Parsad

Harry - do you feel the studies you have cited pose a threat to the basis of any religions? Bronco, I don't think you mean religion, but the actual idea of God. Religion is simply a belief system based on a set of ideas or values...it can be predicated on the idea of God, or something else entirely. For example, value investors believe in the philosophy of Ben Graham. The hordes attending Omaha would suggest that it could be viewed as a religion, as evidenced by all of us who "religiously" follow and post on here. I studied Biology with a minor in environmental toxicology. I'm not religious whatsoever, in terms of a belief in God. But I think it would be incredibly naive for anyone to suggest that humanity's limited understanding of the universe, could clearly define the case for, or against, the existence of God. We are just a speck in the eye of this world! Cheers!

Charlie had plenty to say, but he held back. I would have loved to hear his complete assessment of Trump. Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2011/05/01/n_charlie_munger_trump.cnnmoney/?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

From what I've read, it was an assumption on the part of the US government/military. They didn't actually ask any of the governments whether this in fact was the case. And like I said earlier, the US effectively controls the government of Afghanistan, for example, so that explanation is somewhat nonsensical. Did you see the celebration in front of the White House or Ground Zero last night? Americans would go nuts if this monster was buried any place related to the U.S...be it here or in Afghanistan...and rightfully so. Can you imagine burying Hitler in Israel, Poland, France or England? The dark depths of the sea are the perfect place for this bastard! His family and friends will never visit him, and no one can turn his location into a spot for asshole terrorists to gather. The fish and crabs will eventually devour his rotten corpse and the world will be rid of one more lunatic murderer. Cheers!

Their comments echo what we presented at our AGM on April 20th. We also have a hard time believing that the European Union will survive in its current form. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-02/wall-street-bankers-share-blame-for-europe-crisis-berkshire-s-munger-says.html

Another related and funny story! I'm sure Trump was pissed. Cheers! http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/02/president-obama-interrupts-trumps-show/?hpt=Sbin

It doesn't make sense to me though. They killed the guy, shot a bullet through his head, which is clearly against Muslim beliefs, and a much greater sin in Islam, and now they're worried about proper burial? And at sea, no less?!? They haven't even asked any government, from the sound of it. Very, very strange. They used facial recognition software on site after the operation. They removed the body, as well as a ton of information that was present. They had one of his wives view the body and confirm it was him. They then ran DNA tests using Bin Laden family DNA for confirmation. The burial at sea was so that there was no way for his comrades to gather around and celebrate his burial...thus the U.S. government did not ask to bury the body on soil in any nation that may have wanted him. At the same time, I'm assuming the U.S. government didn't want to offend the Muslim faith, and gave him a proper burial according to Muslim customs. Cheers!

If the inner eye or SYSTEM weakens you enough by reducing your self-worth, you will begin to TOLERATE even ACCEPT the greatest atrocities the world is still waiting to be delivered! Carl, if you think that is the case, you should be selling LVLT and buying gold! ;D Incidentally, here is a short, but terrific article by David Frum, who is a right-winger Canadian and former speech-writer for the Bush Administration. Cheers! http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/02/frum.binladen.obama/index.html?hpt=T2

Needless to say, Sanjeev, today is a GREAT DAY to be an American! Great Day!!! Yes, I agree! But isn't it always a great day to be an American? So, we will clean up our GDP mess, our deficit and our health care problem. Just give us time. Yes, you will. One way or another, you will! That's the thing about the American two-party system...it works, and it will continue to work, regardless of idiots like Donald Trump and Whoopi Goldberg. By the way, just so you right-wingers don't think I'm completely a leftie, I'm voting for Harper...again! You're President isn't quite the leftie you all thought he was. Yes, he believes that things need to be more equitable in the U.S., and I happen to agree, but he runs up the middle for the most part, and has a bit of a right-wing streak when it comes to foreign policy and economics...contrary to public opinion. Cheers!

Well said, Sanjeev, except that we do treat our Aboriginal people as bad as the US treats its black population. IMHO. And of course, it's very sad in both case. True Alek! But at least we are making attempts at treaties and creating an environment that will perhaps help foster a more equitable life for Canada's aboriginals. Aboriginal's are also a sixth of the size of Canada's population relative to the black population in the U.S. Cheers!

He is buried at sea so you can't make this stuff up, right. It reminds me of the bright minds that come to this board willing to buy into it today. God help the globe. imo http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/02/bin.laden.burial.at.sea/ Yes Carl! That's why Pakistan is willing to be the world's scapegoat and take the blame for hiding Osama. Do you think any country in their right mind, regardless of any sort of pressure persuaded upon them by the U.S., would accept such responsibility while perpetrating a hoax? Pakistan validated the U.S.'s operation and termination of Osama in their own statement. Now let's talk about how the moon landing was a hoax, Donald Trump has good hair, and Rand Paul loves big government! ;D Cheers!

I see that certain Canadian constituents on this board believe in Santa Clause too. Yes Carl! There is a Santa Clause: - We don't have 25% of our black population under 25 living their lives in incarceration. - We don't spend 5% of GDP on the military. - We have universal healthcare for our entire population. - The number of people living below the poverty line is half of what it is in the U.S. - Our debt to GDP is nearly half of yours. - Our dollar is stronger. - We have lower unemployment. And interestingly enough, I would still be much happier to have your President lead my country! He's smart, ethical, honest, works hard, turns the other cheek more often than I can count, and is determined to make the U.S. a better country. But the population isn't interested in giving him enough time to do his job. You guys want everything done now...regardless of how many years of excess it took to get into the mess that was created! Bush was the guy who crapped on the floor and Obama came in to clean it up. Now everyone is asking why he spent money on soap and bleach to clean up the mess, and how the heck are you going to pay for it. You're blaming the wrong guy. Cheers!

You know, this is the stuff that I'm saying that American's should find terribly offensive, yet it continues even on a day like this: Some Fox affiliate reported the story as "Obama Bin Laden Dead"! C'mon, you guys are better than that. This day is so important to all those families who lost someone on 9/11, and Fox is doing shit like this. Cheers!

I think maybe it's time American's realized they have a President who is actually working his ass off for the country, and got behind him and supported him instead of casting aspersions on his ethnicity, patriotism or loyalty. You want him out of office and all he's done is stave off a Depression, regain global respect for the United States and caught the number one person on America's most wanted list. Cheers!

Shalab, the $10.4B number is the average float through 2010 and excludes runoff float. In total, there is $13.1B of float, of which $2.1B is in runoff. Essentially, there is $640 of float per share. Cheers!

Howard Buffett has said that Matt Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern, will probably fall into Buffett's close circle of leaders and possible CEO successors. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-01/howard-buffett-says-rose-may-join-jain-in-father-s-circle-1-.html

Amar Bose has donated his company stock to his alma-mater MIT. Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/29/technology/bose_mit_donation/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

Hi Evolveus, You have to go to the registration desk/kiosk at the Qwest Center with your printed brokerage statement or possibly the iPhone screen, and register by showing them that you are a shareholder. They will give you your credentials there. The kiosk is only open to 6pm on Friday, and opens at 7am Saturday. You'll also need some ID, like a driver's license or passport. Good luck! Cheers!

I just thought I'd use your post as a jumping off point to contribute a couple ideas, since Bronco has been bitching and moaning about not getting enough good ideas from the board. When is Bronco not bitching and moaning about not having enough ideas? The guy must have a portfolio as thick as the Magellan Fund! ;D Just buy an ETF Bronco and get it over with. Cheers!

intersting to compare wtm's eanrnings with ffh. interestingly, wtm catastrophic losses were very much less than ffh's, & they were modeled on a higher industry loss estimate of 35 bil vs 30 bil. They write far less catastrophe insurance than Fairfax. Their combined ratio on catastrophe losses was also higher than Fairfax's. They probably don't have as comprehensive hedges either. Remember, Fairfax would have shown a net profit of a couple hundred million in the quarter if they did not have the equity hedges alone. Cheers!

I agree with ERICOPOLY. For insurance companies comparability you need to use tangible book to measure historic growth and to measure a premium to BV. This helps to identify and show the relative value of insurance cos. Not necessarily. That would be the case where you have no idea what the true value of the intangible portion of book value was. In Odyssey's case, we do know what the historical operating results have been, including underwriting standards, and as management has not changed, you could project that future expectations for the business would be similar. The easiest way to view this would be to use Fairfax's own history: When TIG and C&F were acquired, there was no premium paid, thus no goodwill attributed to the acquisition. Yet we know through hindsight, that the intrinsic value of both businesses was less than the price paid. In Odyssey's case, we can establish that while a premium was paid, and goodwill established on the balance sheet, the intrinsic value of the business is significantly greater than the price paid. In essence, tangible book value is not an accurate tool to estimate the intrinsic value of Fairfax. Cheers!

That's a very good analogy Eric! Cheers!

Well, that's one opinion. Then again, nearly all of the goodwill came over the last two years... You should probably check what brought up that goodwill value. Yup! Investor's in the past complained that Fairfax bought crappy insurance businesses and then spent five years turning them around. Now they spend fair value on a great insurance business that they don't have to turnaround, and they get crapped on because of the goodwill. The only thing I can say is that the critics must be writers for the friggin' Vancouver sports media. Prem's Luongo, while Brian Bradstreet is one of the Sedin sisters! What have you done for us lately Prem...what have you done for us lately Brian...how come book value didn't grow by another $2B this year...what have you done for us lately? Oh yeah, you just brought your whole executive team to our dinner, and then Brian & Francis stayed till 11pm answering questions! ;D Cheers!

Fairfax's bench is pretty deep and decentralized, so there are already viable candidates to replace existing management at virtually every sub. Mark is at the top of the Canadian subs, and it was probably unlikely he would be stepping into the U.S. or International sides, since each already has qualified replacements. I think he's probably going to take some time and spend it with his family...he's been working for Fairfax since he was out of college, I believe...and then probably decide the next logical step. Silvy Wright knows as much about Northbridge as Mark, so I don't think it will miss a beat. Cheers!

Damn, one of the best young insurance executives in the industry is retiring after 20 years of service. Mark Ram is going to play some golf! Good luck to him! Cheers! http://www.fairfax.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2011/Fairfax-Financial-Holdings-Limited-Northbridge-Executive-Changes1125044/default.aspx

Exactly what are people talking about here? What do you mean they stink at underwriting? Most insurers got hit hard by Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Guaranteed their losses are nearly identical to Berkshire's on the same business. I was expecting worse! Cheers!