Parsad

I still consider Andy's book the ultimate bible for Berkshire disciples. Here is the link to the 2017 edition! I can't even remember how long Andy's been putting "Of Permanent Value" together, but it's well over 20 years now. Thanks for all your work Andy! Cheers! https://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Value-Warren-Buffett-Worldwide/dp/1681840723/ref=cm_sw_em_r_dp_w_dc_l657ybYTE9C4B_tt

Hi Marlin, I emailed Andy to have him send me the book cover so I can post it on here, but I have not heard back. Can you let me him know that if he wants to have it on here, I'm more than happy to post it. Cheers!

Hi Folks, Today is the last chance to buy dinner tickets! They will not be available tomorrow. Today is also the last day to buy presentation-only tickets at $100, as they will increase to $150 from tomorrow. Presentation tickets will be available right up until the door opens on the 19th, but dinner tickets will not be available after tomorrow. The dinner this year is at: Fairmont Royal York Imperial Room - Lobby Level April 19th, 2017 6pm - 10pm Tickets: Presentation only - $100 - increase to $150 after April 5th Presentation & Buffet Dinner - $200 - not available after April 5th We will also have a silent auction, etc as usual. Please buy your tickets at: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/ - Left-hand side, scroll down half a page. or http://www.pdh-inc.com/investor-relations.html - Scroll down half a page. Cheers!

Hi Folks, Today is the last chance to buy dinner tickets! They will not be available tomorrow. Today is also the last day to buy presentation-only tickets at $100, as they will increase to $150 from tomorrow. Presentation tickets will be available right up until the door opens on the 19th, but dinner tickets will not be available after tomorrow. The dinner this year is at: Fairmont Royal York Imperial Room - Lobby Level April 19th, 2017 6pm - 10pm Tickets: Presentation only - $100 - increase to $150 after April 5th Presentation & Buffet Dinner - $200 - not available after April 5th We will also have a silent auction, etc as usual. Please buy your tickets at: http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/ - Left-hand side, scroll down half a page. or http://www.pdh-inc.com/investor-relations.html - Scroll down half a page. Cheers!

Yeah, I don't think those posts can be retrieved because they had to load an earlier saved copy of the database when restoring. So any posts from the 1st, 2nd or 3rd aren't there anymore. Cheers!

Hi Folks, No idea what happened this time, but the site was down for most of the day! On Saturday, the website host had a problem with the server we were on, when their drive and mirror drive both failed. They moved us to another server and I thought things were fixed. Today, I spent the better part of 3 hours trying to convince them that something was wrong, as I could not access the site, and they kept telling me they could! Finally, they realized something was wrong after I sent them numerous screen shots. I'm still not sure what went wrong, but it may be time to upgrade the forum once again. I will keep you in the loop! That being said, I believe they had to reload from the database at an earlier time, so we may have lost some posts as well as a couple of member registrations. I can't fix the posts, but will follow up with those that paid their registration fee and get them all set up. Once again, thanks for being patient! If you could do me a favour: If you had problems accessing the site today, please reply to this thread with a quick post. Cheers! Sanjeev

Hi there folks, Last chance to buy dinner tickets! They will not be available after Tuesday. Presentation tickets will be available right up until the door opens, but at $150 starting Wednesday. Thanks very much for those that have bought their tickets! Sanjeev

Hi there folks, Last chance to buy dinner tickets! They will not be available after Tuesday. Presentation tickets will be available right up until the door opens, but at $150 starting Wednesday. Thanks very much for those that have bought their tickets! Sanjeev

Hi LongHaul, The number of flaky people hasn't increased...you are just getting old! ;D The proportion of flaky people stays the same in the universe, not unlike the Law of Conservation of Energy. When one flaky person disappears, you always have another form of flakiness appear in the universe. Eg Pamela Anderson...Kim Kardashian; Bobby Brown...Justin Bieber; Jane Fonda...Kanye West; Dan Quayle...Donald Trump. It all gets recycled by the universe! Cheers!

Not a multi-millionaire like Uccmal or Ericopoly, but I am a millionaire...had to spend a good chunk of my money in the early years to survive, so that I could finally build CMC, MPIC and PDH...although if you include my house then I am. I don't know what drives me. It was like the first sunny Saturday and Sunday in Vancouver in four months and I was/am sitting in the office both days. No one is here in the entire building other than me! I'm finishing off the PDH annual letter, and I have to finish off the MPIC annual letters in the next day or two. All i know is that I have a lot fun coming to work. Most people don't like going to work, but do so because they need the money or the money is really good. I don't spend alot of money and if I could afford to do what I do for free, I would do it. Funny thing is, the more you are in this world working at what you love, the more you attract like-minded people who are doing the same...be it as a value-hedge fund manager or some other venture/occupation. I just love business. I love how business works...how it affects our daily lives...how people feel about their business. I like owning or building something that people like or can use. The treasure hunt aspect of being a value fund manager is all well and good, but you aren't building anything...you're shuffling money from one idea to another. But when you also operate a business or at least help guide its direction, and then how that fits into the world and people's lives...it's very intriguing! Lastly, I always hated working for others where they disrespect you or left you feeling undervalued or unappreciated. I didn't want to ever work for anyone else again, and I wanted to do what I wanted exactly when I wanted. I don't get in the office until 10-10:30am, but I don't leave until 7:30-8pm. I rarely leave my desk for lunch, and generally work for the entire time I'm in the office. Today I get to do exactly that! I've met Warren Buffett a few times...I've met Wayne Gretzky a couple of times...I'm friends with the exact hedge fund managers that I looked up to and wanted to copy 12 years ago...Prem Watsa is the biggest investor in my fund...I run a public company and get to acquire and start businesses...I work when I want, I sleep when I want, I eat when I want and both me and my family are very comfortable. You would think I would work less in that case, but I actually work more...it's just so much fun to me! Cheers!

Also, Scotty is like Andy Kaufman...his art is trying to get people to freak out one side or the other. You don't have to like his art, but you have to admit it is well thought out and solicits some sort of response from the reader. I wouldn't be surprised if some hedge fund gives him a billion dollars to manage pretty soon. Then he'll be on CNBC, his fund will blow up after buying up a basket of AI stocks, and he'll be prosecuted by the Justice Department for using fund capital for his coke habit with Jim Chanos. Finally, he'll finish off with a tell-all memoir on how he got his start here on COBF, and what an ass the site administrator is. But he will never let the facts get in his way...only yours! Hope that little blurb was up to your standards Scotty! ;D Cheers!

Any recommendations? Business Reorganization in Bankruptcy is incredibly detailed, but it's almost so dry and detailed that I wouldn't advise reading it from an investing practitioner's perspective. Distress Investing and the Vulture Investors are much better for distilling a lot of the concepts in a relatively condensed and entertaining way. You sound like some kind of law student on this. Get a prip on it, or stay out. The FELP topic comes to mind. John Hjorth, in case you don't know, there's an ignore option in CobF. It's there to keep jerks out of your circle. It is a giant waste of time trying to reason with p$!cks. Hey guys, watch the language you use...much nicer ways of getting your point across. Better yet, if you don't agree with someone, post a well-thought out reply or ignore. Also ask that other posters facilitate the discussion by not antagonizing or pricking (used as an adverb, not a noun) other's sensitivities! Cheers!

Your theory could be correct, but as we've seen from the poll...disappointment in Fairfax and Premier is less of a factor. Politics also could be ruled out, as stats show the number of active users and readers is the same or rising in the last two years on COBF. Politics may roar its ugly head once in a while here, but it certainly doesn't show up at the annual dinner. So, I think that eliminates all three. What I've noticed is that many of our older users have become disengaged from the board and the dinner. Success tends to propagate a sense of comfort and perhaps even a degree of apathy. You forget that you weren't so rich once, or that you're smarter than you really are and have little to gain from those newbies who have come aboard. Maybe like other things, these things run in cycles and this is the end of this run. Who knows! But I thought I would make that post to shake a few trees and wake people up. Cheers!

I was about to go to sleep tonight, but decided to come downstairs and post this on the message board because I'm quite f**king pissed off! This is the 12th Annual Dinner we are doing in Toronto this year. What started out as a little gathering for me and 9 friends in Joe Badali's Restaurant, with Francis Chou doing a fly-by and then sitting, answering questions for 2 hours, grew into what some are now caling the "Fairfax Lollapalooza!" 12 years later! Each year, little by little, it has grown...with some 165 attendees in 2015 and 148 attendees in 2016. In total, we had raised $130,000 for Crohns & Colitis Canada in memory of JoAnn Butler, when we started dedicating the event to her in 2010. But this year, something is different! I don't know what, but the ticket sales have fallen well off pace and there has been much less interest. To the point where we may have to scale down the event next year or eliminate it all together! Yes, you heard that right...maybe eliminate it all together! First, you should note, I do not and have never received a single penny for the work that goes into putting this together each year. Second, outside of support from Fairfax, Francis, Pat Hios, a handful of donors and volunteers, I do all of the work. Alot of time and alot of effort, and frankly alot of love goes into this! All of the speakers donate their time and effort with no fees...in some instances, I pay to fly them in and put them up. So you may ask, what the hell is Sanjeev venting about...this is his thing and nobody asked him to do this. And you are absolutely correct! But alot of you have benefitted indirectly from my generosity...be it from the great event we put on each year, or from the fact this board is relatlvely free for the user, and has made a shitload of money for some of you and will make money for many of you newer users! To those that have bought their tickets already this year, whether you may or may not attend, I thank you for your support! To the one attendee, who couldn't make it out the last three years and sent a lovely check for Crohns & Colitis Canada this week...thank you so much! To Fairfax, who give of their time and money with such humility each year, there is no event without you guys! But where are the rest of you? - Where are all those cheap, rich bastards as Wayne Gretzky put it last year at the dinner? - Where are all of you long-time attendees who have become cynical and fickle over the last year(s)? - Where are all my rich hedge fund friends managing anywhere from tens of millions to billions of dollars! I don't need your quarterly or annual newsletter. I don't need the annual book you send me. I don't need a pat on the back. I don't want you praising me when you see me at some event. I don't want you calling me to ask me how I can get you in touch with Fairfax because you have some great investment idea or business you want to sell. I need your support for this dinner! I hope many of you are still coming! I hope some of you get pulled out of the darkness by this post and decide, hey I'll send a check in or buy a ticket, or sponsor a silent auction item...or maybe just give back in some little way! I know you guys haven't disappeared, and I know you will see this. You can buy your ticket at www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca . Scroll down a little bit and the ticket button is on the left hand side of the homepage. You can send a check made out to "Crohns & Colitis Canada" and CCC will send you a tax receipt. Mail to: Premier Diversified Holdings Attention: Sanjeev Parsad #301 - 3185 Willingdon Green Burnaby, BC V5G4P3 You can contact me directly if you want to make a corporate donation or donate a sponsorship item: sparsad@pdh-inc.com 604-679-9115 ext 205 Otherwise this may be it! Maybe we've run our course and call it a day! But that would be a God-awful shame. There is no other event like this in Canada, and outside of Berkshire's AGM, anything similar elsewhere costs people an arm and a leg! So whereever you may be, please take note of my pissed off post. Think about how you benefited when Fairfax was warning about collateralized debt, or the massive thread on Bank of America that many of you got rich out of, or when you discussed how Fiat was so damn cheap! Actions speak louder than words...so I'm asking you to act! Cheers!

I was about to go to sleep tonight, but decided to come downstairs and post this on the message board because I'm quite f**king pissed off! This is the 12th Annual Dinner we are doing in Toronto this year. What started out as a little gathering for me and 9 friends in Joe Badali's Restaurant, with Francis Chou doing a fly-by and then sitting, answering questions for 2 hours, grew into what some are now caling the "Fairfax Lollapalooza!" 12 years later! Each year, little by little, it has grown...with some 165 attendees in 2015 and 148 attendees in 2016. In total, we had raised $130,000 for Crohns & Colitis Canada in memory of JoAnn Butler, when we started dedicating the event to her in 2010. But this year, something is different! I don't know what, but the ticket sales have fallen well off pace and there has been much less interest. To the point where we may have to scale down the event next year or eliminate it all together! Yes, you heard that right...maybe eliminate it all together! First, you should note, I do not and have never received a single penny for the work that goes into putting this together each year. Second, outside of support from Fairfax, Francis, Pat Hios, a handful of donors and volunteers, I do all of the work. Alot of time and alot of effort, and frankly alot of love goes into this! All of the speakers donate their time and effort with no fees...in some instances, I pay to fly them in and put them up. So you may ask, what the hell is Sanjeev venting about...this is his thing and nobody asked him to do this. And you are absolutely correct! But alot of you have benefitted indirectly from my generosity...be it from the great event we put on each year, or from the fact this board is relatlvely free for the user, and has made a shitload of money for some of you and will make money for many of you newer users! To those that have bought their tickets already this year, whether you may or may not attend, I thank you for your support! To the one attendee, who couldn't make it out the last three years and sent a lovely check for Crohns & Colitis Canada this week...thank you so much! To Fairfax, who give of their time and money with such humility each year, there is no event without you guys! But where are the rest of you? - Where are all those cheap, rich bastards as Wayne Gretzky put it last year at the dinner? - Where are all of you long-time attendees who have become cynical and fickle over the last year(s)? - Where are all my rich hedge fund friends managing anywhere from tens of millions to billions of dollars! I don't need your quarterly or annual newsletter. I don't need the annual book you send me. I don't need a pat on the back. I don't want you praising me when you see me at some event. I don't want you calling me to ask me how I can get you in touch with Fairfax because you have some great investment idea or business you want to sell. I need your support for this dinner! I hope many of you are still coming! I hope some of you get pulled out of the darkness by this post and decide, hey I'll send a check in or buy a ticket, or sponsor a silent auction item...or maybe just give back in some little way! I know you guys haven't disappeared, and I know you will see this. You can buy your ticket at www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca . Scroll down a little bit and the ticket button is on the left hand side of the homepage. You can send a check made out to "Crohns & Colitis Canada" and CCC will send you a tax receipt. Mail to: Premier Diversified Holdings Attention: Sanjeev Parsad #301 - 3185 Willingdon Green Burnaby, BC V5G4P3 You can contact me directly if you want to make a corporate donation or donate a sponsorship item: sparsad@pdh-inc.com 604-679-9115 ext 205 Otherwise this may be it! Maybe we've run our course and call it a day! But that would be a God-awful shame. There is no other event like this in Canada, and outside of Berkshire's AGM, anything similar elsewhere costs people an arm and a leg! So whereever you may be, please take note of my pissed off post. Think about how you benefited when Fairfax was warning about collateralized debt, or the massive thread on Bank of America that many of you got rich out of, or when you discussed how Fiat was so damn cheap! Actions speak louder than words...so I'm asking you to act! Cheers!

I was about to go to sleep tonight, but decided to come downstairs and post this on the message board because I'm quite f**king pissed off! This is the 12th Annual Dinner we are doing in Toronto this year. What started out as a little gathering for me and 9 friends in Joe Badali's Restaurant, with Francis Chou doing a fly-by and then sitting, answering questions for 2 hours, grew into what some are now caling the "Fairfax Lollapalooza!" 12 years later! Each year, little by little, it has grown...with some 165 attendees in 2015 and 148 attendees in 2016. In total, we had raised $130,000 for Crohns & Colitis Canada in memory of JoAnn Butler, when we started dedicating the event to her in 2010. But this year, something is different! I don't know what, but the ticket sales have fallen well off pace and there has been much less interest. To the point where we may have to scale down the event next year or eliminate it all together! Yes, you heard that right...maybe eliminate it all together! First, you should note, I do not and have never received a single penny for the work that goes into putting this together each year. Second, outside of support from Fairfax, Francis, Pat Hios, a handful of donors and volunteers, I do all of the work. Alot of time and alot of effort, and frankly alot of love goes into this! All of the speakers donate their time and effort with no fees...in some instances, I pay to fly them in and put them up. So you may ask, what the hell is Sanjeev venting about...this is his thing and nobody asked him to do this. And you are absolutely correct! But alot of you have benefitted indirectly from my generosity...be it from the great event we put on each year, or from the fact this board is relatlvely free for the user, and has made a shitload of money for some of you and will make money for many of you newer users! To those that have bought their tickets already this year, whether you may or may not attend, I thank you for your support! To the one attendee, who couldn't make it out the last three years and sent a lovely check for Crohns & Colitis Canada this week...thank you so much! To Fairfax, who give of their time and money with such humility each year, there is no event without you guys! But where are the rest of you? - Where are all those cheap, rich bastards as Wayne Gretzky put it last year at the dinner? - Where are all of you long-time attendees who have become cynical and fickle over the last year(s)? - Where are all my rich hedge fund friends managing anywhere from tens of millions to billions of dollars! I don't need your quarterly or annual newsletter. I don't need the annual book you send me. I don't need a pat on the back. I don't want you praising me when you see me at some event. I don't want you calling me to ask me how I can get you in touch with Fairfax because you have some great investment idea or business you want to sell. I need your support for this dinner! I hope many of you are still coming! I hope some of you get pulled out of the darkness by this post and decide, hey I'll send a check in or buy a ticket, or sponsor a silent auction item...or maybe just give back in some little way! I know you guys haven't disappeared, and I know you will see this. You can buy your ticket at www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca . Scroll down a little bit and the ticket button is on the left hand side of the homepage. You can send a check made out to "Crohns & Colitis Canada" and CCC will send you a tax receipt. Mail to: Premier Diversified Holdings Attention: Sanjeev Parsad #301 - 3185 Willingdon Green Burnaby, BC V5G4P3 You can contact me directly if you want to make a corporate donation or donate a sponsorship item: sparsad@pdh-inc.com 604-679-9115 ext 205 Otherwise this may be it! Maybe we've run our course and call it a day! But that would be a God-awful shame. There is no other event like this in Canada, and outside of Berkshire's AGM, anything similar elsewhere costs people an arm and a leg! So whereever you may be, please take note of my pissed off post. Think about how you benefited when Fairfax was warning about collateralized debt, or the massive thread on Bank of America that many of you got rich out of, or when you discussed how Fiat was so damn cheap! Actions speak louder than words...so I'm asking you to act! Cheers!

First, from an outcome-oriented analysis: I think only Baupost has been able to actually post "great" return while holding a sizeable chunk of cash relative to the portfolio size. And what Klarman invests in, I have no idea what his thinking is so I can't comment on that. Maybe he's just that damn brilliant. The dude is holding 20% cash and beating the market in weird pharma stocks. But otherwise, I can't think of an investor holding 20+% cash and outperforming. We're no Baupost or Klarman, and we manage a fraction of what they manage, but we've averaged at least 20% cash historically and beat the market from May 2005 when we launched. Bull market, bear market, bull market, sideways market, bull market...we just keep chugging along. And you can check it for yourself in our Annual Reports by simply adding cash at brokers to any T-bill securities we held! Yet, like so many managers, we struggle to find partners and keep the ones we have. Go figure! Cheers!

Hey Guys, Get your tickets purchased soon! We're about a month away, and the cut-off time is the end of the month! Our fantastic agenda and speakers look like this presently: • Dr. Simon Sutcliffe – Chief Medical Officer at QuBiologics; Two Worlds Cancer Clinics • Dr. Ryan D’Arcy – SFU Neurotech Center; HealthConnex Incubator • Robin Speziale – Author of “Market Masters” • Jim Viccars – CEO of GOeVisit.com • Sanjeev Parsad – MPIC Fund/Premier Diversified Holdings • Prem Watsa – Fairfax Financial • Fairfax Financial Panel – moderated by Jeff Stacey of Stacey & Associates All proceeds go to Crohns & Colitis Canada in memory of JoAnn Butler, who was Prem's executive assistant for many years! We are still looking for corporate sponsors or silent auction items. If you can contribute, please contact me at sparsad@pdh-inc.com . Also, don't forget our free pre-dinner event from 3pm to 5:30pm in Confederation 3 at the Fairmont Royal York. We always have some surprise guests that Francis Chou brings! Hurry, get your tickets and join us April 19th for a terrific evening! Cheers!

Ok, thread is locked...move on folks, there's nothing to see here! Cheers!

Part of the problem is that if you are a macro-nut, and most assets are over-inflated in an artificially induced low interest rate environment, then you presume that there is nothing to buy, you hedge in the other direction and spout your rhetoric. Truth is, there is always something to buy, but you moderate the risk in your portfolio in case "THE" macro-event occurs. Like I said previously, while we are getting cautious with our older holdings and have tapered down, we just loaded up on something at 7-8x earnings, strong cash flows, no debt and a solid business in an area getting hammered. How can you not execute on that idea regardless of your macro-views. Cheers!

Did you guys hear that the Trump Library at Mar-a-Lago burned down? Both books were destroyed and the crayons had melted all over the wood floors! Cheers and have a great weekend!

Incidentlaly, I'm not questioning Hussman's motives or ethics. But if he had simply invested using Graham's methods, he would be up 200% or so in the last 10 years. Even if markets fall 50%, he would still be far ahead of the dollar bills he is managing that are now worth 60 cents! I think what defines a great manager is one that can adjust their approach to secular forces without betraying the underlying intellectual framework they subscribe to. Buffett evolved and adapted after the Buffett partnerships. Anyone who didn't adjust to the internet and how that has affected what used to be competitive economic moats is liable to become obsolete. Buffett hasn't turned his back on Graham, but is evolving again...at 89 years old he sees the writing on the wall. He did this when he stepped into Berkshire, then by buying entire businesses and not selling them, then into quality businesses with competitive advantages, and then recently capital-intensive businesses. Moats are falling, while other moats are building. Some may say that Hamblin-Watsa was guilty of something similar to Hussman's anchoring, but the argument doesn't apply. Fairfax is a leveraged business where mistakes can have a significant impact on the company to underwrite insurance business. Hussman has no such risk. Again, I reiterate that I'm not judging Hussman's integrity, but I think he could take a page from Francis' book and reduce his fees after such an abysmal performance. Secular forces be damned! Cheers!

Hey, I'm getting pretty cautious of markets and I think we have a fairly significant bubble in all asset classes. But that doesn't mean a manager can continue to reap huge fees by underperforming for a decade...that's called welfare! It's why an incentive-based fee structure makes far more sense. Hussman has been guilty of what many managers do...anchoring! In the last decade, you're going to tell me he couldn't find 10 good ideas? Our non-PDH assets (including cash, which there was alot of) did over 45% in 2016...even cash alone would have been flat...Hussman lost over 15%! Calling out Buffett is probably not a good idea. He may be right eventually, but so is a broken clock as the well-turned phrase states. I have more respect for someone like Vito Maida at Patient Capital, who had like one losing year in 17+ years and cautiously out performs the markets by a small margin. He's keeping his clients wealthy, rather than simply writing an interesting newsletter and reaping unearned fees. Hussman talks about his and Buffett's mutual admiration and respect for Ben Graham, yet what I have learned over the last 12 years (and I get awfully tired of) is reading gobs of data by very intelligent portfolio managers or analysts, and then watching them not act the way Graham would...find cheap stocks, buy them and ignore macroeconomic events. Maybe stop writing such long diatribes of research and focus on finding ideas! Often, smart people become too smart for themselves or their own good! Cheers!

+1! $3.5M in advisory fees in the first six months of 2016 alone! Now that's one hell of a cash flow machine...but nothing like the Chanos short machine. Cheers!

Yes Congress is a check on the President's actions...my sense is that Trump really shook up the republican party, and the republican congressmen don't know where their allegiances lie...so even if they did disagree with Trump, they are hesitant to really "check" him. But you're right: we're lucky enough to have a strong foundation with a gov't with checks and balances, unlike a blatant dictatorship or oligarchy. In terms of Obama's biases, my view is that, although the biases were there, Obama at least let his opponents have a seat at the table. Take the White House Correspondents Dinner (Trump just announced he will not attend). Obama attended and, admittedly, took blatant shots at his opponents, but he showed up and let them show up as well. Finally, in terms of the Press. To me it's pretty simple...regardless who is the President, we live in a democracy. He doesn't get to define what is "rational" enough to get aired. Freedom of the Press is pretty straightforward. Trump can argue that that the Press is unfair to him. The other side can rebut: Well if Trump thinks entire Press is out to get him, maybe it's because they have valid reasons. In some sense, it comes with the territory (as the saying goes, if you cant take the heat...) +1! Absolutely correct. I don't remember the Obama Administration taking any such stance with the press or even a single Republican with all of the crap that was spewing out about Obama's nationality or religion. Forget everything else...just this one simple issue was carried as a torch by Trump and Tea Party members for nearly the entire 8-year term of his presidency. Even Glenn Beck was one of those stating that Obama was a muslim, born in Kenya. Even now, there are millions of Trump supporters who believe this shit. Cheers!