Uccmal

Well, imvescor has not had even a median peformance. They have just required a recap. Its a very tough space in Canada. THI owns some 50% of ALL,restaurant meals, in the space that Mikes subs and Pizza Delite operate in. The remainder is carved up between MCD, Wendys, Harveys/second cup/ sbux/ subway, pizza-pizza, Quiznos, Yum, and lesser entities. In the Baton Rouge segment is Jack Astors, Kelseys, Montanas, East Side Marios, Shoeless Joes, Firkin pubs, to name but a few. At the same time some US firms are setting up shop, rather aggressively in Canada. FFH needs to grow up and buy profitable businesses at reasonable prices, with scale, that can add immediately to cash flow, rather than requiring a turn around, or dubious expansion. There are alot of things I like about FFH. There taste in non-insurance buinesses, as long term investments, is not one of them. Buffett has them beaten hands down in this space.

Gio, how did that happen? I was born in Montreal when my dad was at Mcgill. Anyway: Buffett buys Nebraska furniture Mart; Ffh buys the Brick - out of near bankruptsy Buff. buys Dairy Queen - FFh buys Pizza Delite Buff. buys IBM - FFh buys Dell Buffett avoids base commodities - FFH buys FBK Buffett buys WPO - FFh buys Canwest Global and loses 500 m.

IMO, these little acquisitions are a waste of FFHs resources. This thing is never going to move the needle at FFH. I would like to see them do something significant in terms of buying a whole business. My feeling is they are too cheap to pay for something worthwhile. They would have to pay up for a really good franchise like Jean Coutu, Shoppers Drug Mart, or Tim Hortons. I dont think its in the DNA.

Gio, Never been to Canada eh, These are the shitholes of Canadian food places, excepting perhaps Baton Rouge. Pizza Delight operates in small towns everywhere so I guess it has something of a moat where others refuse to operate due to scale. Tell you though: I wont eat there if you pay for me. :-).

I have alot of trouble with Intel. My job as an investor is to make money buying and selling, or holding a stock. Intel is stuck in a near permanent trading range. I held it for a year or two about 7 years ago. The Price and PE were, you guessed it: the same as today. It doesn't even keep up to inflation. I guess with the dividend you break even. I am having more and more trouble identifying anything with a moat these days. I see the big US banks as having moats. Actually, any of the worlds biggest banks. Probably huge energy conglomerates, water and power utilities (not telcos), and perhaps the remaining railways. As you mentioned above, frank, BRK is where you find the best moats: WFC, BAC, Midamerica, and BNSF. I put the big banks there because they went through a death spiral, being run horribly, and survived, and will thrive going forward. World governments have helped, obviously. If thats not a moat, what is?

Its nuts outside in Toronto right now. Winds of 30-60 mph, and wild rain, and were 600 miles from NJ. I was looking at the conditions on the summit of Mount Washington: 97 mph sustained wind, gusting to 125. Its gotta be real exciting on the coast.

Thanks Gio, I should have looked at Rim filings before commenting. I was kidding about the long term nature of my investment. Although it doesn't that long term, since I have held FFh in varying forms and amounts since 1997-98, continuously.

They have 4 b in stocks. That is some avoidance....eh?

Hi Gio, FYI - I dont think FFH invested more than about 450 M in Rim. Of that, some was bought near the bottom. So total losses are less than that. They have taken a pounding on Dell as well. So where are the gains coming from - JNJ, the US banks, India? Prem better hurry up and get this ship rolling. My oldest goes to University in 10 years, and most of the RESP is in FFH.

Me too... good one

let's see, 3 levels of government. Looks like it could go any direction right now. If either party controls the vote the crisis will pass. If one party controls the presidency, and another controls either level of congress then there will be a few weeks of intrigue followed by some compromise to end the impasse that will look pretty much like the status quo. Going to 100 % cash is the obvious answer, and staying that way for the remainder of my investing career. Not going to happen as per Yours Truly and Coneal. The discounts are just too great. There could also be an earthquake, tidal wave, nuclear bomb blast, or biological disaster in the next 8 weeks. Maybe Gold?

tsx The combination of the Bay and the others is going to finally kill Sears Canada..... aaahhhh, sound of relief.

I thought it was very well done. It showed the things these kids have to deal with to avoid going crazy. They have their problems, I have mine. Of course, the poor have more serious problems and less means to deal with them, than me, or the kids in the film. Everyone with any intelligence asks the questions that the film maker focused on. I dont have to work for a living, now what? Its not an easy question to answer. Who am I? Maslows hierarchy of needs puts self actualization at the top - It can also be the hardest, most painful, and least obvious need to get a handle on. William Shatner was interviewed recently and asked why he still works so much? He replied "i have to do something, and its still alot of fun".

Well Cardboard, Some Quebeckers do have a knack for shooting themselves in the foot. I cant understand the thinking. I worked with a bunch of guys in the early 90s in my age group, who grew up during the Levesque French Languange yrs. These guys were really struggling because they hadn't learned English at a young age. They were all trying to learn it in their 20s and 30s to improve their future employability. I felt for them, as my own attempts to learn French have been pretty dismal. Anyway, I think its a long way from medicare to PQ style socialism.

oddball, We dont really have a choice. Obama is pretty popular up here, after 8 years of Bush. Anyway, to the topic at hand: The boom bust cycle is deeply entrenched in the economy and every couple of generations we get a doozy. It doesn't matter who is President at this point. It is mostly beyond their control. The situation in the States will drive an entire generation of people toward lifelong austerity. Similar to the dirty 30s although by no means as severe. The end game will be higher taxes, greater regulation, and improving balance sheets for decades. I was reading the other day that US citizens have amassed 4 Trillion in savings. No wonder the US government has no trouble selling bonds. I lived through the nasty nineties in Canada. In the mid 90s I was having job interviews where the buggers were interviewing 50 people for one mid level position. I was highly qualified, had some work experience, was in a growing field, but few jobs existed. Now I am a frugal value investor. The knockon effects of the balance sheet recession will last decades. Over that time the governments will bail themselves out much like they did after WW2. As to Cardboards comments, that is another problem, altogether.

Great video! Dimon isn't going to change. He is outspoken, and pretty smart, in washington with a room full of dummies. I would guess that he has pretty good numbers to show tomorrow, if he is back to rabble rousing.

Color me shocked. This is like the jealous queen suing Snow White. I had honestly thought that Wells did things perfectly. Who knew. lol, must be an election coming.

hellsten, You might also enjoy David Dreman "Contarian Investment Stategies for the next generation"; 1998. Dreman has done alot of moderately robust research on low P/b, low p/cf, low pe, and low P/dividend stocks. I dont follow anything as a strict method, but these studies show that the 'return to normal' stategy works. Dreman sums up the rationale of why value strategy works. It is exactly like BAC and AIG are playing out. Company gets in deep trouble, new management comes in, cleans up the mess, and as profitability returns, the stock price appreciates for years at an accelerated rate.

+1 on this. I wonder who knew about it. I guess we will never know. This is definitely not something that would have been approved by head office in my opinion. I think it happened and then head office was left to deal with the media and consequences. Instead of blowing a milion dollars, Odyssey should have petitioned state and federal governments through education and information...someone should have taken that initiative...instead of simply throwing money at any specific political party. I would not have been happy with this whether it went to Romney or Obama. Just a waste of shareholder money and I deem it something out of the operating mandate of any corporation. Cheers! Come on.. let's be serious here guys. Your hero Watsa clearly shares the same fears that every other responsible business man does and made a transparent decision to avoid another 4 years. To think that the head office knew nothing about this is ridiculous. Of course head office knew about it. Seems a bit egregious but then I have no idea how much Google, MSFT, Apple, GE, P&G, or anyone else has donated to candidates. Shows you where US politics is at.

There is an excellent idea. FFH bonds. And what companies sustained their dividend through the financial crisis: JPM, WFC, KO. I am sure there are many others not on my immediate radar.

That would be handy. Mind you, it may take 20 years.

I think Buffett's marginal utility at Berkshire decreases every year as they acquire more and more companies. Berkshire's 70+ businesses have created a strong momentum that will be running strong well after Buffett is gone. These businesses also provide a large lineup of extraordinary executives who can be qualified to take helm at the top if necessary. With two great investors now helping too manage the investment portfolio, I don't doubt that we will see good investment returns moving forward. Finally, Howard Buffett as Chairman with a first class board of directors, Berkshire's culture will be preserved. IMO, the chance of Berkshire being a bad investment without Buffett going forward is virtually the same as the chance of it being a bad investment with him. Respectfully disagree. I dont want to ruin the thread with this topic. It is all conjecture anyway, either way.

Yes.

Hi Jeff, The Heloc would be secured against the house which sort of defeats the purpose. Lose the job, and investments at the same time, and lose the house. Unlikely, but possible. I restarted with nothing but student debt, at 31, and am getting to old to retrace my steps. Margin interest rates are lower than a Heloc at the moment. My plan when I leave paid work in a year or two, is to pay down the mortgage completely, and use a Heloc at that time at about 25% the value of the house. For US boardmembers: Mortgages are not tax deductable in Canada, lines of credit are.

No, no, no..... I agree with those who advise against it. I dont normally do advice preferring to relate actual experience. I use leverage in a margin account. Our house is in my Wife's name and my name. My margin account is in my name only. They cant touch the house. It distinctly separates the business from the household. As to margin calls, I have had it happen twice, in fall of 2008, and spring of 2009. Both times I got too smart and wrote puts that turned against me. Once I bought out of the puts at a loss I was clear. So, I dont write puts any longer. Leaps dont use leverage in your account, when your buying them. Calls are cash only. The leverage I use right now would be invested in marginable stock distributed amongst FFH, BAC common, BAC warrants, RBS preferreds. It is not a huge amount overall. I could sell my FFh common and get rid of the margin entirely. I also have a significant amount in RRSPs (cdn equivalent of Roth or IRA accounts). The only possible advice I would ever offer is to refi your mortgage to 30 years. Invest the difference in your monthly payments. Otherwise, keep business separate from house. Someone suggested above that people mortgage their homes to start a business. How many have failed? My guess is 80-90%. They are left trying to find a job to recoup what they lost. Regards to holding Berkshire: No one knows the future these days. Removing Buffett which will almost certainly occur in the next few years could have totally unknown effects. We just dont know.