Parsad

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 [email protected] 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!

Things are very tough there. The hotels and casinos are relatively busy, but nothing like a couple of years ago. Home prices are down significantly and people feel poorer there. Deals galore wherever you go, and if you push it, you can find some more discounts. North Americans seem to be accounting for much of the business...staying close to home for their vacations. Fairly easy to get reservations at the best restaurants these days, while the lower end restaurants were enjoying bustling business. Alot more people seem to have a hustle going now...cab drivers, door men, concierges, everyone. Everyone knows who can do this for you and that for you. All of them are really clamouring for your business. I always leave Vegas a little perturbed. Literally the slogan of "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" applies to this city. I can only imagine what thoughts Munger would have on society after witnessing the debauchery that goes on in some parts of this town. Cheers!

I thought that was quite funny! I wonder what some of our headlines today will sound like in 70 years. Cheers!

Terrific blog by Isaac summarizing newspaper clips from the 1930's! Cheers! http://newsfrom1930.blogspot.com/

Article from Globeinvestor.com discussing the possibility of a "double dip" in the economy. Cheers! http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/GAM.20090608.RECONOMY08ART1941/GIStory/

Jack, I have no interest whatsoever in continuing this discussion. It really doesn't matter what view you had of this board...you just don't go and piss on someone else's lawn. This board will run as it always has except for one change: Going forward I would ask all boardmembers contact me directly either through the message system on here, or by email at [email protected] , if you have any operational ideas or issues with the board. Any posts that are put up discussing operational or administrative issues will be removed. Feel free to contact me at anytime and I'll respond to your queries explaining if it is something we can change, augment or eliminate. And if not, then at least I'll give you a direct explanation. The reason being, I don't want to expose boardmembers to this type of argumentative posts anymore, and I don't have the energy. I was in Vegas right now with Alnesh, my brother and some buddies to celebrate various upcoming birthdays, including mine. I spent time during this vacation dealing with this crap, and it did put a bit of a damper on things for me. I'm not going to waste another iota of my time explaining to a handful of individuals why their needs don't outweigh the entire board's, while voluminous posts are made with things getting personal from both sides. This board was not created for that purpose. Thanks very much!

Alice Schroeder article on Bloomberg discussing Buffett's views on the economy. Cheers! http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aUgpE2pRx5eU