frog03

The CEO did not want to choose between the dividend and AAA. First goes the dividend, and I'd be surprised to not see the AAA rating gone by the end of the year. extremely likely GE has no tangible equity at the end of Q1.

Where do you get the idea that GE has no tangible equity? Those revenues and earnings from the various lines of business, most of which they are #1 or #2 in, come from somewhere. Just because their financial assets dwarf their operating assets, and a standard ratio isn't defined by their intangible assets, doesn't mean that the core earnings generating power from the various businesses isn't there. They are as tangible as Berkshire's businesses. Cheers! Well, it is more than an idea... They have about 110 Bn equity and 100 Bn intangibles/goodwill. So this means about 10 Bn tangible equity. Now if you compare this vs. the size of your balance sheet which is about 800 Bn, this is about 1% tangible equity/size of balance sheet. It would not take much to get to negative tangible equity. I don't care if they are number one or number two in their business. AIG was often referred to as the number one insurance company not so long ago...

It's just a no-brainer! As is GE. ************** GE has no tangible equity in light of a huge balance sheet and tons of various financial exposure. How is it a no brainer?

Thanks. Marty's performance over the life of his flagship mutual fund (Third Avenue Value Fund) is not that exciting. A taxable investor would most likely have lagged an index fund... This is a reminder how incredibly good Buffett is with his 50+ years of killing any and all indexes.

Sanjeev, it is totally unfair to use only one year for Prem vs. Eric! If I am not mistaken Fairfax stock price has not moved much over the last 11 years (OK, there have been some dividends). Sprott Canadian Equity has made 18% a year in these 11 years... I am not saying Eric is better than Prem, simply that he is definitely in the same league. By the way, I recommend the stock market superstars book that came out a couple months ago. Great read.

Sanjeev, this is not correct. On managed accounts Eric Sprott has documented 25% returns over the last 25+ years.

Most of us agree that Buffett is THE MAN. Watsa is really good too but I am surprised Eric Sprott gets so little mention here. His track record is certainly as good as Prem and like Prem he saw all the overleverage and its likely consequences. Also Allan Jacobs has Sprott has an outstanding LT record. But very little mention here despite the high number of Canadian posters.

Sanjeev, what is the track record of this gentleman?

Nice to see them mentioned together by another great! *************** You must be kidding. Longleaf performance is mediocre.