Parsad

In dollar terms that is. Anyway, here's an article from Bloomberg. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-05/berkshire-s-cash-nears-record-as-buffett-extends-elephant-hunt.html?cmpid=yhoo

The Munger Bust went for $7,600 and the Lunch With Mohnish went for $18,100. Way to go Mohnish...great for Dakshana! Cheers!

To be fair those deals are a lot less scarce than distressed businesses. That's where management comes into play: when to hold cash and wait versus when to invest it in less-than-ideal ventures. I think a great acquisition would be Chou Associates! ;D Prem should buy out Francis and bring him back into the Fairfax fold. We all know that the money management business is spectacular if done right, and bringing Francis back in means that Francis can just grow the money management business for Fairfax. You still have the Hamblin-Watsa team focusing on investments for Fairfax. This way, Francis' business will never have to worry about succession for his family, and you bring another younger, quality, ethical manager back into Fairfax to take over as the Hamblin-Watsa principals retire over time...if they so choose! Because other than Peter Furlan and Paul Ianni, I don't know of any other young analysts at Fairfax who could just step up and fill some shoes. I'm sure there are a couple, but I don't know who they are. Wayne Cadawallader is running his own fund, so they probably need to find a Justin Wheeler type or people they already know. Paul Rivett is quite young and he's in good shape, and if you combine that with Francis, and add another person...Tim McElvaine comes to mind...I think you've got a good team for another generation. Anyway, I thought I would throw that out there just to stir up some trouble for head office! ;D Cheers!

They should institute the same rule here. If longs have to report, then shorts should too. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/49655827

Thanks Cofabmd! Just a terrific article on Bill and Kennedy Wilson! Bill has been at our dinner for the last two years. Mary Ricks also came with him at the first dinner he came to. I know plenty of you have looked at and are invested in Bank of Ireland, so I thought I would expand this thread by starting a bit of a discussion. I really like Richie Boucher, CEO of Bank of Ireland and who also was at our dinner last year, and I'm keen on investing in Ireland, but I'm struggling with their business...still a ton of risk. If you look at page 27 of their June 30th financials, they are really, really underfunded on their loan loss portfolio. I mean there is potential for half of their equity to be wiped out easily: http://www.bankofireland.com/fs/doc/publications/investor-relations/interim-report-20121.pdf In my opinion, they need to deleverage a hell of alot faster than the timeline they've given themselves. They probably need to be selling assets left, right and centre like Moynihan was doing at BAC. Please feel free to give me your opinions, because I think this is an intriguing investment, but it's priced based on the amount of risk around it...I'm still not sure it's cheap enough! Cheers!

You guys have only about four hours left if you want to get in on either of these! Cheers! http://www.ebay.com/itm/121001990415?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 http://www.ebay.com/itm/121002008088?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Yeah, I'd like to really see how they valued this, and then compare it on an apple-to-apple comparison in terms of Inditex's normalized P/E, cash flows, etc relative to Berkshire's. Cheers! Sure, Inditex has always been expensive (the lowest P/E in the last 5 years was ~15) and right now I'd much rather own BRK. But it is an impressive achievement nonetheless for the son of a railway worker born just before the Spanish Civil War and who had to leave school when he was 14. You'll agree that being the son of a US Congressman and attending Ben Graham's classes at Columbia is a much better starting position. Oh no, I totally agree with you. Phenomenal achievement! I just hate these annual rankings, because often one person's investment is inflated due to stock price relative to earnings or a bubble in their industry, and the valuation is briefly elevated to obscene levels. Cheers!

If you can't find a $20B idea, sometimes you just have to go with forty $500M ideas! ;D Cheers!

Yeah, I'd like to really see how they valued this, and then compare it on an apple-to-apple comparison in terms of Inditex's normalized P/E, cash flows, etc relative to Berkshire's. Cheers!

While there's room to debate whether the restaurants are shitholes or not, it's absolutely clear that the industry is a shit-industry. There are thousands of participants, extremely low barriers to entry and cut-throat competition. These chain restaurants continuously face pressure on their margins from every little immigrant-run eatery that pops up. While there may be room for both the chains and the immigrant restaurants, clearly this is a shitty place to try to make good money. But, I guess that's consistent with FFH's primary business of P&C insurance, which is also a highly competitive (shitty!) industry where there's little potential to build a moat. SJ As far as I know, the top 25% of restaurant chains returned 279% from 2001 to 2011. The median of restaurant chains returned 113%. The S&P500 returned 33%. “The most valuable business in the world are brand royalty businesses that can grow without capital investment” Bill Ackman on the new Burger King franchise business model. Maybe, Imvescor is not the case, but surely there are some fast-food restaurant chains that are valuable businesses! giofranchi Oh for sure! The restaurant business is a great business to buy into if you can find quality chains at distressed prices. Steak'n Shake was an amazing find and turn around. A restaurant chain I would have loved to see Fairfax buy before they sold their underperforming Golden Corral unit was Frisch's. Frisch's has somewhat saturated their market, but they are well known and faithfully busy. You wouldn't be able to expand the franchise significantly but its burger business is a cash cow. They sold the Golden Corral chain for $50M and paid out a $9.50 dividend to shareholders. Someone could have bought this chain at about $18-19 share, did the same thing making back $50M, and then just held on to the the burger business. Nope, no one bought it! Cheers!

hmm..not exactly sure why he'd want this company. I'm sure Buffett and his family have been buying stuff from there for a long time and they know the history of the business. No way of knowing unless we could see some financials. Cheers!

Yeah, I still don't know what really went down. Larry Pitkowsky and Keith Trauner left because of Fernandez, right? But did Fernandez leave because of a personal riff between him and Bruce? Or was the whole blowup about BB's lack of portfolio "diversification"? I think Fernandez felt the ship was going down, and he wasn't the captain. Either that, or he tripped and fell out of the "Fairholme" boat as it ran aground. ;D Cheers! we don't know what happened. but the stress must have been unbearable on those two. that was the point of maximum pessimism. if you would have bought fairx that day you would be sitting very pretty. I think it was probably Berkowitz's fault partially. You've worked with two analysts for years, and suddenly you go all buddy-buddy with your new brother-in-law, buy him a house and move him in next door, and then expect his temperament to be about the same as your own. The analysts leave, and then buddy realizes he's not cut out for this...bye! Cheers!

Or hire Ron Insana. I think Insana Capital Partners is looking for another home after the wipeout four years ago. Cheers!

We can laugh all we want, but he's still worth 1000 times you and me combined! Who's laughing now? ;D Cheers!

I've noticed that the press is slowly turning on Bank of America...from Countrywide/Big Bank pariah...to feelgood, do right by your customers coverage. The recent comments on that NPR interview with credit counselors and mortgage servicers, to this one about waiving bank fees due to Sandy...Moynihan is following the Buffett credo of taking your lumps and then doing the right thing when facing adversity by changing the culture. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-banks-waive-fees-hurricane-225235335.html

That's an accolade that has come pretty quick! I saw this thing at the Fashion Island Mall in Newport Beach in September, and it is a stunning looking car. Beautiful lines, inside and out, and enormous passenger and luggage space. Go Tesla! Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/01/autos/tesla-model-s-car-of-the-year/index.html?source=cnn_bin

We may be near a bottom in NW Florida land prices... http://www.4-traders.com/THE-ST-JOE-COMPANY-13183/news/The-St-Joe-Company-Reports-Third-Quarter-2012-Results-15451065/ The numbers are better, but it will take some time. Much of the positive results are from increasing sales, expense control and little in restructuring charges this year, but the sales increases will be relatively modest until the economy really starts to recover. I don't know why these guys were shorting this thing in the first place, but I think they'll be proven pretty wrong about JOE long-term. Good for Bruce...he's having a great year after the annus horriblis. Cheers!

Article on comments by Robert Shiller. I think the title is probably taken a bit out of context, but basically Shiller doesn't see the same sort of housing mania we saw a few years ago for at least another couple of generations. He's also not sure the housing recovery is going to hold. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/shiller-housing-recovery-could-50-125741773.html;_ylt=Au8ZCpAxKD4w9l8Xw7fc6GCiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ4dTBzNTNjBG1pdANDTkJDIFRvcCBTdG9yaWVzBHBrZwM0ZGNkZDE2Yi0yZDM3LTMzNjQtYTI2NS1iYzExYzU0MjQ5YTcEcG9zAzUEc2VjA01lZGlhQkxpc3RNaXhlZExQQ0FUZW1wBHZlcgMwNWMyZWFiOC0yNDJiLTExZTItYmNmNy1iZDNkZDk5NjNmMDk-;_ylg=X3oDMTFpNzk0NjhtBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25z;_ylv=3

CNBC article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49635038 A Bloomberg interview on how this is probably Berkshire's best quarter in increase in book value since 2010: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/berkshire-book-value-poised-to-jump-most-since-2010-_1Z7D5BhRIK95AnWLOJukA.html Cheers!

We don't own it, and I haven't been to any of their establishments, so don't ask me how I'm on the mailing list for their press releases...but they certainly have an exciting flair to them! Cheers! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RICK’S CABARET STRIPPERS STILL TAKING IT OFF DESPITE IMPACT OF SUPER STORM SANDY NEW YORK CITY – (November 1, 2012) – The strippers at Rick’s Cabaret/New York City returned to work on Halloween, demonstrating that even Super Storm Sandy couldn’t keep them from taking off their clothes for long. The leading Manhattan gentlemen’s club, a part of publicly traded Rick’s Cabaret International, Inc. (NASDAQ:RICK), reopened on Wednesday with a spooky but festive Halloween party. “Everyone was in a great mood, with a sort of survivor’s atmosphere in the air,” said Ken Sistrunk, general manager of the West 33rd Street club. “There’s nothing like a beautiful and nearly naked woman to cheer you up after a harrowing event like Sandy, and the club was packed. Businessmen returned to the neighborhood on Wednesday and we look forward to greeting basketball fans on Friday night when Madison Square Garden reopens up the street,” he added. Mr. Sistrunk said cover charges at the door would be waived all this week and happy hours would be extended from noon until 10 p.m. with discounted drinks at the upscale three-story club across from the Empire State Building. Rick’s Cabaret/NYC has been called the “best strip club in New York City” by Playboy.com. It features a roof-top smoking deck and its Zagat-rated steak house is open until 4 a.m. daily. About Rick’s Cabaret: Rick’s Cabaret International, Inc. (NASDAQ: RICK) is home to adult entertainment venues serving primarily businessmen and professionals that offer live entertainment, dining and bar operations. It operates 35 nightclubs in New York City, Miami, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and other cities as "Rick's Cabaret," "XTC," “Club Onyx” and “Tootsie’s Cabaret” and other brand names. Rick’s Cabaret also owns a media division that operates ED Publications and a network of online sites. Rick’s Cabaret common stock is traded on NASDAQ under the symbol RICK. For further information contact [email protected], or visit www.ricksinvestor.com. Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rickscabaretnyc and Twitter @RicksCabaretNYC. Media Contact: Allan Priaulx, 212-338-0050, [email protected].

Are you cashing out of the market, or buying a new place? Will buy again at some point. Just silly right now still. I'm renting a huge house for about half of what it would cost to own. Rates will not stay low forever, and hot money eventually cools. Why take on the pain of P/T's, maintenance, garbage/water fees on top of a fully-valued mortgage. I remember clearly how my father ended up losing 5 properties in the 80's that he spent the 70's accumulating. It was a very painful decade for him...and our family. People don't think it can happen again, but they always do! Cheers!

Considering millions of people live in those areas... it's not really hype IMO I agree. The issue isn't the wind, but the amount of water. It's not a powerful hurricane, but it is very large and slow moving. Combined with the low pressure system coming at it from the Northwest, it's going to make an awful mess. Keep safe everyone! Cheers!

How are you guys doing? Hope everyone is prepared and out of harms way. Cheers!

Elon Musk is going to change the way we do alot of things. Cheers! http://news.yahoo.com/dragon-ship-back-earth-space-station-trip-193154963.html

Hi Lance, I received payment for two dinners. Thanks! Cheers!