Parsad

Lastly, I buy a lot of stuff online, and don't think I've ever found something I was looking for on their site. I've never bought anything from Walmart or Costco Online either, but they both seem to be doing ok! ;D Overstock is trying to create their barrier to entry, by becoming profitable on the thinnest of margins and providing a high level of customer service. Byrne picked a doozy of a sector to try and become dominant in, but they have a fighting chance. Cheers!

I listen to maybe 2 or 3 every quarter. Not much! The financials really tell you everything you need to know as an investor. The conference calls just give color on the managers. Cheers!

Not sure if this was mentioned previously anywhere here, but this is a fantastic website that collates all filings, newsletters, etc for value investors. Thanks Glen for telling me about the link! Cheers! http://www.dataroma.com/m/home.php

Nope, just tracking raw material shipments and the distribution of finished goods. Cheers!

Fairfax is acquiring FMR for $16.50 a share. Ericd was on to something here a month ago, but you guys stopped him! ;D Hopefully he didn't listen to anyone and bought...would have been a nice 50% gain in a month. Cheers! http://cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/index.php?topic=3049.0 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fairfax-Financial-to-Acquire-prnews-1520281664.html?x=0&.v=1

Here they are: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fairfax-Financial-Holdings-iw-1029849445.html?x=0&.v=1 Cheers!

U.S. continues to look really good: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-28/north-american-rail-freight-carloads-for-oct-23-table-.html?cmpid=yhoo Canada not bad: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-28/canada-rail-freight-carloads-for-week-ended-oct-23-table-.html?cmpid=yhoo Mexico, some looking really good, and some...not so much: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-28/mexico-rail-freight-carloads-for-week-ended-oct-23-table-.html?cmpid=yhoo Cheers!

North American freight car orders are up significantly with large backorders. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-28/north-american-third-quarter-rail-freight-car-orders-table-.html?cmpid=yhoo

Chicago is one of my favorite US cities (if not my #1 favorite). I totally agree with you on this Bronco. I really love Chicago. I prefer it to New York or Los Angeles. Cheers!

uccmal - are you saying Daphne is old? Anyone who knows Daphne knows she's beautiful and intellectually stimulating. She's been a shareholder for as long as most of the other old-timers here, like myself and Uccmal. I think she was just wondering if anything had transpired that would warrant the recent move. We all held or bought through the drop from $200 to $57 back in 2003, so I think she can handle the swings. ;D Cheers!

The one thing I noticed is that the "Investment Ideas" board is going to get quite full in a very short period of time. I'm not sure how many of you are aware, but when you go on that board, an easy way to arrange the companies is to simply click the "Subject" heading on the top of the message board. That will put the posts in alphabetical order, so that you can just look up the name of the company you want. Cheers!

Thanks for posting that Damian! I did not want to put the spreadsheet out unless you felt it was ok. The tweeks I made were to make the ROE numbers and payouts much more conservative. That will give you a better margin of safety. I also made a few other additions based on capital, etc, that unfortunately I cannot share...they are now proprietary! ;D Cheers!

Financial terms not disclosed. Cheers! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/sun-life-sells-reinsurance-unit-to-berkshire/article1774898/

There are some out there, or they do it slightly differently, but Leucadia is pretty unique. Cheers!

That's terrific news! They needed that. Now with Jack Byrne on there and Sam, it's terrific! And you know Fairfax is going to hold the stock for the long-term. Cheers!

I think Munger is taking the longer term view, and views BYD as a company that will build a significant moat over the next decade. But we've seen this alot in other sectors...take a look at "Search" engines for example...very few thought Google would have such a dominant moat. Munger is also betting on the CEO, which can be pretty powerful if the bet is on the right person. What happens, I don't know. We'll know in a decade! ;D Cheers!

I wasn't a fan of this investment. I'm still not. I don't think it is a business where they can sustain a large competitive advantage over time. Money will flow in, as it is presently, and new companies will take market share away. Personally, for Berkshire, I like something like BNSF better. Not so much the price, but the idea. The more capital that is deployed into capital-intensive businesses with huge moats, the better. I'm also not keen on the investment managers they are choosing. These are gigantic shoes to fill, while handling huge sums of money. I would be much more comfortable if someone like Klarman, Berkowitz, etc, were the ones taking over. Ideally, they should just buy Fairfax and let Hamblin-Watsa manage all the money. It would be cheaper in the long-run and the returns would be better! Plus Prem is ok at insurance and leadership! ;D Cheers!

El-Erian is a smart guy, but I'm getting tired of his constant comments in the news...he's joining my annoying list of Roubini and Rosenberg now. Cheers!

Here is Comb's record at Castle Point. I think Buffett is looking for those that would preserve capital, rather than provide outsized returns. Cheers! Castle Point’s fund gained 6.2 percent last year, fell 5.7 percent in 2008, rose 19 percent in 2007 and climbed 13.6 percent in 2006, according to the letter. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-26/buffett-names-castle-point-s-combs-to-berkshire-hathaway-investment-post.html

BYD barely eeked out a profit for the 3rd quarter. Yikes! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-26/buffett-backed-byd-s-third-quarter-profit-drops-as-sales-in-china-falter.html

sanjeev, how do you know all this stuff?? Bobby was at Mohnish's AGM in Chicago last month. I met him and we spoke for a few minutes. Very nice, mild mannered guy. He was the only one working with Lou Simpson for the last five years. He lives in Chicago and will be launching his fund soon. Cheers!

I suspect they will start him off with GEICO's money. Lou Simpson is retiring and his protege, Bobby Biergin, is starting his own hedge fund soon. So either Buffett runs GEICO's money or they bring someone in. I think he's the guy...test him out and see how he does with it. Cheers!

This topic has been moved to Investment Ideas. [iurl]http://cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/index.php?topic=997.0[/iurl]

I recall Biglari was also on your list... good thing he showed it's true colors before your family needed him. BeerBaron Regardless of how I feel about Sardar's compensation plan and the way it was instituted, investors will make money as shareholders in Biglari Holdings. I didn't pull our capital from Sardar because of his aptitude. I pulled it because I felt what he did was somewhat unethical and misguided. Cheers!

Francis and Tim McElvaine are the two nicest and most genuine people I know in this industry. My family knows that if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, call Francis and Tim and put the money to work with them...then go and enjoy your life! Plus don't sell the Fairfax shares! ;D Cheers!