Parsad

Article on delinquent student loans. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-29/overdue-student-loans-reach-unsustainable-15-fair-isaac-says.html

Yup...tangible book...I mean it this time damnit! ;D Cheers!

Depends. If you have good management in place, then yes, it could operate quite well with you only on site some of the time. At the same time, being on site only on occasion, also opens you up to considerable fraud or theft if you are incorrect in your judgement. Not to mention your hotel's reputation for service, cleanliness, friendliness, occupancy and execution. I have a friend who owns a hotel about five hours from Vancouver. He lives in North Vancouver, but he is on site usually for two weeks of the month, even though he has good management in place. He has to be there and much of the administrative and book-keeping work is done on site, so it occupys a considerable portion of his life. He has a wife and two young children as well, so he's a very, very busy guy. You should also consider what competition is around you as far as the hotel is concerned. My friend's hotel is really the only hotel on the lake in the immediate area, and he owns the largest marina there, which is attached to his hotel property. So, his hotel has certain amenities that the competition cannot provide, since that zoning is not available in the future for any other properties near his hotel. Cheers!

Hi Ourkid, I hope Prem and Francis eventually merge Chou Funds into Fairfax and Francis rejoins Hamblin-Watsa...maybe even sits on the board at some point, as everyone is getting older. They could even rename them as "Fairfax Funds" and there is no reason why Fairfax could not have a money management business subsidiary. They all came from that industry, and they all know how lucrative it is, and how the leverage in the hands of good managers is pretty amazing. But who knows...maybe Francis likes his own little world away from the hub-bub! Cheers!

The Fed will release bank stress tests on March 7th. Although, like last year, I'm sure news will start to trickle out well before the actual release date. Cheers! http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/financial-regulation-stress-idUSL1N0AXBXR20130128?feedType=RSS&feedName=marketsNews&rpc=43

Short article on it as well. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-made-2012-bid-161701127.html

Just remember, if for some reason Fairfax needed Francis, I don't think it would take even an arm twist from Prem to get him there. And even though technically Francis does not work at Fairfax, I would not be surprised if he has a significant amount of input into Fairfax's investments simply as an advisor, shareholder, friend of the company and loyal sounding board. Cheers!

Bloomberg article on Germany's Quandt Family, their investments and unfortunate ties to the Nazi regime. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-27/nazi-goebbels-step-grandchildren-are-hidden-billionaires.html

I don't see what you saw on Morningstar, but I suspect that they have an error. There is no way, NO WAY, that Prem would sell his stake in Fairfax. He will die before he does that, just like Buffett...or it will go into a trust for his family or into an endowment. The bulk of his shares are also held in "The Sixty Two Company", not his own name. Cheers!

The used to hang alot of people...still do in some parts of the world. And once in a while, some of those people were probably innocent. I would not want to just see any hanging or execution, nor a generalized administration of capital punishment. But for someone like Bin Laden, Hitler, admitted serial killers...sure I would have no qualms about seeing them receive some form of the death penalty. And I'm a staunch liberal! Cheers!

Is it sick to admit that the best part was watching Bin Laden shot? I saw it last night. Yeah, that's sick. The original plan was to capture him and bring him to New York City for trial like Bush's Guantanamo Bay prisoners, read him his rights, provide him with the best attorneys and waive the death penalty out of compassion for his extended family with many wives and children. Then, if convicted, probation and rehabilitation like the prisoners who were rehabilitated to Saudi Arabia. That unexciting plan was ditched after Hollywood took over. LOL! Cheers!

Is it sick to admit that the best part was watching Bin Laden shot? I saw it last night. No, because that's the part I'm waiting to see! ;D Cheers!

Would love to see a fund which guarantees returns, "or your money back". Anyone know of one? Collecting fees is so damn easy. Segregated insurance funds. Other than that, I believe it may be a contravention of securities laws...or at least completely frowned upon to guarantee such a thing. The other funds that make such guarantees are often found to be frauds or ponzi schemes as well. Cheers!

Einhorn? How about Herb Greenberg or Jim Chanos? Cheers!

I agree. Both came off as idiots, crybabies and I wouldn't do business with either. I was somewhat offended by Icahn's Neanderthal-like comment about Ackman being "like one of those little Jewish kids we picked on in school." Shows exactly what type of asshole Icahn is...no wonder SB idolizes him! Cheers!

That's pretty damn funny...you really have to wait for the punch line, because he sounds exactly like he did on CNBC for the first few minutes. Cheers!

Seriously? No! I was just joking. Cheers!

It finally ended now. Made my whole day! You all should watch on the replay later on CNBC's site. I wish I could record and save that clip. Cheers!

Icahn just called Ackman a liar...and in the background you can hear the market specialists going "Ohhhhh....whoooo!" Bare-knuckle brawl going on here. Cheers!

Wow, this is frickin' awesome! Ackman has just gone completely off on Icahn. Patrick Byrne is sitting at home laughing away, polishing his glock. ;D Now, Ichan is going off on both the host and Ackman. Cheers!

Ackman says..."I was afraid of dealing with Carl Icahn, because frankly, Carl Icahn does not have a good reputation!" Swing Ackman, swing...otherwise this guy is going to take you down. Cheers!

Actually, I have to tell you guys the truth...Ackman and Icahn have been feuding on this message board for years under nicknames. Now you guys know why some of our threads go on forever. Actually, they were the ones behind the LVLT thread. ;D Cheers!

Icahn's best quote..."On Wall Street, if you want a friend, get a damn dog!" Cheers!

Everybody on Wall Street is going to be talking about this. I think this is just the start of a very long-time feud now. Cheers!

This is so damn funny! Icahn's such a dick...very funny. Cheers!