Parsad

Looks to me that the only change is that the equity portfolio for BH is now a limited partner in Lion Fund(s), which will have a higher hurdle of 6% compared to other limited partners who have a hurdle of 5%. So he will still get an incentive fee, but slightly less than if the equities were invested directly through BH, but NO CAP! Wholly-owned investments within BH, and equity investments through the LP. He now doesn't need shareholder approval to bypass the cap. Cheers!

What changes were the SEC asking for? Was it that you can't have the company you are trying to control, buy up its own shares with company capital, so that you can increase your voting control? Cheers!

No, I don't think that is it, since the equity investments would still be market to market, and the value would show up in the change in equity. But I do believe that this either has to do with compensation or getting shareholders onside. Cheers!

Article on the tighter rules that will be imposed above Basel III. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-02/tarullo-says-fed-very-close-to-leverage-ratio-proposal.html

So why wasn't this enacted in the beginning, when all of this controversy first began? Oh wait, this was the original structure, but BC was sold to BH because of perceived conflicts. It's the same thing we would do going forward at MPIC and if we took over a company. He could have probably avoided all of this if he had listened to his colleagues and shareholders. Does BH have any votes they need to pass still? Can't remember if they passed the last shareholder vote, or was the meeting postponed. Cheers!

By the second...what are you a cellphone company? ;D Cheers!

LOL! You should have shopped when we all shopped back in April. Cheers!

Alan, did you or your wife buy anything? Hope you spent a lot! Cheers!

You would be correct on all of these comments. You would also have to admit that the value proposition certainly changed once the company's market capitalization went down below the net cash on the books. I don't dispute that businesses like DELL and BBRY are in for very difficult times from their competition...I just disagree about when an investment can be appealing, regardless of the long-term disaster that may await it. Price is everything and Prem got the price wrong on BBRY. Doesn't mean it isn't a good investment at a certain price. Cheers!

Fairfax is probably further ahead on succession planning than Berkshire was at the same size. Yes, I would imagine that Prem's family and foundation will end up controlling his stock and making sure his wishes are materialized. Andy Barnard is already overseeing the insurance subsidiaries, many of which already have extraordinary managers, and Paul Rivett is overseeing a lot of the investment and operational decisions. You still have all of the old guard available that pretty much grew up with Prem at Gardiner Watson and Confederation Life. They've brought in younger blood...I think they can still do better on this...but they are carefully adding capable people to the bench. It will be one of the deepest around in another few years as they acquire more and more operating businesses. Cheers!

Why do you say Cheers after every post, good news or bad news? Does this news sound like a good news? If Cohen doesn't testify, it is more likely or less likely to get him in jail? I am a bit confused. "Cheers" is just the tagline on the posts I have used since the day I started the board. I think I know better than anyone on here what it means if Cohen testifies or not. Cheers!

I don't own BBRY, but after reading the report yesterday, I'm not sure how anyone can write off BBRY after one quarter's worth of data. They are in tough to be sure, and the outcome is unlikely to be good relative to the competition's size and dominance, but I think you need to look at least a year's worth of data, sales, and development to come to any accurate conclusion about whether this attempt at a turnaround will be successful or not. Those that are always "certain" tend to be oblivious to life's uncertainties! Cheers! 1, This is not unexpected information, we have been watching this stock for years. 2, It is not just this quarters numbers, they have forecast an operating loss for next quarter. 3, They will no longer be releasing subscriber numbers which means those numbers will continue to decline. 4, It is on enough just to look at numbers for a year, it is important to understand what those numbers mean. 5, You can always tell who is "certain" by the amount of predictions they make. 1, Investors have been watching Apple for years, but the last year and a half have not been one of glory...that doesn't mean Apple is finished. 2, They've pretty much scrapped much of the business plan for the past decade, and gone in a completely different direction...it's reasonable to assume that they will go through quarters of losses? 3, Probably because they are trying to focus on the longer term, not quarter by quarter. 4, I doubt if Apple's business plan in the first year Jobs took over the 2nd time around was anything but painful...look what happened there. 5, You are most correct here, and there have been more than enough predictions by pretty much everyone...the Apple thread is pretty much indicative of that! As I mentioned earlier, I don't own BBRY and do own APPL. But any supposition from a quarter's worth of numbers smack of hubris. Cheers!

I don't own BBRY, but after reading the report yesterday, I'm not sure how anyone can write off BBRY after one quarter's worth of data. They are in tough to be sure, and the outcome is unlikely to be good relative to the competition's size and dominance, but I think you need to look at least a year's worth of data, sales, and development to come to any accurate conclusion about whether this attempt at a turnaround will be successful or not. Those that are always "certain" tend to be oblivious to life's uncertainties! Cheers!

According to Bloomberg, Steve Cohen has invoked his "Fifth Amendment Rights" so he does not have to testify in front of a grand jury. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-28/cohen-silent-as-sac-executives-called-before-grand-jury.html

So you're the guy who's been keeping the price high! ;) What do ya mean? I was buying at lower prices last week, but somebody else pushes it up. Can't get as many this week! Cheers!

Buffett should buy Glacier Media here in Vancouver. They are the dominant community newspaper player in Canada, as well as specialty publications. At a 5-year low right now, and I've been loading up! Solid balance sheet, fat dividend, excellent cash flows...about 9 times earnings. Tim's owned it for years so I know it very well, but it finally fell to the price that I would buy at. Cheers!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/phildemuth/2013/06/27/the-mysterious-factor-p-charlie-munger-robert-novy-marx-and-the-profitability-factor/?partner=yahootix Cheers!

I think successful partnerships have to have that complimentary relationship. If the only voice you hear is your own, you are going to make mistakes! A sounding board is always good to have...especially one that challenges your ideas and takes another perspective. It's why this board works, when we are bashing out ideas and you have people pissing each other off when debating. I can only say that Buffett & Munger and Steinberg & Cummings accomplished more together, than they would have alone! Same with the Markels, Prem & his Hamblin-Watsa colleagues, and a whole host of other business people. Cheers!

Yes. ;D Cheers!

Interesting effort by Warren's sister, Doris. Cheers! http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/25/doris-buffett-philanthropy/?source=cnn_bin

Great letter...on par with Buffett's. Looking forward to Leucadia's future under Handler's watch! Cheers!

From Montreal's La Presse: French: http://affaires.lapresse.ca/bourse/201306/25/01-4664700-mohnish-pabrai-leternel-cloneur.php English is attached as a translated PDF. Cheers! La_Presse_-_June_25_2013.pdf

Just one of those parasitic class-action type law firms. Nothing will come of it. Cheers!

I find myself in almost the same position of twacowfca. And I am doing nothing (except watching Wimbledon and listening to the new Kanye West’s album). :) giofranchi Pretty much the same here as well. I've seen quite a few movies over the last two months...only the last week have I found something to start looking at again. Also busy with getting the Offshore fund off the ground...will launch August 1st! I would be watching Wimbledon as well, but my man Nadal went out in the 1st round. Now I won't watch until the round of 16. Steve Darcis sure did great against Nadal. :D We have our fair share of talent in Belgium, at least in tennis. Great that your offshore fund is launching soon. When can we expect more details? Next week or so. Service providers are in place, general partner has been formed and our attorneys just finishing off the offering documents. Only thing left to do is file everything and open the brokerage account with UBS. Then we should be good to go in a couple of weeks. Cheers!

They are doing better than fine! Good for Matt and Joe. Cheers!