A Common Enemy And An S.E.C. Filing November 29, 2023November 29, 2023 A COMMON ENEMY Israel completed its voluntary withdrawal from Gaza on September 12, 2005, forcing all its citizens who were living there to leave. The Palestinians continued firing rockets and devoted the next 18 years to building 300 miles of tunnels and underground weapons-manufacturing facilities with the stated goal of destroying Israel. Can you imagine how much steel and cement and wood — and effort — that took? More to the point, how different things would be if those same resources had been devoted to building a prosperous economy above ground? Farms and schools and factories? And good business and cultural relationships with its prosperous neighbor? The Palestinians and Israelis have a common enemy: Hamas. A TAX-SELLING OPPTY UPDATE A couple of weeks ago, I bought more HYMC, at 18 cents [$1.80, adjusted for the subsequent 1-for-10 reverse split], down from its $16 high [$160]; and OPRT, at $2.50, down from $27. “The first has cash and gold that might (might!) prove to be worth a lot more than its debt,” I reported. “The second has been the victim of bad management that might (might!) get replaced with good management.” My thought was, and is, that these stocks may have been unduly beaten down by year-end tax selling. The update is that someone has gambled $7 million (that I hope he can afford to lose) on OPRT and yesterday filed this with the S.E.C. Scroll down to “Item 4” for his rationale. After reading it — you know I can’t resist these things — I bought more.