Grenville

I would steer clear of Oakmark Select and Bill Nygren

very interesting! thanks for the heads up! The Berkshire Q3 report doesn't really show dividends up from subs to the parents.

Sreenr, Thanks for asking the question. I would like to pull up the warrants and this looks like the best way to do it. Treasurehunt, How did you figure this out? Is there a guide somewhere or just programming knowledge? How about the syntax of pulling data out of a webpage like that? Thanks in advance!

Nice letter from Richard Smith to Employees of First Mercury regarding the Fairfax acquisition. I like how he attached the Fairfax guiding principles. First Mercury also acquired another company earlier in the year, Valiant. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/929186/000091476010000116/m73847_103010.htm Fixed the link! Sorry!

Thanks for the post FFHWatcher. It makes me feel better that Fairfax switched out of the common into the prefs.

Nice article! Thank you for posting it!

Happy 25th Anniversary and congratulations on a reaching a significant milestone! I have not followed Fairfax from the very beginning, but in the last two years I have learned a great deal from Fairfax and the individuals associated with the company. It is reassuring to see a company with a simple yet strong set of guiding principles survive through tough times and thrive in good times. I am proud to be an owner of a company focused on all stake holders (customers, employees, shareholders, business partners, and the community). Fairfax’s continued success will leave an important example in the business community. I look forward to the future both as an owner and a student!

Globe and Mail articles generally show up in Google News. You can set Google Alerts to mail you a summary of newspaper articles, blog posts, et al matching keywords like "fairfax financial". The results can be sent to your email on daily or weekly basis, etc. If interested, you could set a news article alert for each company you follow. nodnub, Thanks for the tip! I will try it out.

Also, is there a way to set up a news feed or alert for certain companies on the Globe and Mail site? I follow a bunch of companies, and these news stories don't show up on google finance for the various Canadian companies.

A very interesting article with a lot more colour. Thank you for posting! The transaction is very interesting and meaningful it terms of relationships in the region. GIC owns a bunch of other subsidiaries including a 55% stake in Arab Orient!

I just checked Geico for an insurance quote. I currently use Statefarm. The one thing that I didn't understand is why Geico property damage coverage for an auto policy tops out at 100k. Statefarm allows 250k, 300k, 500k. On the surface that seems like a deal breaker for me. I haven't called to inquire why they stop at 100k, but does anyone else know why?

Here are my notes from the recent Pabrai Funds AGM.

Thanks for posting!

The press release is below. It's an interesting transaction. If you include this dividend with the last one a month ago, they have sent out 7 in cash to shareholders. Also, they bought the 10% stake from Ackman earlier in the year for 30. It's a lot of cash sent up to Sears Holding and now you add the 60 day loan. A lot of signs point to the privatization of the remaining 10% stake in Sears Canada, not sure why else you would have a 60 day loan. The 60 day loan would disappear if they bought up the remaining stake in Sears Canada. Should be interesting to see what Eddie Lampert has up his sleeves. Sears Canada Announces Extraordinary Dividend TORONTO, Sep. 10, 2010 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- Sears Canada Inc. (TSX: SCC) announced today that its Board of Directors declared that an extraordinary cash dividend of CAD $3.50 per share on all Common Shares of the Company, or approximately CAD $376.7 million, will be paid on September 24, 2010 to shareholders of record as at the close of business on September 22, 2010. The Company also announced that the Board of Directors has approved the Company entering into a CAD $800 million Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility with a syndicate of lenders. The closing of the facility is expected to occur on September 10, 2010, and the availability of the facility will be subject to a number of customary funding conditions and to the prior payment or defeasement of the Company's outstanding medium term notes due September 20, 2010. The facility is expected to be available for five years to fund working capital needs, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes. The Board of Directors has also approved the Company making a loan of CAD $400 million to Sears Holdings Corporation of Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The loan is expected to be made within the next five business days and is to remain outstanding for no more than 60 days. Sears Canada hereby notifies shareholders that it designates the full amount of the dividend to be paid on the common shares, to be an "eligible dividend" as defined in subsection 89(1) of the Income Tax Act (Canada), and in any similar provincial and territorial tax legislation. This release contains information which is forward-looking and is subject to important risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information concerns the Company's plans to enter into the credit facility and the intercompany loan. Factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to the satisfaction of typical closing conditions. While the Company believes that these transactions will proceed, there can be no assurance that the applicable conditions of closing will be satisfied. Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer with a network of 197 corporate stores, 241 dealer stores, 31 home improvement showrooms, over 1,800 catalogue merchandise pick-up locations, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and installation network. The Company also publishes Canada's most extensive general merchandise catalogue and offers shopping online at www.sears.ca. SOURCE: Sears Canada Inc.

They beneficially own 21.2% of the common through the preferreds. They don't directly own the common. It looks like Stanley Zax was added to the board following the A series investment! http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915191/000095012310079643/o64518sc13d.htm

Yes, almost every property appraisal/assessment district allows you to search public records online. In this case, it's Miami-Dade Property Appraiser: http://www.miamidade.gov/pa/property_search.asp Thank you for the link! I will look into it.

I'd say quite a bit. :) According to Miami-Dade PA, he bought 2 adjacent properties right on the water on Tahiti Beach Island for a total of $23 million. So yeah, why should he close the fund? ;D Turar, How did you find the real estate transaction for Bruce? Is there a site that let's you search by name?

From my initial read, this sounds ridiculous. It's like you lent a guy a hand when times were tough, and now when things are rolling, you change the rules and screw the guy who gave you the bridge. A honest hand shake doesn't work anymore..so sad. Reminds me of MBIA and the loan they got. The FMG note has a lot of upside and it's a rich option on FMG. Thanks for posting. I hope the honest guys win in this scenario. Sucks for Luecadia going forward in future dealings with FMG and Forrest.

Nice article. Thanks for posting!

dcollon, Thank you for posting the letter. I don't care much for Alice's commentary, but the letter provides us insight on Sokol and how he's dealing with a sticky situation at Netjets. I see nothing wrong in his letter if it is real. He's laying out the facts in a clear manner and those current employees are undermining the brand and the business. I like how he's clearly identified Berkshire's initial investment.

Nice article. Provides a better idea on how the deflation protection is structured. Also good press for the Fairfax team!

Valuegeek, Thank you for your comments!

that's hilarious!

Sandridge's share price movement is scary the last few days. Not knowing much about the company, it reminds me of the liquidity pressure some of the banks faced during the financial crisis where it just fed on itself into a downward spiral. It's also interesting to remember that FFH transferred their ownership to preferred from the common. If they need any additional financing, FFH has plenty of cash to invest in the form of an additional preferred offering.

93% hedged! "Fairfax holds significant investments in equities and equity-related securities, which the company believes will significantly appreciate in value over time. In response to the significant appreciation in equity market valuations during 2009 and the first half of 2010 and uncertainty in the economy, the company continued hedging its equity investment exposure by entering into total return swaps referenced to the Russell 2000 index (at an average Russell 2000 index value of 646.5) in addition to its existing swap contracts referenced to the S&P 500 index (at an average S&P 500 index value of 1,062.5). At June 30, 2010, these hedges represented approximately 93% of the company's equity investment exposure. The market value and the liquidity of these investments are volatile and may vary dramatically either up or down in short periods, and their ultimate value will therefore only be known over the long term." Also another company bought in runoff through TIG. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Fairfax-Financial-Holdings-Limited-Second-Quarter-Financial-Results-TSX-FFH-1297790.htm