Parsad

Fairfax is probably further ahead on succession planning than Berkshire was at the same size. Yes, I would imagine that Prem's family and foundation will end up controlling his stock and making sure his wishes are materialized. Andy Barnard is already overseeing the insurance subsidiaries, many of which already have extraordinary managers, and Paul Rivett is overseeing a lot of the investment and operational decisions. You still have all of the old guard available that pretty much grew up with Prem at Gardiner Watson and Confederation Life. They've brought in younger blood...I think they can still do better on this...but they are carefully adding capable people to the bench. It will be one of the deepest around in another few years as they acquire more and more operating businesses. Cheers!

Why do you say Cheers after every post, good news or bad news? Does this news sound like a good news? If Cohen doesn't testify, it is more likely or less likely to get him in jail? I am a bit confused. "Cheers" is just the tagline on the posts I have used since the day I started the board. I think I know better than anyone on here what it means if Cohen testifies or not. Cheers!

I don't own BBRY, but after reading the report yesterday, I'm not sure how anyone can write off BBRY after one quarter's worth of data. They are in tough to be sure, and the outcome is unlikely to be good relative to the competition's size and dominance, but I think you need to look at least a year's worth of data, sales, and development to come to any accurate conclusion about whether this attempt at a turnaround will be successful or not. Those that are always "certain" tend to be oblivious to life's uncertainties! Cheers! 1, This is not unexpected information, we have been watching this stock for years. 2, It is not just this quarters numbers, they have forecast an operating loss for next quarter. 3, They will no longer be releasing subscriber numbers which means those numbers will continue to decline. 4, It is on enough just to look at numbers for a year, it is important to understand what those numbers mean. 5, You can always tell who is "certain" by the amount of predictions they make. 1, Investors have been watching Apple for years, but the last year and a half have not been one of glory...that doesn't mean Apple is finished. 2, They've pretty much scrapped much of the business plan for the past decade, and gone in a completely different direction...it's reasonable to assume that they will go through quarters of losses? 3, Probably because they are trying to focus on the longer term, not quarter by quarter. 4, I doubt if Apple's business plan in the first year Jobs took over the 2nd time around was anything but painful...look what happened there. 5, You are most correct here, and there have been more than enough predictions by pretty much everyone...the Apple thread is pretty much indicative of that! As I mentioned earlier, I don't own BBRY and do own APPL. But any supposition from a quarter's worth of numbers smack of hubris. Cheers!

I don't own BBRY, but after reading the report yesterday, I'm not sure how anyone can write off BBRY after one quarter's worth of data. They are in tough to be sure, and the outcome is unlikely to be good relative to the competition's size and dominance, but I think you need to look at least a year's worth of data, sales, and development to come to any accurate conclusion about whether this attempt at a turnaround will be successful or not. Those that are always "certain" tend to be oblivious to life's uncertainties! Cheers!

According to Bloomberg, Steve Cohen has invoked his "Fifth Amendment Rights" so he does not have to testify in front of a grand jury. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-28/cohen-silent-as-sac-executives-called-before-grand-jury.html

So you're the guy who's been keeping the price high! ;) What do ya mean? I was buying at lower prices last week, but somebody else pushes it up. Can't get as many this week! Cheers!

Buffett should buy Glacier Media here in Vancouver. They are the dominant community newspaper player in Canada, as well as specialty publications. At a 5-year low right now, and I've been loading up! Solid balance sheet, fat dividend, excellent cash flows...about 9 times earnings. Tim's owned it for years so I know it very well, but it finally fell to the price that I would buy at. Cheers!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/phildemuth/2013/06/27/the-mysterious-factor-p-charlie-munger-robert-novy-marx-and-the-profitability-factor/?partner=yahootix Cheers!

I think successful partnerships have to have that complimentary relationship. If the only voice you hear is your own, you are going to make mistakes! A sounding board is always good to have...especially one that challenges your ideas and takes another perspective. It's why this board works, when we are bashing out ideas and you have people pissing each other off when debating. I can only say that Buffett & Munger and Steinberg & Cummings accomplished more together, than they would have alone! Same with the Markels, Prem & his Hamblin-Watsa colleagues, and a whole host of other business people. Cheers!

Leucadia locks up Justin Wheeler's services as well. Smart, young guy who has brought Leucadia their best investments in the last few years. Nice to see him staying on with a change in succession. Cheers! http://biz.yahoo.com/e/130626/luk8-k.html

LOL! It happens. Cheers!

Yes. ;D Cheers!

Interesting effort by Warren's sister, Doris. Cheers! http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/25/doris-buffett-philanthropy/?source=cnn_bin

Great letter...on par with Buffett's. Looking forward to Leucadia's future under Handler's watch! Cheers!

From Montreal's La Presse: French: http://affaires.lapresse.ca/bourse/201306/25/01-4664700-mohnish-pabrai-leternel-cloneur.php English is attached as a translated PDF. Cheers! La_Presse_-_June_25_2013.pdf

Just one of those parasitic class-action type law firms. Nothing will come of it. Cheers!

I find myself in almost the same position of twacowfca. And I am doing nothing (except watching Wimbledon and listening to the new Kanye West’s album). :) giofranchi Pretty much the same here as well. I've seen quite a few movies over the last two months...only the last week have I found something to start looking at again. Also busy with getting the Offshore fund off the ground...will launch August 1st! I would be watching Wimbledon as well, but my man Nadal went out in the 1st round. Now I won't watch until the round of 16. Steve Darcis sure did great against Nadal. :D We have our fair share of talent in Belgium, at least in tennis. Great that your offshore fund is launching soon. When can we expect more details? Next week or so. Service providers are in place, general partner has been formed and our attorneys just finishing off the offering documents. Only thing left to do is file everything and open the brokerage account with UBS. Then we should be good to go in a couple of weeks. Cheers!

They are doing better than fine! Good for Matt and Joe. Cheers!

I find myself in almost the same position of twacowfca. And I am doing nothing (except watching Wimbledon and listening to the new Kanye West’s album). :) giofranchi Pretty much the same here as well. I've seen quite a few movies over the last two months...only the last week have I found something to start looking at again. Also busy with getting the Offshore fund off the ground...will launch August 1st! I would be watching Wimbledon as well, but my man Nadal went out in the 1st round. Now I won't watch until the round of 16. If anyone is looking for a good theatre movie to watch..."This is The End" is very funny...raunchy, juvenile humor, with some great writing. If you are looking for a good sci-fi film, watch "Looper"...excellent movie, wonderful acting! Cheers!

That's not really the problem. Most of the people running the juniors are in it for themselves. And many of them don't even have mining backgrounds. The people running the hot Internet companies- Facebook, Groupon, Amazon, Webvan, Pets.com, etc.- are actually trying to make you money. The valuations might be dopey but at least they're not corrupt. Very few of the juniors out there are trying to make money for shareholders. The level of corruption there is absurd. I would say the ratio is 1:1 or 2:1 at best. For every legitimate company, there is another one that is simply being run to raise funds from shareholders and used as a piggy bank by the founders and promoters. Cheers!

I'm less concerned about Cook's message to Wall Street, than I am to his employees. If there is discontent or low morale, then the leader needs to step up and improve it. Outside of the dividend and share buyback, I'm quite disappointed with what I've seen from Apple. No great new products, watching competitors strengthen their brand and product line, negative morale with employees, lack luster product events...September better be a show-stopper! Cheers!

I think their child may be the anti-Christ! If the U.S. ever faces its demise like Greece, Rome or the British Empire, it will sprout from the loins of the Kardashians! ;D Cheers!

I'm not looking to invest in one, but take one over for the cash...there are many that are stuck between closing shop and the difficulties of finding financing for exploration. I'm more than happy to take over one that is well under net cash. If there is any value in the property, then that is just icing on the cake. I don't plan on running a mining company, but dismantling it and using the cash for other things. Cheers!

Both quotes above are correct. Everything at some price has value relative to its intrinsic value. We've never invested in commodity companies until Sandridge earlier this year, and now I find myself digging through junior mining companies. Never say never, because worlds collide when industries fall in value investing. Cheers!

No, only about 5% of it into something we like. I was hoping we'd see at least a week long market meltdown...no such luck. Maybe next week! ;D Cheers!