Summary: The Fed is not satisfied with 3% inflation and decided to keep rates on hold last week. They signaled that they won’t lower rates until more progress is made towards the 2% inflation goal. They aren’t planning to hike rates though. They see monetary policy as sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation lower this year.
Editor’s Note: Last week was a busy week for tech earnings. Apple reported and there was lots of commentary on AI. This week’s tech section will be available to premium subscribers only. Thank you for your support!
Read more of this content on our website.
Contact us at admin@theweeklytranscript.com
Macro
Generally, the consumer is very very healthy
"We continue to see the consumer very, very healthy, we continue to see very strong trends across every revenue stream on the ship. So we remain very, very optimistic on that front." - Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH 0.00%↑) CFO Mark Kempa
“Overall, in terms of the consumer and how that fed into the channels, the U.S. consumer remains in good shape." - Coca-Cola (KO 0.00%↑) CEO James Quincey
“...on a macro basis, we still see a very healthy consumer base” - Public Storage (PSA 0.00%↑) CEO Joseph Russell
"What we're seeing generally speaking is healthy consumer spending. These trends are very much in line with what we expected when we put the guide out in the first place. So nothing unusual to report from an overall spending trend standpoint." - Mastercard (MA 0.00%↑) CEO Michael Miebach
A healthy consumer means sticky inflation
"In recent months, inflation has shown a lack of further progress toward our 2% objective, and we remain highly attentive to inflation risks." - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
"The U.S. economy continues to show steady growth, unemployment remains low, and, while inflation has slowed from its peak, it remains above the Federal Reserve’s target 2% inflation rate. Since the start of the year, 30-year fixed mortgage rates have climbed by approximately 50 basis points as recent economic data suggests that interest rate decreases are less imminent than previously expected." - Opendoor (OPEN 0.00%↑) CEO Carrie Wheeler and Interim CFO Christy Schwartz
“I do think that inflation is proving to be a little more sticky than folk expected and interest rates are higher and staying for longer” - Molson Coors Beverage Company (TAP 0.00%↑) CEO Gavin Hattersley
“...categories like grocery where you're still seeing very sticky or very high inflation in terms of input prices, which has led to high prices on grocery items” - DoorDash (DASH 0.00%↑) CEO & Co-Founder Tony Xu
Sticky inflation means that the Fed isn’t lowering interest rates
"We have stated that we do not expect that it will be appropriate to reduce the target range for the federal funds rate until we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%. So far this year, the data have not given us that greater confidence.” - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
“Just 3 short months ago on the fourth quarter earnings call, I mentioned the optimism in the transaction environment coming off of a dip in the treasury rate and expectations for the Fed rate cuts in 2024. The optimism was short-lived as inflation has remained sticky dampening the prospect of interest rate cuts and transaction activity” - Kimco Realty Corporation (KIM 0.00%↑) CIO Ross Cooper
3% inflation is not ok
"Well, of course, we're not satisfied with 3% inflation. 3% can't be in a sentence with satisfied. So we will return inflation to 2% over time, but only over time. And we think our policy stance is appropriate to do that. So if we were to conclude that policy is not sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation sustainably at 2%, then that would be what it would take for us to want to increase rates. We don't see that. We don't see any evidence for that." - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
But that doesn’t mean that the Fed is getting ready to hike again
“So I think it's unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike. I'd say it's unlikely. You know, our policy focus is really what I just mentioned, which is how long to keep policy restrictive. You ask, what would it take? You know, I think we'd need to see persuasive evidence that our policy stance is not sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation sustainably down to 2% over time. But that's not what we think we're seeing, as I mentioned" - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
The Fed sees policy as restrictive enough
"I do think the evidence shows pretty clearly that policy is restrictive and is weighing on demand." - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
In fact, the Fed made policy slightly looser
"...the committee decided at today's meeting to slow the pace of decline in our securities holdings, consistent with the plans we released previously. Specifically, the cap on Treasury redemptions will be lowered from the current $60 billion per month to $25 billion per month as of June 1, consistent with the committee's intention to hold primarily Treasury securities in the longer run." - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Powell still expects inflation to come down this year
"I think my expectation is that, over the course of this year, we will see inflation move back down. That's my forecast. I think my confidence in that is lower than it was because of the data that we've seen" - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
International
China’s consumer is under pressure
"In China, retail sales growth continues to improve, but consumer confidence is below 2019 levels." - Coca-Cola (KO 0.00%↑) CEO James Quincey
"You’ve seen some of the sluggishness in China, to your point, come from the rural segment. Clearly that consumer is a bit more challenged in China right now." - Colgate-Palmolive (CL 0.00%↑) CEO Noel Wallace
“The consumer environment in Greater China remains challenging" - Oatly Group AB (OTLY 0.00%↑) COO Daniel Ordonez
“China's economy continues to face challenges in recapturing its former momentum, compounded by consumer confidence remaining at historic lows” - Hugo Boss (BOSS 0.00%↑) CFO Yves Muller
YumChina: contrary to reports, China is still developing rapidly
"Contrary to select recent reports, China continues to develop rapidly with hundreds of new shopping malls, residential complexes and commercial developments opening every year. Urbanization and long-term consumption upgrades in Tier 2 cities and below present a particularly attractive opportunity for us. Housing and living costs are more affordable there. Tremendous consumption potential has yet to be unleashed." - Yum China (YUMC 0.00%↑) CEO Joey Wat
China is encouraging inbound tourism with the expansion of acceptance of international credit cards
"I think you might have seen in the press that the Chinese government is pushing hard to increase in-bound cross-border travel by expanding acceptance of international cards. That's their way of making sure that they're encouraging tourism inbound into the country" - Mastercard (MA 0.00%↑) CEO Sachin Mehra
Financials
Berkshire’s cash pile keeps growing. Buffett doesn’t see much worth buying.
“Our cash and Treasury bills were $182 billion at the quarter end, and I think it’s a fair assumption that they’ll probably be at about $200B at the end of this quarter...We’d love to spend it, but we won’t spend it unless we think they’re doing something that has very little risk and can make us a lot of money…I don't think anybody sitting at this table has any idea of how to use it effectively…I don’t mind at all under current conditions building the cash position. When I look at the alternatives, what’s available in equity markets and the composition of what’s going on in the world, we find it quite attractive” - Berkshire ($BRK) CEO Warren Buffett
Credit quality is stable
"Our current non-accrual levels remain well below our 2.9% historical average since the Great Financial Crisis and the KBW BDC average of 3.8% for the same period. Our non-accrual rate at fair value remained consistent with last quarter at 0.6%, which continues to be well below historical levels for our company. Another indicator of stable credit performance is the fact that our portfolio companies with a risk rate of 1 or 2 declined quarter-over-quarter." - Ares Capital (ARCC 0.00%↑) Co-President
Mastercard is still seeing strong growth
"Worldwide gross dollar volume or GDV increased by 10% year-over-year. In the U.S., GDV increased by 6% with credit growth of 6% and debit growth of 6%. Outside of the U.S., volume increased 13% with credit growth of 12% and debit growth of 13%. Overall, cross-border volume increased 18% globally for the quarter, reflecting continued strong growth in both travel and non-travel related cross-border spending." - Mastercard (MA 0.00%↑) CFO Sachin Mehra
Private equity may feel pressure to be net sellers of assets for a period of time
"...in the private equity world, it's all about DPI and getting money back to the LPs. The LP pressure is mounted to the point where they want the capital return. And so we're just going to compress 2.5 years’ worth of deals in one year, 1.5 years. And so there's going to be a lot of activity. Relative to the competition point, because of this, this is our belief, my belief for a window of time here that the asset class of private equity that we compete with is going to be a net seller of assets versus a net buyer here for a period of time." - Roper Technologies (ROP 0.00%↑) CEO Laurence Hunn
Small businesses spend is flat
"...businesses are kind of managing their spend. They're not decreasing their spend. They're not increasing their spend. They're not expanding their spend. And so what that means is that across the platform, we have seen -- we do not see a contraction, if you will, the way we saw in prior quarters. So we haven't seen expansion. We'd like to see expansion, but we haven't seen expansion yet." - BILL (BILL 0.00%↑) CEO René Lacerte
Jerome Powell likes to react to a full quarter of data
"I thought it was appropriate to reserve judgment until we had the full quarter's data, until we saw the March data. So take a step back. What do we now see in the first quarter? We see strong economic activity. We see a strong labor market. And we see inflation. We see three inflation readings. So I think you're at a point there where you should take some signal. We don't like to react to one or two months' data, but this is a full quarter." - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
The Fed says that it doesn’t take elections into account
"There's a significant difference between an institution that takes into account all sorts of political events and one that doesn't. That's where the big difference is. And, you know, we just don't do that. I mean, you can go back and read the transcripts for every election since this is my fourth election, fourth presidential election here. Read all the transcripts and see if anybody mentions in any way the pending election. It just isn't part of our thinking. It's not what we're hired to do. If we start down that road again, I don't know how we'll stop." - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
Consumer
There has been a bifurcation between high and low-income households
"And while we've seen a notable uptick in consumer sentiment in the first quarter, there is a gap between high and low earners that continues to remain wide, and it shows a clear and continued bifurcation. So the lowered-income consumers are challenged with interest rates remaining high, gas prices elevated and savings dwindling. So there's a clear pullback of restaurant spend by these lower-earning households, especially in restaurants and convenience stores. These consumers instead are looking for value as they prepare more meals at home. So in contrast, there has been a meaningful growth in travel and accordingly, an increasing hospitality and entertainment sales, driven by the bounce back among the higher earners." - The Kraft Heinz (KHC 0.00%↑) U.S. Zone President Carlos Abrams-Rivera
"Lower-income consumers feel pressured and we see that pressure weighing on their frequency in the category, especially among brands that skew more to that group" - Mondelez International (MDLZ 0.00%↑) CEO Dirk Van de Put
"So certainly I would agree that with value-seeking behavior that a lot of that is coming from lower-income consumers. And we've seen that relative to SNAP reduction and the trends that drove frankly in our business as well as I think across other edibles based on what other companies have shared as well." - Hershey (HSY 0.00%↑) CEO Michele Buck
"One of the most important trends we have seen in the U.S. in the last few quarters is the bifurcation of the consumer market. Following significant food price inflation, lower-income consumers have led the trend to trading down and buying private label. Many lower-income consumers saw a significant hit to their purchasing power, between rising prices and reduced government support. The lower-income consumer remains a large and important part of the U.S. and was the main area of the weak demand that impacted some of our product lines towards the end of 2023 and in the first quarter" - Nestlé S.A. ($NSRGY) CEO Mark Schneider
“There is some purchasing power compression in the lower income echelons, and I think it's quite clear that there's some behavioral shift there looking for value. I think that has led to a marginal channel weighting or shift, if you like, with slightly more at home volume versus away from home." - The Coca-Cola (KO 0.00%↑) CEO James Quincy
“...although there has been much discussion about the resilient economy, we continue to see a bifurcation of our lower versus middle and higher income consumers. It's not surprising that the lower income consumer continues to be most pressured by inflationary forces and higher interest rates while at the same time, credit card balances and delinquency rates are on the rise” - 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS 0.00%↑) CEO James Francis McCann
Starbucks stumbled this quarter
"Our performance this quarter was disappointing and did not meet our expectations. Our Q2 total company revenue was $8.6 billion, down 1% year-over-year. Our global comparable store sales declined 4% year-over-year, driven by a negative 3% comp growth in North America, led by declining traffic and a negative 11% comp growth in China…we continue to feel the impact of a more cautious consumer, particularly with our more occasional customer and a deteriorating economic outlook has weighed on customer traffic and impact felt broadly across the industry." - Starbucks (SBUX 0.00%↑) CEO-elect Laxman Narasimhan
McDonald’s is also seeing weakness
"As I reflect on the first quarter of the year, it is clear that broad-based consumer pressures persist around the world. Consumers continue to be even more discriminating with every dollar that they spend as they faced elevated prices in their day-to-day spending, which is putting pressure on the QSR industry. It's worth noting that in Q1, industry traffic was flat to declining in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the U.K. And across almost all major markets, industry traffic is slowing. In the context of a difficult macro environment for the industry, we know our customers are looking for reliable everyday value now more than ever." - McDonalds (MCD 0.00%↑) CEO Chris Kempczinski
Demand for cruising is at an all-time high
"The demand for cruise vacations continues to be at an all-time high, as evidenced by record booking, record book decision, and record advanced ticket sales as the continued innovation and service delivery on board our ships lead to exceptional guest satisfaction scores." - Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH 0.00%↑) CEO Harry Sommer
RevPAR growth is normalizing for Marriott
"First quarter global RevPAR rose 4.2% with ADR increasing around 3% and occupancy reaching almost 66%, up nearly 100 basis points year-over-year. While overall industry RevPAR growth is normalizing post-COVID, we continue to gain RevPAR index across our portfolio and increase our market share of global hotels." - Marriott International (MAR 0.00%↑) Co-CEO Anthony Capuano
Cocoa prices have surged
"Record costs for cocoa ingredients and the resulting current and future price increases for customers and consumers, obviously, are generating substantial discussion…we truly believe that current cocoa prices are the result of a series of accidental circumstances that over time we believe should go away. I think you all know that the main crop last year was problematic. But as you might have read from multiple sources, the mid-crop is already looking much better. But also on the other side, on the demand side, the industry went a little bit shorter than usual on coverage. And now buying out of necessity to replenish minimum stocks really provides support to the current high prices. I think in this context, we truly believe that the current market structure does not warrant the current market prices-...We believe the market is overreacting, that current prices are not sustainable. And should the correction happen, which we expect towards the end of Q3 most likely, we will be ready to take advantage of lower prices" - Mondelez International (MDLZ 0.00%↑) CFO Luca Zaramella
"...on the cocoa price development, obviously, everyone watched with a certain degree of amazement, the trading patterns in cocoa recently. I won't speculate here on where it's going. Everyone, of course, has their own views on that." - Nestlé S.A. ($NSRGY) CEO Mark Schneider
The US beer market has been challenged
"The US beer category has been challenged so far this year. While we did see some improvement in March, there was also volatility in the industry and mismatched weeks such as Easter. So we're keeping a close eye on April's trends and taking those into account for the balance of 2024." - Molson Coors ($TAP.A) CEO Gavin Hattersley
Technology
Healthcare
CVS is feeling pressure from high utilization of Medicare Advantage plans
"As we closed the quarter, it became apparent we were experiencing broad-based utilization pressure in our Medicare Advantage business in a few areas. Outpatient services and supplemental benefits continued to be elevated in the first quarter and exceeded our projections. We also saw new pressures in the inpatient and pharmacy categories, some of which were seasonal or one-time in nature" - CVS Health (CVS 0.00%↑) EVP & President of Aetna Karen Lynch
They signaled that rate increases are insufficient
"I also feel it is important to discuss our long-term outlook for Medicare Advantage. We recently received the final 2025 rate notice, and when combined with the Part D changes prescribed by the Inflation Reduction Act, we believe the rate is insufficient. This update will result in significant added disruption to benefit levels and choice for seniors across the country. While we strive to deliver benefit stability to seniors, we will be adjusting plan-level benefits and exiting counties as we construct our bid for 2025. We are committed to improving margins." - CVS Health (CVS 0.00%↑) EVP & President of Aetna Karen Lynch
Industrials and Transport
Demand for new vehicles was robust in Q1
"Consumer demand for vehicles in the first quarter was robust and in fact this is the first time we have had a quarterly increase in both new and used vehicle sales since the second quarter of 2021. Now specific to new vehicles, you might recall that new unit sales were up 8% in the fourth quarter and now were up 7% in the first quarter" - AutoNation (AN 0.00%↑) CEO of Fiat Chrysler Michael Manley
Global EV sales were up 20% YTD but there’s a big difference between China and Western markets
"Despite a downshift in demand growth in Europe and the United States, global EV sales were up 20% year-to-date, led by strong growth in China, which represents over 60% of the global EV market. We continue to anticipate 2.5x lithium demand growth from 2024 to 2030. Additionally, we see battery size growing over time, driven by technology developments and EV adoption. These factors all translate to significantly higher global lithium needs. To put all this in perspective, we expect that this industry needs more than 300,000 metric tons of new lithium capacity every year to satisfy this growth. This means we need more than 100 new lithium projects across resources and conversion between now and 2030 to support this demand." - Albemarle (ALB 0.00%↑) CEO Kent Masters
"Demand for battery electric vehicles was muted at the beginning of the year in Europe and North America. Substantial growth in China could not fully compensate for this. And as a result, BEV deliveries declined slightly by 3%. BEV deliveries reached 136,000 units corresponding to about 7% of group deliveries. BEV deliveries were down in Europe and the U.S. by 24% and 16%, respectively, while BEV volumes in China almost doubled. BEV income orders, on the other hand, have doubled versus the first quarter 2023." - Volkswagen AG ($VWAGY) CFO Arno Antlitz
Amazon delivery time stats
"In March, across our top 60 largest US metro areas, nearly 60% of Prime members orders arrived the same or next day. And globally, in cities like Toronto, London, and Tokyo, about three out of four items were delivered the same or next day." - Amazon (AMZN 0.00%↑) CEO Andy Jassy
Shipping companies have figured out how to manage Red Sea disruptions
"The Red Sea disruptions have persisted for the entire quarter and counting, leading to undersupply as vessels sailed longer routes....we saw rates first spike in the early weeks of the disruptions on the expectation that shortages would inevitably result from the longer sailing distances. As the situation got entrenched, container lines, including Maersk, have reconfigured their respective network and injected extra capacity wherever feasible to cater for the rerouting and the longer disruption. Rates began to ease thereafter." - A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S ($AMKBY) CEO Vincent Clerc
Materials & Energy
There’s a staggering amount of new electricity demand coming primarily due to datacenters
"Specific to load growth, the amount of service request is truly staggering and ranges between 10 gigawatts to 15 gigawatts of incremental load by the end of the decade, in addition to many, many more gigawatts from hundreds of inquiries. The key to capturing this commercial and industrial growth is to work with parties to make sure the commitments are real and secure, the tariffs and contracts are fair to all customers, and the growth is self-funded. And, of course, that the load can be met." - American Electric Power (AEP 0.00%↑) Interim CEO Benjamin Fowke
"For some context, historically, a single data center typically had a demand of 30 megawatts or greater. However, we're now receiving individual requests for demand of 60 to 90 megawatts or greater and it hasn't stopped there. We get regular requests to support larger data center campuses that include multiple buildings and require total capacity ranging from 300 megawatts to as many as several gigawatts." - Dominion Energy (D 0.00%↑) CEO Robert Blue
"In Pennsylvania, we continue to see record numbers of requests within our service territory, including some very large centers that are projecting more than a gigawatt of load at full capacity. We currently have approximately 3 gigawatts of data center demand in advanced stages." - PPL (PPL 0.00%↑) CEO Vincent Sorgi
"I think as you talk to these hyperscale data centers, one, they want the power, they want resilience. They want the reliability. Some of them want clean, and they recognize the demand that they're putting on load in, in certain locations." - The Southern Company (SO 0.00%↑) CEO Christopher C. Womack
“You're not talking to us to hear about how many GPUs NVIDIA will put into the market. But we look at things, We see roughly a doubling of demand globally by 2030 from about 2% to about 4% of power for data centers, obviously, driven in part by these more power-hungry chips. And we think that the easiest places and all the guys who are developing them, by the way, have huge teams that are looking for pockets of opportunity where there is the ability to add this capacity” - Cheniere Energy (LNG 0.00%↑) CEO Anatol Feygin
We’re going to need more nuclear
"While it was not our mission when we embarked on this project and while it was at times an arduous journey, we have proven that new nuclear is achievable in the United States. With ever-increasing demands for carbon-free energy and the burgeoning demand for reliable 24/7 energy to support our digital economy and society, we believe our country will need more nuclear energy. So the importance of this project for Georgia and our nation cannot be understated. This is what making history looks like. These are the first new nuclear units built from the ground up here in the United States in over 30 years. And we are proud to be the company that saw it through." - The Southern Company (SO 0.00%↑) CEO Christopher C. Womack
Data center energy load growth strains margins impacts cost allocation
"Much of the discussion over the last couple of quarters has been around data centers, AI growth. That’s some of the toughest electric load growth to serve, right? Low margin doesn’t necessarily come with the jobs. And so it does put, to your point, sort of pressure more largely on cost allocation. I think here, again, I think, it’s a clear differentiator for CenterPoint. We serve load that is not only growing from a residential standpoint and industrial standpoint, but keeps that cost allocation issue sort of less impactful than maybe some of the peers that have data center growth really driving their electric sales." - CenterPoint Energy (CNP 0.00%↑) CEO Jason Wells
All eyes on the aging power grid in the US
“Accelerating demand for artificial intelligence and the deployment of energy-intensive data centers join the growing trends of electrification and the reindustrialization of North America, which is driving power consumption forecasts meaningfully higher than previously forecasted. At the same time, grid operators continue to add intermittent power generation sources and retire baseload thermal generation, while also facing extensive siting and permitting challenges as well as critical equipment shortages. After multiple decades of very little electrical -- growth in electrical demand, the aging power grid in the U.S. is clearly not prepared for the future trajectory of power consumption needed to satisfy these converging trends. And this is even before considering the long-term trend of increasingly frequent severe weather events that are creating additional stress on the nation's electrical grid” - General Holdings (GNRC 0.00%↑) CEO Aaron P. Jagdfeld
Global oil demand is at a record high
"Oil demand is at a record high globally, and we expect oil demand to continue to set records into the foreseeable future. Forecasted outlooks for this year estimate 1.2 million to 2 million barrels per day of incremental demand over 2023, primarily driven by the growing need for transportation fuels. Within our own domestic and export business, we are seeing steady demand year-over-year for gasoline and growth for diesel and jet fuel. And we continue to believe that 2024 will be another year of record refined product consumption. Global supply remains constrained, anticipated capacity additions have progressed more slowly than expected, and longer term, the level of announced capacity additions remains limited for the rest of the decade." - Marathon Petroleum (MPC 0.00%↑) CEO Michael J. Hennigan
Real Estate
US housing subdued; below-average transactions due to high rates
"In the first quarter of 2024, housing market transactions were at an annual rate of approximately four million, below the 10-year average of over five million annual transactions. This is due to a combination of many homeowners locked into existing low-rate mortgages and home buyer affordability constraints. Against that backdrop, we have continued to observe balanced supply and demand, which has translated through to stable short-term home prices. We expect transaction volumes to gradually increase as mortgage rates eventually decline and demographic factors contribute to natural home turnover. In the interim, we look to drive growth by gaining market share through increased brand awareness and expansions across our partnership channels. We will continue to preserve flexibility in setting spreads to operate against a range of macroeconomic outcomes in 2024" - Opendoor (OPEN 0.00%↑) CEO Carrie Wheeler and Interim CFO Christy Schwartz
Nuggets of Wisdom
Some nuggets of Wisdom from the Berkshire Hathaway 2024 AGM:
Charlie was sorely missed
“We always lived in a way where we were happy with what we were doing every day. I mean, Charlie liked learning; he liked, as I mentioned in the movie, a wide variety of things. So he was much broader than I was. But I didn't have any great desire to be as broad as he was, and he didn't have any great desire to be as narrow as I, but we had a lot of fun doing anything. We played golf together, we played tennis together, we did everything together. And this you may find kind of interesting, we had as much fun, perhaps even more to some extent, with things that failed. Because then we really had to work and work our way out of them. And in a sense, there's more fun having somebody that's your partner and digging your way out of a foxhole than there is just sitting there and watching…If I had another day with him, we'd probably do the same thing we were doing in the earlier days” - Berkshire ($BRK) CEO Warren Buffett
Find the things that interest you the most and work on them
"You're entering the best world that's ever existed, and you want to find the people to share it with and the activities to participate in that fit you. And if you get lucky, like Charlie and I did, you'll find things that interest you young. But if you don't find them right away, you keep looking. And I always tell students to take the job that you mean, find the job that you would like to have if you didn't need a job. And sometimes you can find that very early, and sometimes you go through various experiences, but don't forget what you're trying to do. And there's no place to do it like this country. Find a person that you like to share your life with, in many cases. And sometimes you get lucky into that early, and sometimes you make mistakes. But I would try to, in a very general way, figure out how you'd want to look back on your life and think about yourself and start today to go on the path that leads to that goal, and expect some difficulties along the way. But if you're thinking that way, you're more likely to get there." - Berkshire ($BRK) CEO Warren Buffett
Prioritize meaningful relationships and interactions
"Sometimes, people would say to me or Charlie at one of these meetings, "You know, if you could only have lunch with one person that lived over the last 2000 or so years, who would you want to have it with?" Charlie says, "I've already met all of them," because he read all the books. I mean, he eliminated all the trouble of going to restaurants to meet them or anything like that. He just went through a book, and he met Ben Franklin, and he was remarkable. He had no one else to meet because he read all their stuff and they liked Ben Franklin's stuff, but it wasn't like mine. But with Ben Franklin, he just had to read about him. He didn't have to go have lunch with him or anything of the sort. But it's an interesting question. What you should probably ask yourself is, "Who do you feel that you'd want to start spending the last day of your life with?" and then figure out a way to start meeting them tomorrow and meet them as often as you can. That's why you wait until the last day. And don't bother with the others" - Berkshire ($BRK) CEO Warren Buffett