ICUMD

Hopefully Anchorage gets the same approval. Now Fairfax has a track record of obtaining IPO clearance in the local market.

Sounds like the WeWork fiasco.

Great to see progress on this front. BIAL becoming a southern hub for Air India should help ensure it's torrid growth in coming years.

Thanks for the heads up. Crowds and traffic can be challenging for sure. After being to India (and experiencing near death pushing a stalled car in traffic), tolerance is good. North American travel is a bit too sterile for me, so looking forward to something substantially different.

Interesting. What were the negatives? Going with the little one who's 1.5 yrs old. So didn't want to go off the beaten path. Have really enjoyed Thailand in the past, so expecting a similar experience.

NSE is a great asset no doubt. OTOH, they need to be able to raise cash for acquisitions. This can only happen through churning non core assets. Otherwise they have to use credit. 25M to 189M is a great capital gains. Sell it and move on hopefully to something better!

Great results overall I think. They will have about 400M after the NSE sale, and about $288M after paying the performance fee in cash. Should allow some interesting acquisitions. Trading at about 0.65 BV. Hopefully they do more buybacks or announce the Anchorage listing. Bial is developing nicely, and is conservatively valued.

Vacation booked in Bali at end of April. Cangu, Seminyak and Ubud. Seems like the dollar stretches decently since can rent villas with plunge pools for the price of modest hotels in N. America.

You've had a change of heart on Valentine's. LoL

Perhaps a good part of that $260 B in real estate is in unfinished homes. Seems like Evergrande faced a liquidity crisis. Not sure the partially finished homes in ghost towns have any residual value. These ghost towns have likely been deteriorating over years, likely becoming negative equity (liabilities) so to speak. I don't think money was intentionally stolen from bond holders and risk getting black listed on the bond market permanently.

The wager here is that if the CCP wants to get the donkey (economy) to move, they will now need to dangle more than a single carrot. It's not just a 'want' anymore, but a need. They have no alternative. Countries like China cannot progress without FDI. They are getting desperate. Let's see what treats they have in store. Things are bound to get worse before they get better.

Modi commands a crowd today that no other leader can. He's basically inspiring the country and millions of diaspora around the world to achieve what was previously impossible. Under his leadership, India is that economic snowball lifting people out of poverty and inspiring them on an individual level. You don't have to understand what he says, you just have to listen and see the reaction of the crowds.

@dartmonkey Thanks for writing this detailed explanation. Your rationale and explanation make sense. However, we can't be certain that is how they are actually calculating the fee, as there are slight discrepancies. I wonder if it would be reasonable to submit your assumption to Fairfax India investor relations for confirmation or clarification. Really, they should offer an appendix showing their calculation to the annual report, at the end of each 3 yr period.

Thanks for the above posts. I certainly understand the rebalancing and exposure rationale for indexing. For discussion, I note the PE ratio of the S&P 500 to be averaging around 25. The tech sector is arguably loftily valued currently and the index is heavily weighted in this sector. PE of 25 doesn't seem like a value proposition currently. As a value investor, how does one seek value in an ETF? Or do you just average in?

@MMM20 Unable to access the file. Are you able to summarize the punch line? Thx!

@Parsad for sure. I was referring of the psychology of using debt to purchase assets. Most people can have a mortgage, but are hesitant to use debt to invest.

Agreed. The big question is where are interest rates going. I think they will be going down. So I continue to add. Once interest rates come down, these equities will take off.

Important rules I follow when using margin: 1. Quality, quality, quality 2. Attractive valuation 3. Must generate dividends that cover the margin interest payments. (On the whole) My margin has also collateralized some fixed property assets. So taking this into account, the chance of a margin call is much less. Big market drawdowns allow me to add to quality companies, esp ones paying generous dividends.

Mortgages are leverage. What's the difference leveraging stocks?

A great example. High volatility and heavily discounted to BV.

1.4 Leverage. Mainly a way to reduce taxes against dividend income. Also allows flexibility to invest at favorable valuations.

I've reflected on some equities and investments with this scenario. I think they are better left alone. You end up tieing up capital with no forseable exit strategy. Exit occurs only if: Owner buys you out.. but why would they when they can use your capital for free? Dividends - in piecemeal (but no guarantee if principles take salary or special dividends) 3rd party buyout. Share price trading OTC never results in meaningful price discovery in low volumes. Usually a marginal holder dumping shares because they are frustrated. If you are willing to tie up capital for a long time, the chances of one of the three above scenarios improves, but still not guaranteed.

Seems like a lot of the Mexican drug trade entering the US is a result of the smuggling of American firearms into Mexico, arming the drug cartels. Apparently there is only one legal gun shop in all of Mexico, under military control. Now that's irony! https://www.marketplace.org/2023/10/19/how-a-booming-gun-business-in-the-u-s-arms-mexicos-cartels/

@Luca re Chinese Capitalism Chinese Capitalism is different than American style Capitalism is an important way: they mix socialist tendencies like 'common prosperity'. No body really knows what the implications are, but clearly their interference can be heavy handed as was the case with BABA. (Ironically, their policies have essentially confiscated the money of Chinese through RE promotion. So additionally, they suddenly have an unhappy populace to deal with, now that the music has stopped.) I suspect this has undermined trust of FDI and Chinese companies. The shadow that foreign money will be confiscated through investment in the country has contributed to this rout. This is the opposite of capitalism. Personally, I think the CCP will need to back track heavily to make amends and rebuild trust. Why? Because they have no choice economically. It is their only play. Stimulus is therefore just the first step. Therin lies the value play in Chinese stocks.

China (CCP) has really undermined confidence in their financial system. Ironically, taking out Jack Ma at the knees has brought their whole economy to their knees. I suspect it will take way more than 300 billion to resurrect. It will be costly for the CCP. However, if they don't, the risk is revolt by Chinese citizens whom they have really screwed. CCP is running scared at this prospect. Second prospect that will cause distress would be a Trump win. Fixing their economic troubles is their #1 priority. I doubt invading Taiwan is a consideration with this financial backdrop.