Parsad

You're partly right! That's a very hard thing for people to accept...so you will get push back on this. You can have the right training and that's what Benjamin Graham, Buffett, et al are to investors, but: - You cannot teach or train the right temperament - Or how someone will react to a crisis - You cannot teach patience - You cannot teach someone to think independently if they aren't prone to that type of thinking...thus you get cloning practiced rampantly these days - You cannot teach someone to manage risk, especially if they are prone to a gambling mentality or an overly conservative mentality So alongside a firm, if not enlightened grasp, of how to apply an intelligent framework to evaluating securities, you need a number of other characteristics, including both emotional and intellectual traits. That's hard to find! The solace that all investors have though is that they can hone these skills and become better versions of themselves. So while everyone may not be great, most can be good! Cheers!

+1! Only a matter of time before someone creates a COBF algorithm. I'm going to start a post on "Fintech" stocks! Cheers!

Intel giant Andy Grove passed away at 79. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/intel-mastermind-silicon-valley-statesman-022547436.html

Hi Folks, We are getting closer to the dinner date! I'm taking online ticket purchases up until Friday, April 8th. All sales and refunds will end on that day, other than presentation-only tickets which will be sold at the door. I have to give the Fairmont Royal York the final dinner number on the 8th, thus the cut-off. Also, if anyone wants to donate something for the silent auction, including any sort of Berkshire/Fairfax/Value Investor memorabilia, please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks very much for your support! Sanjeev

Few people are truly good or bad...we're all shades of both. They're saying that Sandridge is the alledged co-conspirator to the price fixing. I voted against Tom Ward a couple of years back when there was a proxy there due to the exorbitant spending and compensation, but every time I met Tom in Toronto, he was very gracious and shared his knowledge with us. I'm sure Aubrey was similar, as he and Tom were very good friends. Sad to see someone take their life like that...for him and all of those he left behind!

Holy smokes! Wow. Just crazy.

I feel like telling some of you Burry hasn’t crushed the S&P is like telling a kid there’s no Santa. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO SANTA! F**K YOU! :)

Hi Everyone, Over 50% sold, so please get your ticket orders in. Just under two months from the dinner! Cheers!

Hi Winjitsu, No problem. Please email me. Thanks! Sanjeev

Hi Folks, If any of you are investment bankers in Hong Kong, please contact me at [email protected]. Thanks very much! Sanjeev

Agreed. What a wonderful archive of videos it would be if they had started in the early Youtube days.. Probably no choice at this point...crowds are just too big. There is no other venue big enough if the crowd gets significantly larger. People are renting cars after flying into Lincoln, Nebraska or Iowa, because you can't get rental cars in Omaha. Hotels in Omaha and Council Bluffs are fully booked...many a year ahead of time. Also, a lot of the old-time BRK shareholders are approaching their 70's, 80's and 90's, so many might prefer to just watch it online now instead of dealing with the crowds...and only going to get worse. Cheers!

Nothing I'm aware of, but it could be that our service provider does upgrades around midnight EST. Cheers!

In some ways I feel like DTEJD1997 completely trolled this forum. The guy is a coin dealer and I believe owns a coin store. There was a thread on this a year or two back. He's talking his book like anyone else here talking some stock. I think it'd be interesting to know how many people on here could really pull together $4-5k in a day or two (probably most, but this is also a board filled with rich people). I worked at a place with stock options that needed to be exercised with cash and in talking to co-workers the common response was "who has $3k in cash laying around?" The idea that anyone even had that sort of money available was absurd. Stock options paid for in cash? Really, that's crazy. I would agree, that most people on here could pull together that type of cash no problem. I could do that in ten minutes. But most people on here are smart enough, and as you said probably well off enough, to keep a certain amount of cash and liquidity. Average Canadian debt/income ratio hit 170% yesterday...highest since 1990. Not sure the average Canadian/American could wrangle that type of cash up right away. Cheers!

Personally, I think there is some need to hold some cash outside of an institutional account, simply because you could have a major catastrophe (Earthquake, solar flare, terrorist attack, etc) that forces you to do without the banks, internet and ATM's for a few days. As well in any financial crisis, there would be a run on banks for a few days or weeks, until the government could find another institution to step in or nationalize the bankrupt bank(s). You might not qualify for a loan also if banks suddenly tighten lending requirements like they did in 2009 and after. So a good chunk of cash sitting in a safety deposit box/safe/filing cabinet might be a good idea. I don't think you need gold or silver...unless you think the country is going to collapse into chaos. You would be better off spending that time and energy growing your own food in your backyard, paying off any debts/mortgage, than wasting it buying gold and silver. At least you could live off your own land...thus why Buffett would rather own all of the agricultural land in the United States plus 25 Exxon Mobils, than all of the gold ever produced. Fear drives people to do stupid things! Including very smart people. How many were buying gold at $1,800 US oz instead of Wells Fargo at $12 and Starbucks at $6 in 2008? Cheers!

+1! And in worst case scenario, you can eat cash...high in fibre. Try passing a gold bar through your colon! :) Cheers!

April 13, 2016 Ben Graham Centre’s 2016 Value Investing Conference The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing will hold its 2016 Value Investing Conference at The Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto. For more details and to register: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2016_Conference.htm

Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value July 18-22, 2016 Toronto, ON This seminar, taught by Dr. George Athanassakos (Professor of Finance and the Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing at the Ivey Business School, Western University), is geared towards financial professionals and individual investors seeking to enhance their knowledge of value creation, valuation and value investing theory and practice. Mr. Francis Chou, President, Chou Associates Management Inc., will be a guest speaker on July 22. For more information see, http://valueinvestingeducation.com/seminars.htm

I agree! If anyone should have avoided SD, it would have been the guys who expected the commodities blow-up and deflation. But you have several primary managers at Hamblin-Watsa, as well as analysts, who all manage some money. They are allowed to allocate a significant portion as they see fit. SD was probably not a consensus investment, but one allocated by a couple of managers with the capital at their discretion. How many value investors on here have varying views of the same security? Cheers!

Steve Cohen gets barred for 2 years alongside his previous $1.8B fine. He can start managing outside money again in 2 years! Nice job U.S. regulators...you'll just be dealing with this again 8-10 years from now. Cheers! http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/cohen-barred-managing-investor-funds-years-36170207

If oil was above $70 barrel, and it was well above at one point, it would not have been a dog of a stock. Everything is relative to the economic circumstances around it. Lou Simpson owns quite a large chunk of Chesapeake...which is nearly as big as a dog. Doesn't mean Lou Simpson was completely wrong on the thesis, but the environment changed dramatically and the viability of the company changed. You pick ten stocks...as long as you are right on six of them you are golden. Two will fail and two will tread sideways. But you still do perfectly fine over the long-run if you get those six of ten right. Cheers!

Don't know how the Keg's are everywhere, but I go to many in Vancouver and surrounding areas during the year and I've been to the one in downtown Toronto near Fairfax's office. I've never had a bad steak...in fact, I've always had a good to great steak at the Keg...cooked exactly how I like it. The service is always great and you know what you are getting there. I went to BierMarket a couple of years ago...the mussels were fantastic as was the beer. I've never had the burger there. Harvey's competition is DQ, McDonalds, BK, et al...when compared to them, Harvey's burgers are as good or better. They are not Five Guys, nor are they Shake Shack...they aren't meant to be like them. Swiss Chalet is what it is. It was one of the first restaurants to offer healthy fare, but roasted chickens are now available in every grocery store deli. Still, they give you exactly what you kind of expect. The food at the Montana's I go to here is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but decent low-mid market restaurant fare...not that different than TGIF's, etc. I think East Side Marios could use some help...the only one in Vancouver closed a little over two years ago. Never been to Finn McCools. The one thing that should be noted is that Berkshire and Fairfax shareholders always want the companies BRK and FFH invested in to be really well run, top notch, clean, excellent service, etc. But remember, that these businesses are what they are. Even if Berkshire buys McDonalds, it will never be as clean as a Sees Candies. The culture of the two businesses are different. The expectations, traffic, etc are all different. I remember when I first became a Berkshire shareholder, I would always wish that local DQ's were run better...I expected better, because these were BRK businesses! But they are what they are. BRK bought them because they generate plenty of free cash flow...not because they are Five Guys or In & Out. Fairfax can improve some of these operations to a certain degree, but if you start to detach from what has worked, you may impact the cash you generate because you lose the existing clients or you impact margins with increased expenditures. Can you imagine McEwen revamping East Side Mario's menu and adding a mushroom truffle oil risotto? I'm guessing margins would shrink to the same level as McEwens high-end restaurants! Cheers!

You are correct. But he's simply discussing that the field of winners narrows so dramatically over time in these bubble industries, that anyone trying to buy for the long-term is likely going to get burned at some point. While right now, the carcass of one of these so-called winners from the automotive age is selling at horse and buggy multiples...which company or companies would you say provide the greater margin of safety...GM or a basket of internet darlings? Cheers!

Regardless of a new website, I've emailed Paul Rivett for you...it will get to the top at Cara! Can you send me your email or phone number ([email protected]), and I'll forward it to Paul, in case anyone at Cara wants to contact you. Cheers!

Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value July 18-22, 2016 Toronto, ON This seminar, taught by Dr. George Athanassakos (Professor of Finance and the Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing at the Ivey Business School, Western University), is geared towards financial professionals and individual investors seeking to enhance their knowledge of value creation, valuation and value investing theory and practice. Mr. Francis Chou, President, Chou Associates Management Inc., will be a guest speaker on July 22. For more information see, http://valueinvestingeducation.com/seminars.htm Cheers!

Nice, little slideshow. Cheers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-NXDCXzrao