Deck the HALL

• Over 50% discount to book value, as a result of terrible underwriting results in recent years.
• But under new management, earnings of over $14 million so far this year on market cap of $78 million.
• Insurance market continues to harden, as the company has implemented a 12% rate increase so far this year.

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Numbers Don't Lie

Prolific author Vaclav Smil is out with another book, Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Stories to Help Us Understand the Modern World.

London

I've become more interested in historical fiction lately, bringing me to my latest read: London: The Novel. Over a couple of thousand years, this city has gone from a backwater to one of the most important world capitals.