Leaderboard

https://money.com/google-8-wrong-worst-predictions/?amp=true

"The key organ in your body in the stock market is your stomach. It’s not the brain. If you can add 8 and 8 and get reasonably close to 16, that’s the only level of math you need to know. " I've always liked this Peter Lynch quote. He's got a lot of pithy quotes.

What is Prem’s ownership position in Fairfax today? 10% economic interest valued at $1.52 billion ($650/share on April 6). 43.9% voting interest. What does the mean? Prem is firmly in control of Fairfax. Two of his children serve on the board: Christine McLean and Ben Watsa. ————— How much does Prem get paid by Fairfax? 1.) Salary: $600,000/year. this salary has stayed the same for decades 2.) Stock-based compensation: unlike other executives at Fairfax, Prem does not earn any stock based compensation. For companies of Fairfax’s size this is a pretty unique compensation package. And looking t it strictly from a compensation perspective, this is a smoking hot deal for shareholders. ————— On June 15, 2020, Prem Watsa announced he had purchased 482,600 shares of Fairfax at a total cost of $148.95 or $308.64/share. With shares closing on April 7, 2023 at $650, Prem has made a paper gain of $165 million = + 110%. Not too shabby over 34 months. Prem is a value investor and he certainly nailed this purchase. The significant size of the purchase was surprising, given how much Fairfax stock he already owned. Fairfax shares bottomed out at $250 in May of 2020. Of interest, book value bottomed out at $442/share at March 31, 2020. The share price dropped to the $260 level in October of 2020. Shares were trading at prices last seen in 2007. For long term investors in Fairfax these were the darkest of days. Many capitulated and sold their shares. The sentiment index in Fairfax was flashing ‘extreme fear’. ————— Prem Watsa Acquires Additional Shares of Fairfax - https://www.fairfax.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2020/Prem-Watsa-Acquires-Additional-Shares-of-Fairfax/default.aspx Mr. Watsa commented as follows in connection with this purchase: “At our AGM and on our first quarter earnings release call, I said that our shares are ‘ridiculously cheap’. That statement reflected my recognition that in the 35 years since Fairfax began, I have never seen Fairfax shares sell at a bigger discount to their intrinsic value than they have recently. I have now backed up my strong words by purchasing close to US$150 million of Fairfax shares in the market over the last few days, as I believe that this will be an excellent long term investment.”