giofranchi

I hadn’t answered till now, because I think most of you already know what I do and what my background is. :) Though, I really envy your day job (besides investing, of course!)... ;D ;D ;D I don't envy that day job at all. It sounds insanely stressful. Maybe I just don't have the personality for it. I always hate giving people advice on anything of importance. If I do something and I'm wrong I can live with that. But if I give someone else advice that turns out bad, I'd have a really hard time with that. It takes a certain confidence in oneself to do that type of thing that I certainly don't have. I'll stick to designing circuits. Yes! But you know Kraven very well by now… He is full of self-confidence… Especially when matters of the heart are concerned!! ;D ;D ;D Gio

The housing bubble certainly doesn't help in the medium-term, though. What about if in the medium term we get what Dazel suggests, and in the longer term we get a strong Canadian Dollar? That would be the best of both worlds! ;) Gio

I hadn’t answered till now, because I think most of you already know what I do and what my background is. :) Though, I really envy your day job (besides investing, of course!)... ;D ;D ;D Gio

Gio

Do not agree with the fact the Canadian Dollar will depreciate in time against other currencies. Imo Canada has the brightest economic prospects of all the countries I know about (even climate change conjures in its favor!!). Currencies will fluctuate… No doubt about that! But in the long term they will reflect the strength of each country’s economy. And Canada’s will get stronger and stronger. As always I am in for the VERY LONG RUN, therefore I am perfectly happy to have my assets denominated in Canadian Dollars. Gio

Al, of course he has his inconsistencies! Yet, he is the one who created an $8 billion company from scratch. Not me, neither you, nor anyone on the board (at least that I know of!). Therefore, the real question is: has he lost his mind? From a first class entrepreneur, has he suddenly become third tier? Gio

Why? Is it bad voodoo? ;D ;D ;D No, of course not! it is just that usually value investments do not outperform in a frothy market... Gio

I understand when all of you talk about equity hedges… They are controversial and rightly so! But I don’t understand all the fuss about BBRY… The equity portfolio of FFH has always performed very well! Recently, it has not performed as well as the Russell2000… but you don’t really want to see a portfolio of value investments outperform the Russell2000, when that index gains nearly 40% in a year… Do you? The fact their equity portfolio has performed well, despite the investment in BBRY, tells me they have been disciplined enough in position sizing. I see the BBRY investment exactly like wellmont says: as long as FFH doesn’t invest more in equity, I am fine with it. Gio

Mr. Charles Gave "On US Capital Spending" Gio Daily+1.8.14.pdf

Truth be told, the second half of the book is much less interesting than the first one. Either you want to know about philanthropy and family affairs, or you can skip it altogether… And I couldn’t care less about both philanthropy and family affairs! ;) Yet, imo, the first half is enough to make this book a fantastic read! Mr. Rockefeller has been the richest man, if compared to the size of the economy in which he operated, who ever lived: anyone interested in the accumulation of wealth should study and understand his methods. Gio

Well, we are equity investors, entrepreneurs, we “think and think”, but, should trouble come, "we won't make fools of ourselves", will we? ;) Thank you for the outstanding job you have done on this great business! Cheers, Gio

;D ;D ;D Cheers, Gio

Well, I have kept on reading, and I have just doubled my investment in ALS. That is the kind of people I really like to partner with. Today ALS is my fourth largest investment, after FFH, LRE, and BH. If the price should trend down in the coming weeks, I will keep buying, averaging down aggressively, just like Dazel is doing. :) Gio

Well, I like to persist in my mistakes… And of course have chosen cash again. Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum ;D ;D ;D Gio

Ok Ross! But… would someone really do that?! ??? Anyway, I got it! Gio

Gio

I voted ALSK instead of ALS.TO by mistake. ::) Is it possible to change a vote once submitted? Thank you, Gio

Even better! My valuation was wrong, but more conservative than I thought! The price I pay I know very well, the value I get is higher than I believed. That’s the kind of mistake I love! :) --Warren Buffett --The Celtic Twilight, W. B. Yeats (1902) Gio

Very simple: they don’t do what you suggest, because they do not have an entrepreneurial mind… just like Mr. Biglari has always said! ;) Gio

Well, of course I was aware of it, but you are right I didn’t take that into consideration… My reasoning goes something like this: everybody seem to love the Sherritt’s Coal/Potash royalty portfolio deal, don’t they? I think Dazel referred to it as a “game changing” deal… Am I right? If so, I asked myself: would I pay $380 million to buy Altius as it was before that great deal? If the answer is yes, I would be even more willing to buy it now, because a great deal by definition creates much more value! Is my reasoning right? Or am I missing something? Thank you very much! :) Gio

While it's always possible that this is simply an attempt to forestall any management fear-mongering attempts that he will "steal" the company, I suspect Biglari wouldn't be entirely unhappy with a bidding war for CBRL. And that one might well start with a bid from Biglari and, quite possibly, Jeffries. Best, Ragu Interesting. Thank you! :) We will see. Best, Gio

After spending the morning reading all the material you kindly pointed me to, I have just sold some SPLP, some TPRE, some MKL, and bought some ALS. I clearly like what I see. Dazel, please, let me understand if my reasoning is correct: at the end of October 2013 they had $270 million in total assets and no debt. To me that is like an equity of $270 million, of which $130 million in cash and highly liquid marketable securities (much dry powder left to scoop up bargains should the opportunity arise). Now its market cap is around $380 million. That means they are trading at more or less 1.4xBV. Not bad for a business with a track-record of compounding at 30% annual for 17 years! Is my point of view correct, or, if flawed, why so? Nowadays I tend to be very cautious… And concentrated in industries that usually show much resilience during a market correction (insurance, pharmaceutics, and fast-food franchising). I am not sure mining fits that requirement… Therefore, ALS today still is a small position in my portfolio. But I will keep on reading and maybe I will change my mind. :) Thank you, Gio

Gio VRX_Guidance_presentation_Jan_2014_Final.pdf

Great read! :) I have started reading [amazonsearch]George F. Baker and his bank, 1840-1955[/amazonsearch] Gio

and read this letter: http://www.altiusminerals.com/uploads/Altius-Letter-to-Shareholders-Dec24.pdf Thanks to all of you! It is simply amazing how much information you can get on this board about a business, as soon as you get interested in it!! :) Cheers, Gio