Parsad

I'm revamping the homepage. I know there are a lot of great board members on here, including professionals who want to get their name out there or even simply need to vent on a subject. On the new homepage, there is a high profile space that I was going to use for my own blogging, but I decided that people hear me enough on the message board! ;D Would anyone here be interested in writing something once in a while or really whenever you feel like it? I will post it on the homepage and hopefully your comments or business will get some traction. I'm not looking for any payment for you to put your writing on there, and I won't be paying you either! But there are managers, analysts, etc. out there who want to get their names out there, and there are even people who simply have something worthwhile to say because they need to vent or are frustrated. If so, contact me at cornerofberkshireandfairfax@gmail.com. Cheers!

That's a good idea! Why don't I do it here instead. I'm revamping the homepage, and I could profile a couple of articles a week from any interested party that wants to write...fund managers, analysts, bloggers, Ericopoly! Cheers!

Not retail soft-serve yogurt...grocery store dairy yogurt. Not TCBY, but Danone. Cheers!

Article on the founder of Chobani yogurt. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-yogurt-company-growing-as-fast-as-google-and-facebook-212410183.html

LOL! You should probably do that on eBay...put them in small little trademarked baggies and sell them. I bet you make a killing. Cheers!

LOL! He said he can't "spend it on shit", otherwise that would have been said already. Cheers!

Go to the Dean of Business at your local university or college. Tell him you are willing to put seed capital to incubate 5 business ideas that his MBA class can come up with that you will filter, and in return 1/3rd of the business is owned by the college, 1/3rd by the students and 1/3rd by you. In return, you will mentor the students and their businesses for that $20K in seed capital that each idea receives. Cheers!

SEC fines CBOE for naked short sales: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100806985 Cheers!

Probably because it's a frickin' 9-foot hurdle! What margin of safety is there in something that may not exist because the government deems it so? Balance sheet and operating risk is somewhat estimable, but business/industry risk is much harder to do with congressmen and senators involved. Contrary to popular belief, Mohnish prefers easier ways to make money...so do I. You can make money trading it like Twacowfca has, but you better be right about the bet within 5-7 years. You can't wait this one out like Berkowitz did with Sears, since the U.S. government isn't worried about investors getting their money back, only the U.S. government. Cheers!

Cute little ode to Buffett by U2 frontman Bono. Cheers! http://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2013/06/06/bonos-moving-serenade-of-warren-buffett-video/

$1,000,100...relatively speaking, of course! Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/buffett-charity-lunch-sold-1-044121901.html

Giofranchi, Obviously that is a well-read study of a value investor! I think you will like the picture I've posted here as well. It's from a friend of mine who wants to remain anonymous. Each pile of paper is for one specific company! No room for his laptop! ;D Cheers!

Basically just thanking him. I remember that after I sent the letter, I had received a letter back within 7 days...I thought that was amazing that he read the letter, had it dictated and typed out, and then mailed back to me all within 7 days from when I sent it. I don't know if he really writes letters that much these days as there is just so much notoriety around the company now. Has anyone recently written to him and received a response? Cheers!

I had put all of my money into Berkshire B stock right at the bottom through the end of 1999 and early 2000. The tech wreck emerged and Berkshire stock rose dramatically. I just wrote him a letter to thank him for running Berkshire and that I probably would not be coming to the AGM that year, because I preferred to buy more investments. He suggested I was better off doing that as well! I did end up going the next year anyway, and that's when I met him at the Yellow BRK'ers Party! ;D Cheers!

I thought I would start a thread on what the value investor's desk looks like. I'm always intrigued by what sits in people's homes or desks. I started with mine, but I'm hoping many of you will share photographs of your desk as well. Picture 1: I literally have a cup of coffee sitting on my desk every day by the phone...usually a hot cup, but in the summer it may be an iced drink. I don't think you can tell, but the coaster is from "Joe Badali's Restaurant", where we used to hold our early "Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinners". My scissors and stapler also always sit right there. Picture 2: Those are the accounting binders for Corner Market Capital, Corner Market Capital U.S., Corner Market Management, MPIC Fund I, LP & MPIC Canadian LP. That's just the last two years!! Picture 3: My laptop open to my favorite website...Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax! Not sure if you can see it, but there is a photograph of Prem and JoAnn I took the day I had lunch with Prem back in 2005. Picture 4: My In/Out box. Top tray is Corner Market Capital/MPIC Funds administrative paperwork, etc. 2nd tray is different folders for things I'm working on...Toronto Trip, Chicago/LA Trip (Pabrai Funds), Personal Expenses, CCFC stuff. 3rd tray is just business cards. 4th tray is CMC labels...GST quarterly return forms...etc. My calendar rests on my Berkshire bible...Andy's book "Of Permanent Value". My pen/pencil holder is a Tim Horton's coffee cup...never used! ;D On the right side is a photograph of Alnesh and me in Omaha 2010...Guy Spier's took that photograph! Picture 5: Letter From Buffett...November 7, 2000...changed my life...say no more! Picture 6: Reading material I have waded through recently, or have to wade through. It never stops, that pile stays the same height all year...no matter how much I get through! Look forward to your pictures. Cheers!

LOL! Cheers!

Thanks for the pledges everyone! Cheers!

Ok, Alnesh is kicking my butt! He stole two of my core team-mates, because they live closer to the Vancouver walk, and I'm way behind. Any donations to the CCFC would be much appreciated! Don't worry, I won't ban you because you didn't donate! ;D Cheers!

Another one bites the dust...at least I hope so! Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/100792619

Yeah, I would say that an audit that relies on reconciling the monthly brokerage statement with the prepared financials, and almost all of the assets are Level 1, is highly unlikely to be a fraud. It's when you have more complicated valuations or complex structures, combined with collusion between the financial statement preparation and audit, you tend to see fraudulent behavior. More often than not, fraud isn't quite blatant but more obfuscation of conflicts of interest. You see far more of that than outright Ponzi schemes, etc. Cheers!

A boardmember messaged me the question below, and I thought it was actually a good one for the message board. Here is his question and then my response. Any other comments you guys would like to add, feel free to do so. Cheers! Hey I'm still new to the hedge fund scene, and I'm wondering how one goes about confirming the legitimacy of these entities. Obviously the funds have auditors, but from what I can gather auditors won't show you much of anything, they'll just say, yes, we're the auditor. Using the Pabrai funds as an example, how would you go about proving that the fund isnt a ponzi scheme? Hi ???????, Auditors, whether they audit corporations, trusts, mutual funds, or hedge funds, have both a fiduciary and legal liability for any audit they perform. There is always risk with any audit, on whether it is conducted accurately or not. It's why the audit standards should be (doesn't necessarily mean they are) as high as any oath a physician, attorney or police officer should take. Registered mutual funds and hedge funds not only have audits done, but the SEC does random site checks...doesn't necessarily mean that a fund has been checked, but that at some point it probably will be. Non-registered funds do not have site checks done, but they are required to do state filings, as well as conduct an audit unless an audit waiver has been granted by the partners. Those really are the only safeguards, other than the custodian or brokerage service provider doing their job. To paraphrase Buffett and Munger, no safeguard protects someone in all circumstances, so dealing with ethical people is the best way to reduce risk. I would look at the auditor and see if they are respectable...any outstanding issues? The PCAOB has a list of all auditors in the U.S. and how many issues they've dealt with. That being said, any auditor that conducts a lot of audits over their lifetime, will eventually run into one issue or another. I would also look at the fund...are they doing really esoteric things that may create valuation issues that the auditors would face? If so, how did the fund and auditor deal with that issue? Finally, I would contact the auditor and talk to them. Obviously they won't give too much in fund details, but would they describe their process...reconciliation of financial statements with client account statements, confirmations with clients, confirmation with the custodian/broker, proof of assets and valuation, internal controls testing, etc. Unfortunately, part of the risk of investing is having trust in the financials and that the audit was done accurately. I would say in over 80% of cases they are. But investors should still be careful about what they read or see in that other 20%! Cheers!

i was wondering how many of you pick up pennies, meaning doing small opportunistic trades? Used to, but then Canada stopped production of pennies. Now I pick up nickels! ;D Kidding aside, yes I do look for such opportunities but not through options. Usually other forms of arbitrage. Cheers!

Congratulations James! Cheers!

So a given % of the square footage is getting triaged out of the leased portfolio. I'm glad there isn't a plan to bring in an Apple executive to turn KMart into a Walmart killer. LOL! They've done enough of that shit...time to just use some common sense and monetize some of the assets. Cheers!

Glenn Surowiec, who used to work at Alsin Capital and since has started his own shop GDS Investments, did an interview with Manual of Ideas. He discusses OSTK and BAC A warrants. Cheers! http://www.beyondproxy.com/investment-thesis/