Parsad

I think Munger is taking the longer term view, and views BYD as a company that will build a significant moat over the next decade. But we've seen this alot in other sectors...take a look at "Search" engines for example...very few thought Google would have such a dominant moat. Munger is also betting on the CEO, which can be pretty powerful if the bet is on the right person. What happens, I don't know. We'll know in a decade! ;D Cheers!

I wasn't a fan of this investment. I'm still not. I don't think it is a business where they can sustain a large competitive advantage over time. Money will flow in, as it is presently, and new companies will take market share away. Personally, for Berkshire, I like something like BNSF better. Not so much the price, but the idea. The more capital that is deployed into capital-intensive businesses with huge moats, the better. I'm also not keen on the investment managers they are choosing. These are gigantic shoes to fill, while handling huge sums of money. I would be much more comfortable if someone like Klarman, Berkowitz, etc, were the ones taking over. Ideally, they should just buy Fairfax and let Hamblin-Watsa manage all the money. It would be cheaper in the long-run and the returns would be better! Plus Prem is ok at insurance and leadership! ;D Cheers!

El-Erian is a smart guy, but I'm getting tired of his constant comments in the news...he's joining my annoying list of Roubini and Rosenberg now. Cheers!

Here is Comb's record at Castle Point. I think Buffett is looking for those that would preserve capital, rather than provide outsized returns. Cheers! Castle Point’s fund gained 6.2 percent last year, fell 5.7 percent in 2008, rose 19 percent in 2007 and climbed 13.6 percent in 2006, according to the letter. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-26/buffett-names-castle-point-s-combs-to-berkshire-hathaway-investment-post.html

BYD barely eeked out a profit for the 3rd quarter. Yikes! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-26/buffett-backed-byd-s-third-quarter-profit-drops-as-sales-in-china-falter.html

sanjeev, how do you know all this stuff?? Bobby was at Mohnish's AGM in Chicago last month. I met him and we spoke for a few minutes. Very nice, mild mannered guy. He was the only one working with Lou Simpson for the last five years. He lives in Chicago and will be launching his fund soon. Cheers!

I suspect they will start him off with GEICO's money. Lou Simpson is retiring and his protege, Bobby Biergin, is starting his own hedge fund soon. So either Buffett runs GEICO's money or they bring someone in. I think he's the guy...test him out and see how he does with it. Cheers!

This topic has been moved to Investment Ideas. [iurl]http://cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/index.php?topic=997.0[/iurl]

I recall Biglari was also on your list... good thing he showed it's true colors before your family needed him. BeerBaron Regardless of how I feel about Sardar's compensation plan and the way it was instituted, investors will make money as shareholders in Biglari Holdings. I didn't pull our capital from Sardar because of his aptitude. I pulled it because I felt what he did was somewhat unethical and misguided. Cheers!

Francis and Tim McElvaine are the two nicest and most genuine people I know in this industry. My family knows that if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, call Francis and Tim and put the money to work with them...then go and enjoy your life! Plus don't sell the Fairfax shares! ;D Cheers!

You didn't get a letter back with his actual signature on it? Was it actually a form letter...what did it say? Cheers!

Do you want to ask the next question by how much? No that area becomes too grey, because you never take into consideration exactly what level of risk people exposed themselves to during a short period of time. Were they fully concentrated in one stock? One sector...commodities? Was a considerable portion of their portfolio in short positions? Did anyone use leverage? How much cash were they holding? How much was in fixed income instruments? What percentage achieved those results holding many positions? But if you take a large sample, and those results prove to be an outlier over a longer period of time (ten years plus), then you start to prove that a specific subsection may have a certain temperament, consistency in execution of their respective framework, and it is probably less likely to be a matter of luck. Cheers!

No doubt Mr. Watsa contributed substantially to the outperformance figure. Probably partially, but I think the majority of those that outperform, would be able to do it over longer periods and without Fairfax. This argument is sort of the same one people use from time to time against Sequoia, but at the end of the day, they were just smart enough to hold on to Berkshire...that takes a certain amount of aptitude, since thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands that owned the stock sold at some point. Cheers!

I suspect we would have an outlier result at 5 years and 10 years as well. Although that number would probably drop. I'm quite certain that an unlikely percentage (unlikely to any efficient market theorist) would outperform the S&P500 Total Return over the long run. Cheers!

Hi Harry, You weren't the only guilty one in that exchange, but it was one post in particular that was starting to go over board. I appreciate you respecting the other members, and I would ask that all members try and be respectful to one another. If you don't agree walk away...there are more than enough participants on this board for everyone to be engaged and entertained. Cheers!

Rents have come down, yet the building is 90% empty. Incidentally, the rents they describe are just slightly above Vancouver rents for such apartments. Cheaper if you consider the finishings you get...but there's no bubble here in Vancouver of course! Cheers! http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20101022/wl_time/08599202693400

Charlie distributed $25M of BRK stock from his wife's estate to his children. Cheers! http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11947474

I'm of the opinion that the majority of board members on this message board have outperformed the S&P500 Total Return over the last 3 years...July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2010. The S&P 500 Total Return during that period was a cumulative -9.813%. That would be completely contradictory to the performance of the average investment manager or the average private investor. Please respond with either "Yes...I did beat..." or "No...I did not beat...". Cheers!

I've spoken to Harry on a couple of occasions. He is a good guy and a good contributor. But I put a moratorium on antagonistic and rhetorical posts a week ago, because I received numerous complaints over the last couple of months. The rhetorical have stopped, but I would like to stop the flow of posts that are sometimes ego-driven as well, or at the very least a bit antagonistic. This isn't a board about bravado...there are plenty of boards available for guys with big balls who feel like tripping over them. Rubbing noses, name-calling, etc are posts that will be eliminated. Cheers!

Sanjeev, Just to add to your point - even with a killing record, bit of humility will go a long ways. Rranjan, I couldn't agree with you more. Young, eager managers should take a lesson from the last two years. There were a lot of fund managers who thought they were always right, lacked humility and could do no wrong. One third of hedge funds that were operating in 2006 were out of business by the end of 2009! There's been alot of posters on this board like that, and they too disappeared...no I did not ban all of them! ;D The greatest leaders I know, and aspire to emulate, are the ones that are ubiquitously humble, giving leaders...Buffett, Prem et al. There are alot of things you cannot teach, but humility is one that you can...often it is learned in the most unpleasant of ways through unintended consequences. Cheers!

T-Bone and Stove, let this be a lesson to you. Wouldn't you have rather learned from me, rather than losing money? As Benjamin Franklin said, only a fool needs to learn from experience. Risk control. I tried to help, but y'all didn't want to listen. I hate to say it, but I told you so. The pain of loss should sear the lesson onto your memory. Harry, how is Contrarian Industries record against the S&P500 TR since inception? If you ain't killing it, then a bit of humility will go a long ways. Cheers!

It's all dependent on the duration, the current price and exercise price. In some cases, the common equity is a better investment in the shorter term. But the options in most cases will give a bigger bang for the buck over a longer period of time. One boardmember sent me a terrific spreadsheet he developed for the warrants, and I modified it slightly. It works very well and gives a realistic view of the annual rate of return on various warrants. I think you really need to do this to get a good idea of what is a deal and what isn't. Cheers!

However, if you accept this assignment, please be sure to write the symbol - as I seemed to have omitted for Loews. No wonder you guys need proof-readers. ;D Although you were only one culprit amongst a few who did the same. Cheers!

Just use Yahoo Finance. They are usually the ticker symbol, hyphen, "WT". Add an "A" or a "B" for BAC warrants. Cheers!

Could be. Or it could be that he didn't buy all of GEICO earlier. I think his best investment idea was hiring Ajit Jain. Cheers!