Parsad

Can you imagine this every time the team warms up? I think they are going to have to call the Forum "The Madhouse"! Cheers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc

I put this post on here more to encourage board members to donate, and I didn't think for one moment that the folks at Fairfax would...or even should have the time to worry about making a pledge for my Gutsy Walk...but they did. Not only that, Sam Mitchell gave me a call today and said that he didn't want me to think that he wasn't taking my post seriously, but that he was just coming off some surgery. I told him that it was more of a gag post, and that I didn't even expect them to respond, but it was more to get boardmembers here to contribute and make people aware of Crohns. That's the type of folks working at Fairfax! Sam is coming off some serious surgery and is recovering, so I'd like all of the boardmembers here to wish him well! He's always been open and frank with us at our dinners, and given some of the best one-liners. Hope you feel a lot better Sam! Cheers!

Porn! Kraven, I don't think any of us here have any desire to see Ericopoly, Twcowfca, Indirectinvestor or Packer naked! You might want to know how BIG their net worth is, but the rest of us just aren't interested. What you do on your computer in the privacy of your own home is your business. Cheers! ;D I would like to see Packer and Sanj. naked, while singing a duet..... Guess, I'll have to wait until april 2015, patience young grasshopper, patience. I think we'd both have to be REALLY hammered for that to happen. I'll bring a few cases of Russell beer to the dinner next year! ;D Cheers!

I'm there from June 13th to June 16th and staying at the Westin Mission Hills Resort on Dinah Shore Drive. If people are interested in meeting for breakfast or coffee, let me know. Cheers!

Porn! Kraven, I don't think any of us here have any desire to see Ericopoly, Twcowfca, Indirectinvestor or Packer naked! You might want to know how BIG their net worth is, but the rest of us just aren't interested. What you do on your computer in the privacy of your own home is your business. Cheers! ;D

Yes, Cageyone that is correct. So if you are bald, you are more of a pure Ben Graham investor like Sir John Templeton, Peter Cundill, Prem, etc. If you have hair, then you are more Buffett & Munger. If you are bald, but have a little hair around the sides, then you utilize both philosophies! ;D Thanks for the donation...very generous! Cheers!

True and valid point. For example, if someone's house is paid off, and they have $2M in investments, and live on perhaps $40K in expenses a year, how would a net worth of $15M even be relevant or matter. They are financially independent for the rest of their life, and any more dollars than the $2M has no bearing on how their life will play out. That being said, many of our high net worth members have seen their net worth grow exponentially in the last decade by utilizing Ben Graham's theories combined with a hell of a lot of leverage! That could be somewhat inspirational to newer, younger, lower net worth members who want to know if it is possible for them to achieve a similar result. Cheers!

Sanj, I think it's a strategy on their part -don't forget: they're value investors- They'll wait until the last minute to give a chance to (many) smaller donators to make a modest contribution and maximize the gains pledges instead of discouraging them if they topped up the bucket right away. That makes a lot of sense Alek! They do like to maximize resources before showing their card. Cheers!

Every bit helps Eric! Thanks a lot. Cheers!

Thanks Chintan...truly appreciated! Cheers!

There's at least 50 people on here that are in that bald-headed list or higher that I know of, and probably another 50-75 that read but aren't members. They've just chosen not to respond yet for whatever reason...humility, they aren't bald, vacation, surfing, or busy finding the IP address on their Tesla's. ;D Cheers!

Hey, you're a millionaire in training! I wish when I was 24, I knew what you know now at 24. So don't feel as though you are handicapped in anyway. You've got about 5 years head start on me regarding understanding Ben Graham and value investing, and I didn't start my own funds until another 7 years after that. So in those 12 years, you will probably be a millionaire before I even really started! ;D Cheers!

Thanks Brian! Keep it coming folks. Cheers!

Thanks Matt! Much appreciated. C'mon guys at Fairfax! Dig deep. Look, Mark Ram, formerly of Northbridge and a director for the CCC, is kicking my ass at over $19,000. How did he do that? You think he really went door to door...baloney! It's a fix...like the hedgies. I think he went to Steve Cohen and got a donation. You guys know Mark is a gloater! He's going to be rubbing my face in it until next year's Fairfax Shareholder's Dinner. He's got a bit of hair on the sides, and I have none, and he makes fun of me all of the time! C'mon Vinodh...Prem...don't let him get away with this! Mohnish! C'mon you're bald too or nearly there. You know how it feels. Whatever...$20, 40, 100...whatever you want to give. Tim, you're pretty much bald too...c'mon...$100 or something! Why is it that so many value investors are bald? Cheers!

Thought I would move this to the Fairfax thread...that way they can't miss it. C'mon Paul, canvass the office...I know everyone wants to help...make a pledge...otherwise I'm coming after you guys! ;D Brian, Chandran, Sam, Prem! And Vinodh, don't think I'll forget about you. Pat, smack these guys upside the head! Cheers! http://crohnsandcolitiscanada.akaraisin.com/pledge/Participant/Home.aspx?seid=8155&mid=9&pid=1686115

The TENTATIVE date is now: Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at 10:00am 949 East 2nd St., LA From an anonymous, but reliable and informed source! ;D Cheers!

Thanks everyone...that's much better! Keep it going. Cheers!

Thanks Constructive...very generous! Fantastic. Cheers!

Thanks Cubsfan...got the donation! Much appreciated. Cheers!

Hi Oracle, It seems that there is a bug if you are using Explorer. Open the link with Chrome or Firefox, and then select United States...it will then bring up the respective states. Cheers!

Thanks very much to the people who have pledged already! Now for you other cheapskates...c'mon, you can do better! Frickin' board full of millionaires and I can't get a $20 pledge from you guys. What happened...you were wonderful last year?! Let's go: http://crohnsandcolitiscanada.akaraisin.com/pledge/Participant/Home.aspx?seid=8155&mid=9&pid=1686115 Hey, and you guys at Fairfax head office. I know you read this board. C'mon Paul, get a pool together with the Hamblin-Watsa guys? Peter, get some of these guys to pledge. All my other friends...Tim, Francis, Mohnish, Jeff, let's go...even 20 bucks! Cheers!

Once again, I need your help boardmembers. As you know, we do our annual dinner for "Crohn's & Colitis Canada", where have raised over $70,000 in the last 4 years. On June 8th, I'm doing the national "Gutsy Walk" again in Surrey, BC, and am looking to beat what I raised last year. Thank you for your support my friends! Cheers! http://crohnsandcolitiscanada.akaraisin.com/pledge/Participant/Home.aspx?seid=8155&mid=9&pid=1686115

+1. There are not very many companies at all who truly pass this high bar. BRK stands out here. (other names welcome). I view handing out stock options, year after year to management as failing the test. Would much rather compensate management for their real contributions (pay above market) and let them buy stock with their own money. Just like the rest of us. Why is that difficult to understand? Because people inherently value themselves very highly! No one ever stops to think...maybe I'm not worth that! ;D We've indirectly acquired about 20% of a company through a convertible debt deal we just made in Vancouver, and I added the caveat of a director's seat to close the deal. We had our first board meeting last week, and I emphasized that the CEO should not be sitting on the compensation committee...they made me Chair of the Compensation Committee! Now this is a nano-cap company, just returning to form as they ran out of money to get their operations up and running. The CEO is a large shareholder, but some of the costs that the company has been paying in compensation is mind-boggling. I can't say much else, as we are in the process of dealing with this, but unfortunately corporations, big or small, are run with a culture of entitlement. I'm already rocking the boat on this one and I know it. Things are going to have to change. I don't know how CEO's justify their compensation in such matters to shareholders. Shareholders who have lost considerable money! And then you have CEO's who create a ton of shareholder value, but inherently think they deserve a fatter and fatter piece of the pie. It isn't enough to be well-compensated or enjoy your work...you just want more and more! Sad really! Cheers!

Thanks for the information Eric! That'll give Paul a little more to work with when I get him to investigate a bit. By the way, what the heck are you doing surfing the site while driving your Tesla? ;D I know it's an interesting site, but c'mon! Cheers!

A handful of people have had one-off or recurring unintentional bans from this forum over the last couple of months. If for some reason, you find this happened or happens to you from time to time on your laptop, desktop, tablet or phone, please clear out the cache. Sometimes stored pages or info won't update as they continue to go to the same stored page. If it still happens after clearing out the cache and history, send me your IP address for your phone, tablet or computer? Someone I banned was using hundreds of IP addresses…some of which belonged to other boardmembers. Not sure how that occurs. Let me know if that works. Thanks! Sanjeev