Parsad

No don't worry, I had a big waffle breakfast with a nice cup of joe this morning! I'm kind of full right now. ;D Cheers!

I've been to Red Robin's alot. Their burgers are one of the best for the price. I also love their fries, which are more like English or New Zealand chips! They are a well run company, but they are suffering a bit in the last year as they are in a slightly higher tier than a Steak'n Shake or other sit-down burger joints, but much cheaper than most mid-priced restaurant chains...pretty much in the Applebee's category in pricing. Sardar wants Steak'n Shake to use a model somewhere between Red Robin's and Chik-Fil-A. Cheers!

IOU's stop September 4th. Cheers! http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/13/news/economy/california_to_end_iou_september_4/index.htm?cnn=yes

I think the Chinese acquisition idea is probably gaining more traction. Prem said in the last conference call that they were hoping to close on a Chinese deal. Perhaps, the cash is being used for multiple transactions...debt, Chinese acquisition, Odyssey acquisition? We'll find out soon enough. Cheers!

Could be right Stubble. I'm sure we'll find out the answer during the next conference call...if not sooner. Cheers!

Buffett mentioned a little while ago, that the type of investment manager they like as a CIO would be someone like Peter Cundill. That's the only individual he's ever mentioned by name in the last couple of years, that would represent a realistic choice for them. Tim was Peter's star pupil, and ran Cundill with Peter for several years. He got the position by offering to work for Cundill for free. Tim would probably still be there if Cundill was never sold to MacKenzie. Now, I'm sure there are many people here who realistically could see someone like Prem Watsa in the CIO position. Not necessarily Prem, but someone very much like him. One of the highest regarded individuals by all the principals at Hamblin-Watsa has always been Francis Chou. Prem has nothing but the highest praise for Francis as an investment manager. Sam Mitchell, who has an incredible track record himself, is keenly aware of Francis' investment skills and acumen. So, I'm not going to argue about whether these two fall into the category of "the best" or "most stellar track records", since the two best investment managers (Buffett, Watsa) I use as mentors, have already touted the likes of Tim and Francis. There are some people who manage money with impeccable numbers that are higher than Tim or Francis' records. Where they are by far in the highest echelon of managers is when it comes to their ethics...something that a higher performance number will never indicate. I think for a CIO for Berkshire, this characteristic outweights the absolute performance numbers. Cheers!

Jonathan Weil has a good article on new fair value footnotes by financial institutions. Not quite a bubble as he says, but certainly some banks could be required to increase capital. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a04oVutXQybk

Considering FFHs current strong financial state shouldnt they be getting a bit more favourable (for FFH) coupon rate for their debt now? If they were refinancing in their current state three years ago...yes. But credit markets have tightened in the last year. So, even with a better balance sheet, Fairfax may not get a better rate as they are BBB-rated. Take a look at Berkshire Finance which issued some notes on July 7th. The 2018's are paying 5.4%, and that's an AAA-rated company. Don't let the rating agencies fool you. In these credit markets, Berkshire is still seen as AAA-rated company. Cheers!

It will continue. There are enough to carry the torch. It may not have quite the brilliance, but it will continue. Think about the NBA without Jordan. It's still pretty amazing with Kobe, LeBron, Howard, Paul & Nowitzki. It will be the same for value investing. People won't herd like they do in Omaha, but you will have maybe 10-15 other meetings that will get greater attendance because those managers will develop a stronger following. Some of the other stalwarts will start to get bigger...Leucadia, Fairfax, Sears, Markel, etc. And then some of the smaller ones will start to generate more interest...Biglari, Tilson, etc. The greatest player of them all may leave the playing field, but someone always comes along. No one ever thought there would be another Jack Nicholas, but then 25 years later you've got Tiger Woods. No one is truly ever bigger than the game itself. Cheers!

Incidentally, Tim's second quarter letter is out on his site: http://www.mcelvaine.com/annualreports.html He writes the best letters. They're really short, sweet and to the point...they're also damn funny! Cheers!

Hi Marlin, First time I was at a Yellow BRK'ers meeting was in 2001 at the invitation of my friend John Zemanovich...changed my life! Incidentally, that was where I first met Warren, Little Susie, Sherrie, Mohnish, Dr. Ajay Desai, Farmer Lyle, et al. I remember Warren talked for about 25 minutes or so that year. The following year I met Andy and Pat Kilpatrick. It was also the first time I saw a Netjets display at Eppley. I first met and spoke with Ajit Jain in 2004...when I also had a lovely long chat with See's Chairman Chuck Huggins. Then in 2005, I remember taking this young fellow around everywhere who had forgotten his credentials...his name was something like Shai Dardashti or something...maybe you've heard of him! ;D The last Yellow Brk'ers meeting I attended was the one where Sherrie handed over the reins to Shai, and then Mohnish spoke a bit about John Gartmann who passed away...I believe it was the 2006 meet. I haven't been back since starting the company and investment funds, but will be going next year. Really looking forward to it. Haven't seen some friends in a while...the excitement, the hoopla, listening to Buffett & Munger. The only thing I don't miss is the mad dash for seats at the Qwest Arena. See you then!

Article from the Globe & Mail. Cheers! http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/GAM.20090812.RBROOKFIELD12ART1938/GIStory/

Prem was comfortable in the past with $500 million at holdco to entertain opportunities and potentially help subs if they were in trouble. That is a number he mentioned at a past annual meeting relative to what he thought would cost a major earthquake in California. I don't see why we need $880 million today which is likely more $1 billion now. All the subs are over-capitalized, debt repayments are far out and well spreaded. I'm of the opinion that an umbrella won't do you much good during a flood. They've got enough leverage through float and asset to equity leverage, keeping a few hundred million more in the kitty would have a negligible effect on returns, but the credit rating agencies would view it as a positive. Cheers!

Personally, I would much prefer Prem keep at least as much cash as there is holdco debt...so currently they should keep about $850M+. That $500M number is too low for my tastes, and I think as long as they've got as much cash as debt, the rating agencies will be happy. As far as Odyssey is concerned, I don't think they should take it private. It's a reinsurance company and that means there will be periods of substantial catastrophe losses...think about an 8.0 earthquake in the middle of Los Angeles. You want Odyssey to be able to access the capital markets, either through debt or equity, if the need ever arises. Cheers!

What's interesting is that unlike Berkshire, Munger put all of the money to work between December 31, 2008 and March 31, 2009. Couldn't have picked a more opportune time to pick and choose what he wanted, and things obviously had become cheap enough for him. Cheers!

They've done a God-awful job hiring and firing investment managers. Jonathan Wellum was also the wrong person to be running the investment side. Michael Lee-Chin lost interest some time ago in his company, and was more focused on his investments in Jamaica and philanthrophy. I'd like to know what Manulife paid, because they may have gotten ripped off based on where AIC is today! ;D Cheers!

Yup, it's almost guaranteed to be pushing out the 2012's. They'll repay $30M from cash and operating profits, while pushing out $150M to 2019. Cheers!

I'll also be coming next year...I've been away for three years since we are so busy in Toronto usually a couple of weeks earlier. Next year we will do both. Cheers!

Wow, the corporate governance at AIG is about on par with what I've seen at Nortel. New CEO, Robert Benmosche, is starting his new job with a 2 week vacation in Croatia. Nice! Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=azMHBdRR5d8Y

Article on the troubles within the Baltic nations. Cheers! http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090810.wlatvia0810/GIStory/

Detroit needs unionized employees to take 10% paycuts, otherwise it may find itself bankrupt. Cheers! http://www.freep.com/article/20090810/NEWS01/90810035/Detroit-is-running-out-of-cash--Bing-says

Parsad, Please don't take this the wrong way, but just because you haven't met them doesn't mean that they don't exist. In fact, I think that a number of people, let's say Jim Simons as one example, would certainly disagree with your second sentence. You could very well be correct. I'm still not convinced of Simon's results, so you'll have to view me as a heretic. Cheers!

Nice interview Tariq! Cheers!

The other issue facing the economy, along with Alt-A and Opt-A refinancings, are the commercial property mortgages and decreasing values as commercial properties are sold over the next two years. I had mentioned that one of our partners renewed leases on his commercial properties by offering an across the board 20% rent reduction. He was probably smart to do that this year, as rents will probably decrease more than that in 2010 and into 2011. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aFp6TE9kWkqk

Excellent answer Broxburnboy! Cheers!