Parsad

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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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 [email protected] . 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!

Hi Folks, The dinner this year is at: Fairmont Royal York Imperial Room - Lobby Level April 19th, 2017 6pm - 10pm Tickets: Presentation only - $100 Presentation & Buffet Dinner - $200 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!

Clearing your browser history after closing all pages should also get you back as mentioned. It's still there and working fine...just checked. Cheers!

Hi Folks, Make sure you are booking or making plans to book for George's conference the morning and afternoon of April 19th...our PDH FFH Dinner is right after the same day! Cheers!

Make sure you get your tickets folks! They are going pretty quick. $100 - for presentation only $200 - for presentation and buffet dinner Tables for dinner are eight seats, so $1,600.00...you'll also get a reserved table with your logo. Sponsored tables of eight are $2,000.00...please contact me directly on this ([email protected])...your logo will appear as an event sponsor on all printed material and powerpoint screens. If you have something you would like to donate for the silent auction or want to simply make a donation to Crohns & Colitis Canada, please contact me as well! Cheers!

+1! Keep sharing...very interesting! Cheers!

I thought this was a bittersweet celebration of the man...we all know that time is catching up to him as well as all of us. I agree with most, that this was as much a tribute to Buffett as it was to his wife Susie. I think the depths that Alice Schroeder fell in the Snowball, and how personal she made it after Susie's death...this was the narrative that Buffett and his family wanted and had expected from the Snowball. Cheers!

Hi Folks, We were having problems with Paypal’s button under a new account I set up for Premier. They said the issue was fixed, but apparently it isn’t. I’ve changed the button to the old one, so everything is working normally…I just bought 8 tickets myself to test it. Give it a try and let me know if you have any problems this time. Much appreciated! Cheers!

Hi Folks, The dinner this year is at: Fairmont Royal York Imperial Room - Lobby Level April 19th, 2017 6pm - 10pm Tickets: Presentation only - $100 Presentation & Buffet Dinner - $200 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. Please contact me ([email protected]) if you have any problems with the ticket purchase buttons, as I was having a bit of an issue with them when setting up, but they seem to be working fine presently. Cheers!

Sorry folks, I was in meetings all yesterday and the day before, and didn't know what was going on. That gremlin is gone now, as are most of his posts. Cheers!

A game for the ages! I'm sure a lot of people turned it off after the 1st half...what a mistake. Cheers!

You're kidding me, right? His tax return would show non-public partnerships/investments, offshore investments, income from undisclosed businesses, etc that could indicate enormous conflicts of interest. That's why you provide disclosure and transparency. It's why a President should have all assets and businesses in a blind trust. If you worry about conflicts of interest and expect disclosure from CEO's, shouldn't the occupant of the highest office in the land with the most influence be fully vetted? This is just common sense! You check the credit history of loan applicants, criminal checks for teachers, etc...why would the President be exempt from equivalent scrutiny? And if Trump supporters believe this is irrelevant, then why do they concern themselves with what the Clinton Foundation was doing, or other examples of conflicts of interest, unethical conduct, fraud, embezzlement, etc. Cheers!