Parsad

That's true! Many people would like Fairfax to just focus on insurance, but adding non-insurance businesses gives it that stability in cash flow during an insurance crisis. Berkshire's huge and diversified cash flows, not to mention fortress balance sheet, gives it that gold standard status..."the check always clears at Berkshire"..."last one standing". Cheers!

I would say a large number would become insolvent and there could be a domino effect with losses to banks and other financial institutions. In a case like that, it is similar to the GFC and the government would have to act as a partial backstop. Also, deductibles for earthquake property losses have risen dramatically over the last decade. I think insurers are wising up to the risks of a 9.0 earthquake hitting the West Coast. it's likely the strongest financial institutions would have to absorb some of the insolvent institutions...be it insurance, banking, lending, etc. With government injecting a huge amount of capital to rebuild, recapitalize the large institutions that are absorbing the losing institutions and to stabilize markets and the economy. While I don't want to see such an earthquake, surviving insurers will probably enjoy crazy pricing pressure for a solid decade! It's why I want to see Fairfax be the gold standard and be the last insurer standing in such scenarios. In theory, Fairfax is built to withstand something like a 9.0 earthquake hitting a city like LA, a F5 hurricane hitting square in the middle of Florida and a 50% drop in the S&P500 all in the same year! So it's extremely unlikely...you have a far better chance of being killed while driving your car! Cheers!

I hope so too! I also hope Canada takes this opportunity to poach tons of talent from the U.S. We can use tons of doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, researchers...incentivize their move and get them over here! Cheers!

I think that's an inaccurate picture of what happened. While USCMA was not violated, imposed tariffs were used to bully Canada and virtually every other country to agree to Trump's demands. If you do not submit, the tariffs double, quadruple, etc. Your description equates his actions to just not being nice...while the truth is he was making ultimatums! Big difference! Cheers!

Probably also take the Coke fountain dispenser home with him! Cheers!

I'm not sure Carney was being defeatist, but pragmatic. Canada has relied too heavily on U.S. business and support. The U.S. will always be the biggest partner, but Canada has to diversify its trade to avoid what happened when Trump got into power. You cannot win when dealing with a bully that will torch any agreement because he simply wants to. The U.S. system is better than most because it respects property rights, enforces agreements, framed around law that enshrines due process and their court system. When you have someone that undermines that, you are now dealing with a defunct system compared to the past. A system that is no longer behaving like a capitalist system based on rule of law, but one were decisions are perfunctory and made at a whim. If contracts and agreements aren't enforced and guaranteed, how do you protect yourself in such an environment? It's why I've never bought Chinese stocks. Will a time come when I have such distrust of holding U.S. equities? Cheers!

Condolences to the Cook Family! No one should go through something like that!

End of an era! Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-retirement-berkshire-hathaway-120100926.html

Nice card UK! Cheers!

Didn't the Whitehouse prove that he did? Kind of like they proved the pee-pee tapes never existed...Trump never grabbed pussy...Trump paid all his taxes...and he was never friends with Epstein! I think DEI had something to do with Epstein's death...or maybe the Covid vaccine. Cheers!

Are the three of us the only twats posting on Fairfax on Christmas Eve? Redskin are the kids asleep? The Mrs? Viking, are your kids coming over tomorrow? The Mrs? I'm sitting here watching A Christmas Carol with a vodka cranberry next to me, while keeping an eye on the site! Merry Christmas fellas! Cheers!

+1! LOL! Cheers!

It will take time, but it is happening. Carney is cutting government jobs compared to Trudeau. He's supporting large scale infrastructure projects including several large scale LNG pipelines and a new pipeline from the oilsands to Northern BC ports...again something Trudeau avoided. He's working on deregulation for projects, mining, tax, etc. He's put in centrists in many positions, including the new Ambassador to the U.S. Carney has reduced unskilled immigration dramatically and cut foreign students studying in Canada by 75%! He's pouring money into national defense, border security and modernizing Canada's air force and navy. Carney is broadening relationships and trade with the rest of the world due to the struggles with the current U.S. administration. Lastly, many of the areas that the U.S. is cutting funding means massive opportunity for Canada to poach talent, researchers and grow those areas as a global leader. Cheers!

Merry Christmas to everyone! I think most have had a lucrative year in 2025...please don't forget those less fortunate or organizations that do work you support. Cheers! Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? - A Christmas Carol

As you might have read, I'm not a proponent of someone buying Fairfax or Berkshire, just because they are Fairfax and Berkshire. But I have to disagree with you on two points: One, do you really think OMERS would participate in a transaction solely so Fairfax could benefit from it...let alone Prem doing something like that? OMERS is a public pension manager...their portfolio decisions are heavily scrutinized, regulated and restricted. Two, are your returns in a non-taxable account? Otherwise, FFH compounding might have you beat after capital gains taxes moving from one investment to another. Congratulations on great results! Cheers!

Great choice for U.S. Ambassador! Cheers! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/prime-minister-carney-names-financier-230859238.html

Viking has an exceptional handle on Fairfax. But no investor should rely on someone else's analysis, unless you simply want to remain a passive investor. The reason being, if you don't do the work like Viking, your conviction level will never be like Viking's. I don't buy stuff because Prem or Buffett bought it...never have. I learned my lesson the hard way when I first started 26 years ago by buying a couple of things Seth Klarman bought. Worse mistakes of my life! After that, I told myself I would never trust anyone else's analysis...NO ONE! It's why I didn't give two shits when people weren't buying FFH at $450...or META at $100 and they were telling me Zuck's lost his mind...or LULU because retail is "just too hard" and "based on trends". Do the work...trust your own analysis...and never, ever get bullied into buying because "you might miss out"! Cheers!

You're right not to brag! What do you benefit from it, if you did? You feel good for a second and may inadvertently make your friends and family envious. Which isn't good for them or you. The money is there because you worked hard, lived below your means, had foresight and enjoyed a bit of luck. It is there to serve you...how you live, what you do with it and how you respect it. Your enjoyment should come from the freedom it provides you...the lack of restless nights...the ability to know that you can take care of yourself and your family. THAT is reward enough. Cheers!

No guilt trips on here! You don't have to own BRK or FFH to make money. The board is meant as a place for discussion on stocks using a "value" based intellectual framework...thus why it's called "The Corner of Berkshire and Fairfax". Those were the two most influential companies in my investing life...and after my father died, the two CEO's were the most influential people to me. So the intersection of those two companies changed my life forever...and ultimately many that I have subsequently influenced! The foundations and ideas that built those two companies...can have a very deep, influential understanding on how members here invest...and that understanding is applicable to all investments. Cheers!

Not true. I hate it when people generalize. I have one friend and one colleague. We talk about business all the time over coffee, and at some point, it always turns to how badly Canada is run and how things are so much better in the U.S. Believe it or not, I try and avoid talking about politics. But like you when that jackass criticized your wife, I hate it when people start running their mouth and generalizing about things like politics or people. So it isn't any one specific group moralizing...it tends to be specific people...often people unhappy with their lot in life and they need to blame others for their problems, since it just simply couldn't be them! Cheers!

Yes, you are right...Chris Ward, JD Roberts and Erica Ehm...then I believe Julie Brown came on. Cheers!

That's about right! Cheers!

Ha! You remember that! You're Canadian heritage kicking in. JD Roberts, Erica something or other and one other person (Julie something)...they were the first three VJ's on Muchmusic...which launched before MTV! Cheers!

Howard Lutnick's defense of Trump's 400-500-600% drop in drug prices after Fox News host question: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fox-news-host-calls-trumps-050008098.html Absolutely hilarious! Apparently Lutnick didn't do grade school math either. These are the morons running the country and creating policy, including worm-brain infested jackasses like Robert Kennedy Jr. Not TDS...just critical of math and science deniers! Cheers!

In general, BRK's asset to equity leverage was less than 2-1 over its history. Float as a percent of liabilities was never above 50%. There was a time when Fairfax had reinsurance recoverables four times as great as shareholder equity! That could have killed them and nearly did if it wasn't for a $300M infusion of cash from Markel, Longleaf and Cundill. The company today is a million miles from that company, and I hope the future Fairfax is another thousand miles from this one. I want them to be the gold standard! Cheers!