Parsad

That is weird.... What are they calling you about? Not to vote for TPG? No. $1,500 press release or tens of millions at risk in a proxy battle...the cost of the press release isn't much in relative terms. I think it will be close, but I suspect Tom and the board are out. Cheers! Fairfax has stated publically they support the existing management, so I would expect them to vote for management. I just think alot of other shareholders are voting against the board based on the sentiment from our own poll that we conducted here, and the generaly case that TPG has laid out. How can anyone in their right mind not see some conflict of interest even in the most optimistic of scenarios. Cheers!

I'm surprised. I think payouts may be lower than I expected, otherwise banks would be chomping at the bit to leak information. Or perhaps because JPM wanted to release earlier, the Fed cracked down on the banks and warned them not to release before they do. Cheers! Well, I had a bet that they would pay out $7B in dividends and buybacks, but that was probably too much to hope for. They could easily pay that just from their 2013 cash flows, as about $4B will be saved in just expenses this year and alot of their legacy issues have been dealt with, so I don't expect any huge increase to their litigation reserves. They also have about $25B more in capital than they require under Basel III, so that's a pretty good buffer for anything unexpected. But if Citi asked for just $1.5B in buybacks, I have a hard time believing that BAC will pay out anything more than $3-3.5B...even though they could easily afford to pay $7B out annually going forward. Cheers!

That is weird.... What are they calling you about? Not to vote for TPG? No. $1,500 press release or tens of millions at risk in a proxy battle...the cost of the press release isn't much in relative terms. I think it will be close, but I suspect Tom and the board are out. Cheers!

I'm surprised. I think payouts may be lower than I expected, otherwise banks would be chomping at the bit to leak information. Or perhaps because JPM wanted to release earlier, the Fed cracked down on the banks and warned them not to release before they do. Cheers!

Countrywide Asks Court to Undo MBIA Ruling: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-12/bofa-s-countrywide-asks-appeals-court-to-undo-mbia-ruling.html?cmpid=yhoo Cheers!

That is a helluva way to get a date for the festivities. LOL! I think he's just trying to save some money. Cheers!

Again, Merrill is not a good example. Countrywide was not something that needed cash and had good assets. Countrywide was a two-ton anchor tied to a dinghy! It's amazing that BAC is still standing after Lewis acquired Countrywide. If something should have been left to die, Countrywide was it, and in hindsight, putting it into bankruptcy would have been cheaper. This turnaround is not dissimilar to Fairfax's. You have to runoff the bad business, and there was plenty of it at BAC to begin with like other institutions. But combined with Countrywide's portfolio, it is very similar to the 5-7 year turnaround at Fairfax. BAC has been able to sell off assets, write off loans, and the banking industry is enjoying decent spreads, while Fairfax had a huge windfall with the CDS investment and positive results running off bad contracts. The ballooning costs that BAC incurred was to service the massive loan porfolio it needs to run off. You should start to see dramatic drops in SG&A through the second half of this year, if not sooner. I think you will see their cost of capital drop to around JPM's over the next year. Cheers!

Hi Folks, I'm looking for silent auction prizes for the Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinner on April 10th at the Fairmont Royal York. Last year we had some wonderful donations for prizes. If you would like to donate a prize, and in return have your corporate logo or business contact/cards on the auction table, please contact me at cornerofberkshireandfairfax@gmail.com. Thanks very much! Sanjeev

I've received a request from someone wondering if anyone wanted to share a room at the Fairmont Royal York for the AGM? Please let me know, and I will forward the contact information. Cheers!

You cannot compare Wamu and Countrywide. Countrywide was the largest originator in the United States of rubbish loans. Why Angelo Mozillo isn't in jail is beyond me? Wamu basically needed a cash injection to keep it afloat, run off the bad loans and you have essentially some good quality banking assets...but they needed capital to prevent a run and they needed time to runoff the bad loans. Countrywide had none of that...just poor rubbish loans. Cheers!

I think the stock price does better...win or lose. Markets don't like uncertainty. Regardless, I think like CHK, SD is going to have to change some of the behavior around the company. I'm going to be first in line at the AGM to ask a question on this, so if I'm asking, how many other shareholders, be it Fairfax or Sandridge, are wondering the same thing? TPG did illuminate a number of disturbing issues around compensation and conflict of interest. Cheers!

I posted it on this thread back in either Nov or Dec, but this is one heck of a long thread! Moynihan was speaking at a financial conference, it was audio only. They had it up as a webcast on the Bank of America website. Sanjeev I know remembers it. Maybe he can comment. I had specified the exact minute for people to advance the webcast to -- so to hear Moynihan utter the words. However, I don't have the time to read all of this thread for Nov/Dec to find the exact place. Starts around November 14, 2012. The exact post that Eric makes the comment on is "Reply # 1844" on page 185 of the BAC thread. Cheers!

You guys catch Saturday Night Live Weekend Update yesterday? "Hooters trying to attract women with salad is like trying to get women into your sex dungeon by playing Adele in the background". Ouch. Yeah, I thought that was funny. I agree, I don't think they need to do anything specific to attract women. Women go to nightclubs, they go to strip clubs...I think women don't go to Hooters because the food was shit and the restaurants looked like the inside of run down shacks. I don't go to Hooters because the food is so bad. If they improve the restaurants and improve the food, they will attract more customers...men and women. There are restaurants in Vancouver where the hostesses wear far more revealing and tighter dresses than the outfits at Hooters...and they are packed with women customers, because the atmosphere is stylish and the food is terrific. Cheers!

All our best to the Byrne family!

TPG Wins Injunction...Sandridge cannot bar TPG from running proxy to remove entire board: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-08/sandridge-investors-win-injunction-in-proxy-fight-case.html?cmpid=yhoo Cheers!

Hooter's Is Chasing Women - As Customers: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100536902 Cheers!

Bank of America Was Actually More Pessimistic Than The Fed: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100539162 Cheers!

Very good letter! Remains very bearish and made hints that a correction may not be as far as some people think. Some good commentary on things they are doing regarding succession at various levels of the company. Two in particular stuck out...Wade Burton has been added to the Investment Committee and Thomas Cook India will be their vehicle to acquire other Indian businesses. Cheers!

If you want to make money like Eric, there is a business model available with less at risk capital, lower annual returns, just as much leverage, and you can sleep at night...manage other people's money! ;D Mohnish started Pabrai Funds with $100,000 of his own money. After ten years at about 22% annual compounding, he built a net worth of about $45M. He not only sleeps well at night, he takes a damn nap in the middle of the day at the office! Cheers!

alright....Perhaps I am an idiot but I don't see it rallying after hours. It looks like it's down a little bit? Hi Paul, I think Eric was talking about the run-up in the last week before the results. Cheers!

You take the bet now? Once the results have come out. Why don't you wait till the payouts are announced by the government next week than bet me. No soup for you! Cheers! Ha ha. My recollection is that he was quite bullish on a huge capital return until around this afternoon. It's not that easy to make yourself a dollar just like that. But I believe I just did. Not so fast dollar-meister! Let's wait for the results...you're going to have to work for this buck...like an ugly stripper, giving a bad lapdance...wrong analogy. ;D I still think they can do $7B. What did Moynihan say over and over. Every dollar they make after they reached their capital ratios was going back to shareholders. You don't think they can afford $7B from their cash flow this year to buyback stock below or at tangible book, and increase their dividend to 4 or 5 cents? If they payout Citi's $1.2B, Moynihan gets in trouble from shareholders. They will pay out far bigger than most people expect this year. Cheers!

The same as Redskin212...over 18% compounded annually! He sent me his results after he looked at Eric's, and it was like he was a chronic underachiever. He's in the top 0.001% of investors and he feels like he underachieved! Eric, I think every guy on here thinks their d**k is a hell of alot shorter than yours today! ;D Time to buy a corvette! Cheers!

It's why I use Ajay's team at UBS. They will work the trade for us at their trading desk, and then we are charged solely on a per share basis. Otherwise, you will have to look for blocks that are offered and try to buy them. Cheers!

You take the bet now? Once the results have come out. Why don't you wait till the payouts are announced by the government next week than bet me. No soup for you! Cheers!

Only 1% of the fund...if the options had dropped in price on Tuesday, I would have bet up to 2%. I did the risk assessment: 1) I know that BAC will pass the stress test 2) I know that they will return some amount of capital (I think $7B, market had reduced their expectation to about $3B) 3) The stock would move closer to tangible book if they passed 1) and passed tangible book if they hit my expectation on 2) 4) If we lose money, we lose 1%. If we make money, the odds are very likely to double...with high upside of 400-600% return or 4-6% return on the entire fund. I felt comfortable with the business, the return, the downside risk and short-term nature of the bet. Cheers!