Grenville

Nice blog post: "Analyzing Insurance Stocks: The Income Statement" http://streetcapitalist.com/2010/03/31/analyzing-insurance-stocks-the-income-statement/

Hey Gaf, Thanks for the info. I didn't realize it was repeated info. I clearly haven't read the release on Mar.15 I'll delete the post.

Catalyst to Restart Second Pulp Line at Crofton Mill http://www.paperage.com/2010news/03_30_2010catalyst_crofton.html

Thanks for posting the text of the interview!

Warren E. Buffett, USA, informed us in accordance with Section 25, para. 1 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG) that on 11 March 2010 due to the exercise of all financial instruments which bear 1.945% of the voting rights (3,840,000 voting rights), he no longer held, directly or indirectly, any financial instruments that grant him the right to subscribe to shares in our company and would thus have fallen below the threshold of 5% of the voting rights if he had held shares instead of those financial instruments. Accordingly, as per this date he held directly or indirectly 7.988% of the voting rights (15,767,900 voting rights) pursuant to Section 21 para. 1 in connection with Section 22 para. 1 sentence 1 item 1 of the WpHG. http://www.munichre.com/en/ir/publications/notifications/default.aspx

Thanks for posting! Nice to see an interview with one of the FFH directors.

Anyone notice the lack of sales of the Berkshire B shares by the Gates Foundation. The last posting on the SEC site is 2-26-10. It curiously coincides with Warren's letter and the annual report. Any thoughts? http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001166559

Don't forget to set your clocks forward before the meeting! Time changes at 2am on Sunday March 14! See you guys at brunch!

Contango Announces an Investment in Alaskan Mineral Exploration http://manualofideas.com/blog/2010/03/aaron_edelheit_on_contangos_st.html http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100308005852&newsLang=en

The article below has the actual picture that greets you as you enter Steak & Shakes! http://ragnarisapirate.blogspot.com/2010/03/picture-of-sardar-biglari-welcoming-you.html You can click on the picture for a larger version where the text below the picture is visible. Enjoy!

Count me in!

Thanks, just what I was looking for! I forgot to change the radio button to include ownership info when I searched on the SEC.GOV site. -G

Hi Valuegeek, Where did you find those transactions? Could you post the link? Thanks!

There's more to Torstar than the Star http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/markets/theres-more-to-torstar-than-the-star/article1487170/

Thanks for posting!

So the stream starts at 40:00 for me and ends at the 1:44:09 mark so about the same rough time of 1:03:00 in total. You can reach the same point by just going back 22 minutes from the end of the call.

Not sure if I understand your question. Let me clarify my post a bit. Currently in North America, Coca Cola is responsible for the production of hotfill and still beverages while the bottlers are responsible for the production of coldfill and sparkling beverages. This arrangement is unique to North America and does not similarly exist in the rest of the world. One goal of the transaction as explained by Muhtar Kent is to structurally simplify this arrangement that is unique to North America and doesn't not exist elsewhere. Muhtar Kent explains this reason at 1:22:00/1:44:09 of the conference call linked below in response to a question from Goldman Sachs on the reasoning for the deal. http://webcastingplayer.corporate-ir.net/player/playerHOST.aspx?c=94566&EventId=2773232&StreamId=1449814&TIK={eb5ba08a-0b3e-4269-9f80-36d0298f4b9a}&RGS=3&IndexId= The link points to the conference call discussing the transaction. I encourage you to listen to that question and response as it is the source of my understanding.

The best writeup I have seen on the merger. http://streetcapitalist.com/2010/02/26/the-coca-cola-company-to-buy-coca-cola-enterprises-vertical-integration-continues/ During the Q&A session discussing the merger, Muhtar alludes to one of the reasons why the deal makes sense. He explains how part of their beverage distribution is managed in house and their carbonated drinks are managed by CCE. In addition to having control, it doesn't make much sense having two bottlers, one in house and one externally managed, when one would be a lot simpler and nimbler given beverage trends.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=age4Lcp1fSEc&pos=8 "Chile was rocked by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake, the USGS said on its Web site. A tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Chile and Peru, and later extended to Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Antarctica. The temblor struck 197 miles (317 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Santiago, at a depth of 36.9 miles at 3:34 a.m. local time, the USGS said. Earlier today, a magnitude 7 earthquake hit near Okinawa, Japan, at about 5:31 a.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site."

http://sfkpulp.com/EN/docs/CPDistr/2010/2010_0224%20Q4%202009_FINAL.pdf

http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/24/live-from-the-bloom-box-press-event/

Very cool stuff. They already have a number of customers and one who vouches for its cost savings!

Nice article, thanks for the tip. Found this part interesting: "In some cases, Sears Auto Center franchises will be allowed to carry other Sears products, such as Craftsman tools, said Bill Jackson, senior vice president of Sears Holdings Corp. and president of Sears Authorized Independent Auto Centers LLC. Sears will help line up financing for car purchases, and it hopes eventually to offer Sears-backed warranties on the vehicles, Jackson said in an interview."

Sears Auto Centers Introduce Franchise Business http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sears-auto-centers-introduce-franchise-business-84688627.html A good hint of things to come at Sears Holding... excerpt: "The new Sears Auto Center franchise model is available immediately to qualified dealers. Sears will work with dealers to offer these advantages: + Strength of the Sears brand and the ability to leverage Sears marketing, web presence and social networking + Strength of the product brands, such as DieHard and Craftsman + The purchasing scale necessary to achieve superior pricing on: + Product (tires, batteries, parts) + Equipment + Supplies + Sears Card acceptance + Systems and processes"

Thanks for posting the letter. Interesting info about expansion into agriculture and the hiring of a new president. "How can this transaction benefit Zenith? Among Fairfax’s existing subsidiaries are many talented and experienced insurance professionals and the systems and infrastructure to support a wide range of insurance products. In due course, some of you will have the opportunity to collaborate with your new colleagues to leverage these resources as we improve our own product offerings, including expanding our agricultural business to offer lines of insurance other than workers’ compensation."