Parsad

Hmmm...Matt, any comments on their financial statements? Cheers!

Hi Value, I believe that The Marketing Alliance provides audited financial statements to their shareholders, but because they are pink-sheet listed, aren't required to file those statements on EDGAR. Matt and Joe can probably confirm this or not, but as far as I know, the NAIC requires all insurers...listed or not...to provide audited financial statements to the commission and to shareholders. Cheers!

If you read one of Alice Schroeder's blog posts (January 23rd, "Am I Bitter?"), you would think she was one of Tiger Wood's spurned mistresses! This woman really should try and keep a lower profile...and for God's sake, she should stop writing that blog. I truly believe she wants to put Buffett in diapers and bottle feed him. Cheers! http://www.aliceschroeder.com/passages

It's at the 11:20 mark roughly. http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip263064 Finley is a numbnutz. He's what you would call a media whore. I've seen him on there for years, and he's wrong far more than he's ever right. Take a look at how his funds have done...atrocious! This is the type of guy who should be answering questions about compensation to his investors. His Acker Finley Canada Focus Fund has a MER of 3.73% and has returned -9.1% annualized over three years. And that doesn't include the optional front or back-end load charge! http://globefunddb.theglobeandmail.com/gishome/plsql/gis.fund_report?rep_type=CYR&pi_report_tab=162&order_by=&direction=ASC&start_row=&pi_report_option=&pi_report_param=&pi_show_criteria_yn=Y&iaction=fundFilter&pi_portfolio_id= He says Prem bet the company in 2008...yet I believe they invested only about $300M in the swaps. He says that they have a "model price" of $318 on Fairfax. Barring a 7.0 earthquake in California or another market collapse of greater than 30%, if Fairfax is at $318 a year from now, I'll kiss Finley's butt! This guy should be asking for tips, not giving them out on a television show. Cheers!

Smith & Wollensky is now taking shares of companies for your steak lunch or dinner! Cheers! http://www.cnbc.com/id/35218624

Hi Kyle, I believe you are mostly correct. I think Prem bought some shares personally after 2001, especially through 2003-2005. You would have to check the filings. But for the most part that seems correct. Cheers!

Hi Value, Amitabh sent me the study. Here it is. Enjoy! Cheers!

Patrick Byrne discusses his attempts to write an article for Henry Blodget's website. The first part is the usual Patrick Byrne being pompous and sarcastic as he tries to drive Blodget crazy, but the second half...the gist of the article he was trying to get published...lays out the entire blow by blow collapse of various nefarious institutions, analysts, journalists and hedge funds that were manipulating market prices. Many of them that we have followed, argued with and knew their culpability from the days when Fairfax was first attacked back in January of 2003, and the ensuing events since where they have been charged, flogged or proven guilty of something. And then seemed to fall off the face of this earth. Cheers! http://www.deepcapture.com/the-illustrious-henry-blodget-thinks-i-am-a-very-bad-man-part-2-the-essay-business-insider-requested-then-refused-to-publish/

They are just merely a shadow of what they were under Templeton. For the last ten years they have been run like any other mutual fund company. Cheers!

Fairfax will release earnings after the close on Thursday, February 18, 2010, with the conference call following the next morning on the 19th. Cheers! http://www.fairfax.ca/Assets/Downloads/Press/fpr2010-01-29.pdf

The largest single donation to a focused program in history! Cheers! http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/01/29/davos.bill.gates.donates/index.html?hpt=T2

I'll be attending the Berkshire AGM this year (the first time since 2005), so I thought I would set up a post where everyone can discuss any special events, functions or meetings that will happen duing the weekend. Cheers!

Article on how the $5.2B expansion of the Panama Canal will cut shipping costs by 30%, and goods shipped from China (where else!) could go directly to New York, rather than offloaded in Los Angeles or Seattle and shipped over by train or truck. That's why you never overpay, regardless of any competitive advantages you see in a business. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=a9pi5NeBMkwk

Only one step for Buffett to go...The Dow! Cheers!

Thanks Eric! Very good stuff. Cheers!

SEC press release on two California firms who were charged with unlawful short selling. Cheers! http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-13.htm

We recently completed our interview with Amitabh Singhi, who is director at Amrit Capital and advisor to the Amrit India Value Fund. I have known Amitabh for many years, and he's a terrific person and wonderful investor. Amitabh also sits on the advisory board for Mohnish Pabrai's Dakshana Foundation, which focuses on providing funding for world-class coaching of underprivileged Indian students, in preparation for the IIT Joint Entrance Exams. He'll also be the first Indian-based investment manager to speak at the Value Investing Congress this year. For those investors wondering about India's development in the 21st Century, alongside China as one of the more dominant economic powers, Amitabh's interview will provide some clear insights. Thanks very much to Amitabh for doing the interview! Cheers!

Grantham Mayo's 4th Quarter Letter is out. Always a good read! Cheers! http://www.gmo.com/websitecontent/JGLetter_ALL_4Q09.pdf

Seems to me that for a relativeley small investor (25K or more) that does not want to/cannot do the work himself, it is virtually impossible to find a manager that is likely to beat the magic formula especially on a pre-tax basis. Do you agree? I'm sorry, I'm one of the handful of people who don't buy this. Magic Formula is just one of the hottest new market tactics available. Please find me anyone who actually practices Magic Formula and has beaten the markets regularly...and not back-tested data, but actual published results somewhere, be it an audited fund manager, or private investor who actually is on the record with their results and we can compare. I've seen so many Magic Formula blogs and I know some young managers are now embracing Magic Formula, but let's see the actual results that can be verified. I know of many investors who have killed the markets over the last decade (Buffett, Simpson, Klarman, Watsa, Pabrai (PIF 1&2), Biglari, etc.), but I would like to see as many managers who have done so using Magic Formula. Cheers!

Businesses continue to streamline...probably some time before we hit equilibrium. The good news is I think businesses are getting more efficient and it should bode well in the future at some point. Cheers! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Unemployment-rose-in-43-apf-261347135.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=

Parsad (and others), At the risk of taking the unpopular view here, I feel that Patrick Byrne has really undermined his credibility by comparing the author of the article unfavorably to those performing cheap sex acts and cooking meth. In fact, I stop reading at that point, thinking that (at least with me) the author is not rational on the issue--he has lost his perspective along with his credibility. And, to a certain extent, those who think that such over-the-top characterizations are dead on lose some luster in my eyes as well. Gali, I totally agree with you that Patrick's time would be much better spent on Overstock.com, rather than trying to counter the likes of Roddy Boyd via Deepcapture. And I definitely agree that his message would be viewed as more objective and rational if he did so. At the same time, if you read the fifth paragraph, shortly after the second paragraph which alludes to the use of crystal meth and sex acts, you would have read that his whole attack was based on a particularly disturbing incident: Boyd and his minion defied a protective court order, and released restricted and private emails by Overstock.com that were produced in discovery in their case against Gradient Analytics. A case that Gradient subsequently settled for five million dollars! Now we aren't talking about Bernstein and Woodward revealing a break-in at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters, but several journalists who decided to defy a court order, flaunt the First Amendment, and drive down the price of a company they've had a personal vendetta against for five years. Perhaps Byrne should have chosen different analogies for these miscreants...lickspittle was a very popular one in my mind...but instead he decided to roll around in the gutter with these pigs. So be it! I think most of us would agree, that we would rather see him use Prem's strategy and focus solely on the business. At the same time, I'm very happy to see a CEO who is relentless in his attempt to bring to light blatant manipulation of market prices, which in the correct circumstance can obliterate a company's credibility, ability to borrow or issue shares in the open market. Cheers!

Due to the influx of new BNI shareholders after the merger, Berkshire Hathaway will only be giving out two annual meeting credentials per request, unlike past years where you received four. Cheers! http://www.omaha.com/article/20100120/MONEY/701219979

Thanks for the link Matt! Cheers!

Yeah, I read it and thought it was dead on. These scumbags coordinated their articles again...Gary Weiss, Sam Antar, Roddy Boyd all published today and I would guess Tracey Coenen will also be writing something. Herb Greenberg is now a private analyst...phhpppphtttt! I wonder if he actually reads any financials now, or does he produce the reports based on his sources? Cheers!

Do you figure 'business journalists' have increased your overall investment gains or reduced them? Helped. But so have the unscrupulous bank executives who enabled the mortgage boom and bust, and the reckless executives who run quality businesses into the ground. Even though they've been very profitable, I wish the world didn't work that way. Perhaps some of these journalists, like a doctor taking the hippocratic oath, could hold themselves to a higher standard of conduct. The Roddy Boyd's, Herb Greenberg's and Peter Eavis' of the world are the equivalent of doctors who perform breast augmentations or botox injections...superficial research accompanied by unproven inference and hearsay. Cheers! http://www.studyjournalism.com/?p=278