Parsad

On the weekend, I watched Dumas' Three Musketeers...two parts: D'Artagnan Milady Terrific actors, great story, writing and action. Very well done and thoroughly enjoyed them! Cheers!

I never said that you were hypocritical in condemning genocide. I said let's not get too self-righteous in suggesting where we see genocide, since western history is replete with acts of genocide and in massive scales. In my opinion, there is a difference between war crimes and genocide. Almost every war will produce acts categorized as war crimes...whereas every war crime is not necessarily genocide. But you are right...this discussion is probably exhausted. Cheers!

Define what you mean by "real economy"? Manufacturing today is an extremely commoditized industry with lower margins compared to yesteryear. If that is what you define as the "real economy" then most of the Magnificent 7 would not exist. China excelled at manufacturing for several decades because they had the cheapest labor. That isn't the case any more. It is why capital is flowing to other countries, including even the U.S. Combine that with political risk, property seizures, non-transparent accounting and reporting, difficulty moving capital out of China and lack of an equitable court system...no wonder capital is fleeing China. Cheers!

The West...Britain, France, United States, Germany. There's enough spilt blood by most countries, so any self-righteous stance is demeaning to any real debate. Cheers!

When you've committed genocide 3-4 times...you've pretty much written the playbook...doesn't matter what era! Cheers!

I think the next 50-100 years may be the most economically profitable and exciting years in the history of mankind. Technology will continue to create efficiencies that feed a continuously growing population and generate profits exceeding what humanity will actually need or use...almost a utopian society! Or we blow ourselves up! It's one or the other. Cheers!

Not really. It's the same demise of the U.S. we've been hearing about since the 1970's. Yet the only global superpower to retain their status during those 55 years has been the U.S. And they remain the powerhouse in almost all aspects of the future technological economy. Yes, the quality of life in many regions and growth in the middle class has occurred especially Asia, but the quality of life in the United States remains excellent, while they remain the world's #1 economic and military superpower. Coke has always had a Pepsi next to it...but Coke has always remained #1! Cheers!

I agree with most of your post...but I think it is far too premature to call the West a "waning global power". Cheers!

I don't agree with most of Luca's views on China...but let's not get too self-righteous. The West has perpetrated far more atrocities in its short history than China has done in 5,000 years! Cheers!

One, you cannot ignore the 2nd largest economy in the world if you invest globally. Two, other than Buffett & Munger, those guys all copy each other. Over the last two years, investment managers and hedge funds have been pulling capital out of China not allocating capital to it. Political and property risk, combined with a lack of transparency, means a reduced position in most portfolios compared to the past. Cheers!

+1! Kudos. Cheers!

+1! Yup, absolutely. Market risk is not something she needs at 92. A portion in an annuity locking in that income, the rest in redeemable GIC's laddered is probably the best solution. Cheers!

Congratulations to Prem! Truly well deserved. Cheers!

+1! I think they've added tremendous value to their investment return on the bond side...Brian has definitely added significant alpha. On the equities side, I think they would have done fine as well if they had stayed away from the short positions, etc. But because of those macro bets, just buying the S&P 500 would have given the same return or better on the equity side. With Wade leading the way on the equity side going forward, I think you'll start to see better returns. But we may not do as well on the fixed income side when Brian is gone. Regardless, with the leverage Fairfax uses in float and debt, they don't need homeruns...just doubles and triples...to hit that 15% ROE. Cheers!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-city-zhengzhou-tells-state-055850040.html Cheers!

Prem told me that they will be putting "Doing Good By Doing Well" on the website at some point. Look forward to reading it! Cheers!

+1! Cheers!

Chinese accounting books are about as fair and accurate: https://www.yahoo.com/news/chinese-runner-win-invites-suspicion-115741551.html Hilarious! They're waving him forward because he was still so slow compared to them running at half speed. Cheers!

If you go solely by that list, then the U.S. and many countries around the world have been involved in genocide over the last two centuries. Cheers!

It's the same thing in Israel-Gaza...it isn't genocide, otherwise they would kill off every Palestinian they came across or put them in camps. These are war crimes. You guys are calling it genocide in Gaza. Cheers!

How can you exclude Iran and its proxies? It's like saying, well tell me all of the politicians who are against abortion except Trump and his proxies. There are only four Arab countries that recognize Israel's sovereignty. The rest will not recognize Israel unless they recognize Palestine. And almost none of them will condemn Hamas' actions. Cheers!

I'm pro-Palestinian as well. I'm also pro-Israeli. I'm for a two-nation state solution, but not one with Hamas at the table. Cheers!

No, he was referring to a booklet called "Doing Good By Doing Well" that they handed out at the AGM which discusses all of the various donations and organizations they've given to. Unfortunately it's not on the website, but I would love if they put it on there! Cheers!

What's the difference when they have the same agenda?! Who funds Hamas? Who funds Hezbollah? Who funds ISIS? If you're naive enough to think that most Arab countries want good relations with Israel, then who the heck is funding these terrorist groups? Cheers!

You had a born-again Christian, hard-core right wing leader as President of the United States after 9/11! People forget, but Dubya had people on his committee that were as "fundamentalist" as Netanyahu and his committee. Remember the "axis of evil" speech! Even Trump isn't like that...he really has no allegiance to anyone or anything except money and his name. There were war crimes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Yet only a handful of prosecutions by the U.S. government of their own soldiers. Remember Abu Gharib...Blackwater...this occurs in every war. Lastly, you have it backwards in the Middle East. Arab countries want Israel eliminated and they have real designs on doing so. Thus you have Netanyahu in power again...and I agree he should be in prison! But like Dubya, he was on duty when the terrorist strike occurred. How he's handling it...I don't like it, but Israel has every right to defend themselves and go after Hamas. Cheers!