Parsad

Phil Falcone is paying a pretty penny keeping his fund afloat. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/falcone-s-harbinger-said-to-borrow-190-million-from-jefferies-at-15-rate.html

Looks like California and New York have joined, and this thing will get done soon. Some relief for some homeowners, while the banks put the biggest suit behind them. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/46319978

If it wasn't to be seen by shareholders, I would have already heard about it from Fairfax, so I don't think there is an issue. Maybe Prem made it convoluted to find, just to see exactly how many die-hard followers there are out there! ;D Cheers!

The date on the link I put up says February 7th, so I think it may be a new one. Cheers!

I guess this was on last night and I missed it, but apparently Warren and his son, Howard, were on 60 Minutes last night. The video link isn't ready yet, but probably should be soon enough. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/40795923

No, you're probably right there. He might have a huge poster of Aerosmith on his other wall, so that probably wouldn't be the right choice. ;D Cheers!

Did you guys take a close look at the bookshelf? It's got all of his books on Buffett on there, including a copy of Securities Analysis and a couple of copies of "Of Permanent Value". The fact that he's got some leatherbound books on there means nothing, except that he's bought some leatherbound books and keeps them on his bookshelf in his office, and values them the same as his investing books...more admirable than anything else. Regardless, the presentation is what people should pay attention to. Cheers!

...a 20% cut to minimum wage! Yup, that's not going to lead to riots. What a mess. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/greece-to-pledge-20-cut-in-minimum-wage-pension-cut-draft-accord-shows.html

Bond sales for Maiden Lane II are almost complete, and AIG should get it's one billion dollars that was deferred. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daniel-gross/sale-bonds-component-aig-rescue-winds-down-200121719.html;_ylt=AvEoAPN0CjrLfI.IQi4fk.uiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0dWExNmtrBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIFRvcCBTdG9yeSBSaWdodARwa2cDNjIxZjZhMGQtZGQ4Zi0zMTJmLWJkMTctZjdmZDFjNjhiYmQwBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyA2U1YTBkYTIwLTUyOWUtMTFlMS1iZjRmLTE5ZGRiNzQ0ZTY0Mw--;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Never judge a book by its cover...no matter how nice the cover! Article on Kathy Ireland and her burdgeoning retail empire, as well as her links to Buffett and NFM. Cheers! http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0227/feature-swimsuit-model-empire-kathy-ireland-supermogul.html

Really good article about Don Graham and Washington Post. Cheers! http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2012/0227/feature-washington-post-don-graham-trouble-company-nice-guy-finish-last.html

How much is he up already this year? Several of his positions have already risen 30%+ YTD, with AIG and MBIA holding him back in the two funds respectively. Berkowitz has wittled the fund down to incredibly concentrated positions. If he gets any traction on AIG and MBIA, it would be easy to see the funds rise 30% plus in 2012. Cheers! Great, 30% rise. Now that leaves you "only" 17% more to go just to break even. I think the point is that those investors who sold anywhere near the bottom, just cost themselves 30%+ in returns to get them back up to break even. It's not Berkowitz's returns you should concern yourself with. Feel bad for the investor who sold out of fear and probably kept the funds in cash! Berkowitz will make his money and more over time. Cheers!

And just to be curious, as I'm not aware of the answer, what was you full-time job back then Sanjeev, before the fund? When I started the message board, I was a supervisor for Loblaws! I quit that year and started working as a mutual fund and insurance dealer because I wanted to get into the financial industry after meeting Buffett. I had no idea how, and I quit university after my father died when I was 21, so that was my stepping stone into the business. But over the next few years I was really frustrated with the incestuous relationship between the dealers and brokers in the industry. They do a complete disservice to the investor! It wasn't until 2006 when I started the fund...the best thing I ever did. And it would never have happened if I didn't have lunch with Prem, who said just start the fund with whatever money you have saved and can raise...build a track record! But that lunch only occurred because we contacted Fairfax regarding the short attack in 2003, which we only noticed because a handful of us Fairfax shareholders had gathered on this board and were wondering what the hell was going on! Very funny how little things can make a big difference in someone's life and how interconnected they all are! ;D That first time I went to Fairfax's office was incredible! Francis and JoAnn just spent the whole day taking me around to everyone's office, and then I was allowed to sit with each person in their office and ask questions for about 20-30 minutes. You name them, I spent time with them that day...Fairfax executives, vice-presidents, Hamblin-Watsa principals and analysts. I also got to see their archive room, where they have an actual part-time librarian who catalogs and organizes all of the historical annual reports Prem has accumulated through the years...thousands and thousands! I saw the trading desk where Frances Burke constantly executes their trade orders directly from. In the middle of all that, I had a nearly two-hour lunch with Prem in the boardroom...Indian food! I barely ate anything because I was so busy asking him questions and listening to what he had to say. Every year, I would go visit the office and spend some time there. I remember one year I was supposed to meet Francis for a while, so JoAnn arranged for us to meet him in the smaller boardroom at Fairfax, since he had already left his vice-president position and was now solely at the Chou Funds. We sat there and talked for about four hours making little cappucinos from the automated coffee machine Fairfax has in their kitchen! ;D Francis, my friend Dr. Ajay Desai, our director Andrew Cooke (whose father JoAnn originally worked for before joining Fairfax), Alnesh and myself...four hours plus just sitting there and talking about investing! JoAnn would come in and check up on us every half hour and see if we needed anything. She was fantastic! That's why I do the dinner in her memory now, and why we raise money for "The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada". You've got me reminiscing. Anyway, so that's a bit of that. Cheers!

That's good! They are going to need it. ;D I like the brand and I love their products, but I'll give you an example of something you see just out in the open. My local Safeway carried Jones Soda for over ten years! I like drinking pop in bottles when I buy the stuff, because it just tastes better when it's cold like beer. For the Superbowl party at my house, I went to buy groceries at Safeway, and lo' and behold...no more Jones Soda on their shelves! Not only Jones, but they got rid of a bunch of other small producers. Nothing but Coca-cola and Pepsi-cola products, as well as Safeway's own brand. Everyone is moving to this other than Costco and Whole Foods. You have the two big producers and your in-house brand. The profit margins are significantly higher on in-house brands than the two big producers, which themselves have margins that are bigger than the small producers like Jones. They just eat you up over time. If you don't get bought by them, you struggle for a long, long time until you give up. I hope they survive because I like their pop. But it's like Buffett says...usually when a good manager tackles a tough business, it's usually the business' reputation that remains intact. Cheers!

I've followed Jones for a long, long time as they started here. The biggest mistake they made was not selling to Reed's. The soft-drink market is probably one of the toughest businesses to crack as there is basically a duopoly. Not that dissimiliar from the snack food business, beer business or even perfume business. You pay for shelf-space through your nose, so small producers are relegated to being niche products and rarely make it unless they are bought by the bigger players. Jones is bleeding money. The brand is good, but they are losing money every month they are in business. Either they get taken out by someone as they continue to bleed or they go under. Cheers!

How much is he up already this year? Several of his positions have already risen 30%+ YTD, with AIG and MBIA holding him back in the two funds respectively. Berkowitz has wittled the fund down to incredibly concentrated positions. If he gets any traction on AIG and MBIA, it would be easy to see the funds rise 30% plus in 2012. Cheers!

You got it Petey! That's the whole poiint of this forum. Uccmal was a relatively smaller investor before he bought Fairfax when people were throwing it away. He could retire now if he wanted to. Ericopoly was a relatively smaller investor too before he bought Fairfax...he did retire after! ;D Now Eric is working on what he's going to leave his children with his recent investments going full throttle! Ten years ago, I wasn't running a fund. I started a message board with 9 of my friends so that we could just talk about Berkshire Hathaway...I didn't know Francis...I didn't know Prem...and I barely knew Mohnish...and I certainly didn't know all the wonderful people that have come and gone on here. The three stories above are just a smattering of what has happened to people on here over the years. There are so many similiar stories! That's why this forum remains open to people's opinions and we encourage everyone, from the small investor or large investor, to share your stories. It doesn't matter how big the bank account is or how much in assets you manage, it's what you have to say and where do you go from here! I don't know too many investors, professional or otherwise, that have done as well as Uccmal or Ericopoly in terms of return over the last 8-10 years...there are lessons there for everyone! Cheers!

I like Berkowitz, but I agree with that sentiment. He's in the situation he is in, because he was so heavy in financials. I think it will work out, but it should be learning moment for him as well. Cheers!

Good stuff! I think this is great for the company and its employees. Cheers!

This is not directed at Santayana, but I have had the desire to block or at least "prioritize" posts in some way. Anything where you could "follow" specific people, or threads were assigned stars (like yahoo finance), where you could quickly sift through what is a BS thread and what is not. In addition, I'd like to vote to add a "Macro" category. It seems like a lot of discussion under investment ideas or general discussion is related, I think this would help organize the board better. my 2 cents. Hi Watsa, I understand your sentiment, but I don't want a board where if someone doesn't like what someone else is saying, you just block them out completely so you don't have to listen to them. How un-American would that be! Do you know how often I wish I could just censor Newt Gingrich or Glenn Beck! ;D But that wouldn't be right would it. Having to listen to other people's opinions should only reinforce your own analysis and logic if it makes rational sense. When we tune out others, it's actually ourselves who we are limiting from the intellectual debate. Generally I have a chat with anyone who causes issues, and they are given fair warning before they are kicked off. I'm not averse to one poster having an exchange with another poster, as long as it is brief. The way me and my family work, and I consider this board and its members part of my online family, is that if you have something to say, you say it, and that usually clears the air. So I would suggest that the two posters (Santayana and Moore) focus on the post, rather than attack each other. You guys have gotten it out of your system...great done! Move on. You are both right in fact, but neither may want to admit it. Obviously most of you know I was pretty long in the last few months, and I don't think investors were being intellectually honest with what the actual economic numbers were showing. There was a recovery in the United States, and the numbers plainly showed it. At the same time, it is far too early to call it a full-blown, long-term recovery, as growth is very weak and housing remains completely stalled. I'm more concerned of a Depression in Europe than I've ever been, so all of us longs need to get off of our recent high-horses...things will remain choppy for some time. As someone else stated, this is a value board...who cares how we did in the last few months, or even in the last few years! Cheers!

Hi Finetrader, That's actually not how Buffett would do it. Generally, the deal would already have been announced and he would arbitrage between the deal offer price and the price the stock was trading at below the deal offer price. You're making a bet that the offer price is going to be more than $1.08...current market price. Whereas Buffett would be acquiring the stock below the previous announced deal price of roughly $1.00. If any proposed third-party deal falls through, Fibrek's stock will fall back down to the original offer price, and anyone who bought above that would have a loss. Frankly, I think the deal will get done around $1.15-1.20, so chances are, anyone buying will make some money, but I'm not comfortable with the risk of the deal falling through. Cheers!

The first ever "London Value Investor Conference" is to be held on April 19th, 2012 at the Hallam Conference Centre. All profits will be donated to "The SMA Trust". Our own "Mr. B" is helping to organize it! So far, 35% of tickets have been sold. The early bird ticket sale ends February 14th. Details are at: http://www.londonvalueinvestor.com/?dm_i=O75,OCIJ,5IS8ZA,1YRJB,1 Cheers!

The first ever "London Value Investor Conference" is to be held on April 19th, 2012 at the Hallam Conference Centre. All profits will be donated to "The SMA Trust". Our own "Mr. B" is helping to organize it! So far, 35% of tickets have been sold. The early bird ticket sale ends February 14th. Details are at: http://www.londonvalueinvestor.com/?dm_i=O75,OCIJ,5IS8ZA,1YRJB,1 Cheers!

Buffett will be on CBS' Person to Person on Wednesday. Cheers!

California back at the table and it looks like we could see a deal soon. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/46275718