Parsad

This works on all of the browsers. All you have to do is click "Post" and it will post. Just don't hit "back" or anything, otherwise then you lose the post. Cheers!

I do understand that your revenue is mostly coming from your clinics and other operating businesses. My major concern is the asset test, not the income test. Are you planning to have almost no investment securities in PDH, and just focus on acquiring whole businesses and 25%+ partial ownership? After a couple of acquisitions, most of the assets will be tied up in operating businesses...not cash or securities. Cheers!

I remember meeting this gentleman on a flight from Dallas to Omaha about five years back. He was about 90-95 years old, half-blind, but very engaging. He was going to the Berkshire Hathaway meeting. Lived in Dallas, but had a farm in Omaha and was a long-time shareholder. I asked him about his farm..."Ohhh, I bought it many years ago...about 50,000 acres!" I asked him how long he's been a shareholder..."Oh, I owned it before Buffett got involved. My broker accidentally bought me 5,000 shares when I asked him to buy something else, but he thought this was a better investment." What happened...did you keep the shares? "Yeah, I ended up keeping them. I gave my idiot son 500 shares ten years ago, but he sold them, but I kept the rest of them!" And the broker? "Oh, I fired him right after he bought me the stock and told me what he did!" Did you ever see him again or thank him years later? "Nope!" as he chuckled. So why did Buffett buy Berkshire? Perhaps serendipity. Maybe it was a mistake for Buffett to buy Berkshire, but maybe he would not have turned Berkshire into what he did if he had sold it or bought something else. Thank goodness he made the worst mistake of his life by buying Berkshire! Cheers!

Very unlikely, as most of our revenue is currently generated through our PET/CT and MRI Clinics and future revenues will be generated by other operating businesses we acquire. Cheers!

The pre-dinner meeting on April 15th is in Salon 1 of the Fairmont Royal York on the 19th Floor from 3pm to 6pm with free refreshments for everyone. Cheers!

Hi Folks, Last chance to buy tickets to our 10th Annual Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinner which occurs Wednesday, April 15th at 6pm in the Imperial Room at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca - scroll down a little and you'll see the ticket box on the left hand column We also have a few fantastic new silent auction items that Fairfax was able to arrange: - Wayne Gretzky autographed Edmonton Oilers Jersey w/Certificate of Authentication - Wayne Gretzky autographed Los Angeles Kings Jersey w/Certificate of Authentication - Milos Roanic autographed gift set w/includes a racket, shirt, bag and photograph...all signed by Milos! The Edmonton Jersey will begin the auction bidding at our dinner and end at the Fairfax AGM. The jersey will be at the table where I hand out the Templeton Foundation books at Fairfax's AGM. A special person will be waiting to award the jersey to the highest bidder! Cheers!

Ahahah!! You want to fire Federer just because he has become a billionaire at 33 swinging a tennis racket?! ;D Your answer might be: Biglari is no Federer. Then I ask you again what I have asked some posts ago: show me the track record of a stock market investment professional which is better than Biglari’s since 2000. Until now no one has answered. ;) Cheers, Gio Without significant leverage - Allan Mecham at Arlington Value. With significant leverage - Ericopoly. Cheers!

Again to reiterate on changes to the dinner: - Now in the Imperial Room on the Lobby Level - Nametags at Registration Table in Foyer of Imperial Room - Doors open at 6pm - Dinner / Presentations begin at 6:30pm - Guests arrive at 8:30pm-8:45pm for Q&A - Bring your credit card and cash, as we will have some terrific silent auction prizes! Pre-Dinner Gathering - 3pm to 6pm in Salon 1 now on the 18th Floor - Complimentary refreshments Cheers!

NBL, your posts have been very good up until now. This argument holds no water, as the Buffett brand is stronger than the Berkshire Hathaway brand, yet Buffett has not renamed any company after himself. The Biglari name is on Steak'n Shake because of two things...Sardar's ego and to entrench himself. That's it! Any argument otherwise is ridiculous, as I was there when this happened and was one of the only shareholders to argue against it. You trying to tell me that it's because he's only trying to create a brand is silly! The letter I sent to the board is attached, and if anything, the name change was the canary in the coalmine! As you can see, I was as fond of the CEO as you or Gio are now. Incidentally, you do realize that the Colts released Manning and found themselves a quarterback of equal, if not better calibre, in Andrew Luck. Jim Irsay, the owner, could do that because Peyton Manning didn't have a $100M licensing agreement against the Colts! You shareholders have a golden noose around your necks right now, and the beneficiary is the CEO of the company in every capacity. Cheers! Letter_to_Steakn_Shake_-_January_31_2010.pdf

Surprisingly accurate article in the NY Post about the BH proxy contest: http://nypost.com/2015/03/27/steak-n-shake-boss-and-potential-replacements-feeling-the-heat/ The article has it right...Sardar has to go, but Groveland aren't the right guys to do it. Cheers!

I agree with FFHWatcher in terms of logic on how you spend on a car...whether you have a large capital base/income or small capital base/income. In other words, even if you are younger and have a small capital base/income, then you would allocate a more modest amount into a vehicle than someone with a larger capital base/income. FFHWatcher may buy a $50-60K car. Someone younger with a smaller capital base should probably allocate around $15-20K. I have no hard and fast rules. I liked the new Jeep Cherokee, so I bought one new, but not without haggling at a number of dealers and then having the winner throw in a couple of things free like a flat screen tv and unlimited car washes. The other car I bought, a Mercedes B200 Turbo, I simply kept going to a couple of dealerships on a Saturday for a couple of months...just watching what they had in inventory. Of the cars I liked, the one that kept sitting out there each week...the dealer kept dropping the price because it wouldn't sell...that's the one I went and bargained hard for after about 2 months. I got it for a song and it runs beautifully! The bottom line though is I cannot buy anything without haggling a bit, or looking for a discount or coupon...I don't like paying retail. So, I would say there are no hard and fast rules about buying a car, but the biggest would be that you are buying something you can comfortably afford. If you don't know anything about cars, then I would recommend CONeal suggests...buy new, but what you can afford, and then drive it until the wheels fall off and the body rusts. Cheers!

Nothing nefarious in their motives, so the "red-flags" issue is irrelevant. They've taken a teaching approach in their presentations...to share the knowledge they've garnered from their experiences...and it just means a lot of exposure to a lot of students. Cheers!

Terrific Norm! I think it will be wonderful. I'll apologize ahead of time that I won't be able to make it this year. Due to this being our 10th Anniversary FFH Dinner and the beginning of our 10th Year for the MPIC Funds, I've got a bunch of family coming with me to Toronto...I'll be occupying them outside of the FFH Dinner, the Fairfax AGM and the MPIC Fund's AGM. Cheers!

It's been a couple of years since I last spoke to Francois, but my opinion would not change about him. He's an honest, good guy and a good investor. He has a good team as well. The one caveat I would give, and I always give this...doesn't matter who the manager is: In examining a manager's long-term results, I never look at what he did managing his personal portfolio, or money for family or friends. It's not the same thing...not at all...not even if it is audited. Managing capital from people you have more than an arms-length fiduciary responsibility to is completely different. Why? Because your parents and your best friend's Mom or Dad most likely won't pull the capital from you...and they also won't question you when you put 100% of it into Berkshire Hathaway or some other company. So whenever I see personal portfolio or family/friends data incorporated into long-term results, that caveat always comes to mind. That being said, Francois has still done very well if you exclude the 1993-1998 years...so the caveat is somewhat irrelevant in this case. Cheers!

It's not a particularly good article, and while some things are inaccurate, some of it is accurate. I would suggest this fed off or is reporting the Groveland party line. What I'm disappointed with is not that Sardar is finally being taken to task, but that the task master leaves a lot to desire as well. I'm not impressed by Groveland's proxy other than the fact they had the balls to do this with such a tiny stake in BH. Cheers!

You quote Carnegie, but the Janitor did exactly the same thing as Carnegie...donated his wealth to the local library and community. Perhaps, he was influenced by Carnegie...perhaps he was just a frugal old man who loved investing the way others love crosswords...perhaps he was lonely and selfish. No one really knows unless you know the man. For us to comment like we are doing is a lazy simplification of his life. Cheers!

That is fantastic!! Well said. Vote the few shares I have for Groveland today - would love to see a groundswell vote against Sardar. Sadly, I'm not sure BH shareholders would be best served by either Sardar or Swenson. I keep looking at those Seth Barkatt Facebook pictures and think to myself why would Swenson nominate such a stooge for the board! The one that gets me is "I made a million dollars today! How was your day?" Geez! A sad day for shareholders all round! Cheers!

Presentation at Google! Dynamic Duo...good stuff, but you guys need to be careful of getting too much exposure. You don't want people to start becoming de-sensitized to the message. It's why the Rolling Stones only tour every three-five years! ;D Otherwise you become the Grateful Dead and their Deadheads! Cheers!

+1! It's amazing how obvious the dilemma is, yet very few find it ethically compromised. He's simply double-dipping. He should have a moderate salary at BH, with a reasonable annual bonus decided by the compensation committee and approved by the board. Then he's welcome to reap his incentive fee at Lion Fund. He also should not be allowed to vote BH shares controlled by BH assets in the Lion Fund...those shares should simply abstain. He can vote BH shares owned by the Lion Fund that are not BH assets. Cheers!

Shalab, with respect, you misunderstood the sentiment. What you suggested is not at all the sentiment I was sharing (this had nothing to do with stewardship or corporate governance) - but rather that the votes of people who are investing, in their own words, for entertainment purposes - are much less significant than anyone, no matter how large or small their share ownership is, who is reasoning through these issues and voting purely as an investor. I haven't knocked anyone for voting however they want. But when someone says they own a stock for "entertainment" purposes, I can't help but think of that as poor stewardship. NBL, I would hope you would include BH's investment in Air T and Insignia as "poor stewardship" as well. While not "entertainment", both investments were a spectacular waste of capital simply to measure penises. Cheers!

Hi Folks, Due to changes at the Royal York, our dinner has moved to the Imperial Room on the lobby level floor. What that does is give us a far bigger venue and we have plenty of seats available. If you are on the waiting list, or were not interested in buying tickets because we were sold out, the Paypal button has been added back to the home page site on the left hand side: www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca Select the type of ticket you want, and click "Buy Now"! Please review the updated details below for the dinner. Cheers! 10th Annual Fairfax Financial Shareholder’s Dinner CMC Fairfax Financial Shareholder’s Dinner Imperial Room - Main Lobby Level Wednesday, April 15th, 2015 Fairmont Royal York 100 Front Street West Toronto, Ontario (416) 368-2511 Presentation Only - $100.00 CDN Presentation & Expansive Full-Buffet Dinner - $200.00 CDN Cash Bar If anyone is interested in corporate sponsorship of prizes, or any donors for prizes, please contact me at cornerofberkshireandfairfax@gmail.com.

Hi Folks, Due to changes at the Royal York, our dinner has moved to the Imperial Room on the lobby level floor. What that does is give us a far bigger venue and we have plenty of seats available. If you are on the waiting list, or were not interested in buying tickets because we were sold out, the Paypal button has been added back to the home page site on the left hand side: www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca Select the type of ticket you want, and click "Buy Now"! Please review the updated details below for the dinner. Cheers! 10th Annual Fairfax Financial Shareholder’s Dinner CMC Fairfax Financial Shareholder’s Dinner Imperial Room - Main Lobby Level Wednesday, April 15th, 2015 Fairmont Royal York 100 Front Street West Toronto, Ontario (416) 368-2511 Presentation Only - $100.00 CDN Presentation & Expansive Full-Buffet Dinner - $200.00 CDN Cash Bar If anyone is interested in corporate sponsorship of prizes, or any donors for prizes, please contact me at cornerofberkshireandfairfax@gmail.com.

Generally, they do read many of your posts...especially about Fairfax! Getting a Ping-Pong table into Roy Thomson hall is easy enough, but I'm not sure how the dynamics would work. It would be more suitable for a more relaxed atmosphere, like the way Berkshire does it in Regency Mall in front of Borsheims. Cheers!

Karthik, As a shareholder of Premier Diagnostics Health Services Inc, you will be receiving documents from Computershare for our SAGM on April 2nd. You can vote online, by telephone, in person, or by returning the proxy material. If you received the shares directly, the material will be sent to you directly. If your shares are held by a broker, please contact your broker for the material if has not been forwarded. Some of the packages may be stuck in the mail, so please give it another week. If you still have not received your proxy documents in a week, and those two avenues above fail, please contact Marta Davidson at Robertson Neil LLP at 604-685-1620. Let her know you have not been able to receive your proxy documents. Thanks very much! Sanjeev

Hi Sanjeev, I received the documents in the mail and I have a few questions. The document is well written and you have done a superb job to date. Keep up the good work! 1. Would you please elaborate on what your intentions are for PIHK? Its very vague as it current says, "The business of this subsidiary has not yet been determined." PIHK is short for "Premier Investment (Hong Kong) Ltd". Other than that, because Premier is a public company, I cannot discuss it any more than that. What I can say is that China, India, and Asia in general, are not going to get smaller over the next 20-30 years. 2. You will now be allocating 33% of the portfolio into North American public securities - great! Any intention of rolling up CMC into PDH? (That way you can dedicate 100% of your time to PDH instead of 80% as mentioned) That number on the portfolio is solely due to the nature of corporate boards. What we are trying to do is difficult for some board members to grasp, unless they've undergone an indoctrination into Berkshire and Buffett. But we choose to work with boards and shareholders, rather than around them, and eventually they begin to understand. Depending on how complex things get and if it becomes an issue from a regulatory standpoint, rolling CMC into PDH would not be out of the question...just no plans for it now. Again, the 80% number is something that lawyers come up with to satisfy exchanges...I spend all of my time at PDH or MPIC, and how PDH does directly affects MPIC...it's a symbiotic relationship. In fact, MPIC has essentially moved into PDH's offices, and I will be changing the mailing address for MPIC shortly. 3. Would you be able to shed additional colour on the progress of getting PDHK/PDC cash flow positive from operating activities? PDHK has been profitable for a long-time. But since we hired our general manager in China, we will be rerouting that capital back into China growth. I cannot comment on PDC and profitability. I can say that I feel very good about PDC, and the cash flow engine I thought I saw there when we made the initial investment 10 months ago...it does really exist! 4. Stock options... care to shed additional colour if stock options will continue in the future or are you planning on shifting compensation more on a cash basis to prevent future dilution. (I know its minimal but over time it adds up) Again, this is a board thing...unless you really understand the cost of options and the fallacy in how accurately they compensate people, you don't really know why you use them. The options granted were when I first joined the board...it was the way they did things. You may have noticed part of my bonus as CEO was in actual shares at market price. It is easy to persuade a board to act in a manner if it only includes you...convincing them that's how everyone should be compensated is another matter. Once again, we work with boards, make changes to boards where we can (notice the addition of Andrew this year), and then they usually come around thereafter! :) 5. Would you shed additional colour on why the shares are held in escrow until August 1, 2015. I just do not understand the purpose. Again, it was the way the board was compensating directors and executives. 1/3rd vests immediately, another 1/3rd vests a year later and the last 1/3rd two years later. There is no rhyme or reason...it's just the way they do it and the way most boards do it. This will change over time. Getting the changes I wanted over the last 10 months has been very challenging with our board. It is a slow, at times perplexing and frustrating endeavour! This is actually true with most corporate boards, because the directors really have little or no understanding of how the business actually operates. They also have very little understanding of how businesses are valued, forensic accounting skills, or the pervasiveness of corporate culture...which starts at the top. As Buffett said before, boards are very collegial and long-term members are often set in their ways and incapable of other views. I understand why some CEO's like to ram resolutions and votes through...I feel for them. But from an ethical standpoint, they work and report to the board, and they don't own the company, so they need to learn to work with boards and shareholders. The fact that they cannot do that, makes them more dangerous than anything else...certainly not determined or driven. But boards change with the emergence of CEO's, and eventually a synergy does develop between the CEO and a well-functioning board. The board's duty is not to cow-tow to the CEO, but protect shareholder interests as their fiduciary...so there is a necessary balance there at times. While this may stifle progress a bit, it also helps minimize corporate governance issues. Cheers! Tks, S