Parsad

I had put all of my money into Berkshire B stock right at the bottom through the end of 1999 and early 2000. The tech wreck emerged and Berkshire stock rose dramatically. I just wrote him a letter to thank him for running Berkshire and that I probably would not be coming to the AGM that year, because I preferred to buy more investments. He suggested I was better off doing that as well! I did end up going the next year anyway, and that's when I met him at the Yellow BRK'ers Party! ;D Cheers!

I thought I would start a thread on what the value investor's desk looks like. I'm always intrigued by what sits in people's homes or desks. I started with mine, but I'm hoping many of you will share photographs of your desk as well. Picture 1: I literally have a cup of coffee sitting on my desk every day by the phone...usually a hot cup, but in the summer it may be an iced drink. I don't think you can tell, but the coaster is from "Joe Badali's Restaurant", where we used to hold our early "Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinners". My scissors and stapler also always sit right there. Picture 2: Those are the accounting binders for Corner Market Capital, Corner Market Capital U.S., Corner Market Management, MPIC Fund I, LP & MPIC Canadian LP. That's just the last two years!! Picture 3: My laptop open to my favorite website...Corner of Berkshire & Fairfax! Not sure if you can see it, but there is a photograph of Prem and JoAnn I took the day I had lunch with Prem back in 2005. Picture 4: My In/Out box. Top tray is Corner Market Capital/MPIC Funds administrative paperwork, etc. 2nd tray is different folders for things I'm working on...Toronto Trip, Chicago/LA Trip (Pabrai Funds), Personal Expenses, CCFC stuff. 3rd tray is just business cards. 4th tray is CMC labels...GST quarterly return forms...etc. My calendar rests on my Berkshire bible...Andy's book "Of Permanent Value". My pen/pencil holder is a Tim Horton's coffee cup...never used! ;D On the right side is a photograph of Alnesh and me in Omaha 2010...Guy Spier's took that photograph! Picture 5: Letter From Buffett...November 7, 2000...changed my life...say no more! Picture 6: Reading material I have waded through recently, or have to wade through. It never stops, that pile stays the same height all year...no matter how much I get through! Look forward to your pictures. Cheers!

LOL! Cheers!

Thanks for the pledges everyone! Cheers!

Ok, Alnesh is kicking my butt! He stole two of my core team-mates, because they live closer to the Vancouver walk, and I'm way behind. Any donations to the CCFC would be much appreciated! Don't worry, I won't ban you because you didn't donate! ;D Cheers!

Another one bites the dust...at least I hope so! Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/100792619

Yeah, I would say that an audit that relies on reconciling the monthly brokerage statement with the prepared financials, and almost all of the assets are Level 1, is highly unlikely to be a fraud. It's when you have more complicated valuations or complex structures, combined with collusion between the financial statement preparation and audit, you tend to see fraudulent behavior. More often than not, fraud isn't quite blatant but more obfuscation of conflicts of interest. You see far more of that than outright Ponzi schemes, etc. Cheers!

A boardmember messaged me the question below, and I thought it was actually a good one for the message board. Here is his question and then my response. Any other comments you guys would like to add, feel free to do so. Cheers! Hey I'm still new to the hedge fund scene, and I'm wondering how one goes about confirming the legitimacy of these entities. Obviously the funds have auditors, but from what I can gather auditors won't show you much of anything, they'll just say, yes, we're the auditor. Using the Pabrai funds as an example, how would you go about proving that the fund isnt a ponzi scheme? Hi ???????, Auditors, whether they audit corporations, trusts, mutual funds, or hedge funds, have both a fiduciary and legal liability for any audit they perform. There is always risk with any audit, on whether it is conducted accurately or not. It's why the audit standards should be (doesn't necessarily mean they are) as high as any oath a physician, attorney or police officer should take. Registered mutual funds and hedge funds not only have audits done, but the SEC does random site checks...doesn't necessarily mean that a fund has been checked, but that at some point it probably will be. Non-registered funds do not have site checks done, but they are required to do state filings, as well as conduct an audit unless an audit waiver has been granted by the partners. Those really are the only safeguards, other than the custodian or brokerage service provider doing their job. To paraphrase Buffett and Munger, no safeguard protects someone in all circumstances, so dealing with ethical people is the best way to reduce risk. I would look at the auditor and see if they are respectable...any outstanding issues? The PCAOB has a list of all auditors in the U.S. and how many issues they've dealt with. That being said, any auditor that conducts a lot of audits over their lifetime, will eventually run into one issue or another. I would also look at the fund...are they doing really esoteric things that may create valuation issues that the auditors would face? If so, how did the fund and auditor deal with that issue? Finally, I would contact the auditor and talk to them. Obviously they won't give too much in fund details, but would they describe their process...reconciliation of financial statements with client account statements, confirmations with clients, confirmation with the custodian/broker, proof of assets and valuation, internal controls testing, etc. Unfortunately, part of the risk of investing is having trust in the financials and that the audit was done accurately. I would say in over 80% of cases they are. But investors should still be careful about what they read or see in that other 20%! Cheers!

Congratulations James! Cheers!

Glenn Surowiec, who used to work at Alsin Capital and since has started his own shop GDS Investments, did an interview with Manual of Ideas. He discusses OSTK and BAC A warrants. Cheers! http://www.beyondproxy.com/investment-thesis/

I think there is a very good chance they will get their day in court again, especially with all of the information the government has now shed on SAC and other hedge funds. Cheers!

Here is the appeal filed by Fairfax on Friday afternoon. Cheers! Fairfax_Lawsuit_Filing_-_Appeal_-_May_31_2013.pdf

Shawn, I was moving your "Investment Ideas" post to the "General Discussion" area on my iPhone, and because the type was so small, I think I clicked "Remove Topic", rather than "Move Topic". I'm sorry I accidentally deleted the post. Cheers!

S&P500 dividends are now below 2% again. Not overly expensive relative to the 10-year risk free rate which is at 2%, but not cheap by any means either. Any movement upwards, and you are getting into the territory where the risk premium is not even worth consideration relative to the risk...and that's excluding any macroeconomic factors. Just common sense. When you consider the potential outliers from Europe, Japan and China, you have to be a masochist to consider risking your capital at current premiums. The cash in the MPIC Funds continues to increase...we can't wait to put it to work at the right time...and if you've got more...send it our way! Cheers!

I always thought Fisher was riding on Daddy's coat-tails. Not sure why people pay attention to him. No different than any other large fund company. Cheers!

Charlie has donated $32M to the Huntington Library's new $60M project. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/huntington-library-receives-32m-munger-214145517.html

Really Packer! Geez, you look a lot younger than me...I thought you were in your mid-30's! Cheers!

With that said, you mentioned if you saw something cheap, you would still buy it, right? Always! But it's just harder and harder to find stuff. Cheers!

Article on the Dow's EPS dipping, while the Dow rises. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/100776807

Tim turns 50 tomorrow...so wish him a happy 50th birthday...he's on the other side of the clock now! All downhill from here. ;D He stayed answering your questions till 12:20 am at this year's Fairfax Financial Shareholder's Dinner. He won't be able to handle that anymore. Cheers!

These are signs for sure. We've seen them before. Common Man Investor's performance record only shows for this year...he's up 76%! Look at some of the blog posts on the side...the participants are watching stock performance on a short term basis, watching and buying futures...we'll see if this guy is around in five years! Cheers!

About the other famous Buffett's empire. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/welcome-margaritaville-most-lucrative-song-140701644.html

I love the name of the guy's blog..."The Economic Collapse Blog"...he's not biased! ;D I think Japan is a problem...we'll see what happens. Cheers!

Hi Triple, You should thank your father for doing what he did. Too many kids grow up with the wrong perspective. Yesterday, I was driving with my brother, and this young kid was driving a Lamborghini Gallardo convertible. Nothing unusual in Vancouver, as too many spoilt children can be found driving around in the expensive cars their parents bought them, because it's much easier to do that than to be a responsible parent actually active in their children's lives. Many of these children are satellite children...parents live back in another country, while their children grow up here alone in a big house, lots of money and no parents around. You need transportation, let me buy you a Ferrari! You hungry, don't worry I left a ton of money in your checking account, just go buy something to eat. You need clothes, go to Robson Street and buy luxury. Anything about responsibility to community...no. Anything about giving back to society...no. Anything about being self-sustaining and standing on your own two legs...no. Kid's car gets confiscated for reckless driving...no worries, buy them another Ferrari. For every one of those parents, I hope there is another one like yours to counter balance! "No" is a very tough word for parents to say, but the alternative could create a very undesirable population. Cheers!

Better place...gone to a better place I suppose! Unfortunately, it took along hundreds of millions in investor capital. Cheers!