Warren Buffett: If you invest this way, 'you can't miss' - CNBC

Warren Buffett: If you invest this way, 'you can't miss'
Emmie Martin | @emmiemartin  2:05 PM ET Fri, 1 June 2018
Warren Buffett
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Warren Buffett
When Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett makes investing decisions, he focuses on one thing only: the facts.

"You have to be able to play out your hand under all circumstances," Buffett told shareholders in 2006. "But if you can play out your hand, and you've got the right facts, and you reason by yourself, and you let the market serve you and not instruct you, you can't miss."

Your opinions and emotions aren't likely to help you. "Being contrarian has no special virtue over being a trend follower," Buffett says. Instead, the Oracle of Omaha suggests taking a pragmatic approach to investing decisions. First, gather all of your facts. Next, learn how to dissect them to find the pertinent information you need to make your decision. For Buffett, that means looking for the pieces that are "important and knowable."

"If something's important but unknowable, forget it," he says. "I mean, it may be important whether somebody's going to drop a nuclear weapon tomorrow, but it's unknowable."

 These quotes reveal Warren Buffett's legendary business mind These quotes reveal Warren Buffett's legendary business mind 
Focus on the variables that you do have at your disposal. Once you've narrowed down your information, "then you decide whether you have information of sufficient value that — compared to price and all that — will cause you to act," Buffett explains.


Whether or not you choose to invest in something should be based on your research, not on your reaction to what other people are doing and saying. As Buffett puts it, "what others are doing means nothing."

That's why Buffett recommends doing your homework beforehand and investing in solid companies that will last, rather than trying to time the market or react to your anxieties. Concentrate on the facts, not how you're feeling.

"Don't watch the market closely," he told CNBC in 2016 amid wild fluctuations. "If they're trying to buy and sell stocks, and worry when they go down a little bit … and think they should maybe sell them when they go up, they're not going to have very good results."

 The best investors in the world share these traits, says Tony Robbins The best investors in the world share these traits, says Tony Robbins 
Fellow billionaire Ray Dalio agrees. Though it's tempting to sell when the market begins to drop, he says, giving in to your fear is not a sound strategy.

"You can not possibly succeed that way," Dalio said at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics. "You've got to do the opposite. It's when you're not scared you probably want to sell, and when you are scared, you probably want to buy."

Even when the market it tumultuous, it's helpful to tune out other investors and concentrate on what you know.

"You're right because your facts and reasoning are right," Buffett told shareholders. "So all you do is you try to make sure that the facts you have are correct. And that's usually pretty easy to do in this country. I mean, information is available on all kinds of things. Internet makes it even easier."

France brings back national service for all 16-year-olds - Daily Mail

France brings back national service for all 16-year-olds
France will re-introduce mandatory 'national service' for all young  16-year-old
Conscript service will last one month with an option to extend up to a year
The national service was a campaign pledge by Emmanuel Macron
By SARA MALM FOR MAILONLINE and AFP

PUBLISHED: 17:36 AEST, 28 June 2018 | UPDATED: 17:50 AEST, 28 June 2018

France is bringing back compulsory national service for 16-year-olds, fulfilling one of President Emmanuel Macron's campaign pledges.

Conscripts will be made to serve for one month, with a focus on civic service as well as military training, and the option of extending the placement of up to a year.

Military conscript service was scrapped in 1996, leaving Macron the first ever French President not to have served in the army.

It's back: French President Emmanuel Macron is bringing back compulsory national service for 16-year-olds +2
It's back: French President Emmanuel Macron is bringing back compulsory national service for 16-year-olds

During his presidential campaign, Macron promised to make all young people spend a month getting 'a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands'.

He billed it as a way to build social cohesion and patriotism in a country battling deep divisions, by bringing young people from different backgrounds together in a barracks.

President Macron holds lengthy closed door discussions on...

Has Banksy taken aim at the French government? British...

The new Service National Universel [Universal National Service], which is being trialled from 2019 is reportedly a watered-down version of Macron's original idea.

The mandatory one-month placement is intended to 'enable young people to create new relationships and develop their role in society,' according to the French government.

Focus will be on charity work as well as traditional military training which will be carried out within the police, emergency services or the French army.

Military fan:  Macron watches the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris last July, in the company of U.S. President Donald Trump +2
Military fan:  Macron watches the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris last July, in the company of U.S. President Donald Trump

Once the month is completed, the conscripts will have the option of extending the service of three months to a year. 

France's last conscripts were demobilised in 2001, ending nearly a century of military service which saw millions of men put through their paces.

While some French men look back fondly on their stint in the army, many middle-class youths called in well-placed contacts - or feigned mental health problems - to duck out of it.

In January, Macron - the first French president not to have been called up to serve, having come of age after it ended - insisted he was not trying to resurrect the tradition which was ended by ex-president Jacques Chirac.

He said his aim was to give young men and women alike 'causes to defend and battles to fight in the social, environmental and cultural domains.'

In Supreme Court pick, Trump can push conservative social agenda - Reuters

JUNE 28, 2018
In Supreme Court pick, Trump can push conservative social agenda
Steve Holland, Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With a second Supreme Court pick less than 18 months into his presidency, Donald Trump is poised to cement conservative control of the court and fire up supporters eager for a rightward shift on divisive social issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally in support of Rep. Kevin Cramer's run for Senate in Fargo, North Dakota, U.S., June 27, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Shortly after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement on Wednesday, White House officials said Trump had an opportunity to shape U.S. justice for decades to come.

“It will further his agenda of remaking the courts,” said one senior White House official. “This is a legacy.”

Speaking of the selection at a rally in North Dakota on Wednesday night, Trump said: “We have to pick a great one. We have to pick one that’s going to be there for 40 years, 45 years.”

Kennedy’s replacement could be pivotal in paring back abortion rights, potentially even challenging the Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that gave women a constitutional right to obtain the procedure.

Undoing or at least putting more limits on that ruling has been a dream of conservative activists and contributed to conservative Christian support for Trump that helped him win the presidency in 2016.

Although Kennedy was a conservative nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, he was seen as the “swing vote” on the court because he joined with liberal justices on some major issues, including expanding gay rights and upholding abortion rights.

By picking a social conservative to replace Kennedy, Trump would have a reliable 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court, even on some of those hot-button social issues.

While Trump did not make rolling back abortion rights a central plank of his campaign, many of the conservative rank and file want Roe v. Wade overturned and Trump promised to put anti-abortion justices on the Supreme Court.

But picking an ultra-conservative as his nominee would carry risk because Trump would have to rely on some moderate Republicans to win approval in the U.S. Senate, where his fellow Republicans have a narrow majority.

White House officials said Trump was likely to quickly begin interviewing candidates from a list of 25 people that the conservative Federalist Society helped draw up, with an eye to getting the new justice confirmed by the Senate in the autumn.

They believe the timing could help Trump boost conservative voters’ enthusiasm and turnout at congressional elections in November. Republicans are fighting to maintain control of both houses of Congress, with opinion polls showing Democrats have a strong chance of winning back the House of Representatives.

“Any time you’re in a midterm election year, you’re going to have a concern about whether your base will turn out,” said one official. “A high-profile Supreme Court battle will certainly remind all your voters what is at stake.”


RECENT WINS
The sharply divided high court has already handed Trump a series of other wins in politically charged cases in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, it upheld Trump’s travel ban on people entering the United States from several majority-Muslim countries.

Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court during its term that started in October and ended on Wednesday repeatedly ruled for Trump on 5-4 votes with its four liberals dissenting.

Despite previously siding with liberal justices in some key cases, Kennedy was a reliable conservative vote during the latest term.

    Those victories, coupled with Kennedy’s retirement, could embolden the administration’s lawyers, who are facing legal challenges on multiple fronts, including over Trump’s move to separate families who enter the United States illegally and his plan to rescind protections for “Dreamers,” young adults brought to he country illegally as children.

U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, U.S., October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
An open seat on the Supreme Court was an important factor in rallying conservatives behind Trump’s presidential election campaign in 2016. He used every opportunity to tell voters only he stood in the way of the court taking a turn to the left should Democrat Hillary Clinton win.

Trump quickly delivered on that promise by selecting Neil Gorsuch, who has become one of the most conservative justices.

Trump has also filled a record-breaking number of seats on the influential federal appeals courts - appointing 21 judges in total – with the enthusiastic backing of the Senate, which votes to confirm them. Trump has also appointed 20 District Court judges.

Trump appeared to be excited on Wednesday about the new opportunity to reshape the federal judiciary in a conservative direction.

“We will begin our search for a new justice of the United States Supreme Court. That will begin immediately,” Trump said at the White House. “And hopefully we’re going to pick somebody who will be as outstanding.”

Reporting by Steve Holland and Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Kieran Murray and Peter Cooney

Brexit: May warned over 'disappointing' progress in talks - BBC News

June 28, 2018

Brexit: May warned over 'disappointing' progress in talks

Mrs May will address EU leaders at a working dinner
Theresa May has been warned that time is running out to secure a Brexit deal as she prepares to face the other 27 EU leaders at a summit in Brussels.

The PM will brief all her counterparts for the last time before October, when both sides hope a deal will be done on the UK's March 2019 departure.

But Irish leader Leo Varadkar said the lack of progress was "disappointing".

He said he expected fellow leaders to send a "strong message" to Mrs May that talks had to "intensify".

The prime minister, who has been under unrelenting pressure at home within her own party, has called her cabinet together for what has been billed as a make-or-break meeting at Chequers on 6 July to agree the UK's blueprint for its future relations with the EU.

Could the migration crisis finish the EU?
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Brexit date could be delayed, says Blair
Divisions over the UK's customs arrangements after December 2020, when the transition period agreed with the EU is due to end, have yet to be resolved, as have arguments over the future movement of goods and people across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mrs May's former top aide, Nick Timothy, has urged her to face down her opponents in the cabinet, telling the Daily Telegraph the "time for playing nice and being exploited are over".

With less than nine months to go before the UK's scheduled exit, leading businesses have said the time has come for clarity and issued warnings about the impact on jobs of leaving the EU without an agreement.

'Strong message'
The prime minister will hold a number of face-to-face meetings with European counterparts on day one of the two-day summit, the main focus of which will be on the migration challenges facing Europe and eurozone reform.

Is the EU punishing the UK?
The remaining 27 EU leaders will discuss Brexit on their own on Friday morning, by which point Mrs May is expected to have left Brussels.

On the eve of the summit, Mr Varadkar said he wanted "detailed proposals" from the UK on how it would honour the "clear commitments" made in December about the Irish border and citizens' rights.

Persuasion, not detail
By the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg

There is no expectation that the prime minister will arrive in Brussels with a magic key to unlock the Brexit process.

But Theresa May heads to the Belgian capital later with a promise at least that within 10 days she will have been able to persuade her cabinet to agree more of the UK's vision for life outside the EU.

And that she will be able to put a detailed and ambitious vision into words in a White Paper to be published not long after - the UK's blueprint of how trade, customs, agriculture, and so many other areas might work after Brexit.

That, she hopes, in mid-July will usher in a genuine discussion about the long-term relationship between the country and the rest of the continent.

This summit therefore is not about technical negotiations, but about promises and persuasion, for the prime minister to convey that she is in charge of her agenda.

Read Laura's full blog

"Time is running out for the Withdrawal Agreement to be concluded satisfactorily by the October European Council," he said.

"I expect EU leaders to send a strong message to the UK that negotiations with the taskforce need to intensify."

The EU's negotiator Michel Barnier has said "serious divergences" remain over the question of backstop arrangements for the Irish border if neither of the UK's proposed customs proposals are deemed workable.

'Solidarity'
Elsewhere, Mrs May will seek to show solidarity with the rest of Europe in their efforts to deal with illegal migrant flows across the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East.

The issue has divided Europe for more than two years but tensions have increased since the election of a populist government in Italy, which has pledged to crack down on unlawful migration, and growing political uncertainty in Germany amid a backlash against Chancellor Angela Merkel's immigration policies.

The Irish prime minister says the UK must up the pace
Mrs May is expected to stress the need to tackle the problem of people smuggling at its source, citing the success of a project in Nigeria where once the dangers of crossing the Mediterranean were explained to people, their attitudes to illegal working in the UK changed.

On security, the prime minister will call for collective action against misinformation, cyber warfare and money laundering by "hostile states" such as Russia. One example of this, she will say, is the UK's sharing of details of Russian intelligence officers expelled after the attacks on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury with EU allies.

The working dinner will coincide with England's final World Cup group game against Belgium, whose prime minister Charles Michel will also be present.

The UK's permanent representative in Brussels couldn't say how much of the match Mrs May, who on Wednesday ordered St George's flags to be flown above No 10 for remaining England games, would see.

China won't give up 'one inch' of territory says President Xi to Mattis - BBC News

June 28, 2018

China won't give up 'one inch' of territory says President Xi to Mattis

Mr Mattis (L) met with President Xi during his three day trip to China
China is committed to peace but will not give up "even one inch" of territory, President Xi Jinping has said, after talks with visiting US Defence Secretary James Mattis.

Tensions between both countries are mounting over trade hostilities and China's increasingly assertive claims to territory in the South China Sea.

Mr Mattis is the first Pentagon chief to visit China since 2014.

It's part of a trip across Asia, meeting several regional US allies.

Mr Mattis said his talks with Mr Xi in Beijing and other officials on Wednesday had been "very, very" good, adding that the US was assigning a "high degree of importance to the military relationship" with China.

Mr Xi added that China had peaceful intentions, but reasserted his view that there would be no concessions from China about what it considers to be Chinese territory.

"We cannot lose even one inch of the territory left behind by our ancestors," Mr Xi said, according to Chinese state media. "What is other people's we do not want at all."

Why is the South China Sea contentious?
The 'globalisation' of China's military power
The US has repeatedly criticised China's movements in the South China Sea, accusing it of intimidating its neighbours and militarising the area, by building up facilities on artificial islands.

Several countries have competing claims in the disputed sea, but China claims the largest portion of territory, saying its rights go back centuries.

The area is a major shipping route, and a rich fishing ground, and is thought to have abundant oil and gas reserves.

The defence secretary's tour comes after a historic summit in Singapore which saw US President Donald Trump meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

After Beijing, he will travel on to South Korea and Japan, where he is expected to pass on reassurances about the US post-summit security commitment to the region.