Parsad

Yes, sad for the workers. But better a temporary layoff than a permanent one. This will reduce the cash burn temporarily. Not sure what will happen to DP prices in 10 weeks or the tariffs, but it's better than sitting on excess pulp inventory and burning cash. Cheers!

Norm wrote a very nice article in today's Globe & Mail about the board's discussions on giving back. Much appreciated Norm! Cheers! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/strategy-lab/value-investors-share-their-favourite-holiday-charities/article16004375/

Fortress to Close Thurso Mill For 10 Weeks: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-17/fortress-paper-to-temporarily-shut-quebec-pulp-mill.html?cmpid=yhoo http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fortress-paper-dissolving-pulp-mill-223800159.html Cheers!

My secrets are that 1) I don't manage other people's money, just my own. I think that right there gives me an advantage over you professionals (no withdrawals) and reduces stress. 2) I go big when I have a good idea. In the past I have usually had 2-5 good ideas at a time. This year it was mostly just BAC with a lot of leverage. 3) I coat tail other investors at least to initially find my ideas. When I find one I love, I invest big. I made a lot following Biglari into Western sizzlin, Friendlys, Steak & Shake. I did well with NFLX and CMG a few years ago (sold both too early), as well as ISRG. I made out very well with the MIDD/OVEN merger a few years back. And now BAC. I have no idea where my next idea will come from, but I'll know it when I find it. It seems to be working so far. Nice number rkbabang! Cheers!

George has a terrific list of speakers for next year: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2014_Conference.htm - Mohnish Pabrai - Irwin Michael - Richard Lawrence - James Rosenwald - Bruce Flatt And not on their website yet...Wilbur Ross! It will once again be at the Fairmont Royal York, April 8th. Registration for the event should open soon...most likely today! There is an early bird rate: Non-alumni $650. After Feb 28 $800. Alumni $600. After Feb 28 $700. Table of 8 - $4500. Cheers!

Let's go with the tried and true: Peace on Earth and goodwill towards men (and women)! Frankly, I have everything I need or want in this life except 50% more investment capital in the funds. That would pretty much be it. I get to do what I want with who I want. I have a nice comfortable home. Every day I pretty much do what I want. The last thing left, which is my New Year's resolution, is to get into shape again! I'm pretty happy. Cheers!

WSJ article on checklists. Cheers! http://on.wsj.com/1cswJRF

As some of you know, Mohnish has created "Dakshana Canada" as a registered charity, so that Canadian donors can get tax-deductible receipts for their contributions. There is now a link on Dakshana's site for Canadian donations: http://www.dakshana.org/donate/donate.asp I'm very pleased and humbled to be serving on the board of Dakshana Canada, alongside Tim McElvaine, Francis Chou, Mohnish and his wife Harina. Thanks very much for your contributions, support and any interest you can generate! Cheers!

I think you are finally at the point where owning the equity outright may end up being quite profitable longer term. The remaining LEAPs we had that we were retaining to possibly exercise...we exercised this month...and now SHLD is a fairly significant equity holding. Cheers!

onyx1, You are quite easily the classiest of the "detractors" on this board, so I'll ask you this, especially since you've made this "in a hurry" statement now more than once. How much of a hurry is Sardar in given: a. The investments in SNS that hurt short-term profits (two years and running now) in order to set the stage for growth through franchising b. The lack of an acquisition in 5 years of running the company (WEST notwithstanding) It's not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination (Sardar himself admits as much), but I don't really see the "hurry". Best, Ragu You guys like to act like we have no clue about Sardar, or we simply hate the guy which were the words a couple of people put in my mouth a few weeks ago. Onyx and myself, among many others, have dealt with Sardar from back when he took over Western Sizzlin. Onyx was a huge shareholder and backer. He's been screwed over like a number of other people who no longer have anything to do with him, including people who were key in the turnarounds at Western Sizzlin and Steak'n Shake. We were all big-time supporters of Biglari...for years...so obviously something significant must have happened to make us disillusioned, sell our stakes, and avoid the guy like the plague! Other shareholders can come to their own conclusion, be it positive or negative, but it doesn't take away the stain that is left with the ones who had a negative experience. You guys will have to get over that, just like we'll have to get over the glowing reviews some of you guys give him. Cheers!

That's because you are viewing it as the institutions do through MPT...their cycle is 6 months to a year out. They've created this demand for Chanos...fundamentally he should not exist, but he does because of the way institutions view markets and volatility. Cheers!

That's why I'm saying that this is a debate that probably won't be resolved. The people speaking out against Chanos (stripping away any personal issues they may have) believe that the opportunity cost of shorting is probably high -- with or without an investment in Chanos' fund. The people speaking in support of Chanos are saying that "If you must short, then..." The former group does not accept that premise. The latter group does. Ergo -- debates with no end. Here is Sanjeev on the matter: Again, the debate is not about hedging. Sanjeev is saying CHANOS PROVIDES NO VALUE WHATSOEVER, while pupil and I are saying, THE NUMBERS PROVE OTHERWISE. Sanjeev is saying Chanos had a couple of big hits. How can one possibly say that without providing evidence that he completely botched the 2005-2013 investment cycle? We only have returns through 2005, and they look pretty darn good. Clearly there is a bias against Chanos if one cannot honestly admit that he has an absolutely phenomenal long-run shorting track record, considering really the most he can make on each investment is 100%. Why is it biased? Here's a perfectly good alternative to Chanos that is cheaper and provides better long-term returns with no down years...Vito Maida's Patient Capital: http://www.patientcapital.com/calendar-year-returns#chart3 Modern portfolio theory emphasizes asset allocation examining beta and correlation with market indices, so you create a market for someone like Chanos, who really does not need to exist and adds little value to his investors. Vito has had no down years, including severe S&P years, while providing upside returns 4 times greater than Chanos. If you think Chanos is good at shorting, than Vito must be phenomenal simply as one who deploys capital...and that is what it comes down to...deployment of capital and mitigating risk, not being simply long or short. Cheers!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D +1! Very funny...and accurate. Cheers!

Come on Sanj, So you know of a swap / short product that can provide me with way to make big returns during market downturns, over over time can still deliver me a money market like average performance? Really? I'm intrigued. LOL... Let's not let our "love" for Chanos get in the way of the obvious fact that a short-only fund (understand that maybe Chanos isn't 100% short only) should be benchmarked like this: negative [market return] + short term cash return - cost to borrow index. Over Chanos' tenure, his "benchmark" is probably -8-10% annual. Now we can all say that this is not a benchmark we would ever invest in, and indeed, most people don't short for the sake of shorting, but they short to take the extra cash / liquidity offered so they can then invest more aggressively. Let's seperate benchmarks from those who choose to invest in them... Chanos has exceeded his benchmark while investing within its rules far more than most of us here could likely do.... Just as thePupil said. Now I agree, there is a real issue with counting on shorting to reduce your volatility in a way that is reliable (and yes, reduced volatility is obviously important for anyone taking withdrawals...)... Chanos' returns have not really been 1:1 inversely correlated to the market which creates a problem when you are actually seriously thinking about using shorting to gain more than 100% exposure to something else or otherwise leveraging risks assets... sometimes both sides of a pair trade can go wrong (ask Fairfax) and even if that only happens rarely, it is a real issue for how we define risk if and when it does happen... Ben PS - I'm getting too old... I think this is the second time in 5-6 years I've posted basically this same post on this same forum... ;-) I don't disagree with you Ben, but this is the institutional mentality that drives such behavior. Fairfax is as culpable as anyone else recently...they hedged because they were levered...if they weren't so levered, no need for 100% hedges. It's gone completely against them for four, nearly five, years. This thought process leads to such behavior, and Chanos' reputation just perversely perpetuates such institutional mentality. Cheers!

So basically you don't think anyone should ever engage in short selling because it is a low return proposition over long periods of time? That is a very fair belief and I won't argue against it. No, on the contrary Pupil. I think if someone is short-selling, they should be able to selectively do better than 2% annualized, just like longs can do better than 2%. I'm saying that Chanos is doing a shitty job! Chanos sells his fund to institutions, telling them that from an asset allocation standpoint, we can provide you net 2% annualized returns even when markets are tanking or going up. So institutions to offset their long positions, will allocate a portion of their capital to Kynikos. It's just stupid! Cheers!

You are talking like any modern MBA or portfolio theory student. I hear the word "alpha" and I gag! Why would you need to pay someone 1 & 20 to do what swaps or other cheaper products could achieve? And that +2% is over years relative to the S&P 500. Any wonder why pension funds and endowments are so mismanaged...because of their short-term concern for "alpha", while paying idiots like Chanos a fortune. Your argument was identical to the one Whitney Tilson used when I originally posted that years ago. Cheers!

Sorry, he was 1 & 20...not sure what he is now...see attached PDF. This negative correlation stuff has no value any longer with swaps, bear ETF's, etc. Chanos adds no value to his clients on a long-term perspective and his whole existence survives on his client's fears. Like Abbey Joseph Cohen, David Rosenberg, et al, he's built a reputation on a couple of hits and his media presence. Long-term, he provides no value whatsoever and has been wrong far more than he's ever been right about markets! Cheers! Chanos_-_Performance.pdf

Chanos: “I think hedge fund fees are probably still in a bubble although I would point out that the reality is that the days of 2-20 are kind of well behind us and even a lot of shops that charge that effectively make a lot less. Isn't Kynikos 2 & 20 last I remember? What value has this guy provided his investors over 30 years? Cheers!

Nice job Shane! Cheers!

Just saw this movie tonight! An outstanding film with amazing performances from Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck. If you like the grittiness and quiet beauty of movies like "The Deer Hunter" or "Mean Streets", you'll love this movie. Personally, I think it's a new classic for the genre. How you make rundown steel mills look as bucolic and serene as winding roads through the Appalachians, I don't know, but just a terrific movie from beginning to end! Cheers!

My father's cousin lives in Monaco...not a cheap place to live or keep an office...incredibly limited supply. Her husband owns a firm that designs and builds luxury yachts, sailboats, etc. For him, setting up his business made logical sense, since so many luxury yachts are registered and docked there. But it's hard for me to see how Monaco could be the most cost-efficient place to set up an international expansion office. Ireland, from almost every aspect, would have been far better and cheaper. Cheers!

who said that berkowitz is wrong on Joe? bruce berkowitz thinks in years not months. if st Joe is at the same stock Price in 3 years from now, than you are right, but your Einhorn Argument is today wrong. berkowitz invited people one time to challenge him on his ideas. he said he wanted a dialogue. he wanted to "kill" his stocks. einhorn wanted to open up discussion and he never got a call back. BB is a very promotional money manager. be careful when he starts promoting one of his ideas. You are telling me that Bruce Berkowitz is more promotional than David Einhorn? I better look up the definition of promotional then, because I thought outside of Ackman, Icahn and Chanos, there is probably no one more promotional than David Einhorn. Cheers!

Finally, I did something today that I've read about other people doing in the news, so I thought I would try it. I was having breakfast at IHOP this morning, and one of the waitresses was joking to some younger customers that walked in "Welcome to the International House for Old People", because most of the restaurant was full of seniors...yours truly excluded, but my body felt like it! Anyway, I called the manager over after I was done, and asked if I could anonymously pay for the meals of all of the seniors in the restaurant. She was really excited, and quietly started printing one tab after another...about 15-17 tabs...then tallied them up and gave me the grand total. I was even more excited than her, and it felt great! I told the manager and staff to just tell them when they ask, that someone wished them "Merry Christmas", and if they can, they can pay it forward to someone else sometime in the future. I highly recommend it...felt really wonderful! You can even do a much smaller, but equally wonderful gesture, like paying for the person behind you in the drive-thru at McDonald's, Tim Horton, Starbucks, etc. Next time, I may stick around quietly in a corner just watching their reactions when they come up to the till! Cheers!

That was very funny and I cracked up laughing painfully loud! But you are an idiot. ;D Yes, too soon. Cheers!

We'll see over time. The only way to know is to see the financials of the companies he's acquiring. It will eventually show in Chanticleer's financials as they file each quarter. Cheers!