Parsad

You didn't get a letter back with his actual signature on it? Was it actually a form letter...what did it say? Cheers!

Do you want to ask the next question by how much? No that area becomes too grey, because you never take into consideration exactly what level of risk people exposed themselves to during a short period of time. Were they fully concentrated in one stock? One sector...commodities? Was a considerable portion of their portfolio in short positions? Did anyone use leverage? How much cash were they holding? How much was in fixed income instruments? What percentage achieved those results holding many positions? But if you take a large sample, and those results prove to be an outlier over a longer period of time (ten years plus), then you start to prove that a specific subsection may have a certain temperament, consistency in execution of their respective framework, and it is probably less likely to be a matter of luck. Cheers!

No doubt Mr. Watsa contributed substantially to the outperformance figure. Probably partially, but I think the majority of those that outperform, would be able to do it over longer periods and without Fairfax. This argument is sort of the same one people use from time to time against Sequoia, but at the end of the day, they were just smart enough to hold on to Berkshire...that takes a certain amount of aptitude, since thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands that owned the stock sold at some point. Cheers!

I suspect we would have an outlier result at 5 years and 10 years as well. Although that number would probably drop. I'm quite certain that an unlikely percentage (unlikely to any efficient market theorist) would outperform the S&P500 Total Return over the long run. Cheers!

Hi Harry, You weren't the only guilty one in that exchange, but it was one post in particular that was starting to go over board. I appreciate you respecting the other members, and I would ask that all members try and be respectful to one another. If you don't agree walk away...there are more than enough participants on this board for everyone to be engaged and entertained. Cheers!

Rents have come down, yet the building is 90% empty. Incidentally, the rents they describe are just slightly above Vancouver rents for such apartments. Cheaper if you consider the finishings you get...but there's no bubble here in Vancouver of course! Cheers! http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20101022/wl_time/08599202693400

Charlie distributed $25M of BRK stock from his wife's estate to his children. Cheers! http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11947474

I'm of the opinion that the majority of board members on this message board have outperformed the S&P500 Total Return over the last 3 years...July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2010. The S&P 500 Total Return during that period was a cumulative -9.813%. That would be completely contradictory to the performance of the average investment manager or the average private investor. Please respond with either "Yes...I did beat..." or "No...I did not beat...". Cheers!

I've spoken to Harry on a couple of occasions. He is a good guy and a good contributor. But I put a moratorium on antagonistic and rhetorical posts a week ago, because I received numerous complaints over the last couple of months. The rhetorical have stopped, but I would like to stop the flow of posts that are sometimes ego-driven as well, or at the very least a bit antagonistic. This isn't a board about bravado...there are plenty of boards available for guys with big balls who feel like tripping over them. Rubbing noses, name-calling, etc are posts that will be eliminated. Cheers!

Sanjeev, Just to add to your point - even with a killing record, bit of humility will go a long ways. Rranjan, I couldn't agree with you more. Young, eager managers should take a lesson from the last two years. There were a lot of fund managers who thought they were always right, lacked humility and could do no wrong. One third of hedge funds that were operating in 2006 were out of business by the end of 2009! There's been alot of posters on this board like that, and they too disappeared...no I did not ban all of them! ;D The greatest leaders I know, and aspire to emulate, are the ones that are ubiquitously humble, giving leaders...Buffett, Prem et al. There are alot of things you cannot teach, but humility is one that you can...often it is learned in the most unpleasant of ways through unintended consequences. Cheers!

T-Bone and Stove, let this be a lesson to you. Wouldn't you have rather learned from me, rather than losing money? As Benjamin Franklin said, only a fool needs to learn from experience. Risk control. I tried to help, but y'all didn't want to listen. I hate to say it, but I told you so. The pain of loss should sear the lesson onto your memory. Harry, how is Contrarian Industries record against the S&P500 TR since inception? If you ain't killing it, then a bit of humility will go a long ways. Cheers!

It's probably a good idea. Maybe the person who starts the thread should follow up on the investment idea until it peeters out or something happens. Cheers!

It's all dependent on the duration, the current price and exercise price. In some cases, the common equity is a better investment in the shorter term. But the options in most cases will give a bigger bang for the buck over a longer period of time. One boardmember sent me a terrific spreadsheet he developed for the warrants, and I modified it slightly. It works very well and gives a realistic view of the annual rate of return on various warrants. I think you really need to do this to get a good idea of what is a deal and what isn't. Cheers!

However, if you accept this assignment, please be sure to write the symbol - as I seemed to have omitted for Loews. No wonder you guys need proof-readers. ;D Although you were only one culprit amongst a few who did the same. Cheers!

Lol someone sounds compulsive . I was just thinking the same thing though. Partly, but it also saves me a few seconds of my life spent fixing something trivial like that. And it looks better and more uniform...flick the light switch...1,2,3,4...on, off, on, off! ;D Thank God the only compulsive trait I have is not ever missing a Canucks game or my Colts games! Cheers!

In regards to "Kudos". Yes, I agree with Ragnar. Someone with numerous kudos would automatically lead readers to assume their analysis is correct, whereas someone with little in the way of kudos would be relegated to being a less read thread. This happens on the Motley Fool all the time. There are alot of rubbish ideas by some people on there with a lot of recommendations. On another note, how friggin' hard is it for boardmembers to post a new topic in the "Investment Ideas" board in this format: Ticker Symbol (exchange if necessary, non-US stock) - Name of Company For such bright people, how god-damn lazy are some of you? ;D Cheers!

Just use Yahoo Finance. They are usually the ticker symbol, hyphen, "WT". Add an "A" or a "B" for BAC warrants. Cheers!

Could be. Or it could be that he didn't buy all of GEICO earlier. I think his best investment idea was hiring Ajit Jain. Cheers!

No, I would put those questions in the "General Discussion" Board. That way the "Investment Ideas" board only shows ticker symbols and names on the sub-headings for threads. Cheers!

So I had an extra half hour and set up the "Investment Ideas" board: Please use this specific board for discussing actual investment ideas primarily about specific equities. When you start a new topic, please use the form "BRKA - Berkshire Hathaway". The "General Discussion" board should be used for all other general topics, including macro-economic discussions. The "Investment Idea" Board is specifically for investments only. Cheers!

Please use this specific board for discussing actual investment ideas primarily about specific equities. When you start a new topic, please use the form "BRKA - Berkshire Hathaway" - ticker symbol and then name of the company. The "General Discussion" board should be used for all other general topics, including macro-economic discussions. The "Investment Idea" Board is specifically for investments only. Cheers!

josh and mr. inversion - are you proposing in the subfolder that each new topic is 1 company/stock? Not a bad idea. I'm really busy this week, but let me implement something of this nature over the weekend. Cheers!

I understand what Buffett was trying to stay, but the argument is a moot point. It would be like saying what if Prem never bought TIG? Or what if Mohnish never bought DFC? The record IS what it is. None of us have the luxury to turn back time. What if Sam Walton didn't die and turn over his money to his children? ;D Cheers!

Sanjeev, since you know Chou, do you think he'll eliminate this once assets are larger? I can't comment on Francis' funds. You'll have to contact him directly with that question. All I know is that Francis is one of the only fund managers in Canada, who has on several occasions refunded a portion of the management expense ratio to his unitholders because he wasn't satisfied with his results. He will be fair to his unitholders. Cheers!

Sanjeev, Why don't you add a couple senior members as moderators too? We tried that in the past and it didn't work that well. I want to limit the censorship to be as minimal as possible. I think posters will get the idea when certain messages are deleted, while others remain...a sort of guiding hand. In regards to critical posts of Buffett & Watsa...those are fine. It's just the ones that go a little too far...such as calling them senile, etc, which will be removed. Understanding their mistakes is as important as understanding their successes in my opinion, so rational, critical posts are ok...it will just be a bit of a judgement call on the ones that veer off the edge. Cheers!