Parsad

Cardboard, have you been to China in the last few years? It's nothing like you are saying or imagining. They've embraced capitalism in such a way, that it would make Adam Smith blush. I saw as many people suffering there, as I do in Canada or the United States...and the prosperity was equal as well. In terms of the deception, control, restriction of freedoms and rights, etc, it's probably no better or worse than any Western democracy. I would say that such behavior will become part of this new U.S. administration rather quickly as well...both driving the capitalist engine and censoring the press, freedoms, rights and deception is already part of their manifesto. Cheers!

One man's garbage is another man's treasure! Buffett would probably disagree with you, as do I. I love good food, but I also have no problem chowing down on a Big Mac or Filet-o-Fish. Cheers!

This hasn't been a "value investing" message board in a few years. It's basically a politics board with some investing thrown in. I'm not sure that is a fair assessment. Show me another message board or investment website with as comprehensive a database of comments and analysis on equities like we have in the "Investment Ideas" section without "internet trolls"? How about a list of investing/finance/psychology books with comments from readers, other than on sites like Amazon, etc? Politics may seem annoying at times, but history shows that how politicians handle periods of crises, can ultimately decide the severity and duration of the eventual outcomes. Whatever people may want to say about Obama, and really Dubya as well, in my opinion the overall outcome of the financial crisis was handled relatively well by both, when you look at the magnitude of how things could have unfolded and how fast liquidity disappeared. How would things have turned out under Clinton, Reagan, Roosevelt, Nixon, Kennedy...and Trump? Studying the historical actions and outcomes of political leaders, and their parties, actually can provide investors valid information in making decisions. Ultimately, as value investors, we base our decisions on fundamentals. But during some periods of excess or crisis, macroeconomic events can have significant, and long-term effects...such as the Great Depression, World War 2, the creation and likely breakup of the European Union, etc. Cheers!

I absolutely agree with you on the "Martin Luther King" bust report in the media. Just a petty, waste of time effort by the media. But can you explain why they spent nearly 4 minutes of a 5 minute and 46 second press conference on the crowd size? You don't believe that was even more petty and stupid than the Martin Luther King bust reporting by the press? Try something for me and let me know if this changes your perspective on the press conference. Every time Spicer says "Trump" or "President", replace it with "Kim Jong-Il" and "Supreme Leader". If those same comments came from North Korea, you would think it was effing crazy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amz62uUYPeo I agree with you on the importance of news reporting. Not sure why you took a shot at me as well in your post with the "Maybe you don't" comment. All that aside, I believe you would agree with me that accuracy in reporting by the President and his staff is even more important than the reporting by the Press, correct? And disclosure of the President's finances, business relations, etc is as important from a conflict of interest perspective as well, is it not? Cheers!

Not meant to be an ambush at all. I'm glad Hillary didn't win, but I was equally worried about Trump. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that leash is pretty short. My question is asking how long is the leash for those that supported him? And is it ok to ignore ethics and transparency, if it achieves the promised longer-term goals? Those answers would be different for each person I would presume. Cheers! Cheers!

Ok, I absolutely get that stance. But if his team is contradicting their position from day one on his tax returns, how do you feel that he will actually be committed to making economic improvements over the next four years? And believe me, I'm not pro-Hillary either. I think both choices, Americans were damned. I just don't know if the lesser of two evils was picked, and we won't know that until we see what happens! Cheers!

There's a number of topics we could address from either perspective...pro-Trump, con-Trump. I'm only asking about the two things that have occurred since he became President. In particular, disclosure of taxes. As investors, students of Buffett, ethical behaviour and in terms of intellectual honesty...this is completely contradictory to what he told supporters and non-supporters alike...he would release his tax returns after the audit was complete. Now his team is saying that they won't release them at all. How do those that voted for Trump, that he would clean up the mess and be transparent...feel about this contradiction in personal disclosure? Cheers!

I don't want this to get into a huge political discussion and will delete all posts that degenerate into one. But I just wanted to get an intellectually honest answer from anyone who voted for Trump: Questions: - Does it concern you that the very first press conference by the President's team was centered on "crowd size for the inauguration" instead of anything important? - Does it concern you that the team has now said that they won't release the tax returns regardless if the audit is completed? As investors, we all respect and want transparency through disclosure, so is this not antithetical to our intellectual frameworks as investors? Cheers!

Those are only good in the U.S., correct?

I've done that before. Fewer calories and cheaper than a regular Big Mac, but the bun doesn't taste the same. The Quarter Pounder idea by Rkbabang would work and taste better, but not any healthier than a regular Big Mac. They are now making three sizes of Big Macs in the U.S., and it should be coming soon to Canada. A smaller, lighter version; the standard one; and a Mega Big Mac. Cheers!

While the food is the same as the U.S., the Canadian locations are generally much cleaner and fresher/newer than their U.S. counterparts. I also agree that there are better places than McDonald's for burgers, but you have to admit that an Egg McMuffin is pretty tasty, cheap and quite healthy...the ham one with English muffin, not sausage, bacon, or biscuits. Cheers!

Thanks very much guys! It's always been my pleasure to run this board. I'm very fortunate and lucky for it. If it wasn't for this board, and then all of the things that happened to me because of it, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today. I couldn't be more grateful for it all, especially all of the friendships made over the years! Cheers!

All four games were terrific this weekend. I thought it would go down to Brady versus Rodgers in the Superbowl...so far, so good. Only concern is the way Green Bay's defense gave up in the 2nd half. So many uncontested balls to Dallas receivers. They can't play like that against Atlanta or New England...Rodger's arm and the offense won't be enough if the defense plays with apathy again. I don't expect Pittsburgh to get past New England. Cheers!

Could you educate me? I missed this. Thanks! Well Prem runs Fairfax and will until he no longer can...be it physically or spiritually. But it looks pretty obvious who would run Fairfax if Prem could no longer do so. If you don't really know, time to do some legwork and figure it out. :) Incidentally, no one has ever said anything to me. But after watching it for all these years, I kind of have a pretty good idea of changes at Fairfax that may not seem like much, but are monumental shifts in planning or thinking. Cheers! Ha - OK! I also have a fair idea, although I am nowhere near as well informed as you. However I read your comment to mean that an announcement had been made, hence the question. Pete, It really is obvious! Sanjeev is going to merge FFH with PDH and he is the one who will be running the show!! Cheers, Gio You got it! I'll do a reverse merger...$10M corp buys out $10B corp. Cheers!

<b>Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value July 17-21, 2017 Toronto, Ontario</b> Dr. George Athanassakos will offer a highly sought after five day seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value to finance executives, finance professionals, portfolio managers, financial analysts and individual investors seeking knowledge of value creation, valuation and value investing theory and practice. Mr. Josh Tarasoff, General Partner, Greenlea Lane Capital Partners, LP, will be a guest speaker on July 21. For more information and to register, see http://valueinvestingeducation.com/seminars.htm <b>Ben Graham Centre’s 2017 Value Investing Conference April 19, 2017 Toronto, Ontario</b> The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing will hold its 2017 Value Investing Conference at The Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto. For more details and to register: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2017_Conference.htm <b>Ben Graham Centre's 2017 Stock Picking Competition April 18, 2017 Toronto, Ontario</b> The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing will hold its annual Stock Picking Competition at the MBA level in Toronto. Teams from MBA schools from around the world will compete for $17,500 in cash prizes as well as free attendance to the Ben Graham Centre’s Value Investing Conference and the Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Annual General Meeting in Toronto, Canada. For more details about the competition: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/stock.htm

Could you educate me? I missed this. Thanks! Well Prem runs Fairfax and will until he no longer can...be it physically or spiritually. But it looks pretty obvious who would run Fairfax if Prem could no longer do so. If you don't really know, time to do some legwork and figure it out. :) Incidentally, no one has ever said anything to me. But after watching it for all these years, I kind of have a pretty good idea of changes at Fairfax that may not seem like much, but are monumental shifts in planning or thinking. Cheers!

The style has most certainly changed over the years. Remember, for a very long-time, Hamblin-Watsa was composed of Prem and about 5 managers who had worked for/with him for 30+ years...they were Ben Graham, distressed investment disciples working together from Confederation Life to Gardiner Watson and then Hamblin-Watsa & Fairfax. But as the company has grown and grown, the tentacles within Hamblin-Watsa have become quite encompassing. At their heart, they are still those same Ben Graham disciples, but like Berkshire and the shift to acquiring whole businesses, they have become more private-equity like with the addition of various new vehicles and managers...FairVentures, Thomas Cook, India Fund, Africa Fund, etc. The one part that will not change is how they analyze and buy fixed income instruments, including all sorts of debt securities. That has been the domain of Brian Bradstreet for so many years, and he has been so successful, that it may only change once he is gone. As a Fairfax shareholder, the one area that I would be interested in getting to know better at the AGM, etc is who is the next generation of Hamblin-Watsa investment managers that have learned from Prem, Brian, Roger, Sam et al. We know who would run Fairfax and that's the perfect choice in my opinion. But who are some of the other managers at Hamblin-Watsa...I'm probably one of the few shareholders who knows a few of them, but it would be great for them to become more prominent over time. I also think as Fairfax/Hamblin-Watsa get bigger, they will rely on outside managers to manage some capital...not unlike what White Mountains/Markel do already and Hamblin-Watsa does to a lesser degree. Alot of talented people at HW! Cheers!

I'm writing this to you at 6am Christmas morning...how fitting! I recommend donating to wherever your heart may be...as well as where you think they may need help. This has become a big part of my life thanks to Buffett's example and Prem's example. For me, it's exactly how I suggested...both in time and money: - Crohn's & Colitis Canada - We were already doing an annual dinner in Toronto. When JoAnn (Prem's executive assistant) passed away from colon cancer, this became a natural fit and somewhere we wanted to help, as JoAnn had suffered from Crohn's for most of her life. She, along with Francis, were the ones who originally set up my lunch with Prem back in 2005...that changed the trajectory for my whole life! She became a good friend after that, helping as much as she could to make our dinner better each year. When I would come back to Vancouver in the early years, I would give the funds to their BC representative, Alison Obrecht, who became a good friend. Alison eventually was head-hunted by Cystic Fibrosis. - Cystic Fibrosis - When Alison arrived there, shortly after she mentioned that they were being evicted from their regional office because it was being sold and developed. I had just taken over at Premier, and wanted to sublease out some of the offices. She brought her Western Canada manager to our office and they ended up leasing out 5 of the offices at Premier for the next five years...essentially to the end of our lease agreement. I ended up being asked to join the Vancouver office's board of directors after raising money for them. Alison was subsequently head-hunted by Simon Fraser University's Endowment. - Simon Fraser University - Some of you may know, especially the old-timer board members, but my father passed away in 1991 when I was 21 and was a 3rd year student at SFU. My father, Tony Parsad, was one of the first employees hired by SFU when it opened in 1965 as a Chemistry lab technician, and worked there until the day he died. I had an awful love/hate relationship with SFU. I used to go up there as a young boy with him, and much of my formative years were spent enjoying what the campus provided from my father setting up chemistry experiments for me, playing on their soccer fields at various sports camps, or simply enjoying a nice lunch with my father in the cafeteria or faculty restaurant, the Diamond Club. But when I went up there as a student after high school, I kind of hated school at the time...as I was a biology major, but my true interest lay elsewhere as you all know now. After he passed away, it became even more difficult, simply because everyone (faculty) knew me and everyday I could imagine my father coming around a corner...even though he never would again. Again, as many of know, I raised my brother after that, who was 9 when our father died and helped my mother who had become a young widow. I never had the opportunity to do anything for my father, but always ached to do something for him...never really had the financial ability before Corner Market Capital and spent many years building the business living frugally until it did finally work out. Finally, about two years ago, after finally having the capacity to do something substantial, as CMC and my personal investments did very well, I finally did what I needed to do for him...23 years later. It was one of the most important and personal things I had ever done and probably wouldn't have happened if I had not become friends with Alison who went from Crohn's to Cystic Fibrosis and then SFU! I haven't shared it with anyone until now: https://www.sfu.ca/science/support-science/donors/the-parsad-family.html The endowment will live on long after I'm gone and I plan on doubling its size every 5 years. Interestingly enough, that photograph was taken at the Diamond Club where I would have lunch with my father on occasion, and where I signed the paperwork for the endowment. Life is a full circle! Dakshana - Well Mohnish is a friend, but that's not why I try and help them out. This is simply an organization that uses a Buffett-type approach...impacting one person will have a trickle down effect and eventually you'll have an exponential type compounding effect. It just made sense. I've donated small amounts so far, but will increase that over time and as the need increases at Dakshana. This is something Alnesh and I donate to through Corner Market Capital. Surrey Christmas Bureau and Surrey Food Bank - Surrey is the fastest growing municipality in all of North America. As such, the needs at the Christmas Bureau and Food Bank are relentless. While the organizations don't teach a man to fish, sometimes you just need to feed someone for a day...this is a sentimental choice, as our family is fortunate enough not to go hungry while others do, regardless of circumstance. I moved to the area four years ago and it's a dynamic city going through huge changes...I felt I needed to help the community. Adopt-a-School - Run by the Vancouver Sun, this non-profit provides funds to various elementary and high schools beyond government funds in the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area. Many children go to school and don't have breakfast or lunch because their families are struggliing. As a student, that is an awful way to try and learn when your stomach is growling or you are tired from going hungry. Donations/gestures on a whim - the IHOP thing I did a couple of years ago is a example of that. Sometimes I might just pay for a young families dinner I see somewhere when dining with my family, or someone's coffee. A single Mom dying of cancer and needs funds to support her children when she's gone. A pay it forward type of gesture. I normally wouldn't really talk about these things, but I figure there are plenty of people on here who have the ability like myself to make a difference...maybe it will give them an idea or motivate them. I'm sure there are hundreds of other ways as well you could do this. I feel very, very grateful for my life and what I have now. I'm living the exact dream I always had in the back of my mind, but didn't know it existed until Buffet and Prem showed up. I've only started on this endeavour in the last few years, but it's a huge part of my life and being. I wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you get as much enjoyment from it as I do! Cheers!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Cheers!

Yes, please do so...would be interesting to see. Cheers!

LOL! Now that's a lawsuit worth filing. Cheers!

Yes...as are Jim Carrey, Ryan Reynolds, Michael Buble, Dan Akroyd, Eugene Levy and unfortunately Nickelback! Cheers!

That's ok. Alot of the people who are now financially independent on here (or the predecessor message board) were in their 20's or early 30's 10-15 years ago. This is the right forum. When I started Corner Market Capital 11 years ago, I was 35 years old, after raising my brother and getting him through university. I was living off my limited investments and working on the side while building the business. Today I am financially independent! I am very fortunate...I get to do what I love every day and work only with people I like to work with. The funny thing now is that I have no plans on ever retiring unless forced to do so due to circumstance or poor health. Young and poor is a good thing, as long as you never forget how hungry you were going forward. It will help you to succeed and get to where you want to be! Cheers!

Yes, that would probably be more representative of how the wealth is distributed. For the most part, I would say that the older you are, the larger your nestegg...even on this board. At the same time, there are a number of fairly youthful members on here who are quite wealthy at a relatively young age via investments, entrepreneurship, professional occupation or just damn luck! Cheers!

This forum is one of the few that can actually back up the financial numbers. Those numbers actually are from a very limited subset...if you saw the actual spread across the members, I think it would be quite impressive. Cheers!