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Chretien was a first class leader where Trudeau failed miserably. 2 reasons: 1. Always put Canada first. 2. Backbone. Couldn't bully the guy. Loved his handshake. And description of pepper spray. https://youtube.com/shorts/nShvaJ3aLDo?si=HGc01DKZi7wE5Hbx Trudeaus aspirations for a post national state, affiliations with WEF, and inability to foster a Canadian identity have led to national unrest, crime, drugs, poverty and inflation and a pitiful Canadian dollar. Glad to see the final act on this tragedy by the trust fund substitute drama teacher. For Trudeau, there was no 'team Canada'. Only him. He went through countless allies- Morneau, Freeland, Raybould, Payette etc. Not to mention Sophie. Talk about pathologic. Liberal party deserves to be decimated in the polls for allowing this leader to continue so long unopposed. Poilivere is an articulate speaker, well educated, and knows Canada well. Hes got spine and I think he will put Canada first. Can only fully judge a man by his actions. Let's hope he can start by uniting Canada with a voice strong enough to counter Trump.

@Spooky thanks for the overview on CSU. Would love to get my hands on a few shares during a pullback. Do you think Topicus will be able to follow in CSUs path? Or better to own CSU instead? I bought TOI with the thought that Europe is a relatively unpenetrated market for their business model and strength of management track record. @Castanza thanks for the recommendation, I'll take a close read of the CSU board.

Curious on how you value CSU. By all valuation metrics it always appears very expensive. Yet, performance has been stellar. That's quite a chunk you have! I own a bit of TOI.V.

@james22 @TwoCitiesCapital nothing wrong with seeing BTC and crypto as opportunity. That's what makes a free market. After making a series of mistakes, I've come to understand the a key tenant of investing is understanding valuation and your entitlement to future cash flows of a business. This strategy has worked extremely well for me over the last 5 yrs. Bitcoin is none of the above. Myself, @73 Reds Buffet and many others see it as a collectible since it fails the above criteria. But as a collectible, it's value is directly tied to what another person will pay for it. And if owning 1/21 million (or fraction there of) exclusive binary code gets your mojo going, power to you. You are definitely in good company and maybe it doubles again in 2025. Or maybe it will redistribute money to the crypto whales who decide to 'cash' out. I'm ok sitting on the sidelines watching my old fashioned dividends come in. In the collectible category, I'd rather own a manual Porsche or rare Rolex. At least I can see and use them.

@TwoCitiesCapital No doubt it has had exceptional performance to date. At 100k, it's not really a consideration for me since I'm unable to value investor sentiment and enthusiasm in this space. For others, I'm sure they're in it for the million dollar price target.

I've seen Bitcoin compared to pizza. Now Ferraris. What about comparing Bitcoin to the emperor's new clothes? At least both of those are invisible and infinitely divisible, yet perform the same function

India has also initiated a digital payment system called UPI. Settlement is in rupees. Crypto/ BTC are distinct from digital national currencies. I do think most countries will migrate towards digital settlement, but in their own digital currency. Visa/ MasterCard are intermediaries which take fees, but settle in base currency of the card holder. They will need to compete with fee less digital settlement platforms. Now, if there was a central crypto currency legitimately backed by gold, that would be interesting. Say each 'digital coin' was tied to a callable ounce of gold...

Currencies, by virtue of their property, need to succumb to inflation. A widely used decentralized currency which is a inflationary hedge would not seem to be in the interest of any country. Not saying it won't happen, but what advantages (tax or otherwise) would a government have by a citizenship that uses a non centralized currency? The USD when it was tied to the gold standard was just that. US government abolished that because of its constraints and confiscated the gold! I think gold is still the king in this regard. China and eastern countries are still accumulating gold.

Bitcoin I think will always have it's collectors. Much like cabbage patch dolls from the 80s. Unlike the doll market or art market, I think Bitcoin and crypto is subject to a whole lot more market distortion by wealthy promotors who got in at the ground level. What an incredible job they have done btw. An incredible pyramid. What wealth 'Crypto bros' have obtained without providing any meaningful productivity. Furthermore, BTC is infinitely divisible, which goes completely counter to its proposed rarity. Probably better off with a bored ape NFT. At least that can be enjoyed and is non divisible. It's hardly ubiquitous - it's difficult to open Bitcoin accounts for the majority of the worlds population, therefore fails as a medium of exchange. At least gold and silver will be accepted anywhere in the world. My hard earned cash gets exhanged for a good, service or productive asset. Crypto is a hard no for me.

@pricingpower thanks very much for the suggestions. Will have to check out Spitznagels book. Also agree with scenario analysis.

@Blake Hampton haha! Probably an important consideration across many asset classes. Whether you consider housing prices, AI, crypto etc. Key thing is not to hold when the music stops.

Wonder if this reflects the cost of 'bandwagoning' or 'groupthink'. Everyone jumping on the same asset class at the same time inflating prices well above market through supply demand imbalance. Nothing like a price correction to recalibrate!

Fact is, for people who chase money, there is no satisfactory level. Even Jeff Bezos is jealous of Musk. Yet Musk was f u even before he had money. F u is an attitude, not a monetary level.

That's the leveraged opportunity IMO. When price undercuts value by a significant extent. Agree margin calls can be problematic, but there is mitigation. Ex: buying quality, conservative borrowing, diversification, strict valuation entry points, monitoring cash flow, collateralizing property etc.

@benchmark Scotiabank and UBS. Was definitely easier when rates were lower. Still possible however. Margin rates seem to be below 5.5%.

@SharperDingaan thanks for sharing your thoughts. Those are some pretty heafty calculations. Likely, I run a higher risk portfolio. But the model is easier to understand. I use 30% leverage to purchase blue chip high yielding dividend equities that roughly match my cost of borrowing. Passive income generated by the portfolio easily covers the cost of borrowing. Excess cash flow attempts to purchase new high yield equities at opportune times. Focus is increasing passive cash flow over time. Of course, need to periodically model a 50% correction to ensure margin of safety. Quality and valuation of underlying equities is paramount. Not everyone's cup of tea for sure.

@SharperDingaan points well taken. Are you aware of any 'safe' or 'recommended' amounts of tax deductible debt to be used in proportion to invested capital? Also any recommended reading or books devoted to borrowing money for investment purposes? I do use leverage to invest for the past 7 yrs or so. Haven't found any good references as yet regarding this strategy though. Thank u.

Bought a tiny bit of Archer Aviation. Interesting partnerships with Stellantis and Anduril.

@Red Lion CP and CNR are excellent companies and valuation is very attractive currently. Id be adding if I had extra funds. Roughly 8% of my portfolio is allocated between the two. Only wish they paid better dividends, as I like cash flow.

Googl

Looking at Canadian markets, I believe the following are undervalued: 1. Rails: CNR > CP rail 2. Banks: BNS + TD Currently building on a TD position to complement my BNS holdings. Will add to CNR and CP positions.

Translation of MIT research: Exercising your body exercises your mind. Unless of course you are boxing and getting hit in the head. Must be a bunch of athletic folks there at MIT.

That's the issue I struggled with. It boils down to management and how they go about translating IV / BV to market value. For the greater part of 8 yrs, they have not been able to execute while they collect their fees based on BV. Not supporting share price during this time with aggressive buybacks is not investor friendly. The other catalyst - the privatization of BIAL through Anchorage seems to be always just around the corner for the last 3-4 yrs Even if the share price rises to $25 overnight, that would be a poor 8 yr return. Many other options in the investible universe with better management.

Initially around 75%, down to 10-12% at sale time.

All are excellent points re valuation and really kept me invested in Fairfax India so long. It was a large portion of my portfolio that was underwater over 8 yrs. and well, my patience suddenly ran out. In retrospect, I should have proportioned it far smaller. Hopefully it will realize it's true market value. I think it's worth at least $25 today. I haven't ruled out buying back a few shares. BIAL is a tremendous opportunity. My portfolio was under represented in US tech. I swallowed losses in Baba and Fairfax India to buy a large chunk of Google. A company whose products I use daily and appears to be attractively valued. Of course, now that I've sold, I'm sure Fairfax India will hit the 20s in no time!