Parsad

What else would one of the biggest fraudsters have to say on the subject? The same fellow who fed John Gwynn, Peter Eavis and Fabrice Taylor their stories and reports. The same fellow who contacted shareholders to tell them to sell their shares in Fairfax. He'll get his comeuppance eventually. Cheers!

I think this is part of the litany of protests that the public has about TARP. How can the weakest bank be provided cheaper funding than many other solid institutions, including Berkshire Hathaway? Make errors in judgement and we'll bail you out. I agree with the sentiment that when the elephant fall, all the grass around him gets crushed, but I'm not sure why we can't let small institutions fail for their own mistakes. That's capitalism! Cheers! http://www.examiner.com/x-7944-Warren-Buffett-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Weakest-bank-has-lower-funding-costs-than-Berkshire-Hathaway

I think that was a good lesson to learn when you did Stubble. There are alot of people who throw good money after bad on these types of capital-intensive businesses. I'm sure there is money to be made in the airline industry...just ask Richard Branson...but it isn't easy. The auto industry falls into this same pile, as do many other capital-intensive businesses such as energy, construction...even to a certain degree the railroad business belonged here. Buffett talks about a change in the economics of the railroad business due to double-stacked railcars, but that happens only once in a while. But when you do get a clear change in the economics of an industry, it can sometimes be sustained for a while. Or perhaps a legal precedent which allows a monopoly to form. Yet even those aren't fail-safe. Cheers!

The SEC has now made permanent their naked short-selling ban from last fall. But naked short-selling doesn't really exist, eh? ;D Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SEC-rule-on-naked-apf-3523034809.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=2b067249d4db88f3d21400ab9177d18e&ccode=1

It's a ten-foot hurdle industry. Much easier to wait and find ideas in sectors that are less capital-intensive and throw off far more cash. Cheers!

I don't like screens at all except for perhaps a starting point for what to look at. Screens do not take into account many things, such as various other important financial factors that may be precluded from the screen parameters, competitive advantages, economic circumstances, or the value of certain intangible assets. Screens also exclude other opportunities such as workouts, arbitrage, control positions or fixed income investments. Cheers!

And the PBS link: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/business/july-dec09/bernanke_07-26.html Cheers!

CNN article about Ben Bernanke's town hall meeting, and how he did not want to be the Fed chief who presided over the 2nd Great Depression. Also, some comments by Buffett on Bernanke and the economy. Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/26/news/economy/bernanke_town_hall/index.htm

I think it's too easy to be critical of Miller, or some of the other managers who got hammered last year. Munger got hammered in 1973 and 1974, yet virtually everyone on this board would invest with him based on what they know of him. He was also a Graham student, but tweaked his philosophy to encompass intangible competitive advantages. Miller is not entirely different. Miller also runs a plain old mutual fund. The fund industry operates on the premise that a manager isn't doing his job if he's holding cash, and that compounds their problems in bear markets. I think those that got hammered, simply did so because they were afraid to hold cash and they probably had some correlated risk. Whether it's luck or skill, we can't take away from his 15-year streak. Cheers!

Hi Packer, I don't live in Toronto, but I've been there enough times. These days, you can find some pretty good bargains in downtown Toronto, and you would have access to shuttles, trains, light-rail, buses, subway, etc. My favorite sites to find good hotel deals are www.sidestep.com, www.expedia.com or .ca, or hotwire.com. With sidestep.com, it will actually search through like 150 other sites looking for the cheapest price. There is plenty of variety in hotels, quality, prices and location in downtown Toronto. I'm sure others can give more ideas. Cheers!

CNBC has another interview with him and they show the cartoon. Is anyone else other than me getting sick of the CNBC anchors (other than Becky Quick) gushing over Buffett? Is that what we all sound like in Omaha? Yikes! Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/32122898

Interview with Bob Shiller on residential and commercial loans. We just sent out the MPIC Fund I, LP's letter a couple of days ago, and in there we commented that we think there will continued pressure on residential home prices, but we think we will see significant pressure also from commercial loans which won't make things any easier. Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news/economy/banks.commercial.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes

For our Canadian investors that are familiar with Loblaws grocery stores, they have purchased Asian foods supermarket chain T&T for $212M. It will be run as a seperate division. I believe the younger Weston has done a terrific job taking over for his father (including building his own public profile), along with current management. This is another smart move for them. Cheers! http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090724.wloblaw0724/GIStory/

Backlog, backlog and more backlog...no demand, no decrease in supply. Even with low rates, it will take a long time as demand is thin! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aqJxfnOv5tIA

Hey Crip, Maybe a better analogy would be a large group of obese heart patients that need to lose weight. They are all trying to lose weight together. They are trying to provide support and encouragement to each other but it may not be enough. You probably will have many that succeed and put themselves in better shape...some will fall off the wagon and start putting the weight back on...sadly a couple may succumb to a heart attack or stroke while trying to reduce the weight. In the end, things will be rosy, but that doesn't mean there won't be casualties or that the weight can be lost overnight...it will take time...probably a hell of alot longer than it took to put the weight on in the first place. No cupcakes for a while, or at least in moderation. ;D Cheers!

I think they are both correct, but Sprott is probably selling it harder due to his stance. I think we are in for several tough years. We will probably see the theoretical end of the recession by year-end, but that doesn't mean the economy has recovered. It's only a statistic that it would have ended. This morning the Bank of Canada reported that the recession is over in Canada...phhhppphttt! Consumers will be strapped. The psychology will change for a while. Budgets need to be balanced, debt repaid, jobs created. We'll go through months where things will look great, and then months where we will lose ground. And it will go like this for several years. But while that is happening businesses will become healthier, economies will strengthen. We'll come out great in the future, but the heart patient now has to go on the treadmill and lose some damn weight. Cheers!

Bloomberg article on the Goldman-Sachs investment. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYzyTHHjhsJQ

In the webcast, Patrick takes some funny shots at Sam Antar who sent in some questions. One of the more detailed webcasts on OSTK's operations. Things are moving in the right direction. Cheers! http://seekingalpha.com/article/150637-overstock-com-inc-q2-2009-earnings-call-transcript?source=yahoo&page=1

While the size of the profit is just a baby-step, Overstock is finally moving in the right direction by reducing overhead and increasing gross margins. They also bought back about $7.2M of their debt at discounted prices this year. Shorts can kiss my derriere! ;D Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Overstockcom-Reports-Q2-2009-prnews-2559904460.html?x=0&.v=1

Taxpayers got a 23% return over six months on Goldman Sachs repayment of bailout money. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6pS.2Pr7bdQ

He rolled over. You can tell from the judge's comments, and that the U.S. attorney requested the case be dropped, that Contougouris cut a deal. Cheers!

Hi Hawk, I was just clarifying how HI, TW and HOA were related to one another, and exactly which party is which, since it sounded like there was a bit of confusion in Bargainman's post. I can't comment more on that regarding the note or the merger contracts. Suffice it to say, we aren't selling our shares and have no plans on selling them anytime soon. Patience is often rewarded, and you sometimes have to trust the ability of management to see the process through. That's what happened at Fairfax over the last few years, at Steak'n Shake in the last year, and we expect our managers at Chanticleer to get the job done over time. Cheers!

A few of you scare me with all that cash. No one knows when and by how much, but we are certain to have above average inflation. The purchasing power of your cash holdings will effectively be taxed by an amount equal to the difference between the interest rate on cash and the inflation rate. You are correct to worry about elevated inflation Mpauls, but I don't think most of them will hold cash for any prolonged period where the value of their dollar will erode significantly. They are mostly just biding their time waiting for the next fat pitch. Cheers!

My two reservations are these: 1. Does he love money or does he love business? It's ok if he likes the money, but he has to love the business...malcolm gladwell type of love. This is hard to measure. Both! Even Buffett loved the money immensely. He wasn't by any means high maintenance, but he loved the money. I'm sure Biglari loves the money as well. But I assure you both love the game more, as do many other managers including myself. 2. Will west have the same capital allocating opportunities as brk? Brk invented the game which spawned lots of competition for west. I doubt west will be as lucky...but predicting the future is probably trickier than understanding sardar's personality. Probably not. You are correct that there is significantly more competition now. But it doesn't take a whole whack of ideas to do well. As long as Sardar can come up with one or two great ideas every year or two, he will do very well. The other thing is that the period we are currently going through, may create some significant opportunities for Sardar that were comparable to what Buffett was seeing in the 80's. Maybe not quite that cheap, but I'm certain we will see plenty of opportunity over the next several years. Cheers!

I read the old Buffett Partnership Letters again on the weekend. If you read the letters along with the corresponding chapters in Alice Schroeder's Snowball, you get a very clear picture of what he was doing. Much of it also aligns perfectly with what Sardar is doing...Sanborn, Dempster and then finally Berkshire Hathaway all look eerily familiar to what happened at WEST, then Friendly's and finally Steak'n Shake. Although the outcome at SNS has been far better than the early days of the Berkshire textile business. Even the teaming up with various other "associates" to increase their controlling stakes is very similar, but that probably has more to do with working with small amounts of capital. - Sanborn was targetted for their investment portfolio, while the map business was free...WEST's restaurant business was flailing, but Sardar developed the investment portfolio within the business by raising capital from existing shareholders. - Dempster was targetted for the sum of the parts and then sold off...Friendly's was targetted for the sum of it's parts, but then acquired by someone else with Biglari's approval for a nice fat profit. - Berkshire was more of a personal vendetta because the company was so poorly managed and the CEO undercut Buffett's offer price to sell his shares...Biglari wanted Gilman gone because they had done such an awful job the last few years, while doing everything to protect their own asses - it had also become very personal. While many on the board suggest that Biglari is no Buffett, I see far more similarities between the cut-throat young Buffett of the partnership days and the young Biglari we see today. There won't be another Buffett, but Biglari is doing a very nice job of following the playbook! Cheers!