Parsad

You're not just financially independent...you're a hero! Cheers!

If you like your work and the people you work with...that's not really work! That's a happy life! Cheers!

Congratulations! That's a huge accomplishment before you even turned 30. Yes, you may have given up some investment gains, but you can sleep at night no matter what the situation is. As long as the family is healthy, you've got it all at a young age. All you have to do is slowly keep building on it even as you grow your family! Otherwise, the heavy lifting is done! Cheers!

It would depend on your investment return as well. If you are only getting 1-2% in gains/income, you would probably run out even at 3% including inflation. Now if you are getting at least 6%...you would be ok with inflation. Cheers!

Yeah, it wouldn't be immoral. He's not talking up the stock. If investors are stupid enough to follow every one of his buys by reading his 13-F's, then that's their problem not his. It would be the same with Buffett or Seth Klarman's 13-F's. Now if he was doing 120 slide powerpoints like Ackman and Einhorn at huge conferences with hundreds of hedge fund managers and investors...that would be immoral! Cheers!

You're the one who was cherry-picking with Berkshire's price at $265 and then comparing it to FFH's performance. Hypocrite! Cheers!

I don't consider FFH as cheap as Viking does presently. When I first started loading up, it was at 0.6 times book...and I kept buying till about 0.75 times book. I have not added since. But it made up about 60% of the portfolio at that point...now at about 30%. Assuming FFH has risen back up to its Q1 book value of $630 USD after being down in Q2, that would give it a price to book of 0.85-0.87 or so. It's undervalued, but not dirt cheap. I personally like a larger margin of safety. Now is it cheaper than many other stocks in the market? Maybe not significantly cheaper, but the upside looks as good if not better. Cheers!

No, he wasn't down 70%...about 25-30% at the low. But he did have to redeem several hundred million of his bet to appease Greenblatt and other's redemptions. Cheers!

Also Greg, you were also part of the thread that was laughing at investors holding cash back in November...any updates, thoughts? Just making my point that picking and choosing threads doesn't equate to an entire discussion...you know better than that! Cheers!

Weren't you the same guy who said Fairfax wasn't worth owning at $430 CDN? What happened to that thread? Any updates thoughts?

Yes, nice anecdote! Wait, do you own ARK? Cheers!

Sorry, I went back to a Vanity Fair article I read a long time ago...thought it said that when Greenblatt and others were pulling he was down 70%. It was he had to sell hundreds of millions of CDS to meet the redemptions. Cheers!

Thanks for the tips! A kitchenette is something absolutely necessary with a toddler...saves a bundle too. It's not so much the airline tickets, which are quite reasonable for January...hotels are just crazy and rental car prices too. And as you said, you know food costs are high there. I don't mind sitting through a presentation to get a deal. I'll scope that out. Cheers!

Hi Viking, I agree. That's why I said those picks are more in line with Wade/Lawrence and relatable to the way Tom Gaynor invests MKL's portfolio. That's probably better for Fairfax and Fairfax shareholders long-term. Unfortunately, it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks, and the bulk of the portfolio will be managed the "old" Fairfax way as long as the "old" dogs control the votes. Not a bad thing, just more volatile. Cheers!

Isn't Hawaii just stupid expensive right now? I was looking at Maui in January, and the hotel rooms are just through the roof! Thinking maybe somewhere in the Caribbean instead. Cheers!

You are probably correct, but I can imagine it being wildly volatile investing with him. He was down some 70% before the big shorts kicked in back in 2009. The huge swings right now certainly indicate that they are volatile once again. It's good he's managing his own money, because that type of frenetic trading would drive partners crazy. Cheers!

Terrific letter! Unfortunately, I doubt it will do anything other than to rally more shareholders to vote against the deal. Cheers!

Yeah, I would agree with that. The (2)'s are probably Wade and Lawrence/team picks...similar to positions that Tom Gaynor/team at MKL would pick. The (1)'s are probably more Prem/Brian/committee specific...big positions...Wade and Lawrence are involved, but hold two of the six/seven votes of the committee. Cheers!

Beautiful photographs Jaygo! Looks like the family had a great time! Days you'll never forget. Cheers!

As of Fairfax's latest update, they are still at 49% ownership of Digit, so naturally there is some political/economic risk that the increased ownership might not go through...more than a formality. At the same time, when Fairfax said something is being approved or processed, it's rare that it doesn't happen...but the risk is still there it might not happen. So don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched! I think you will see continued buybacks if the stock is relatively cheap...0.9 times book value or less. They've retired about 15% of the float between 2016 and 2022. The TRS swaps they have will also have the effect of retiring another 2M shares...so perhaps a total of 22% of the float might be retired since 2016. Stock buybacks have to be balanced with other opportunities, so I don't think you'll see anything like a Teledyne long-term buyback program, but they will be opportunistic and retire stock when it is cheap relative to other opportunities. Cheers!

Just watched "Belfast", Kenneth Branagh's autobiographical movie on his childhood growing up in Belfast. Beautiful, touching movie! Great performances! Cheers!

That time has most likely come and gone. We'll have to look for other bargains. Cheers!

You also have three times as many people living in each of Beijing and Shanghai compared to New York. Do you remember what pollution was like in Los Angeles in 1970-1980? I do! Los Angeles air quality is better today than it was 50 years ago. With more and more electric cars and efficient heating/cooling sources, China's air quality will slowly improve. It's far harder to immigrate to China than the U.S. Thus the numbers you see. Nothing to do with quality of life or business. Cheers!

We've all been the fool before...you just happened to join the club a little later! It's the one club that no one wants to ever be a part of. Cheers!

Only two times you should buy back stock. Other greater opportunities aren't available or your stock is well discounted. Otherwise return excess capital to shareholders in dividends. If the discount to intrinsic value is greater in the takeouts, then it just makes more sense to postpone buybacks and take advantage of the other cheaper investments. Cheers!