Parsad

The last of the GenRe executives under investigation have now been sentenced. The end of this sordid saga! Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Former-General-Re-executive-apf-15538804.html?.v=8

It's also a pretty captive audience, that outside of Vision TV and a couple of other stations, don't get much dedicated airtime except on Sunday mornings. And I would bet that purchasing power and loyalty to specific advertised products is much higher in this market segment than many others. Cheers!

Hi Arbitragr, No, I'm not moving. I was just saying how expensive houses are in Vancouver, and how Omaha is a very nice city. Although one day, I plan on living for a few months at a time in the U.S. and elsewhere. Just something I've always wanted to do. Cheers!

The bidding for the annual "Lunch With Buffett" benefitting the Glide Foundation begins Sunday. $2.1M last year! Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/31369476

"...for my new grandaughters RESP..." Congratulations Grandpa! Cheers!

Thanks very much Jeff! Great points. Cheers!

Vancouver is considerably more fun! Not necessarily so. I've lived in Vancouver all my life, but I have just as much fun when I go to any other city. Of course some things may be more plentiful here (restaurants), but there are other things we have less of as well (frickin' housing). It's who you're with, what you are doing, and how you view things that decides if you are having fun. I think I could live in most cities, as long as I had family and friends around. I've always admired Omaha, and I think it offers as much as any other city...in particular the people there are very nice! Cheers!

$100-125 per square foot? Good Lord! I'm thinking of moving to Detroit next week! ;D In Vancouver suburbs, you would be lucky to find something for $350-400 per square foot. Right in the city, you would be fortunate to find something for $550-600 per square foot! It takes almost 65% of the average family's disposable income to support housing costs in Vancouver...crazy! I don't expect things to get much better as the winter Olympics draw closer. A buddy of mine has been offered $15,000 for two weeks to rent his 500 square foot studio in downtown Vancouver during the Olympics. Some homeowners have already booked their homes for upwards of $40K for two weeks. Nuts! Cheers!

No, as far as I know, when they went in-house, they stopped managing outside capital. Cheers!

Hi Dcollon, Yes, I really don't see the recovery that many other optimists see at this point. Especially in areas that have gotten hit once from real estate and economic woes, and then a second time from core industries getting hammered. Capital has to be deployed into Detroit and industry retooled, with extensive retraining available for those workers laid off. How does Detroit's retail and consumer-related environment get through this without laying off more people? For the people going through this, it is God-awful. It will definitely take time. Cheers!

I used to use finance software before, but now I don't use them at all. The one good thing that starting a fund did for me, was simplify my accounts and investments. Everything goes into the funds or CMC. All accounts are held at either RBC or Smith Barney. No fuss, no muss! ;D There's a sense of contentment by not complicating my life. Cheers!

Hi Smazz, no I'm not investing there. Just fascinated when I see markets that are disrupted in such a magnitude. Some crazy prices. Cheers!

We'll see what happens long-term, but so far so good for some of the taxpayer bailouts. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apay4rDTGMTw

I've been reading a bunch of articles on Detroit's housing problems. They've been dealt a double-whammy from the economic downturn, plus the failures of Chrysler and GM. I've also been looking online at various real estate sites, and have found some crazy real estate deals available in Detroit. Just wondering what anyone in the area is witnessing and if they could comment. Some properties have hit the 10% of value price that Templeton was talking about. Most places, you can buy a property, fix it up and rent it for double digit profits even after paying the property manager, utilities and property taxes. Crazy stuff! Ideal time for first time homeowners or young investors living in the area. Cheers!

George Soros, like Munger, suggest that CDS are weapons of mass destruction. Cheers! http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090612.wsorosswaps0612/GIStory/

The more I read about John Templeton's investment style, the more I wonder if Prem's investment style is not closer to Templeton than Buffett: Definitely! Prem is more old school Graham or Templeton. They really need tangible assets underlying their purchases and they won't overpay even for a good business. Although, when they do find a good business, they can often hold for a very long time...eg. their insurance businesses. Cheers!

Mike Pruitt, and his team of Joe Koster and Matt Miller at Chanticleer, have put together a 102-page compilation of Buffett comments regarding inflation. A little, light reading for the weekend? ;D Cheers! http://www.chanticleeradvisors.com/files/107293/Buffett%20inflation%20file.pdf

Excellent article! Interestingly enough, Sir John was Prem's mentor and Prem was also one of the few who was prepared for what has transpired. By the way, Joe is a smart cookie and a terrific person, as are Matt Miller and Mike Pruitt. Cheers!

I agree with Oldye. I think humanity will find better and more efficient ways of existing. New technologies and innovation will always spring forth as long as there is a capitalist system in place to reward such invention. In many ways, the world is already far ahead of where our imaginations believed we would be at this point in time 25 years ago, let alone 50 years ago. Our lifespans and quality of life have also continued to increase. The world will be a far better place in the future. Cheers!

Hi Crip, No need to do away with those posts completely. For the most part, usually members post on relevant matters, or at least in a good-natured way on non-relevant matters. The stuff I want completely off the board is stuff to do with administration and operational issues. If boardmembers don't like something, they can email me directly or use the message system. I don't want posts on that subject matter, or lengthy debates on that stuff up on the board. Cheers!

Folks, As I mentioned already in a previous post, please keep all posts on the subject of investing or at least somewhat related to investing, including things like tax issues, economics, accounting, etc. If you have an administrative, operational or membership issue, please email me directly at sanjeevparsad@shaw.ca or use the "My Messages" system on the board. All posts that are completely off-topic will be removed. Any posting of private emails will result in immediate termination of membership. Thanks very much!

Things are tough everywhere. Even Borsheim's has let go of 13 employees. Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/31205800/site/14081545?__source=yahoo%7Cheadline%7Cquote%7Ctext%7C&par=yahoo

I remember Francis had his website for many years, but didn't know what to do with it, so it said "Under Construction" for a very long time. Next time I speak to someone at Fairfax, I'll ask them, but I'm guessing it just isn't a priority or they are still figuring out exactly what they want to say on there. Cheers!

Probably the operative word is "breakfast". Alot of the other stuff happens after dinner. Wynn's hotels, restaurants and clubs are magnificient! He really is the king down there. Cheers!

Prem said that they moved into equities only when they thought the prices had become much more reasonable, and that they could withstand another 50% drop from where they had fallen. So, he's factored in a total 75% drop in equities from the peak, and that they could survive such a catastrophic correction. If such a thing did happen, then book value would naturally fluctuate. Eventually though, those stocks would recover and book value would increase. They also would have a lot of bonds and cash that they could deploy to average down further, and enjoy a bigger bang on the way up. Finally, individual stocks can move independently of the market, so some of Prem's investments may not be long-term. He may already be increasing the amount of cash they are holding, as prices continue to rise. Cheers!