why it often doesn't, where it might be useful or harmful, and when you should suspect that companies are using AI hype to sell AI snake oil—products that don't work, and probably never will.
While acknowledging the potential of some AI, such as ChatGPT, AI Snake Oil uncovers rampant misleading claims about the capabilities of AI and describes the serious harms AI is already causing in how it's being built, marketed, and used in areas such as education, medicine, hiring, banking, insurance, and criminal justice. The book explains the crucial differences between types of AI, why organizations are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can't fix social media, why AI isn't an existential risk, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. The book also warns of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies.
By revealing AI's limits and real risks, AI Snake Oil will help you make better decisions about whether and how to use AI at work and home.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Ten Commandments for Business Failure by Donald R. Keough

YZ:

This was really an interesting read (or shall I say listen) … a bit of sarcasm and painful truth is how I like my books … Mr Keough basically tells you Ten Things to do if you want to fail aka avoid/don’t do these Ten Things if you want to be successful in business!

I really think of maybe getting couple of copies and sending them out to couple of the companies that I own… If I read this a bit sooner probably could of sent it to that other one that declared bankruptcy last December…

Goodreads:

Don Keough—a former top executive at Coca-Cola and now chairman of the elite investment banking firm Allen & Company—has witnessed plenty of failures in his sixty-year career (including New Coke). He has also been friends with some of the most successful people in business history, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Rupert Murdoch, and Peter Drucker.

Now this elder statesman reveals how great enterprises get into trouble. Even the smartest executives can fall into the trap of believing in their own infallibility. When that happens, more bad decisions are sure to follow.

This light-hearted “how-not-to” book includes anecdotes from Keough’s long career as well as other infamous failures. His commandments for failure include: Quit Taking Risks; Be Inflexible; Assume Infallibility; Put All Your Faith in Experts; Send Mixed Messages; and Be Afraid of the Future.

As he writes, “After a lifetime in business I’ve never been able to develop a step-by-step formula that will guarantee success. What I could do, however, was talk about how to lose. I guarantee that anyone who follows my formula will be a highly successful loser.”

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Two books that I really tried to finish but couldn’t are:

• The Alchemy of Finance Paperback by George Soros

• Financial Shenanigans by Howard Schilit

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"Don't tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

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*Portfolio*

*I am NOT a financial advisor. I’m sharing my investing journey. Not investment advice. Do your own research.*

Portfolio (Basic):

Holding since:

2020 - LKQ 0.00%↑ - 03

2021 - SFM 0.00%↑ - 03 | OPFI 0.00%↑ - 05 | VMD 0.00%↑ - 05 | 08 | SPOT 0.00%↑ - 11

2022 - MITK 0.00%↑ - 01 | WBD 0.00%↑ - 04 | $EVVTY - 09 | $NTDOY - 12

2023 - PYPL 0.00%↑ - 01 | TCS 0.00%↑ - 01 | BSM 0.00%↑ - 05 | BUR 0.00%↑ - 09

2024 - (First ???) - 01 | - 04 | - 09 | - 11 |

Quick Free Portfolio Update

Although I did mention that most of my updates will be provided behind paywall, I thought it would be good idea to let know on exits and “some” entering (entering that are liquid enough or known well enough I have no problem sharing).

• Revealing my second pick of 2024: (I’m not revealing first pick yet, because I’m still trying to build up a position in it and it has not “moved too much” and its illiquid)

Given how much BKTI has “ran up” since I first mentioned it to my paid subscribers, I will include it as “not hidden” in the Portfolio (Basic).

Since start buying shares in April, I’m up on it about 130% and still think there is a lot of potential upside on this company, not in terms of the share price (I cant predict share price) but in terms of what the company can do in the near future … I think this company has a long run way but as always the price we pay for things matter as much as the story…

BK Technologies Corporation (BKTI) is a communications equipment company that designs, manufactures, and markets wireless communication products. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in West Melbourne, Florida, BKTI operates through its subsidiary, BK Technologies, Inc. The company offers a range of products including two-way land mobile radios (LMR), repeaters, base stations, and related components and subsystems. These products are marketed under the BK Technologies, BKR, and BK Radio brands, primarily serving professional radio users in government, public safety, and military sectors. Their big competitor is Motorola and I think BKTI can take a good chunk of share from Motorola in this line of business…

I followed it since Kyle Cerminara from Fundamental Global spoke about it but did not pull a trigger until I saw the new CEO start executing on what he laid out, especially gross margins…

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I think I should (probably) do a write up on it… but where to find the time (sad face)…

• Exited - and Entering

Hold on hold on let me explain…

It was done for tax purposes, I gave a better explanation to paid subscribers so I wont be going in too much detail here … All I will say is that IAC will be back in portfolio soon.

Earnings Part 2

Petty Cash

Viemed Q3 2024 Update - VMD

*Disclosure: I own shares in VMD. I am not a professional. Please do your own due diligence…

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a year ago · 1 like

Best Anchor Stocks

Nintendo's 6-months Earnings

Hi reader…

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a year ago · 14 likes · 2 comments · Best Anchor Stocks

Check out Value Degen’s quick overview on BUR

Value Degen’s Substack

2024 Q3 Earnings Update Part III: New Fortress Energy $NFE, Burford Captial $BUR, Equinox Gold $EQX, Vermillion Energy $VET, +1 Paywalled Stock

Hello and Welcome to Part III of the Q3 Earnings Call updates. Over the weekend I took a look at the charts for many of the portfolio names. My technical analysis is amateur at best, but sometimes even just the basics can go a long way toward complementing fundamental analysis. This was done before the Monday rally and the Tuesday sell off…

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a year ago · 17 likes · 1 comment · Unemployed Value Degen

Check out LBS’s comments and more detail breakdown of BOC’s Q

LittleBarnSparrow Substack

BOSTON OMAHA CORPORATION - Comments on the Q3 2024 results

Quick comments on Boston Omaha's Q3 2024 results…

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a year ago · 4 likes · LittleBarnSparrow

Investing Podcasts 2024

Mike Fritzell at did a cool X post with great investing podcasts:

I would like to add a few of my own that are in my top list:

• Value Investing with Legends

• This Week In Intelligent Investing

• Nano Cap Podcast

• HoldCo Builders

• Talking Billions by

• InvestEd: The Rule #1 Investing Podcast

• Compounders Podcast

13Fs

41investments has a good list of 13Fs that I think y’all should check out:

41investments’s Substack

Q3/2024 Superinvestor Portfolio Update

Intro The SEC requires funds with at least $100m assets under management to publish their holdings 45 days after the end of the quarter. This is a great source for us to see what the truly great investors are holding…

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a year ago · 3 likes · 41investments

But I also wanted to add a few that I look forward to looking at that are concentrated and run less than a billion (or around) dollars:

Lastly, Rule1 Fund:

Books

I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from Goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.

This time around I finished three audiobook and one physical book:

Collaboration Is the New Competition by Priscilla McKinney

YZ:

It was an interesting read and made me realize that I already have that in my “mental model” especially when it comes to collaborating with other writers on Substack or working with people in medical supplies (in my real world type of work line)

Goodreads:

In today's fast-paced business landscape, true collaboration isn't just desirable—it's essential for survival and success. Collaboration Is the New Competition offers a digestible approach to problem-solving and decision-making that empowers professionals to thrive in their careers, drive business growth, and make a meaningful impact in their communities.

This transformative book demystifies the process of collaboration and provides practical strategies for choosing the right people, leveraging networks, and amplifying wins. Whether you're a seasoned business leader seeking fresh perspectives or a junior manager eager to accelerate your career growth, this book will help you take advantage of new ways to analyze complex issues, explore a spectrum of possible solutions, and solve real problems.

This book utilizes McKinney's vast expertise in change management, leadership development, and marketing strategy to instill a transformative mindset. It empowers individuals and organizations to embrace a new way of thinking, alter their problem-solving approach, and gain the confidence to take proactive action. From digital transformation to social influence, McKinney explores the common themes that drive business success and networking, offering readers a roadmap for achieving their goals and making a lasting impact.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations by Daniel Yergin