gaf63

Only a small portion of the shares were held by the trust, from what I gathered from the SEC filing However he still owns 5% of shares outstanding which is nothing to sneeze at, just a worrisome trend As to SD,I like that they are adding to their oil production at low cost, but are spending more than they are making at current prices They will have a $400 mil cash burn next yr, and must sell the wolfberry and bonespring acreage to maintain the $875 mil capex. If they reach their goal of 40000 bpd next yr. they will still need more cash to maintain level of capex. So they will need more sales or more debt or more dilution of shareholders, or a cutback in capex, or higher oil and gas prices SD has capable people running it, great reserves that are undervalued on the balance sheet, low cost production, and Prem and FFH are investors in the co. My worries are the level of debt and the time frame of bringing on production to pay down this debt. At my present level of investment I am comfortable with these risks. But am unable to pull the trigger on a larger investment at moment and the CEO selling over 20% of his shares gives me pause.

Tom Ward just sold 6 million shares at 5.86, and is now down to 21mil shares. Not a great endorsement for SD I own a small position and was looking at increasing it to a much larger %

No other info available at moment

Prem and everyone at Fairfax Financial, Congratulations on your 25th. I look forward to seeing your vision and goals for FFH unfold over the next 25 Thanks for all your hard work and dedication, Gary

29%

Smazz, yes I live in central Calif. near the coast between Santa Cruz and Monterey Back towards the foothills where we get less fog and more sun and heat however this year has been very foggy even here and cool, all fruit is maturing late Not a truly hot climate(hit 107F a few weeks back but that was abnormal), but Olives grow well here

Walking/Hiking 4 miles+/day, reading, cooking and EATING(one reason why I walk a lot), growing pinot vines and hopefully making good wine, and growing Italian varietal olive trees for the oil, showing/teaching 2 grandsons about nature and the world around us to counteract the tv/video game mindlessness, Oh and to broxburnboy, you're not the oldest by a longshot

I've been selling the last few weeks, and sold the last today over 26 hate to lose the div. , but agree that FFH should call them this Oct.

Thanks for the link, They have lowered the price, but still a steep $850/yr.

Found the answer to my question on % of US treasuries of total bonds in the 2nd qtr. report 12%Canadian incl. provinces 15.4%US treasuries 19.4% corp 45% US states and munis

Couple of things from conf. call, interest was the lowest since I've owned FFH, 2 questions only The one from Cormark was about lowering costs considering the decline in premiums, Prem's answer was that the market can turn and we have to be ready, so we can expect higher cr's from Northbridge and the US cos. til the market hardens. Also he said that most companies CR is above 100 on the accident yr. and with low interest rates prices will have to raised at some point soon FFH is now hedged against inflation, deflation and a fall in the market, with all these hedges I would think that earnings will be very volatile from here on out(as they were when the cd's were in place) Also, there was a 36.4 mil loss from the Deepwater spill. Thought they got out of marine after Katrina

Viking, thanks for the reply. I'm curious as to FFH's % holdings of treasuries compared to total bonds. Anyone have an idea or where one could find out??

From pg. 76 of the AR: At December 31, 2009, the fair value of the company’s investment portfolio included approximately $11.5 billion of fixed income securities which are subject to interest rate risk. Fluctuations in interest rates have a direct impact on the market values of these securities. As interest rates rise, market values of fixed income portfolios decline, and vice versa. The table below displays the potential impact on net earnings and other comprehensive income of market value fluctuations caused by changes in interest rates on the company’s fixed income portfolio based on parallel 200 basis point shifts in interest rates up and down, in 100 basis point increments. This analysis was performed on each security individually. Given the current economic and interest rate environment, the company believes a 200 basis point shift to be reasonably possible. December 31, 2009 Hypothetical $ change effect on: 200 basis point increase 9,689.3 (448.6) (752.3) (15.5) 100 basis point increase 10,535.9 (241.5) (389.4) (8.1) No change 11,468.4 – – – 100 basis point decrease 12,434.0 268.9 384.1 8.4 200 basis point decrease 13,521.5 585.7 806.0 17.9 7 yr. treasury declined .86 , 10 yr.- .87 in the qtr. , on total bond portfolio the value increase would be 793 mil If you totally exclude the muni portfolio, the increase would be 457 mil Dont know how much the equity portfolio declined after hedges , but I would think that net gains were flat to positive Viking , how much did you allow for bond gains in your net gain calculation??

SSW and Wang are gearing up to add another 20-30 ships to their fleet "if" the shipyards meet his requirements. Interesting article from the Lloyd's List http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/containers/article341131.ece (If you cant access article from Lloyd's List, I can post full article)

Anyone have thoughts or ideas on ORHpA trading above 25.50/sh?? I believe that FFH will call these pfd's in Oct., and have sold most of my position at these prices. Am I missing something??? GAF

According to the site you posted Ericopoly, there will be an increase in cost basis of $1.3 mil For purposes of this subsection - (A) In general The basis increase under this subsection for any property is the portion of the aggregate basis increase which is allocated to the property pursuant to this section. (B) Aggregate basis increase In the case of any estate, the aggregate basis increase under this subsection is $1,300,000.

More info on the rise of ontainer ship rates , with shortage of ships and containers mentioned http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=108265&Itemid=79

Looks like SSW negotiated a good deal on the 4250 from Zhejaing. Diana shipping just paid $45 mil for 2 3400's compared to SSW's price of $43 mil for the 4250

Yes , a good development , the cost was 57% of the other 4250 ships purchased from Zhejiang and 60% financed by equity at 5%. Another positive development was a further reduction of their equity needs to $125 mil and a delay in timing. Another sale/ lease deal should lower their equity needs below $100 mil. From the 6-K: We currently have $1.1 billion available under our credit and lease facilities to fund our $1.3 billion newbuilding program. To fund the remainder, we will need to issue approximately $125 million in common or other equity and/or other forms of capital over the period from the third quarter of 2011 to the third quarter of 2012. This is a reduction from our previously stated equity capital needs of $140 million and a deferral of the period from the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012. The state of the global financial markets and economic conditions may adversely impact our ability to issue additional equity at prices that will not be dilutive to our existing shareholders or preclude us from issuing equity at all. We will continue to actively pursue alternatives that will allow us to defer or eliminate some or all of our current equity needs.

http://www.pimco.com/LeftNav/Featured+Market+Commentary/IO/2010/Bill+Gross+June+2010+Investment+Outlook.htm

Wondered about Oldye's comment also. However it is backed up by the annual energy outlook, Overall, natural gas consumption grows by about 0.2 percent per year from 2008 to 2035, despite declines of about 1.5 percent per year from 2008 through 2014, when coal-fired power plants now under construction or planned begin operation, and Federal tax credits and State RPS programs spur additions of new elec- tricity generation capacity fired by renewable fuels. Coal consumption increases by 0.4 percent per year in the Reference case. Several coal-fired power plants, with combined capacity totaling 15.6 gigawatts, are planned to come on line by 2012. More coal is consumed for heat and power in the CTL process, off- setting declines in coal consumption for coking and other industrial uses. http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/trend_2.pdf Here is a very detailed report on the Natural gas market, http://www.ferc.gov/market-oversight/st-mkt-ovr/som-rpt-2009.pdf And, also in this mammoth report, they highlight why NG in heavy trucks will be a long time coming: there is no infrastructure , and the outlays for NG fuel systems in trucks are very expensive, http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/natgas_fuel.html

Ok , Only if you believe FFH wont call them in Oct. would one buy over $25. I think they will, there is cheaper money available. Now , I would be happy if they never called , but dont think that will happen

Great article , thanks

They are callable this yr., Oct. 20, I believe , same day as div. payout Also the volume has been higher than usual - noticed the volume increase right after last div. cost to FFH would be the same either way , little more than a $1 in div., to $1 more for early call price

http://www.pimco.com/LeftNav/PIMCO+Spotlight/2010/Secular+Outlook+May+2010+El-Erian.htm