Parsad

Hi John, yeah I think you misunderstood. I took Whats message to be adding amusing quotes to COBF cups/merchandise. For example, "Cheers!" which is what I always end my messages with or maybe something from Greg like "Just buy stocks, God damit!" or Viking "Load up on Fairfax, because the window will close!", etc. He wasn't taking a jab at you or anything like that. Cheers!

Very unique style and voice. Never got to live up to her talent...politics, rants and her son's death shortened her career. Still managed 10 albums! Cheers!

More likely a META short! Cheers!

Thanks! I appreciate the sentiment. For many people...like Greg, Viking, me and so many others...the day isn't complete unless we're on here reading what the members are talking about. Sure we have disagreements, but the world would be absolutely boring if we all thought the same! And we'd probably learn very little! Cheers!

Great idea! I didn't expand on it because I thought just sticking logos on merchandise might be too much. But if I can tie it in to what is happening at COBF and the world, then it might be fun for everyone. Cheers!

I knew that! Although I had no idea what GFY was. Cheers!

LOL! Maybe. Cheers!

No, I don't think it has to do with that. Member were people grandfathered in when we switched over to Invision Forums. Members are people who paid after we switched. I suspect that the two had to do with the way the database for the old members was brought over from the previous forum software and new members were integrated. Cheers!

Don't know...I've never done that and even noticed it! Anyone (Luca) know how to do that? Cheers!

The fee serves two-fold, as I don't need it because the Adsense revenue covers operating costs. The first is as you said, to keep the trolls out and inform me of who is joining. Can you imagine if emails and tweets cost $0.00001? It would get rid of all of the spammers and junk emails/texts! The second is because worthwhile things deserve a sacrifice. I don't know how many people I've talked to about investing because they asked. When I tell them exactly what they need to read, maybe 1% actually get a copy or buy The Intelligent Investor or any other book I recommend. I remember spending money I didn't have to learn about investing...the time...effort...etc. If you aren't willing to make that modest sacrifice, then maybe you just don't deserve it. That guy, like most trolls, just wants to be given everything. His parents did a horrible job and probably spoiled him rotten. Life and other people owe you nothing! Cheers!

LOL! Cheers!

I sent this reply to him, but the message got kicked back. Maybe he was fired today! Thank you for the kind message and putting your Goldman address in the email! I’ll be sending a message to HR. Cheers!

Some guy using the name "Ben Dover" sent me this angry message today: Fuck you and forcing people to pay $50 to sign up for a membership on a god damn internet forum After your hilariously failed career as an "investor", you clearly are down on your luck and have to resort to bilking people for $$ on an internet forum. Not only are you a shitty investor, you're completely oblivious of sound business practices and are all but ensuring the death of this website. Pathetic loser. May God have mercy on your dumbfuck soul. Genius used his Goldman email address: GFY@gs.com And I'm the pathetic loser, eh! Cheers!

You're money is safer in treasury bills than FDIC insurance! The only way you don't get your money back is if the government defaults. Thus you can go well over FDIC insured coverage holding treasuries. FDIC doesn't guarantee the treasuries...but the U.S. or Canadian government does...depending on what you are buying. Cheers!

Yes, I agree with that. I had fair value pegged at $1,300 CDN this year and I'm very comfortable with a $1,500 CDN valuation for FFH in 2024. I think $1,500 USD is probably the top end of the estimate for 2024...that would be pushing it to 1.5-1.6 times 2024 book value. Also depends on how bad losses are from wildfires this year. It's looking near catastrophic for Canadian wildfires. BC is approaching $500M in wildfire losses already with half the season to go. And it's been pretty bad on the East Coast as well. Hurricane season is just beginning and they expect an above average one because of the warm waters. Cheers!

Float is just a better alternative when utilizing leverage. It still has the same problem when you are wrong or risk management is off. I would prefer if they had more float and less debt since they already use more than adequate asset to equity leverage. While debt is cheap it still means you owe money to others that you don't have...either reduce debt or hold more cash in the holding company. Banks have enormous earning power because of their leverage...but you saw how quickly things turned a few months ago when their bets go sideways or risk management makes a mistake. What durable competitive advantage does Fairfax have outside of management? It's a financial institution like any other. Other reinsurers have float and their earnings stink! Even FFH's own insurers were not doing well for nearly a decade until Prem put Andy Barnard in charge of them all...float wasn't helping them then, it was killing them. The biggest advantage FFH has is that it is family-controlled and has a stellar CEO and team. Leverage is not their biggest advantage. Buffett has always said, and continues to say, that float is advantageous. But Berkshire's greatest strength and advantage is its capitalization..."the checks will always clear at Berkshire!" Cheers!

A $5.5T savings wipeout...consumers pandemic savings just about gone. Cheers! https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-5-trillion-savings-wipeout-204546794.html

Searing won't stop the juices from coming out, but it does reduce the amount of juice lost. The caramelization from searing is what provides that fantastic flavor in a good steak, hamburger, roast, whatever. Grilling at high temperature then reducing the heat has a similar effect. If you've ever had meat seared and unseared, the flavor profile difference is huge! Cheers!

It's not so much how they cook, but how the seasoning adheres to the meat. If you apply any seasoning or rub to half-frozen ribs, it won't stick or penetrate the surface to create the lovely bark. Same with plain old salt and pepper on a steak. Now letting meat rest after cooking? That's an absolute. Tent foil and tea towels should cover the turkey, roast, rack of ribs, whatever. That reduces the amount of juices that would be lost if you cut into the protein right away. Cheers!

Beautiful ribs! You know what you are doing. Cheers!

+1! Berkshire has three powerful engines that differentiate it...insurance, investment portfolio and most importantly cash-flow positive operating subs. When Buffett talks about why book value is less meaningful, he's referring to why it shouldn't be the sole factor in deciding intrinsic value...like in Berkshire's case...where the carrying value of the operating subs tend to be recorded at cost rather than fair value. In Fairfax's case, some of the insurance businesses are undervalued on the books, but not so much the operating subs. Thus using book value is a good measure of estimating intrinsic value. Remember, for many years until Berkshire's operating subs became the dominant engine, Buffett was perfectly fine using book value as a measure when he would compare BRK performance based on change in book value versus the S&P500...this did not change until the 2019 annual report where he started using BRK's market change versus the S&P500. And whether shareholders like it or not, leverage does not increase the quality of earnings, but reduces it. In FFH's case, it is more leverage than say a Berkshire or Markel. While earnings power is there, and is fixed for the next three years due to the bond portfolio, historically the leverage has cut both ways. If FFH wants to be valued at a higher P/B, reduce leverage and still make the same amount of money! Greater earnings quality will mean higher valuations. There is a reason why Coke or Google are valued where they are. Cheers!

It's the difference between a brick pizza oven and a regular oven. 80% of people are perfectly fine with a good pizza cooked in a regular oven. But there are 20% of people that swear by super high heat brick pizza ovens. Then again, there are people who swear by boiling their ribs before grilling...I think that's sacrilege! Buy good quality St. Louis ribs, make an awesome dry rub, and cook it low and slow on the grill or smoker. When it's about 20 minutes from being done, brush the BBQ sauce on it (add some ground espresso to the dry rub and liquid espresso to the BBQ sauce). It will come out great no matter what type of grill/smoker you use! Cheers!

And the actors they got for that episode! Amazing actors! I was also impressed by Will Poulter in the Copenhagen episode. Just a great story with terrific writing and wonderful actors! Cheers!

Season 2 of The Bear was fantastic! The quality actors from Illinois that they get to appear is also pretty amazing in Season 2. Continues to do a great job of showcasing Chicago, and in one episode Copenhagen. Cheers!

Yeah, this is a great way to cook. Hell of a lot of fun! Problem is...these days with climate change, we're seeing more fire restrictions, alerts, etc. For example, Vancouver is going through a crazy drought where we could not do that this year at all. All you're allowed to use is propane barbecues. Cheers!