Parsad

Here's another hack job article by Gretchen Morgenson on Fairfax and the IRS ruling regarding their past purchase of Odyssey Re shares from Bank of America. Fairfax's transaction was reported to the IRS by one of the hedge funds shorting it, who may end up with a "whistleblower" reward if the IRS decides to reopen the case and levy any fines. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/business/years-later-the-irs-questions-a-tax-deal.html?partner=yahoofinance&_r=0 So these assholes collude and naked short the stock, using unethical conduct and non-public information, and then report Fairfax to the IRS to possibly receive a reward. I love how U.S. securities regulators work! Fairfax sues their biggest target, who has bred a culture of deception, illegal trading and ill-gotten gains, yet they win the lawsuit against them and one of their minions can possible receive "whistleblower" payments. Geez! Cheers!

The inaugural Crohn's & Colitis Foundation "ICE Gala" in BC was a complete success! Led by the CCFC's Alison Obrecht, we raised over $100,000 for the Foundation. The food was terrific, and the live & silent auctions went very well. Thank you to everyone who donated, supported or attended the gala! The video "Lee's Story", which was first shown by Dr. Kevin Glasgow at our dinner this year, was also shown at the Vancouver gala. Lee's mother, Mimi Greenspoon was in attendance. She runs the Toronto gala which raised over $900,000 this year...something we aspire to get to at some point! I was about 15-16 when I first started listening to Canadian rock legends "54-40". They had just been signed by Warner Bros and had put out their first album. They were one of the formative bands I listened to during my teenage years and into college. For some reason, I had never made it to one of their concerts, so it was ironic that I finally saw them live over 25 years later at a CCFC event. An organization that I have come to strongly support, only after our friend JoAnn Butler passed away...who I only met because of my meeting with Prem Watsa and Francis Chou...who I only met after meeting Buffett! The chain of events in my life since that first meeting with Buffett constantly leaves me with a sense of gratitude and wonderment. My whole family attended...my Mom, brother, sister-in-law, her mother, Alnesh and a bunch of friends. "54-50" played for almost two hours! As the evening progressed, the 200 attendees whittled down to about 30 of us, and we were all going on stage and singing with the band. At that point, the band started really getting into it, as it was like doing a tiny backyard performance. They brought their equipment down to the dance floor, playing and singing amongst us, handing the mic off to each of us to finish a chorus! I've been to large rock concerts and those held in smaller, intimate venues...this was crazy...here I was singing and dancing with friends and family right around Neil Osbourne and the rest of "54-40!" For those of you in the U.S. who may not be familiar with them, they became pretty big on the college scene, but never took off mainstream in the U.S. One U.S. band covered one of their songs though and became superstars selling tens of millions of albums over time...Hootie and the Blowfish...go figure! Alot of people know "The Tragically Hip" as one of Canada's biggest bands, but "54-40" were better and more consistent...just never blew up around the world. Anyway, it was a terrific night, and I've included some pictures. Hopefully, more of you will be able to attend the next one! Cheers!

Divided loyalty is what will stop him. Is he more loyal to FFH shareholders who are bleeding capital from this purchase, or is he more loyal to his colleagues on the RIMM board? Personally, I was happier when it was 100% clear who he was working for. SJ How are interests not aligned? RIMM is a big investment for Fairfax and he's CEO of Fairfax and steps in to help RIMM. Thus if he helps RIMM, he helps Fairfax. The RIMM investment is a sunk cost. How do you get as much of your investment out of it now is the question, and that is why Prem is in there...at best he saves it, at worst some damage control. It's clear who he is working for as he is not CEO of RIMM. Cheers! As I don't hold shares of RIMM or FFH (or really follow them, other than what I read on here) I have a question. Any board fees that Prem earns, who gets them? Do they go into Prem's pocket, or, are they going into FFH as revenue, since the only reason he is on the board, is due to his role in FFH? Or, does he work on the RIMM board for free? Was Warren Buffett's director fees at Coca-cola going into his pockets or Berkshire's general coffers? Also, are their fees greater than their compensation or ownership at their respective companies, or significantly less? In Prem's case, his salary, dividends and ownership interest are all far higher than any compensation he receives from RIMM...not even close on any of those three metrics. In Buffett's case, his Coca-cola director's fee was greater than his salary from Berkshire...would you say that Buffett was compromised in any manner when he served on Coca-cola's board? The stick you guys are trying to carry is a bar held so high that hardly any CEO could pass muster over a long career...even Buffett would have failed the director's fee challenge. Cheers!

Divided loyalty is what will stop him. Is he more loyal to FFH shareholders who are bleeding capital from this purchase, or is he more loyal to his colleagues on the RIMM board? Personally, I was happier when it was 100% clear who he was working for. SJ How are interests not aligned? RIMM is a big investment for Fairfax and he's CEO of Fairfax and steps in to help RIMM. Thus if he helps RIMM, he helps Fairfax. The RIMM investment is a sunk cost. How do you get as much of your investment out of it now is the question, and that is why Prem is in there...at best he saves it, at worst some damage control. It's clear who he is working for as he is not CEO of RIMM. Cheers!

No, he definitely did not join to sell near-term. Otherwise he would not have joined the board. He's in this for the long-haul...whatever the final outcome. Cheers!

More on this from the NY Times: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49938192 Cheers!

They opened the first Cabela's in Washington a couple of years ago, and I went in there. As a Canadian proponent of gun control, I've never felt more uncomfortable in my life! That is until I put that sweet 9mm Remington in my hand...I kid, I kid! ;D Say no to guns. Cheers!

I don't know what else we can do to get Moore back to posting. We pulled out Sophia Vergara, as well as "Baramit". What else can we do? Cheers!

It's pretty good. It's a comedy though really, not some Oscar-winning drama or anything. I wouldn't rent it though. If you have it on Netflix or something, that's probably better. One of my favorite movies regarding stocks or the markets is "Trading Places", and I think the underlying social commentary was pretty darn good. It's a Christmas movie too, so it's always on around this time of year. Probably the best role Dan Akroyd ever had. Cheers! Check out "Margin Call" which is a fairly recent movie. Pretty good imo. Yes, "Margin Call" was quite good. Hell of a lot better than "Wall Street 2"...what a disappointment that was! "Too Big to Fail" was actually quite good too. Cheers!

Hope our U.S. boardmembers enjoy their stuffed turkeys today...or tofurkey's for our vegetarian boardmembers! ;D Cheers!

They had Romney in the news the other day. A photograph of him pumping his own gas...he looked exhausted. Already the Obama Administration is having a negative wealth effect on the 1%! ;D Cheers!

It's pretty good. It's a comedy though really, not some Oscar-winning drama or anything. I wouldn't rent it though. If you have it on Netflix or something, that's probably better. One of my favorite movies regarding stocks or the markets is "Trading Places", and I think the underlying social commentary was pretty darn good. It's a Christmas movie too, so it's always on around this time of year. Probably the best role Dan Akroyd ever had. Cheers!

No idea. He's just not posting as much right now. Cheers! Actually, I just checked...he's definitely lurking...just not posting. Moore, stop your lurking...you know you've got stuff to say! ;D It seems as though a bunch of our "Red State" board members are still licking their wounds and staying on the sidelines. Hopefully, they come back once the fiscal cliff is averted. Cheers!

No idea. He's just not posting as much right now. Cheers!

Article on the current dispute. Cheers! http://www.thestreet.com/story/11773878/1/mbia-bank-of-america-battle-coming-to-a-head.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Don't hear anything from the other toadies these days either...where is the notorious Sam Antar? Hiding under his rock I presume! Cheers!

You would think so...I can only hope so. Too bad we can't short SAC! I'm also surprised that Chanos did not stumble across this fraud. ;D Cheers!

Sadly, they only have a civil suit involving him, and it's for $275M...a tiny fraction of his net worth. What they need is to topple his lieutenants and get them to roll over on him. That's the only way they'll be able to take down this white-collared Bonanno wannabe. Kudos to Preet Bharara for digging and digging. Cheers!

I thought this article resonated a bit of the dot-com, day-trading era. Not nearly the same, but there are some similarities. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/boom-lures-app-creators-tough-014750928.html

Couldn't agree more Hawk! It's when people think everybody deserves a house...then you get trouble. I think everyone deserves shelter and a place they can call home, with affordable rent for those that are of limited income, but I don't think everyone deserves to OWN a home...just like I don't think everyone deserve to own a car, Rolex watch or Prada suit. It's when people start to desire those things, and see their friends buying such things who can't afford them, then you get things like excesses and bubbles when loose credit becomes available. Keeping up with the Jones' is very expensive long-term! Cheers!

If you eat those, then you live in Richmond, BC and are probably a Hong Kong expatriate! ;D I remember when they opened the first one in Richmond...there was a massive lineup...bigger than outside an Apple store when a new phone comes out. All Hong Kong expats! I used to snarf one down too occasionally at the Metrotown store, but now that I've moved, the closest one is near my office on Robson. Cheers! Actually, now that I've read their website, I did not realize they started in Japan and that they have over 250 stores around the world. I always thought it was a Hong Kong thing, as my friends from there couldn't stop talking about it when they opened the first store here. Cheers!

If you eat those, then you live in Richmond, BC and are probably a Hong Kong expatriate! ;D I remember when they opened the first one in Richmond...there was a massive lineup...bigger than outside an Apple store when a new phone comes out. All Hong Kong expats! I used to snarf one down too occasionally at the Metrotown store, but now that I've moved, the closest one is near my office on Robson. Cheers!

Of that $6.3B, BAC had cut $3.65B or 58%! Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-big-us-banks-cut-190532920.html

You know what? I was one of the first guys to think he could not do this...probably another guy who writes a book, starts a fund, tries to do a turnaround and increase shareholder value...you know, the usual Buffett playbook that every young manager aspires to follow. Well, he's surprised me already. I think he's done a great job at Paragon so far. Doesn't mean much yet, but kudos to Sham for getting to where he is now! He's already saved the company, which would have gone under in another couple of years, and that's saved alot of money for shareholders, as well as some jobs, homes, college plans and just basic living for employees. If it means I have to put up with more books before these young guys even get a job...so be it...I'm a curmudgeonly, grumpy old 40 something! ;D They could be out there torching cars and rioting after a Stanley Cup loss...instead, they are aspiring to be more using a role model we all admire. I'll be really watching to see what he does now, and once again, congratulations to Sham on doing a good job and following his dreams. Cheers!

Just acquired a property in North Hollywood. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/kennedy-wilson-acquires-asset-163909603.html