Parsad

How about that, eh? The next Governor General of Canada came from the board of an alledged "Ponzi" scheme. Boy, oh boy, this guy Watsa has the wool pulled over everyone's eyes...except of course Jim Chanos, David Einhorn, Adam Sender, Mark Cuban, Peter Eavis, Herb Greenberg, Fabrice Taylor, Roddy Boyd, John Hempton, Spyro Contagouris and the late John Gwynn. What was so funny back in the day, was when Jim Cramer said that Peter Eavis had it wrong in an article in the Street.com. Jim Cramer even knew these guys were wrong! ;D Cheers!

I thought it was quite lovely actually! ;D A few more days like this and I can start to slowly tip-toe through the daisies! Cheers!

CONeal, I would have picked the same, but unfortunately Bronco only gave us Mila Kunis, so I went with that. I guess you couldn't lose with either choice! Cheers!

Pretty much! I think they are trying to create one universal brand as they slowly expand outside of the U.S. The word "overstock" doesn't translate the same way in other countries and cultures. As well, it's pretty easy to remember www.o.co . Cheers!

Overstock.com has officially rebranded themselves as O.co. It actually looks pretty good on their website, and I think this may just work. Cheers! http://www.overstock.com or http://www.o.co

Greenblatt worked at Drexel Burnham Lambert when Milken was there. Milken seeded his fund when he started. It doesn't mean that Greenblatt did anything wrong...just in my opinion I'm a little cautious due to who people are associated with. I mean Greenblatt also seeded Michael Burry, and I've never seen or heard anything negative about Burry. You get to know alot of people in this industry, and there tends to be a lot of inter-relationships. But it is quite the coincidence that so many "masters of the universe" all lead back to the Sith Lord! Cheers!

Looks like Greg Taylor got a nice "little" bonus for his service now that he is leaving the CFO position...almost $6M! I thought Greg had done a great job over the last few years, especially his communication skills during quarterly calls and his depth of knowledge of Fairfax's finances, even as the complexity escalates. That's the mark of a good CFO! Cheers! http://www.fairfax.ca/Assets/Downloads/CIRC2010_Fairfax.pdf

I think Biglari Holdings shareholders could have a case to file an injunction against the board of directors of BH. I posted some quotes from their filing yesterday, but here is one more on director's compensation: Director Compensation Directors of the Corporation who are employees or spouses of employees do not receive fees for attendance at directors’ meetings. During fiscal year 2010, a director who was not an employee or a spouse of an employee received an annual cash retainer of $22,000, and the Chairs of the Audit Committee and Governance, Compensation and Nominating Committee received an annual retainer of $37,000. In addition, non-employee directors receive cash meeting attendance fees as follows: · $3,500 for each in-person Board meeting attended; · $1,250 for each committee meeting attended in-person not held in conjunction with a Board meeting; · $500 for each committee meeting attended held in conjunction with a Board meeting; and · $500 for any meeting (Board or committee) in which the director participated by phone. From November 2008 to March 2009, we paid all retainers in Company stock. We have discontinued that practice to avoid equity dilution. Effective April 1, 2009, all annual retainers have been paid in cash only. On December 9, 2010, the Board approved an increase in the annual cash retainer for non-employee directors of the Corporation to $32,000. The Board also approved the payment of a $120,000 annual cash retainer to Dr. Cooley for his role as Vice Chairman of the Board and such other duties as designated by the Board. This is brutal! Not only are they provided a $32K retainer, but lucrative per meeting payments. Cooley is now provided with a $120K retainer! How about you incorporate large shareholders into your board, and stop with the cash payments? Cheers!

And yes Bronco, this will get you kicked off if one of our female board members finds it offensive! Cheers!

Have you seen Black Swan? Mila Kunis, hands down! Cheers!

I think hockey fans should protest just like in Libya against Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell...since they are a couple of dictators. Air Canada said they would remove their sponsership this morning due to all of the head injuries and Bettman tells them that they can always find another sponser. Nice! As far as Colin Campbell is concerned, shouldn't they just find another enforcement officer if there is ANY conflict of interest. It's like that investigator/attorney that the SEC hired, who had investments related to Madoff. He told the SEC about this, but they hired him anyway. Why? Just find another attorney! How hard is it to figure out that there should be "NO" conflict of interest after everything that has happened. Cheers!

Does anyone have a link to the old board? I remember a search engine, though I don't know if it works now, that ran even after the board closed. Unfortunately, because the old board was an MSN board, the only way I could archive everything was to move it over to the "Multiply" service that MSN created. To view the old board, all the uploads and old posts, go to the link below and click on the "Blog" tab. http://msnbrkboardarchive.multiply.com/ Remember PremWatsa.com? Actually I own it! After those bashers vacated it, I snatched up the domain name so they couldn't do it again. Prem and Fairfax know I own it now, and if Prem ever wants it, he can have it. But I will only give it to Prem and Fairfax. It links to the home page for this board now. Cheers!

I don't think that was a bad hit...it's a problem with the design of the arena. Those stantions should be padded. Just like the young Georgian luger who died in Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The course was dangerously fast, and he lost control. Common sense for the track officials would have dictated that padding be present on those posts coming around a corner. These spots around various arenas can be very dangerous, including when the team bench doors open on line changes and somebody is getting hit into the boards near them. The game is so fast today, and the players so damn big. You have a split second to make a decision. Just like Getzlaf's hit on Hamshuis a couple of months ago. It happened so quickly. The stuff they need to suspend and get rid of altogether are the blindsides, the bad hits when a defenseman is racing back to touch the icing, elbows to the head, sticks to the face, etc. But until you get an NHL commissioner and enforcement officer that is consistent, and understands what needs to be fixed in the game, only then will it happen. Cheers!

Well said Crip! You know, some of the stuff I've forgotten to a degree. This was a real nut-buster when we were all going through it. I remember I had to shut down new membership to the old MSN BRK Board because we were getting inundated with anonymous posters and paid bashers. It was nuts! Every other day, some new article would come out about Fairfax. But the executives didn't leave. The employees didn't leave. Sam Mitchell actually joined Fairfax! Prem wasn't selling stock and moving to Costa Rica! The guys backing up the truck were the likes of Cundill, Longleaf, Markel and Letko Brosseau. Mohnish bought and wasn't selling. Lotsofcoke contacted Sir John Templeton, who said that he owned a million shares, I believe, in Fairfax and had never sold. There were a couple of analysts who were doing their job, and I have to give them credit too, for sticking to their analysis and not bowing to the pressure...Quentin Broad from CIBC and analysts from Ferris Baker & Watts come to mind. To steal from Dickens...It was the best of times, it was the worst of times! Cheers!

Wh will replace him? I hear Jerry yang is available? Nope, Mike Richards! ;D Bronco, you've got two games in hand, but we're seven points ahead...nine points ahead of Detroit! Our friggin' goals for/goals against differential is scary...almost 20 points ahead of second place Boston...and we've been playing mediocre the last 14 games. Cheers!

Some more dandies: On 2010 compensation: For fiscal 2010, Mr. Biglari’s incentive bonus was determined solely with respect to the fourth fiscal quarter, during which the Company’s adjusted book value grew by 3.2%. Accordingly, a pro rata adjusted book value growth hurdle of approximately 1.4% (based on the number of days in such quarter) was used to determine the incentive bonus payment to Mr. Biglari with respect to such quarter, and the 3.2% increase in the Company’s adjusted book value during such quarter resulted in an incentive bonus payment to Mr. Biglari of $1,206,896. Mr. Biglari’s current base salary of $900,000 was set during fiscal 2009 by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (prior to being merged with the Governance and Nominating Committee). On Change of Control: If the option described in the preceding paragraph expires unexercised after three years, and after such time there is a change in control of the Corporation, Mr. Biglari is terminated by the Corporation without “cause” or Mr. Biglari resigns for “good reason,” Mr. Biglari will be entitled to receive a severance payment equal to 299% of the average annual cash compensation (consisting of his base salary and incentive compensation) paid to him since the date of the Incentive Agreement, subject to reduction to the extent necessary so that no portion of the severance payment will be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Cheers!

More great quotes: The advisory vote on the frequency of the say-on-pay vote is a non-binding vote as to how often the say-on-pay vote should occur: every year, every two years, or every three years. In addition, shareholders may abstain from voting. After careful consideration of this agenda item, the Board has determined that a triennial frequency (i.e., every three years) is the optimal frequency for the say-on-pay vote. Therefore, the Board recommends that you vote “FOR” a triennial interval for the advisory say-on-pay vote. The Board supports a triennial vote because the Corporation’s executive compensation policies and practices are designed to maximize long-term shareholder value. Accordingly, the Board believes a triennial vote will align more closely with the long-term strategic objectives of our executive compensation program, as well as provide shareholders a more appropriate timeframe to evaluate the effectiveness of our executive compensation program in achieving these objectives. Why not an annual evaluation? How does that affect the long-term view of the company's performance or intrinsic value? Cheers!

As expected, Bill Regan, the only director showing any sort of backbone on the BH Board, will not be standing for re-election at Biglari Holdings (aka The Steak'n Shake Company). That's it...the board will soon be fully compliant with the CEO's wishes! So much for any oversight. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93859/000092189511000474/def14a07428_04072011.htm The Board has not named a lead independent director. The Board believes the independent nature of the Audit Committee and the Governance, Compensation and Nominating Committee ensures that the Board maintains a level of autonomous oversight of management. Gotta love that quote from the filing! Cough, cough, bullsh*t, cough, cough. Cheers!

It's invested the same way as everything else. There is always some cash in all my accounts...personal, RRSP, corporate, TFSA, partnership...you name it. The rest is generally invested the same way, although my personal accounts are extremely concentrated, whereas the partnership and corporate accounts are JUST concentrated! ;D Cheers!

It's really just that one turkey who is making all the noise it looks like. When individual investors have a good year, suddenly the Buffetts and Watsas look stupid. This usually corrects itself over the ensuing years. We'll see who is running the Ponzi scheme after both the Overstock and Fairfax cases against the brokers and hedge funds hit the courts this year. Cheers!

The funny thing is that every one of these guys, along with a whole host of others, all lead back to Michael Steinhardt and Michael Milken! You should read some of Deepcapture's articles on this...it's why I don't buy into even Greenblatt's books. I think who you associate with says alot about you. Perhaps coincidental, perhaps not! Cheers!

Berkowitz and Ackman started Gotham Partners. They split up and Ackman started Pershing Square, while Gotham folded and Berkowitz started Festina Linte Partners LP...no idea if it's still around. Greenblatt started Gotham Capital after receiving seed capital from Michael Milken. I don't believe the three ever worked on a fund together, but they may have been involved in a single transaction or something. Cheers!

I wish I knew. Or was that a rhetorical question which I didn't quite get? Yup! ;D Cheers!

It's a little weird hearing all the talk about bubbling market, while stocks like CSCO, MSFT, FFH, RSH, SVU, etc., are going lower and lower every day for the past month. Why are they going lower? Cheers!

I truly miss the old MSN board days with bsilly and lotsofcoke. Wonder what has happened to them. Bsilly is a member, but he does not post. Contrary to Harry Long's view, I think most of the old-timer board members would agree that no one knows insurance better than Bsilly! Lotsofcoke left the investment business several years ago, after a woman stole his heart! ;D Between them I believe they have five kids and two dogs, and are living the life that money can't buy! Between you and me, I think he just decided to go out on top after Prem named him in the annual report and at the meeting a few years back. He was one of the original founders of the Yellow BRK'ers, but no longer goes to Omaha either. When you're happy, you're happy! Cheers!