Fairfax stock positions

[FairFacts]

High level scan of the shipping industry, certainly pertinent to ATCO and its seeming very capable management.....

 

 

[FairFacts]

and a small thorn in Prem's side with regard to exec. pay at Blackberry....

[Viking]

So what is going on with BB stock? It is trading today at US $13.20. It has been trading above $13 for three weeks now. Why is it not going back below $9?
 

We are a week away from quarter end. Should BB continue to trade at current levels it would be up about $4.50 / share from March 31 = $450 million mark to market gain for FFH when they report Q2 results. This is about $17/share pre tax. Not a small number.
 

i also continue to think the longer BB shares trade at elevated levels the greater the chance that FF will monetize the asset. The benefits of monetization are numerous; the question is what price will it take?

Edited June 22, 2021 by Viking

[Gregmal]

If I was a FFH shareholder I'd be tempted to grab Prem by the ankles and shake him upside down asking repeatedly, "where's all our money" from the past decade's historic bull market. 

[petec]

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/concerned-shareholder-urges-blackberry-board-to-follow-lead-of-major-corporate-governance-advisory-firm-and-oppose-watsa-as-director-301316666.html

[Viking]

Greg, yes, i feel for shareholders who have held the stock for the past 10 years; ugly. However, those who bought after the stock cratered last year have done exceptionally well. And the stock is hardly expensive today given how the company is currently positioned:
- we are in a hard market for insurance pricing and it looks like it may last another year or even two. That is significant.

- the equity portfolio has been performing very well and looks reasonably well positioned moving forward should the economic recovery continue into 2022

 

The big challenge for investors in Fairfax is lack of trust in Prem. This is a watchout for me; although not currently a big enough concern as i own stock.

[Viking]

26 minutes ago, petec said:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/concerned-shareholder-urges-blackberry-board-to-follow-lead-of-major-corporate-governance-advisory-firm-and-oppose-watsa-as-director-301316666.html

i wonder if Prem is booted as a director at the annual meeting tomorrow if that does not give Fairfax the green light to unload the shares  

[Gregmal]

Yea I think his presence on the board is consistent with the logic behind why they arent selling. He is this for personal, largely non financial reasons. 

[Xerxes]

I tend to echo this point of view. I don't have any proof, but my gut feeling is that he never intended to sell BB back in Q1, even if there were no regulatory constraint. Totally, my gut feeling and completely unfounded. Maybe not for personal reason, but perhaps just for a vision that he wants to see through with BB .. and that vision cannot conclude by:  saved-by-the-Reddit club.

 

However, if he were to resign next week from BB board, than I think selling the stake is in the cards.

 

Being on the Board of BB as an independent director, or owning a significant chunk of Resolute are supposed to be the "assets" that the FFH should be able to leverage; but sometimes i feel these are more "liabilities".  

 

Then again, Prem W. built a +$10 billion business from scratch and has been investments and building businesses for decades; that is many fold more than me, and net-net he has been far more right than wrong, otherwise we wouldn't be here.

[Parsad]

2 hours ago, petec said:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/concerned-shareholder-urges-blackberry-board-to-follow-lead-of-major-corporate-governance-advisory-firm-and-oppose-watsa-as-director-301316666.html

 

What a joke!  Without Prem, Blackberry would have been bankrupt 8 years ago under Thorsten Heins who the board picked against Prem's wishes.  Prem is the guy who pushed for John Chen before Thorsten Heins got the job.  The board went with Heins and lost almost three years on the turnaround.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, Xerxes said:

I tend to echo this point of view. I don't have any proof, but my gut feeling is that he never intended to sell BB back in Q1, even if there were no regulatory constraint. Totally, my gut feeling and completely unfounded. Maybe not for personal reason, but perhaps just for a vision that he wants to see through with BB .. and that vision cannot conclude by:  saved-by-the-Reddit club.

 

However, if he were to resign next week from BB board, than I think selling the stake is in the cards.

 

Being on the Board of BB as an independent director, or owning a significant chunk of Resolute are supposed to be the "assets" that the FFH should be able to leverage; but sometimes i feel these are more "liabilities".  

 

Then again, Prem W. built a +$10 billion business from scratch and has been investments and building businesses for decades; that is many fold more than me, and net-net he has been far more right than wrong, otherwise we wouldn't be here.

 

+1!  Cheers!