Parsad

Come on Sanj, So you know of a swap / short product that can provide me with way to make big returns during market downturns, over over time can still deliver me a money market like average performance? Really? I'm intrigued. LOL... Let's not let our "love" for Chanos get in the way of the obvious fact that a short-only fund (understand that maybe Chanos isn't 100% short only) should be benchmarked like this: negative [market return] + short term cash return - cost to borrow index. Over Chanos' tenure, his "benchmark" is probably -8-10% annual. Now we can all say that this is not a benchmark we would ever invest in, and indeed, most people don't short for the sake of shorting, but they short to take the extra cash / liquidity offered so they can then invest more aggressively. Let's seperate benchmarks from those who choose to invest in them... Chanos has exceeded his benchmark while investing within its rules far more than most of us here could likely do.... Just as thePupil said. Now I agree, there is a real issue with counting on shorting to reduce your volatility in a way that is reliable (and yes, reduced volatility is obviously important for anyone taking withdrawals...)... Chanos' returns have not really been 1:1 inversely correlated to the market which creates a problem when you are actually seriously thinking about using shorting to gain more than 100% exposure to something else or otherwise leveraging risks assets... sometimes both sides of a pair trade can go wrong (ask Fairfax) and even if that only happens rarely, it is a real issue for how we define risk if and when it does happen... Ben PS - I'm getting too old... I think this is the second time in 5-6 years I've posted basically this same post on this same forum... ;-) I don't disagree with you Ben, but this is the institutional mentality that drives such behavior. Fairfax is as culpable as anyone else recently...they hedged because they were levered...if they weren't so levered, no need for 100% hedges. It's gone completely against them for four, nearly five, years. This thought process leads to such behavior, and Chanos' reputation just perversely perpetuates such institutional mentality. Cheers!

So basically you don't think anyone should ever engage in short selling because it is a low return proposition over long periods of time? That is a very fair belief and I won't argue against it. No, on the contrary Pupil. I think if someone is short-selling, they should be able to selectively do better than 2% annualized, just like longs can do better than 2%. I'm saying that Chanos is doing a shitty job! Chanos sells his fund to institutions, telling them that from an asset allocation standpoint, we can provide you net 2% annualized returns even when markets are tanking or going up. So institutions to offset their long positions, will allocate a portion of their capital to Kynikos. It's just stupid! Cheers!

You are talking like any modern MBA or portfolio theory student. I hear the word "alpha" and I gag! Why would you need to pay someone 1 & 20 to do what swaps or other cheaper products could achieve? And that +2% is over years relative to the S&P 500. Any wonder why pension funds and endowments are so mismanaged...because of their short-term concern for "alpha", while paying idiots like Chanos a fortune. Your argument was identical to the one Whitney Tilson used when I originally posted that years ago. Cheers!

Sorry, he was 1 & 20...not sure what he is now...see attached PDF. This negative correlation stuff has no value any longer with swaps, bear ETF's, etc. Chanos adds no value to his clients on a long-term perspective and his whole existence survives on his client's fears. Like Abbey Joseph Cohen, David Rosenberg, et al, he's built a reputation on a couple of hits and his media presence. Long-term, he provides no value whatsoever and has been wrong far more than he's ever been right about markets! Cheers! Chanos_-_Performance.pdf

Chanos: “I think hedge fund fees are probably still in a bubble although I would point out that the reality is that the days of 2-20 are kind of well behind us and even a lot of shops that charge that effectively make a lot less. Isn't Kynikos 2 & 20 last I remember? What value has this guy provided his investors over 30 years? Cheers!

Nice job Shane! Cheers!

Just saw this movie tonight! An outstanding film with amazing performances from Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Casey Affleck. If you like the grittiness and quiet beauty of movies like "The Deer Hunter" or "Mean Streets", you'll love this movie. Personally, I think it's a new classic for the genre. How you make rundown steel mills look as bucolic and serene as winding roads through the Appalachians, I don't know, but just a terrific movie from beginning to end! Cheers!

Finally, I did something today that I've read about other people doing in the news, so I thought I would try it. I was having breakfast at IHOP this morning, and one of the waitresses was joking to some younger customers that walked in "Welcome to the International House for Old People", because most of the restaurant was full of seniors...yours truly excluded, but my body felt like it! Anyway, I called the manager over after I was done, and asked if I could anonymously pay for the meals of all of the seniors in the restaurant. She was really excited, and quietly started printing one tab after another...about 15-17 tabs...then tallied them up and gave me the grand total. I was even more excited than her, and it felt great! I told the manager and staff to just tell them when they ask, that someone wished them "Merry Christmas", and if they can, they can pay it forward to someone else sometime in the future. I highly recommend it...felt really wonderful! You can even do a much smaller, but equally wonderful gesture, like paying for the person behind you in the drive-thru at McDonald's, Tim Horton, Starbucks, etc. Next time, I may stick around quietly in a corner just watching their reactions when they come up to the till! Cheers!

That was very funny and I cracked up laughing painfully loud! But you are an idiot. ;D Yes, too soon. Cheers!

Do you have more details on the effort / where one can give money? Been given non-profit status. Basic structure is set up. Mohnish will have more details shortly available for Canadian donors. Cheers!

Well, I've got two that I support personally and through Corner Market Capital: - The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada - We've raised nearly $50,000 to date through our annual Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinners, and I've been part of the team helping with our BC Gala that raised almost $100,000, as well as we had a little assist in getting Mark Ram (formerly of Northbridge) onto the board of the CCFC. Not to mention the annual June 9th Gutsy Walk that is across Canada! - Dakshana - Mohnish's foundation does amazing work prepping gifted, but underprivileged and less fortunate Indian children preparing for the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT's) entrance exams. Extraordinary high success rates that will undoubtedly change not just the lives of those that get into the IIT's and other highly recognized schools, but many others in the student's immediate family, neighbourhood and in some cases, entire villages. Dakshana Canada just launched, and Tim McElvaine, Francis Chou and myself are on the board, alongside Mohnish and his wife Harina. So Canadian donors get tax receipts going forward! Prem also has committed $1M a year for five years to Dakshana. - I also raise food and toys for our local toy bank and food bank that assists lower income families that just need a little help to get them through the Christmas season. There's bound to be a similar local non-profit doing the same thing in virtually every city and town. Cheers!

Got your purchase Gio. Really, you are bringing her! Wonderful! Cheers!

Cardboard, no reason why you can't do both. Help those that you can now, while whatever is left at the end that your family can't consume can go to help others as well. That's what I'm trying to do...I can compound capital quite well, but I have this urge and desire to help those that I can now as well...be it with a cup of coffee or referral for a job, toys for the toy bank or food for the food bank, sitting on a board of a non-profit or being an angel investor for a great entrepreneur...you CAN do it all, as well as leave a fortune at the end. I might not live as long as Buffett or I might get hit by a bus tomorrow...so how can I just sit on a pile of capital and not do anything now! Cheers!

He may not have felt entitled that way. Perhaps he felt like Buffett, that he was wired a certain way that gave him an advantage, and that he was just a steward of the capital...not the entitled. Personally, I can relate to him quite well and can understand why he did the things he did...the frugality, using public transportation, hiding the wealth, not spending extravagantly, and then donating the bulk of it. You come into this world alone and with nothing, and you go out the same way. The man understood that! Cheers!

Seriously? You'd admire him more if he'd spent it on himself instead of saving and growing it for charity? It also says that he visited the hospital regularly, visiting and listening to the patients. Palantir, who do you admire, the Kardashians and Kanye West! ;D Cheers!

Also Happy Hanukkah, as it falls on the same day...or Happy Thanksgivikkah to those that celebrate both events! ;D Cheers!

It's the closest thing I could find to Buffett looking like he was eating a Thanksgiving dinner! Plus I didn't want to offend the vegans and vegetarians on the board...you know who you are...by putting a picture of a cooked turkey dinner on here. ;D Cheers!

Geez! Just 3 months after they wrote that article. Cheers!

To our many U.S. boardmembers, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Cheers!

Bruce, err Loki, was the only reason to watch that movie. I was falling asleep every time Tom Hiddleston wasn't on the screen. Cheers!

Nice job Packer and Norm! Cheers

Maybe he never sells? Anyone know the details? Regardless, you'd expect someone, somewhere, to achieve this. You get enough people flipping coins, someone's bound to come up heads 100 times in a row. Vito is no luck of the draw type. In the last 13 years, he's only been fully invested at one time...the bottom of February 2009! Those results you see were done with significant amounts of cash. His fund isn't for the person looking for the highest absolute results. It's for the senior who has lost a bundle in mutual funds, index funds and underperforming hedge funds...the guy who doesn't need 15% annualized, but needs 7-10% annualized year in, year out, with no permanent loss of capital. Vito understands Buffett's rule probably better than almost any other investment manager out there...don't lose money! Everyone is out there to make the big, quick score...highest absolute results with little in the way of managing permanent capital loss risk. You look at a guy like Chad Wasenlikoff at Fortress. Smart guy, swung big, had huge success...then you see what that permanent loss of capital does when risk isn't managed properly and you overleverage or swing maybe too big on the wrong pitch. You've seen these things over and over, yet people only cheer for the guy getting 18-20% annualized...until they burn...think Bill Miller...or possibly it looks like Sprott might be next. In those terms, Vito offers something very few do...steady gains with near zero loss of capital on any idea. In his own way, that's extraordinary! Cheers!

While the long-term annualized results may not be quite as impressive as some other hedge fund managers, you have to be quite amazed by someone who has not had a single down year. If you are a widow or orphan, investing with Vito may be a much better alternative to anything out there. Cheers!

I don't think Vito would try and do anything unethical. Probably putting both numbers would be better, but I think he's just trying to show the value they are adding on top of the respective index. Cheers!

I have a terrific all-in-one HP desktop for my home office, and I love it. Nice to have that big screen for reading late into the wee hours. I also have a very light laptop for work between my home office and work office, as well as when travelling. But I'm thinking of switching to a Surface tablet...almost bought one today on The Home Shopping Channel, but then decided not to buy until Boxing Day. While my laptop is small (13"), it is still much more cumbersome on the plane or commuter train than a simple 10" tablet. In terms of Apple or Microsoft, I love my iPhone, but for business I'm not happy with Apple or Google Docs. Microsoft still has a huge advantage with Office, but the problem is now IE which seems to run slower and have more problems than Chrome, Firefox or Safari. I often have sites that don't load properly or slowly on IE, but run smooth and fast on Chrome or Safari. If you do decide to go the tablet way, you have to find one that has enough connections to work properly as a laptop...such as USB ports, Powerpoint/Video port, etc. As well as enough memory, storage and processor speed to work effectively as a laptop. I'm going to go and try a few out this weekend at Best Buy. Cheers!