Cageyone

In 1990 my investment advisor who I had known for over 20 years told me he had gotten to know Prem as a person of the highest integrity. So I bought my first 500 FFH shares at under $14 CDN. I was always a “lazy” buy and hold investor and acquired more shares since then. It has definitely been a bumpy ride, but now FFH is more than 60 % of my portfolio. And I sleep nights because of Prem’s integrity and the integrity of the team he’s built. So based on watching FFH for over 30 years, in my view the FFH team is a solid 8.

Sounds too good to be true! Can anyone point to some negative articles on Tesla?

FFH up again today in a down market! So is it becoming the "all-weather" stock we've all been waiting for?

As a buy-and-hold value investor I should have held onto our purchased-new 1967 VW Westfalia Camper Van. As the last year of the original VW bus design, they’re currently worth a small fortune! My current “value investment vehicle” is a 1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible which I’ve had for about three years. Not only is it fun to drive (weather permitting) but I can also convince myself that it is a “work of art”. Plus it seems to be holding its value (which is about what the rest of my investment portfolio did in 2015!). But as it is totally impractical for someone living in a northern snow belt, my “daily driver” is a 2010 four-wheel drive Yukon SUV.

With 60% of my tax sheltered portfolio in FFH, I’ve come to expect “lumpy” results. So after adjusting for minimum mandatory withdrawals (and in $Cdn) 2013 was +19.1%, 2014 was +24.8%, and 2015 was +2.5%! But as a long term buy and hold forever (read “lazy”?) investor, my CAGR since 1999 has been 8.1% -- exactly in line with the 8% factor I used back in 1996 when trying to decide whether I could afford to retire in 1999 at age 58. So no serious complaints or regrets!

Hi fellow "long investor"! Thanks to the lower 2016 minimum RRIF withdrawal rules, I think I have cash for the year. But sometimes a stock just keeps going and I should sell some more! Valient was a prime example this year. I sold some when it was at a 52 week high at $170 Cdn. And I should have followed "my rule" when it topped $300 and sold some more, before it returned to its current $160!

I should probably learn to lighten up a bit on names when they touch 52 week highs!

Have any of FFH's previous investments involved life insurance, or is this a first?

Daphne, I’ve been waiting to hear from “the wise ones” too! I’m far from being a “wise one”, but I’m probably one of the most heavily invested, with FFH being over half of my equity portfolio. And as a long-term “buy and hold” guy, I’m also probably one of the most inactive (read “lazy”?) ones on the Board! However, for what it’s worth I do a weekly portfolio valuation. And back on March 19 when FFH more or less peaked, FFH was 55.0% of my portfolio – and my overall portfolio was up 24% year-over-year. So nine months later on December 11, FFH was still 54.8% -- even though my overall portfolio was down 4% year-over-year. So in a generally down market FFH held up reasonably well considering that about 15% of my portfolio is in energy and other commodity names. And of course in hindsight, I should have been a little less lazy back in March and taken at least something off the table!

I just got diagnosed with "Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea" and last night was my first night on a CPAP device -- not a great experience! (Long time getting to sleep and frequent awakenings -- but interestingly, I do feel "brighter" this morning!) So does anyone have some tips on how they have "learned to love" their CPAPs so that they are better able to deal with investment decisions?

This prognosis suggests that "Mr. Market" still has a long way to go down! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/youre-feeling-bullish-last-weeks-133916109.html

Pretty convincing support for Prem's thesis from David Stockman! So are the key questions "when?", "how bad?" and "is FFH the best place to be?"

So far there doesn't seem to be a lot of selling going on!

Another sobering look at the deflation scenario... http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/business/topstories/is-u-s-fed-chair-janet-yellen-creating-a-zombie-economy-1.3050229 But as a consumer, the current negligible interest rates enticed me last week to upgrade my 2005 Toyota for a 2015 model, financing the difference for 0.99% over four years. And the dealer only made about $1,000 over his cost (and he swallowed the cost of bringing the vehicle from another dealer 150 miles away!)

Yet another sobering view... http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/topstories/why-wobbly-world-markets-are-more-worrying-than-oil-don-pittis-1.3034038