Subject: Re: In progress observations
There still seems to be a level of comfort in the shareholder group that ballooning cash reserves is a not a problem that needs to be solved and one must have "faith" and not ask the question.
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That group is shrinking --- as you can see perfectly here. The voices "Do something with it!" become more and louder...

On the "swing ya bum" line of thought, which arises from time to time:

One thing to bear in mind is that this is not a case of management being remiss, just sitting on their butts "letting" the cash pile up, foregoing reasonable opportunities because of out-of-date investment thinking or whatever. Rather, this has been a very purposeful move, a conscious restructuring of the portfolio over the last 5-6 quarters.

The cash pile is bigger than it has been, but so is the company. So it makes sense to assess it in relation to the size of the firm.

Consider: as recently as end 2024, cash as a percent of total assets was actually below the median level of that same metric over the prior 12 year ends. The subsequent rise beyond that "normal" level is very big, but it's all recent, and in effect all due to stock sales. We might all be in the dark on our guesses of the exact reason(s) for that move--general dislike of valuations, falling fondness for some existing positions, sidestepping taxes on unrealized gains, being ever more prepared for disaster, positioning for a possible buyout of some crazy whale--but it was an active and purposeful move. Management didn't "let" it happen, they did it.

Jim