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Yep I like it. Should have tried to buy all of POOL Corp too instead of selling Todd’s shares.

Pitched Fairfax at a Value Investing Conference in Italy last week. Got picked up by Bloomberg (attached). Will share slides and video if interesting. VIS Bridgewater Vet Pitches_BBG_Article_Fairfax.pdf

Friends advise, that this painting has quite the history ; Frans Hals, Two Laughing Boys With A Mug Of Beer. https://pricelessblog.squarespace.com/articles/frans-hals-painting-stolen-three-times Third time out, it was stolen, and fenced as an insurance policy against the owner eventually getting caught doing his crimes. The give the painting up for a reduced sentence, the more famous and valuable the painting, the better the bargaining chip. But with this particular painting .... should your name unfortunately ever get added to the previous list of owners .... you will also be famous forever. Immortality for cheap Apparently, most of what hangs on the gallery walls today are extremely good copies, with the originals stored in vaults. The other side of the street informed accordingly, and the message underlined by one or two copies of other paintings quietly commissioned directly from today's best forgers. You are welcome to continue nicking the inventory, and we'll put on a good show (for insurance purposes), but please limit the damage, and recognise that you only have the copy . Same as the original painters, there are forgers equally as good as the masters, and they are all known. SD

Apple gets to keep making Free Cash Flow while the rest burn it on capex

Thats the thing, i do this since 10 years and my drag was -2% with a 5% put position. Because there is residual value when you buy long dated puts (in my case i just use 6 of an 8 months put option and in 2015 and 2018 these puts printed some money). You can't assume that a put will never make money, thats not a fair comparison (in my case a 20% drawdown this year would lift the drag into positive territory)

Its a good business if its the best they can do with the borrowed funds.

GFR announces a big deal including a rights issue. If it gets done at C$6.74, then Fairfax likely has to write a cheque for ~$230m depending on oversubscribtion. https://www.greenfireres.com/news-releases/acquisition-of-connacher/

The TRS counterparty is a bank. Does that help? The banks are just renting out their balance sheet. They borrow at CORRA which is around 2.3% and lend secured to FFH at 3%. Seems like good business.

This should really be an apples-to-apples comparison: Reduce the put allocation to 50%; 15%x50% = 7.5%-2% put drag = 5.5% + same downside protection as sale and repurchase. That delta of 3.5% (9.0-5.5%) is 60%+ better, much easier to do, but not nearly as 'sexy' or conversational. There's a reason why 'sale and repurchase' is so often maligned . More opportunities! SD

I had to look that one up. https://www.familywealthreport.com/article.php/Deception%2C-Forgery-And-Lies-–-Hiding-Assets-In-A-Divorce?id=179721 There's definitely plenty of sources for good forgeries out there. Abstract and impressionists are probably the easiest to copy.

The "my kid could paint that" crowd have a point in that would be harder to have the skill level to forge a Rembrandt than a Picasso. If you doubt it, think about the Bill Gross story. They had a Picasso that was being fought over (along with everything else) in the divorce. A coin toss decided his artist wife could keep it. When he said he would take it off the wall and send it to her she said not to bother. She already took the real one to her new place and painted a fake one herself and left it on the wall years ago and he never noticed the difference.

Bought Micron to cover my short

Think of the $10M Picasso broken up similarly to RE, but for a time-limited period; $8M (nominal) held by investors, $2M split between the endowment funds of 3 major galleries, all the severed components put on a secured blockchain. The $8M nominal grows at the inflation rate every year, contributes zero cash, and is essentially a zero-coupon bond with duration equal to the time limited period (the ALM market). The galleries pay the insurance, share the risk, and earn whatever the painting makes as a part of travelling exhibitions, etc (bigger/better/more marketable collection at less cost). Same 'trustworthy' social licence issues as the RE blockchain, and the same/stronger agency pushback. But .... It will not happen until a government (France/UK/Germany) does it, and essentially privatises state owned artworks via sale of the nominal portions to the ALM market. Notable, in this case, is that it also spins off the worlds best known forgeries via a derivative market of blockchain provenance. Friends in low places advise .... that many of the very best forgers in the world are equally as good painters as the masters they forge; they just don't get the same 'press'. That genuine Picasso, alongside its best forgery in the world; both displayed safely at the Louvre. Can you tell the difference . Incredible opportunities, but mention this in the Louvre .... and you're lower than dog shite, dragged in under your shoe!. SD

I should have kept my EWY short - KOSPI high of 9385 should have been deemed close enuff to 10k to hold regrets, i've had a few...

Appreciate the response but still don't see how a TRS counterparty is the same as a bank when the counterparty owns the same number of shares as its TRS exposure. If it owns less shares than its exposure that provides leverage but also creates risk. Otherwise, still trying to figure out why a counterparty would settle for a risk-free 3% +/- return.

As a part of the Free Trade discussion between Vietnam and Canada, it looks like Fairfax will have the ability to sell some new insurance products in Vietnam. There were no details on what this entails. https://itpc.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/web/en/-/vietnam-eyes-greater-canadian-investment-as-fta-talks-progress He noted that Canadian companies continue to increase their presence in Vietnam, highlighting Fairfax Financial's long-term investments in the insurance sector. He added that the MoF (Ministry of Finance) has instructed relevant agencies to facilitate the approval of new products proposed by Fairfax Financial in accordance with Vietnamese regulations.

Another banger from Irrational Analysis. H/T to @gfp for unearthing this guy. https://irrationalanalysis.substack.com/p/the-king-bleeds-long-live-the-king

Charlie [ @Charlie ], Please see here.

I just went back to this topic to see it, and this one by @Xerxes is just killing me!

Hynix down ~16% today. I guess the Degens in Korea have been playing again. I do find some dirt cheap stocks that I am interested in but it takes some time to do the work here with notebookLM. Korea doesn’t strike me as a terrible efficient market.

Posted by Charlie [ @Charlie ] in the 'Is Europe becomming uninvestable?' topic about going to Vrist, Jutland, Denmark for three weeks vacation : Charlie [ @Charlie ], The West Coast of Jutland [ in Danish called 'Vestkysten'] is to me an awesome place with a very special nature, shaped by location in the prevailing wind direction from the North Sea to the West. Here, the aerea also goes by 'The Summer Land' [in Danish 'Sommerlandet'], because it's popular area for summer vacation, with many areas with recreational houses, a share of them up for rent via bureaus. We have heatvawes here, too, but at the West Coast of Jutland is certainly not as bad as almost elsewhere here, the sea has it's own fuction as a heat pump, both ways, so to say. Bring clothes for all, so that any weather condition isen't in any way a showstopper for doing something together, going out. [Right now, we in period where the regalar warnings of cloudbursts. Go to the beach and enjoy the beach and the sea every day - all of you [I recall from your posts that you have kids]! Thyborøn is close by to the North! - go find a place to buy fresh fish at or near the harbour there! If possible, almost every day! Fresh grilled [BBQ] fish with salads and lots of veggies is fantastic food! The native population in the area has always been very accomodating towards visitors and tourists. - - - o 0 o - - - The West Coast of Jutland is a good place to get rid of stress, decouple from the dailyday at home, and to have a good time with kids and spouse. - - - o 0 o - - - It's now some many years past since I was there the last time, so I'm not actually updated about how it is today. When I was younger [late university years and the working years just after, I had typically a week each year in the area [ motorcycle, GF, tent, money, passport, condoms! ], later, that simply became impossible because of work, so the autumn became my prior vacation period, where I went to the area to decompress from an absolute awfull and stressfull worklife, typically in North Face gear with boots. Later in life with no kid[s] around any longer, vacations have somewhat swithced to short visits to European cities. - - - o 0 o - - - If you have more specific questions, please shoot me a PM, Charlie [ @Charlie ], and I'll see what I can do for you.

Ahh I guess da KOSPI isn't going to hit 10k too bad, so sad, better luck next time, etc...

assuming you make 15% on your active stock picks: 15% * 50% = 7% + 2% cash interest = 9% 15% * 95% = 14.25% - 2% drag for puts = 12.25% + better downside protection in bear markets With higher interest rates it might look different.

I once had a brilliant but kind advisor. When I was way, way off, she would say, "You're not even wrong."

Parsad, What rights did Graham tear away from the LGBTQ community?