Parsad

Fairfax filed a 13D/A stating that they do not own any more ICO. Cheers! http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915191/000095012311058964/o71676sc13dza.htm

Parsad why do I feel the forces of evil are alive and well and up to their old tricks. Because there is just too much money involved. You'll never be able to get rid of it, but at least regulators can do enough to prevent systemic risk if they really want to. Cheers!

New updated website for purchasing Berkshire apparel. Thanks to Shai for pointing it out! Cheers! http://www.berkshirewear.com/

Thanks David! I think it's going to be one helluva game. The city is freaking out with anticipation. Win or lose, there is going to be a riot! Hopefully, things remain as jovial and calm as they were after the Gold medal game last year. Cheers!

Excellent article by the Economist on the number of fail to delivers. Cheers! http://www.economist.com/node/18774844

Here's a nice little article on Warren's grandson, Howard Buffett. Cheers! http://blogs.forbes.com/clareoconnor/2011/06/14/names-you-need-to-know-howard-buffett-age-27-yes-that-buffett-2/?partner=yahootix

That would be true if Windows 8 wasn't doing the same thing. Both companies will eventually make the PC itself redundant, and all the various devices will be just appliances for us to access the net and our data. I don't think Apple is doing anything different than what Microsoft or Google are doing. They are just trying to maintain their moats as they also make this transition. Cheers!

Looks like this is a typical activist project for Sardar. Lots of company owned restaurants...good cash flows...mangement is overpaid...he is now the largest shareholder. He's going to make a run for it, get control, sell restaurants, pay down debt, redistribute cash flows and make it as efficient as possible. Cheers!

Somewhat related; Never having had the opportunity to experience 'Stake and Shake' fare and based on past messages I have been waiting for the chance. I was at the WSOP last week. I dropped in to the S&S in the South Point. The place was packed, both the 'eat in' and 'take out' had small line ups. I opted for a counter seat rather than wait 5 or 10 minutes for a table or booth. The unmoveable counter seat was very uncomfortable. I normally would have just slipped out but had to try their classic burger and milkshake. The 'shake was sugar ice milk, the 2 patty cheeze burger was greasy and tasteless, no wonder its $3.99, the fries were strips of . I feel sorry for anyone that eats this junk on any regular basis. The food and experience was respectively, CRAP and CRAPPY! I glad this experience is in my past. p.s. I outlasted 1625 of 2175 players in my 1st WSOP tournament which was not too bad for having few playable starting hands. There are a lot of good players as well as pros. It was great fun! Congratulations on where you finished! I was actually there during the first weekend as well...June 2nd to 5th, but not to play in the WSOP. I did visit the Rio where it was held. I didn't get a chance to go to the Steak'n Shake at Southpoint, but I have been to several Steak'n Shakes in the Chicago area. I have to disagree with you. Their burgers are as good as In & Out's, and not that far off of Five Guys. Especially when you consider the value proposition offered relative to most competitors. Are there areas that need work...sure...the chilli sucks, but apparently is very popular, so I guess its a regional thing. I thought the shakes were very good, as was the chicken burger. All in all, I think the business is excellent for franchising. The problem may be the relationship between franchisees and franchisor! Cheers!

Looks like Sardar has picked a big target to go after. Almost $100M invested in this one! Cheers! http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/93859/000092189511001292/sc13d07428cra_06032011.htm

This must be in the sarcasm mode. I'm guessing the "raspberry" at the end gave it away! ;D Cheers!

Perhaps the horrendous 20 year result is why Jim resorted to those "Fairfax is a zero" comments. Lessthan, don't you know that negative correlation is a valuable service he provides to his institutional clients. Along with providing room and board for Spitzer's hookers during the summer months! ;D And don't forget the liquidity he adds to markets that would normally be trading in bubble territory. Not sure how the world managed without him and Herb Greenberg. Even Batman wouldn't be able to nail down frauds like Fairfax, but Chanos and Greenberg did it! That Prem Watsa is one evil dude. You know Prem even had a website at one point talking about how evil he was. Some people suggested that there was a coordinated attack against Fairfax, but everyone knows Prem just orchaestrated the whole thing because he had to hide all the flaws in Fairfax's business model. You know he was leveraged and had too much in recoverables. Not enough cash...I think he was playing the horses or something. The really smart investors always have enough cash. Then he got lucky with these credit default swap thingies and saved the company, otherwise Chanos, Greenberg, Eavis, Hempton, Gwynn and Taylor would have all been right. He's one smart, evil dude! But his ponzi scheme will come to an end one day. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not ten years from now, maybe not when Prem has passed on and left this world...but some day...you watch, someday Fairfax will prove to be a fraud! Ppphhhhtttt! Cheers!

That's because being short is not an natural investment position to be in. The market increases by 6-7% on average. Just to break even, he needs to outperform the market by 6-7%, and that's before you even consider his costs. Thus the reason he shouldn't exist. He adds no value to his investors, and they could get the same results with fewer frictional costs by just buying ETF puts. Cheers!

...Chanos being the notable exception and even his returns are nothing close to what regular longs achieve. Have you ever seen Chanos' results? They are horrible. I had this debate a long time ago with those that supported Chanos, including Tilson. They said he's got a terrific negative correlation to the markets. Yet over 20 years between 1985 and 2005, he never made more than 2% or something. The average value investor would have done far better with minimal volatility and little in the way of frictional costs! The boring reality is that the community of short sellers is like most other groups of people - it's a diverse and heterogenous group. You have shorts who do their work quietly out of the limelight, those who are decent and honest value investors; you also have the unsavoury shorts who use media publicity to push their agenda. Of course, we see and hear much more of those who do their work publicly. I would venture to say that most shorts, including some here who do it, do it to hedge and reduce volatility in their portfolios; not because they are out to kill companies and bankrupt shareholders. I don't think most people have anything negative to say about short-sellers in general, only that there is a certain distastefulness in the way they make their money...from the death of a business. Both murdering thieves and funeral directors make their living from death, and no one is saying that the funeral director's work is the same as the thieve's. In fact, one could be considered noble and one incredibly cowardly. It's just unfortunate that the livelihood of both comes from the same outcome. Cheers!

Yeah, I don't think that is the same William Block. Cheers!

Interestingly enough, I knew I had heard the name before, including WAB Capital, but William Block is/was a shareholder in Chanticleer Holdings. 25,000 shares acquired back in 2005 when he became a director, but not sure when he left the board. I'm guessing it's the same one, as it's highly unlikely two William Blocks live at the same address in Pacific Palisades! ;D Cheers!

Is this the same William Block as WAB Capital. The address on the order is Lake Forest, Illinois, whereas WAB is based in Pacific Palisades, CA. Did they move to California? Cheers!

Terrific letter! Cheers!

Berkowitz's record CRUSHES CM's and Berk is managing a massive amount of capital How many Berkowitz's do you know? Cheers!

Hmmm, funny how the site is getting bombarded with spam memberships today. I've gotten more in one day than I've gotten in the last month. Don't be surprised if we see another hack! Cheers!

Hey, Eavis and his ilk just report the news ok! They don't write this stuff, they just report it. They didn't tell anyone to sell. They didn't go up to some senior citizen and say that Fairfax is a fraud and you should sell at $57 a share...Hempton did that! ;D Cheers!

Just curious. If you were an investor and started investing 10 years ago and had this kind of a record if you would call this very good? - The average investor looks after a portfolio less than $0.5M...he looks after $2B! - The average investor has no restrictions on concentration. - The average investor has little in the way of frictional costs (admin, staff, legal, accounting, audit, etc) - The average investor has a much larger universe of investments to choose from Cheers!

Parsad That's a great quote you came up with. I often find that wittyness like this is an indicator of intelligence. Not my quote. Mark Twain's quote. Perhaps, not as intelligent as you thought, and certainly not as witty as Mark Twain! ;D Cheers!

History never repeats, but it often does rhyme. I would say closer to 1977, rather than 1975. Cheers!

Gurufocus had a very good interview with Arnold Van Den Berg, founder of Century Management. He lumps Prem in with Ben Graham, Warren Buffett, John Templeton, Phil Fisher, Seth Klarman, et al. Very high praise from a legendary investment manager. Cheers! http://www.gurufocus.com/news/135105/gurufocus-interview-with-investor-arnold-van-den-berg-comments-on-csco-msft-tol-mdc-dell