Parsad

Really...this is what you have to worry about? Mistake of all mistakes!? I crack up every time I hear people second guess Prem. He's not going to be right on everything, and yes they will f**k up royally on some things from time to time, but he will still be right on enough things to outperform almost all of his peers over the long-term...due to the amount of asset/equity leverage they utilize and their pure Ben Graham investing framework. What percentage of their $30B portfolio is in SD? Forget them buying at $8 down...even if they totally screwed up the valuation and understanding of the business, and then they started buying at $20 down...what is the total percentage of the $30B they put into SD...at cost, not today's valuation. They would have had to put in at least $1B at cost into SD to even begin to think it would seriously hurt shareholder equity long-term if it went to zero. I would think their total cost is probably around $400M...if that. And the assumption is that the other $24.6B of their $25B+ investment portfolio is sitting idle doing nothing. Once you get past that, then you can see why this concern is irrelevant! Cheers!

ET Now Channel in India has donated 600, 1-minute ad slots to Dakshana through March. Here is Dakshana's first television ad: Cheers!

LOL. Maybe you guys can ask him how can he lead a fairly stress free life while running one of the largest companies in USA and periodically running into near-death corporate situations (Washington Post strike in 70s, SEC investigation in 70s, Salomon Brothers debacle, Gen Re debacle, Net Jets debacle, death of all the "made in America" brands he bought, Lubrizol and Sokol, etc.). I would have killed myself multiple times during his career. "Stress free" my a** ??? ::) :-X :'( :o +1! There is nothing stress-free about Buffett's life, except that he gets to do what he loves...so the stress is there, but viewed differently than say someone who absolutely hates their job. Cheers!

Mohnish, Sreeni Pulavarti (UCLA Endowment) and Mihir Worah (PIMCO) fire-side chat...minus the fire and fireplace! ;D Cheers!

I started the predecessor board to this site on February 20, 2002. Me and a few friends from Omaha...that was it! Thanks for all of your support and your friendship! All the best, Sanjeev Parsad Manager

Hi Folks, Tickets are completely sold out...all 140 tickets gone!! Please email me at [email protected] to be put on a waiting list for cancelled tickets. First come, first serve on the list. Last year, we had about 8 cancellations and those tickets went to the waiting list. If anyone is interested in corporate sponsorship of prizes, or any donors for prizes, please contact me at [email protected].

70% sold now folks! I will not be able to help you when it is sold out...we will only have a waiting list for cancellations. Also, due to the fact we will probably be combining Norm's pre-dinner with the Upper Canada room opening earlier at 4:30pm, we may have to reduce the seat count by about 15-20, to create enough room for people to mingle...so we are closer to 80% sold out if that happens! Just not enough space for the pre-dinner anymore at the Railroad Car bar, unless we rent another small room/ballroom. Also, many people like to stay at the Ben Graham Value Investing Conference right until 4pm or so. Cheers!

A couple of events in Omaha for those interested during Berkshire weekend. The Charlie Munger Summit http://www.valueinvestorconference.com/#summit Omaha Value Dinner w/Tom Russo http://www.valueinvestorconference.com/#dinner Cheers!

Tie Southern California Event: http://socal.tie.org/fireside-chat-investment-gurus/ Mohnish is one of the speakers. He said he also rode 26 miles today! Sheesh. Cheers!

Where does this guy find the time for all of these interviews and lectures? Then, he reads all of those books on his bookshelves, somehow squeezes himself into spandex to ride his bike, and still runs Pabrai Funds, Dakshana and Dhandho...not to mention write a few books! :) Cheers! http://www.btvin.com/videos/watch/10563/demystifying-stock-market-investing http://www.btvin.com/videos/watch/10562/%e2%80%9cdemographics-of-india-promising-for-the-future%e2%80%9d

Here is the second half of the interview. Cheers! http://fivegoodquestions.co/season-1/s1e9

Wow! $15K for property taxes in Arlington...crazy. You guys better have the best sewer system, roads, transit and city services than anyone else I know. Cheers!

Details for George's annual conference. Cheers! April 15, 2015 Ben Graham Centre’s 2015 Value Investing Conference The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing will hold its 2015 Value Investing Conference at The Fairmont Royal York in downtown Toronto. For more details and to register: http://www.bengrahaminvesting.ca/Outreach/2015_Conference.htm

Hi Folks, Just a reminder to get your tickets ahead of time. I don't want to be taking a ton of calls last minute and telling people that we are out of tickets already like last year! 40% sold already! Cheers!

Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value July 20-24, 2015 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. Andrew Brenton, CEO and co-founder, Turtle Creek Asset Management, will be a guest speaker on July 24. For more information see, http://valueinvestingeducation.com/seminars.htm

Jake Taylor of Farnamstreet Capital did a terrific little segment called "5GQ's With Pabrai & Spiers". Cheers!

The funny thing is when you guys talk about Festivus, Google Adsense puts out a "Seinfeld" ad on the message board. So, Festivus is obviously a target word. Cheers!

Would you take a photograph of my nephew with Santa? ;D Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! Cheers!

Wow, over 260 views and not one comment?! Are you guys saying, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" Cheers!

For all of you attending what has now essentially become a three-day event, I kind of wanted to get some feedback on how we can improve some of the events for attendees. Please answer the following questions: In 2015, we will have four speakers, a terrific buffet, silent auction, cash bar, nametags & registration, coat check, handheld Visa/MC keypad for silent auction purchases, photographer, and then off course, the main event with Prem and all of the Fairfax managers and executives. "How can we improve the annual dinner we hold?" "Do you want more silent auction items?" "Any specific speakers you would like to hear?" In terms of the Fairfax AGM, we can naturally provide some suggestions as we have done in the past. With their expansive AGM, including investee company booths, shareholder gift cards, food, drinks, access to the managers before and after the AGM, Prem's Q&A, etc. Unfortunately, the buses to and from Fairfax companies was not such a success. "How could they improve on their AGM?" "What would shareholders like to see from investee companies?" "What type of interactivity would you like to see from investee companies?" "What do shareholders expect more of out of the Fairfax investee companies?" "What was good and bad about the buses?" "Should Fairfax bring retail items from their stores to the AGM, or continue busing shareholders?" "Do shareholders like the gift cards, or would they prefer a straight discount like Berkshire does...say 10%?" Thanks very much for your feedback! Cheers!

They also pretty much replaced the entire board of directors! That's just plain crazy. Cheers!

As long as there are no publication or distribution restrictions on the letter, it should be ok to go ahead and post it. Cheers!

Sanj, You haven't changed a bit. You've always been well grounded. My favourite post of yours was one that you made on the Canadian board of the Motley Fool about 14 or 15 years ago when you sarcastically observed that Nortel at the time was worth more than the five big Canadian banks combined, along with a dozen or so other large Canadian companies. Some of us listened and reflected, while others dismissed you as a silly, old-school yokel. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm a silly, old-school yokel too! SJ Stubble, Over those 14-15 years, everything that has happened to me has sprung from one well...Ben Graham! You cannot be anything else, but old-school yokel, when things work that well like clockwork! You always get people saying why doesn't Prem adapt like Buffett and buy quality. Because buying cheap works just as well if not better! Prem doesn't need to guess about moats and competitive advantages, as we've seen how many moats collapsed in the last 12 years due to the internet. While the internet itself didn't affect investing fundamentals espoused by Ben Graham, it did damage alot of competitive advantages! Who would have thought the Washington Post would have collapsed as it did? What about Kodak? Dell? Sears? But you still could have made money when buying those various companies cheap and then selling when dear. Old school yokel only makes sense! :) Cheers!

20% sold in less than 24 hours! Cheers!

All I can say is that it is a new era! Things are fundamentally different...take a look around us: - Online shopping - Electric cars - Drones - Social media - Biotechnology P/E's don't matter. P/B doesn't matter. Debt is cheap. With this new paradigm and disruptive technology, investment managers have to be fleet of foot...adapt...Sun Tzu! It's about the alpha, not the beta. It's about using words like "superfluous" and "aggrandize". A new world era! Cheers!