Parsad

It's not so different than Walmart or McDonalds closing a store that tries to unionize. I have no problem if they want to do that, or if Chrysler is playing hardball. They just have to deal with any fallout that comes from playing such a hand. If they leave because the Canadian Government or CAW don't want to bend, then Chrysler has to live with that decision, just like the government or the union has to as well. This is a capitalist society and businesses, government and individuals all have choices...be it savory or unsavory. Cheers!

Wow, he was down almost 90% over one year! Holy cow! Cheers!

Oh, sorry Link. I didn't see that you already put the name down...Shooters. I like that! Cheers!

Actually, I sent the idea of sliders to Sardar a few months ago, along with some other ideas. He had already thought about adding sliders, and when I talked to him shortly after that, he said that they were already testing them in some markets. He works very fast! Does anyone know the name? I suggested calling them "L'il Steaks". I think they will do very well. I love those things at every restaurant I go to here in Vancouver. The best ones I've ever had are at a restaurant called "Trevor's Kitchen and Bar" in Toronto. They're beautifully, succulent Kobe beef miniburgers...unfortunately they are $22 for three! I'll try them again when I'm in Toronto this year. Cheers!

Looks like Sardar now has the executive managers and board at SNS firmly in his corner. David Milne resigned in February, and Ed Wilhelm and Steven Schmidt have now said that they won't run for the board again. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93859/000009385909000016/form8k31709.htm With the improving results, can there really be any argument? Cheers!

Usually when these articles start coming out of the woodwork, you know that Berkshire has hit bottom for now and things should get better. The one from Diane Francis last week, which followed a number of articles by Doug Kass, and recently Peter Eavis and James Cramer, should mean good news for Berkshire owners going forward. http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090315/REG/303159971/1030/MUTUALFUNDS What's quite amusing is the quote below regarding Fairholme's decision to sell Berkshire: His dumping of Berkshire Hathaway, however, is a particularly troubling signal since his investing acumen is so well-respected that he is mentioned by some industry experts as a possible successor to Mr. Buffett. So they suggest in the article that investors shouldn't put too much weight into the opinions of the "gurus", yet they use Berkowitz as a guru and his opinion should matter. Oh the hypocrisy!

Bill Blackwell, an employee who has been with Steak'n Shake for 53 years, is retiring. Hard to find people like this anymore! Cheers! http://www.tampabay.com/features/food/restaurants/article983709.ece

I just finished watching Jon and Cramer go face to face... I am not sure what Cramer was trying to accomplish by going on the show. Jon provided many examples of how CNBC is blowing it and Cramer just kept agreeing and was unable to say anything that made any sense the whole time. Cramer should have simply said that very few people knew how bad things were. Cramer also should have fessed up that his show has a lot in common with the World Wrestling Federation (is it really real???)!!! I was also surprised at how angry Jon was during the interview (there wasn't a lot of comedy)! Serious stuff I guess. Let's see where it goes from here... The funny thing is that John Stewart is a financial layman. How can guys like Cramer, or for that matter Mr. Joe Kiernan who likes to jump into the Becky Quick interviews with Buffett, respond if someone knowledgeable actually questions them? Did anyone else here think that Kiernan jumping into Quick's interview with comments about the Schering merger sound ridiculously moronic? Another perfect example of how CNBC caters to Wall Street idiots and the short-term trader. Nothing will come of these confrontations. It never has and never will. Hopefully a few minds get changed, but nothing significant will ever happen because it is a highly collegial atmosphere. One that regulators are reluctant to change, and one that the media whores benefit from. Cheers!

What does this mean. Does Berkshire has to post collateral/deposit money for any of the derivatives or puts it has written ? Probably not. Financing costs for businesses like Clayton Homes and Mid-American may be higher. Although AM Best, Standard & Poors, DBRS will probably not do such a stupid thing and downgrade Berkshire, so I'm not sure exactly how much more in interest they would have to pay for any debt they issue. Going from AAA to AA+ isn't going to be detrimental, but it does take away Buffett & Munger's ability to say they are AAA-rated by every rating agency. I bet Munger has some choice words for Fitch...like Fitch-off! Cheers!

One of the dumbest things I've seen in the last year (and that says alot), including their reasoning for doing so! Cheers! http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7b8684919A-8A3A-406D-A69E-0EF5A50A4170%7d&siteid=yhoof2

Information for the AGM in Indianapolis. Cheers! The company plans to communicate with shareholders at its upcoming Annual Meeting of Shareholders now set for April 24, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. E.S.T. (Previously, the date was April 3, 2009.) The meeting will take place in the Vienna Ballroom at the Conrad Hotel, 50 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana. The company will send additional details in the proxy statement, which shortly will be filed and distributed. To ensure that all interested parties are accommodated, the company asks that shareholders, analysts, and media planning to attend reserve a seat at rsvp@steaknshake.com.

Those are terrific numbers for this environment. Especially in light of how the business was performing last year under previous management. Cheers!

With a month to go, if you haven't already given me your RSVP for the shareholder's dinner, then please do so: For the fourth year in a row, we will be holding a Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinner in Toronto. About nine people showed up the first year, and last year we had about 30 shareholders attend. For the last three years, Sam Mitchell and Francis Chou have graciously attended, where they have entertained questions from shareholders for over an hour. Many attendees left with sage advice that served them well through the volatility of 2008! Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinner Tuesday April 14, 2009 Joe Badali's 156 Front Street West Toronto, Ontario (416)977-3064 Drinks: 6:30pm-7:00pm Dinner: 7:00pm-9:00pm RSVP: sanjeevparsad@shaw.ca To date, the list of attendees includes: - Sanjeev P. - Alnesh M. - Andrew C. - Paul R. - Eric A. - Jim B. - Brian B. - Stephen C. - Jordan C. - Marc C. - James E. - Stuart F. - Simon H. - Gary H. - Tom J. - Charles K. - Stephen K. - Peter L. - William M. (possibly a guest) - Stefaan M. (possibly a guest) - Eng-Chuan O. - John P. - Norm R. - Al R. - Keith S. - Brian S. (possibly a guest) - Jeff S. - Martin B. Cheers!

Talk about closing the barn door AFTER the horse has left the barn. Isn't that how the government normally works? :D Mary Schapiro has also confirmed that they will be proposing the reinstatement of the uptick rule in April. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/29634974

Article on Grantham's comments suggesting to slowly move into equities as it is impossible to time bottoms. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=aqR2H8gIZ0.M&refer=home

I'm sure she is, but just like we responded when people were treating Prem like crap back in 2003 & 2004, we aren't going to let anyone treat him like a God now. He's Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial, who has done some amazing things since starting his company. If anyone is the ideal student for Buffett and Graham, it's probably him, but at the end of the day he's still just Prem. I'm pretty sure his wife and kids don't tell him he's "one up on Buffett" at home! ;D Cheers!

I sent Diane Francis an email today regarding the article: Dear Diane, I am a long-time Fairfax Financial shareholder, who is friends with hundreds of other Fairfax shareholders. Some have owned Fairfax from day one, and some are recent buyers. We have immensely enjoyed your interviews with Prem over the last few months. Many of us were somewhat disappointed in the tone of your article today. Not that it was necessarily lacking in fact, as Fairfax Financial has done better than any other property-casualty insurer in the world in 2008. No, the disappointment stems from elsewhere. Despite several interviews with Prem, we believe you may not have grasped the essence of what makes him a great leader to begin with...his humility! We can only shudder and gasp at the inflammatory title of your article, and wonder exactly how Prem felt about that. As long-term shareholders, we can assure you he would never take any pleasure in such a statement, nor would he ever equate himself with Buffett...one of his heroes and mentors. In fact, Prem would be the very first person to remind you that Fairfax had a very difficult time from 2003-2006, while Berkshire prospered handsomely. A period in which the very existence of Fairfax was in jeopardy. The reason Fairfax survived wasn't because Prem is some kind of six-sigma genius, but that his humility earned him trust from the likes of the Markels, Cundill and Sir JohnTempleton, and the great team of employees at Fairfax whose loyalties know no bounds. I hope you don't view this letter as a negative. If anything, it should be viewed as something positive, as there is much to Prem Watsa that the mainstream media does not know and has yet to explore. Ideally, it should begin with his humility. Yours truly, Sanjeev Parsad Corner Market Capital Corporation Suite 1620, Box 36 1140 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6E4G1 phone: 604.612.3965 fax: 866.279.2907 e-mail: sanjeevparsad@shaw.ca www.cornermarketcapital.com

For those that were having difficulty printing the report, Fairfax has fixed the security measures that were in place previously, and you can now print the reports with no problem. I've had the flu for the last few days, and didn't even realize that Fairfax had put out their annual report on Friday! ??? Just read it this morning...good stuff! Cheers!

I like the investorvillage format a lot better. Thoughts? The vast majority of board members here actually prefer a simple forum. At Investor Village, you actually have to go to each ticker symbol message board, not unlike Yahoo, Stockhouse or The Fool. We have just three boards...Fairfax, Berkshire and General. Investor Village also has all sorts of features that hardly anyone would use here such as the blog boards, and we don't have the ability to add market quotes, etc. We can add some news and feeds, but not full quotes with charts, etc. This may be the wrong board for you if you would like those additional features. Berkshire Hathaway has probably the simplest website around, outside of Leucadia's, but they both serve their purpose. That's all we are doing here. Just a simple forum where people can chat about ideas. We'll throw interviews on the blog, and that's about it outside of the occasional get together. Members can adjust the profile and administrative settings to make it better suited for their needs, but I don't think we'll be changing anything much anytime soon. This board is a breeze for me to moderate compared to the old MSN board, and it is much simpler to moderate than a board like Investor Village or The Motley Fool. Cheers!

Diane Francis' article from last week made The Huffington Post, which is Ariana Huffington's highly viewed U.S. site. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-francis/the-worlds-smartest-money_b_171184.html Cheers!

I thought I would post it, so if any of you guys ran into Feingold, you could give him a swift kick up the arse for me! Cheers!

That's what Buffett was doing back in 1981 Al. He said he was selling things trading at 3 times earnings to buy things trading at two times earnings. Cheers!

This is always so amusing, because all these same people panicking, were more than happy to see the S&P go well over 1500 back in late 2007. Now with the markets cut more than in half, many stocks trading for less than half of the net assets on the book, and dividend yields nearly double the long-term treasury yield, they are screaming as if the bottom is nowhere to be found and sunlight will never come pouring in through their office windows again! Cheers!

Another one crawling out from under a rock! Cheers! http://biz.yahoo.com/minyanville/090302/20090302snakeoil_id.html?.v=1

Thanks for the update Linkmont! I would like to try one, as well as a Steak'n Shake. Cheers!