Parsad

What color did you pick Eric? And the interior? Very nice car! Cheers!

Not much to talk about with all of the banks. They are in fantastic shape and getting better every day. They are the best capitalized in the world, and will be even stronger once they meet the new U.S. standards being implemented. They are making money hand over fist and running off bad loans, while writing better quality loans. The risk is that things could loosen up again, and they could start writing poor quality loans again, but I think that is a bit of a ways off. Most of the banks that don't have to service their runoff business, are jacking up their dividends and returning capital. Simply not much left to talk about the banks because they've made the move from distressed corporations to healthy corporations. Cheers!

LOL. I had a friend, Anthony, who got me interested in UFC fighting. So, knowing the old me, you know I had to read all about fighting and techniques. BJ Penn used to destroy everyone in his prime. Keep a watch. More treasures coming. (Marvel?) I'm not a big UFC fan...I'm a boxing fan. But I did watch a very good movie called "Warrior" last night, which did have a lot of UFC elements in it. Really a great movie...more back to the old school original "Rocky" quality...great actors who did all of their own fighting. Nick Nolte played the father of the two main characters, and he was amazing! Cheers!

They are paying up, but they are getting a great brand and chain, which will make them the largest pharmacy across Canada. Loblaws needs to continue to get bigger to maintain their market share. Now let's see who throws an offer out to Jimmy Pattison for Save-on-Foods! Cheers!

What the hell is that BJ Penn cover doing there. I won't give you a penny for that one! ;D Cheers!

Incidentally, welcome back Lotsofcoke! For those of you who don't know, it was Lotsofcoke who took me to my first Yellow BRK'ers party back in 2001, where I ended up meeting Buffett. The rest is history and this board pretty much exists because of that. Cheers! OMG! :o :o First the John Lennon watching the wheel song at ScionCapital,... and now Lotsofcoke. ... something is happening in Area 51 ;D The boards long lost Phoenix has risen from the ashes! ;D ;D ;D Welcome back Lotsofcoke,... ;D Some long lost remote satellite over the northern hemisphere has reponded again. I personally can be very grateful to him through the tumultuous years of 2002/2003,... I guess without him this board wouldn't be like it is today. Lotsofcoke was like a satellite light-house guiding the board members through the mist with deep knowledge. I was always wondering in the last years if he might sit somewhere undercover in the Royal Thomson Hall. 8) Welcome back! The famous BerkshireMystery.... Been a long time. Sorry to say but much like a lovely gentleman (Roger Hodgson) I had the pleasure of meeting once sang: I took the long way home.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfApBz4_XQk I really understood where he was coming from when he wrote that song. Most people don't pay attention to the lyrics. I experienced the same as Roger but my stage was finance: So you think you're a Romeo You're playing a part in a picture show Take the long way home Take the long way home But you're the joke of the neighborhood Why should you care if you're feeling good? Take the long way home Take the long way home But there are times that you feel you're part of the scenery All the greenery is comin' down, boy But then your wife seems to think you're part of the furniture Oh, it's peculiar, she used to be so nice When lonely days turn to lonely nights You take a trip to the city lights And take the long way home Take the long way home You never see what you want to see Forever playing to the gallery You take the long way home Take the long way home And when you're up on stage, it's so unbelievable Oh, unforgettable, how they adore you But then your wife seems to think you're losing your sanity Oh, calamity, is there no way out? Well does it feel that your life's become a catastrophe? Oh, it has to be for you to grow, boy When you look through the years and see what you could have been Oh, what you might have been if you'd have had more time So when the day comes to settle down Who's to blame if you're not around? You took the long way home Take the Long way Home. Welcome home! I spent a good 10 years after my father died in the wilderness, until a man named John invited me to the Yellow BRK'ers Party where I met Buffett. Glad I found my way home too! Cheers!

Is that your copy Lotsofcoke? The seller's name is "artfiend"! ;D Cheers!

Interesting observation. I agree. I enjoy gio's posts very much. I hope he continues to kick the tires of ffh & his stalwart belief in its mngt every which way from sunday for as long as it remains controversial & polarizing in the current frothy investment regime. its not like he's having a conversation with only himself, belching out stillborn musings into the silent void. there's a whole lot of different opinions piping up at every turn. in a public forum an engaging thread is likely a long thread. LOL! I agree. I suspect he talks about Fairfax because he's very comfortable with it, the long-term prospects and isn't interested in swinging for 15%+, when Fairfax can do 15% and no tax consequences. Other than a handful of people on here, virtually no one has come close to Prem's 24% compounded since inception (over 25 years), so let's not shoot the goose until you've all laid your golden eggs! ;D Keep talking about Fairfax and Berkshire Gio, because that's why this board is called "The Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax"! Cheers!

Have you been to the meeting, and if so, have you or have you heard someone ask him directly about this (investing in unrelated businesses). If so, what was his answer? I think his end goal was to always do this, but when you are bleeding so badly and don't unload assets fast enough, he got caught up in trying to stem the bleeding. At some point, when he can monetize the assets to the point where it's well above the requirements for the retail business, you will see him buy other things. Cheers!

Well, nobody is certain that a party will take place if you drop off a keg of beer at a fraternity house on a Friday. I believe there are others who think like me out there... meaning they will sell FFH to take full advantage of the market correction when it comes. You increase your buying power of cheap equities when you sell Fairfax. Yes definitely. You always hear managers saying how they use "this stock as a proxy for cash", and often it's been Berkshire. I think it's an absurd idea using any stock as cash, but I would say if you were going to do that, then Fairfax is probably a better proxy than Berkshire. We sold our Fairfax in 2008/2009 and bought stuff that was dirt cheap. It was the last thing we sold after we had gone through the cash. But the rational thing to do is to sell something at a discount, only to buy something far cheaper. Buffett made a point of doing this in 1981, when he said he was selling stuff at 3x P/E to buy stuff at 2X P/E. We would not hesitate to do it again! Cheers!

5%. I have a lot of cash. Even Fairfax will go down in a dramatic correction. I don't disagree with you. There have been plenty of investments that weren't so great. Then there have been plenty that have been terrific. There are many businesses they could acquire that are of quality. A great one is right here in Vancouver, and one they could buy...Whitewater West...the largest maker of commercial waterslides around the world. Alnesh's sister used to be their transport coordinator until she was in a very bad car accident last year. A great little company that is totally dominant in what they do, right here in Vancouver. In fact, the Vancouver Sun had a terrific article on them last weekend. Cheers!

These are somewhat erroneous statements and assumptions. Let me clarify the first glaring one: HWIC is nowhere near a 100 person team. 7 principals including Prem, probably about another 6 analysts and then say 5-6 managers they have capital with (I'm guessing on that, but have some information about some managers, so consider it a calculated guess). You then also have a couple of enterprises that will be acquiring businesses in certain areas like Fairbridge and Thomas Cook. In total, I think you are talking about 20-25 people! The next one I would like to tackle is the recommendation to reduce their ROE to 6-7%. This is crazy! Historically, they've done far better...closer to 24%. With the leverage they employ, they could easily return 15% ROE by achieving a 6% return on their portfolio and keeping insurance losses to historical levels. Like Berkshire, they are going to have a significant advantage over the next 20 years when they really start acquiring private companies, and the global reach of their insurance business becomes much more pertinent. They will return 15% ROE long-term for the next 20 years. Lastly, succession at Fairfax is one of the least concerns for shareholders. Succession planning at Fairfax has been in place for many years, and the people in place are probably the best they've ever had. You have Andy Barnard overseeing all of the insurance companies...a man who achieved extraordinary results at Odyssey Re, nearly on par with Berkshire's insurance businesses. You have a decentralized investment team where the bench was far deeper than Berkshire's 15 years ago! It may be the best team out there today...they definitely have one of the best fixed income minds of the last 30 years running their bond portfolio. And Prem is already delegating many duties to subordinates such as Paul Rivett and Madhaven Menon to name just a couple. Cheers! Hi Plato, In response to your questions: 1) In general, HWIC are hard-core Ben Graham students. They don't really like to pay up and so often they look at beaten down, distressed investments...cigar butts and all. While that may not be Munger & Buffett, it has worked exceedingly well for them, as well as the likes of Walter Schloss and Irving Kahn, two other Graham students. BBRY makes up less than 5% of investment capital...it was a business that deteriorated faster than they thought, so they averaged down to save it. It's far from a zero and we'll have to wait and see what the final outcome is. 2) They are testing the waters in and around them when it comes to buying whole non-insurance businesses right now. Get it right on the small scale and then expand. It's why they also created a vehicle like Fairbridge and put local knowledge in charge of buying businesses. You will probably see a couple more of these vehicles. I think it's far too early to say how they will do in this area, but I bet they do perfectly fine. They've bought portions of many businesses over time, and the extension to whole non-insurance businesses won't be much different. Cheers!

You guys, can you keep the sniping down on this thread! I'm getting complaints about how useless the AAPL thread is becoming because of all of the pot shots people are taking. Cheers!

These are somewhat erroneous statements and assumptions. Let me clarify the first glaring one: HWIC is nowhere near a 100 person team. 7 principals including Prem, probably about another 6 analysts and then say 5-6 managers they have capital with (I'm guessing on that, but have some information about some managers, so consider it a calculated guess). You then also have a couple of enterprises that will be acquiring businesses in certain areas like Fairbridge and Thomas Cook. In total, I think you are talking about 20-25 people! The next one I would like to tackle is the recommendation to reduce their ROE to 6-7%. This is crazy! Historically, they've done far better...closer to 24%. With the leverage they employ, they could easily return 15% ROE by achieving a 6% return on their portfolio and keeping insurance losses to historical levels. Like Berkshire, they are going to have a significant advantage over the next 20 years when they really start acquiring private companies, and the global reach of their insurance business becomes much more pertinent. They will return 15% ROE long-term for the next 20 years. Lastly, succession at Fairfax is one of the least concerns for shareholders. Succession planning at Fairfax has been in place for many years, and the people in place are probably the best they've ever had. You have Andy Barnard overseeing all of the insurance companies...a man who achieved extraordinary results at Odyssey Re, nearly on par with Berkshire's insurance businesses. You have a decentralized investment team where the bench was far deeper than Berkshire's 15 years ago! It may be the best team out there today...they definitely have one of the best fixed income minds of the last 30 years running their bond portfolio. And Prem is already delegating many duties to subordinates such as Paul Rivett and Madhaven Menon to name just a couple. Cheers!

LOL! That's what I was thinking too. Cheers!

I think it depends on the investor. If you don't want to fiddle too much with your portfolio, then leave it up to Buffett, Prem, the Markels, Leucadia, Loews, Alleghany, et al. They all have made tremendous money over the years, and they didn't suddenly become stupid. Fairfax right now is making money with less market risk, although that can be argued with their exposure to property casualty insurance, asset to equity leverage, and the use of debt. But you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and that's probably pretty damn good if you happen to be a value investor. At the same time, this grand experiment the world has been participating in, has really forced investors to choose a side...asset bubble here we come, or sit on the sidelines and wait for the pin prick! I was on the first side for the last three years, and now I'm firmly moving to the other side. So is it any wonder you have value investors and long-time FFH holders giving up on Fairfax, as asset prices continue to rise? It's the nature of the beast. Money has been made while Fairfax sat on the sidelines, and so now those who have made money become oblivious to the fact that risk premiums have all but shriveled and died. As more pile on, and Fairfax looks to be a dumber and dumber bet, the tide will turn and many who floated up will plummet downwards. When? I don't know. But as the seconds march forward, we only get closer and closer. My advice: If you don't want to worry about your portfolio...ignore the gyrations and hold onto Fairfax. For those that like to be hands on, buy whenever you find something that provides an adequate LONG-TERM risk premium...and you can sell Fairfax if the LONG-TERM risk premium is even greater than Fairfax after taxes. Not short-term based on the current risk-free rate, but on a long-term historical perspective. Cheers!

Article on Wilbur Ross: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100875090 Cheers!

I agree...far from the peak...but so is the Nasdaq! ;D Cheers!

So Tolls and Pulte say no. Others say maybe. Not many say yes right now. I remember I used to watch a number of "Flip This House" type of shows back in 2006 and 2007. There were quite a few on television. In the last year, I've noticed that a number of new "Flip This House" type shows are back with a vengeance...the one I'm watching right now is "Flip or Flop"...mainly because the guy's wife in the show is pretty damn hot! ;D Anyway, I was looking up information on the show, and I stumbled across a real estate forum, which uses the same software as this one, including the same theme...no I did not start it, but maybe someone from here did. The main character from the show, Tarek, posted on that board and he is flipping some 55+ houses this year...using very "creative financing" for many of them. http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3738.105.html Is the Fed's easy money policy creating another housing bubble...is it here already and no one is recognizing it? Cheers!

How long has TPG been in control? Are things better or worse at SD? We all know that there is a fundamental disconnect at times between what is happening at a company and when the market finally values the business closer to intrinsic value. Lastly, is this rally based on fundamentals or just capital needing a place to go because the risk-free rate has been artificially depressed for a prolonged period of time? Maybe a good question for another thread! ;D Cheers!

Cannot wait to watch this movie! ;D ;D ;D giofranchi Yes, also looking forward to it. Great actor, great director! Cheers!

Seriously, you couldn't be more right! I may have to take up yoga. ;D Cheers!

Not enough people rolling over? Stevie Con could pay them more than they are going to get from the U.S. government! Cheers!

Maybe I missed it some time ago, but it looks like Fairfax has a more complete and updated Wikipedia page now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax_Financial Cheers!

They could. So could a number of other people, including shareholders. But the problem now is some of the stuff he's done to entrench himself...licensing agreement, significant pro-management votes through stock held by the company, name change! Cheers!