"Taleb has become a mystical preacher now; a few of his proposals are sensible, and others are lost in the clouds somewhere. So Wal-Mart and Exxon are now the most fragile companies in America? They must be, they are the biggest."
A think a lot of people miss the point about having real, tangible, physical assets. As long as XOM and WMT do not get crazy with their balance sheets, these companies will remain solvent and continue to have value with real, tangible assets. XOM has a lot of real assets and WMT has the largest and most sophisticated chain of retail stores imaginable. If all else fails, they have a lot of buildings and warehouses and trucks. Real tangible assets.
The financials, on the other handle, often only have assets which matter in some intangible world where, if this and this and this happen, these assets exist. Otherwise, they won't exist. So a lesson can be learned from your mystical preacher. |
