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that seems like a good price for Altius. I agree that Fairfax is likely not involved.

No prob. It was just easier than typing 1000 words.

Hi @Viking, enjoyed meeting you in April. On the topic of BVPS at Fairfax: An asset is a controlled resource that is expected to provide future cash flows. If one assumes that in the long run: 1. Fairfax's float is likely to be greater than or equal to current 2. The insurance businesses are likely to approximately break even Then Fairfax's float of $41B can be considered an asset that is at least as valuable as cash. As @Packer16 has pointed out, the current combined cost of debt + float is less than zero. If this can possibly persist, Fairfax in 2026 might be simplified as being seen as a pile of ~$78B in T-Bills, yielding ~$3B per year after tax, buying itself for at a pace of 5+% per year at a valuation of $35B. Viewed from this lens, intrinsic value per share is >$3,500/share and buybacks are occurring in the $1,600s. This valuation seems to be in line with others' conclusions. I believe this is more or less the current situation, and approximately in line with how Prem views it. What do you think? See below for excerpts from the 2025 annual report. In short, Book Value per Share has become irrelevant as it largely excludes important economics at Fairfax including: 1. Float 2. Excess economic goodwill vs reported goodwill of insurance subsidiaries 3. Excess fair value vs carrying value of non-insurance businesses, and 4. The growing pace of buybacks, and the incorrect effect effect they have on intrinsic value per share growth if success is measured in BVPS From the 2025 annual report: Page 27, float as "perhaps" an asset: Page 22, goodwill accounting rules obscuring insurance subsidiary value: Page 23, multiple-to-BVPS' irrelevance when approximating intrinsic value: Page 7, likely after-tax income of ~$3B for the next 4 years:

Announcement of most recent donation of BRK shares by Buffett https://berkshirehathaway.com/news/jul1426.pdf BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 14, 2026 Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) – Today, Warren E. Buffett will convert 8,000 Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares into 12,000,000 Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares in order to donate the 12,000,000 Class “B” shares to four foundations: 9,000,000 shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 1,000,000 shares to each of the Sherwood Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and Novo Foundation. Mr. Buffett’s ownership of Berkshire now consists of 188,290 Class A shares and 1,162 Class B shares. * * * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Buffett’s comments follow: “My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years. As I explained last year, my children are unfortunately growing older. I have every hope that the three of them are able to carry out the disposal of my shares by December 31, 2034. Of course, mortality is unpredictable, but my remaining shares will be donated to the four foundations one way or the other by December 31, 2034. The goal is to have the grants grow annually to each of the three foundations managed by each of my children and the annual grant to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation grow at a somewhat greater rate.

Doo, cut back on the pictures please! Cheers!

Altius is doing a secondary. FFH is not mentioned in the PR. It will be interesting if they add to tneir position. My guess is they don’t.

Wow - that is one spectacular success story. Every young person should internalize it. I love Germany, it's one of the greatest countries in the world - and this kid gets it. I firmly believe that you can not grow or realize your greatest potential unless you are willing to FAIL multiple times. You learn far more from failure than success. And you can categorize different areas of America in their attitudes toward growth and success. Silicon Valley being the place where failure is honored as a virtue. This kid cuts right to the chase. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave one of the greatest talks I've ever seen on success: "Don't listen to the naysayers"

Bought quite a few leaps on CPNG back again (basically replacing my shorter term calls I sold 5 days ago) as it dropped (of course) on the KOSPI malaise. Makes perfect sense since it gained so much when KOSPI gained. Oh wait...

VW CEO Under Pressure as Labor Unions Torpedo Turnaround Plan https://archive.ph/Z1UUe#selection-1183.0-1183.61 Labor union representatives hold the *majority* of Volkswagen's board seats, and a state government is the second-largest shareholder, which routinely throws its two votes in with the labor unions' ten for a solid bargaining bloc against any plan management wants. https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/07/13/new-vw-ceo-taking-some-vicious-lumps-on-his-fahrvergnoggen-n3816896

Excellent input. One of the things I've been told in regards to California is local restrictions on building small houses. Not sure if you have a view on that or if it's a factor..

Just an observation here from having worked in the US residential housing insurance business for a few decades. Average loss costs for a home insurance policy regularly increased faster than CPI inflation for that entire period of time. Part of the cost inflation had to do with some climate change and getting better at estimating/modeling the average annual costs of catastrophes such as storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires. But at least as much, if not more of the inflation arose from the newer housing stock being added each year being larger and more complex in terms of systems and features than the relatively modest, smaller, century old or older homes being demolished and removed from the overall housing stock. More bathrooms in newer homes, more complex plumbing in kitchen areas, more open concept designs, meaning if flooring gets damaged in a plumbing accident, it’s more difficult for a claims adjuster to determine that the acceptable repaired area could stop at an obvious visual break point such as a threshold doorway to a hall. I recall one water damage claim where a plumbing fixture in an upstairs bathroom broke and damaged bamboo flooring in and near the bathroom, but that same flooring continued uninterrupted throughout the rest of house, down the staircase, all throughout an open concept ground floor level, etc. All of it needed to be replaced at a cost of well over $100,000 compared to the cost of about $10,000 if similar damage had occurred in an older home with doors, hallways, etc. The average square footage, number of bathrooms, quality of construction, etc all went up year over year, while the average household size tended to get smaller. Without a significant multi generational sharing of housing costs, it’s fair to say that the cost to heat and cool a home, pay for other utilities, including internet, cable, regular maintenance and upkeep, property insurance, taxes, mortgage has risen much faster than inflation in pay over that same time frame. That’s just another reason that the housing supply and affordability issue has been so challenging to address.

4D Chess.

Frfh

No middleman required this time. Trump pays off E. Jean Carroll...albeit unwillingly! Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/carroll-5-6-million-trump-150322177.html

Sure! If they did it, we should do it! What a shitty excuse. It's like the losers who all jump at cash accidentally coming out of an ATM or Brink's armored car if it flipped over on the highway. Everybody's doin' it! The black rioters do it in small ways in hundreds of thousands or millions including mobs. The experts like Clinton's and Trump's do it in hundreds of millions with no riot! Cheers!

One could not make this sh1te up .... It is still illegal, unenforceable, 20% of the cargo value, and the Iranians have proposed to toll for 80% less ... The SOH remain locked, Red Sea egress remains threatened, and global reserves continue to drain. "U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday backtracked on plans to charge ships for using the Strait of Hormuz, saying Gulf countries would instead invest in the United States." https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-us-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz-2/ SD

All gentle protestors exercising their rights confronted by planted thugs by the Justice Department. This was all because of Joe Biden! Pretty sure Obama is one of the guys wearing a helmet as well! Cheers!

I just can't understand why any first-time homeowner believes they have a right to the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood. Buy what you can afford, work harder so you can afford more, or live somewhere else that is affordable.

It seems to me, some relief in government permitting would go a long to assist housing. When you have these situations, like Pacific Palisades, where 18 months later, government just stops everything - denying rebuilding - it's a tragedy. My own experience, in Northern Illinois, Chicagoland - hit home for me. Being a Berkshire owner - I was impressed at the quality, speed and cost of many of the Clayton Homes on display in Omaha. I sought out Clayton and discussed with their dealers. Result: Clayton told me they "can't" build in Chicago land because of building codes, permitting as a result of "union protection". Basically, it's impossible. I owned some vacant land - and figured it would work well as an investment property - the numbers were attractive - but not with the political power of unions controlling local government. It makes me suspicious of places like CA knowing all the barriers in ILL. Not at all a big deal for me - but if you are a first time home,,, another story.

The usual whiners and complainers (not you) extrapolate present events into the indefinite future, just like they always do. They sound like a broken record and assess blame to suit their narrative. Nary a solution, that would require some thought.

ADBE and FRFHF

Uhh...not exactly.

Speaking of this, noticed UBS upped their STX target from $545, to....drumroll, $860....why? Nothing changed, stonk went up. Thats how they do things these days.

There is too much of the wrong kind of housing stock (one room condos built &/or pre-construction), that are selling at distressed prices as interest rates rise and prices fall .... wiping out new buyer and speculator equity. Too little of the needed stock in the right places, and new build cost too expensive for the target market. That 2-3 bedroom in the suburbs, plus transport to/from work, plus the required car to get around too expensive for the family that would live in it. The service cost (mortgage, utils, etc.) on the new build cost of the 2-3 bedroom condo near a rail terminal too expensive as well. The hope is higher income &/or higher migration, yet average income is falling, and ICE is systematically reducing population via deportation. House prices either fall as service costs rise, or those living in the house are increasingly multi-generational ..... living on different floors, vs rooms on the same floor. Not most older 2-3 bedroom housing stock, and the US doesn't do multi-generational (grand parents, parents, kids all in the same house) living well. Ageing populations worsening it. The Toronto experience ....... SD

Absolutely, earn more. I’m not sure there really is a political fix to the housing issue. California made a lot of reforms to streamline the construction of guest houses, and costs have continued to go up. Labor and materials and modern building codes are very expensive everywhere. If anything lowers the price of construction it’s going to be technology or manufacturing companies, not politicians. And it feels to me like there’s more upside to rent than there is to house prices themselves. So accepting “I’ll never own a home” is very risky.