Cevian

I have my doubts on whether Baupost has really outperformed over time. I think Seth is a marketing genius though. For instance, I don't believe he himself has ever said he has outperformed the market but, somehow, such image has been built slowly over the years. I remember an interview for example where he implied it was a conscious decision not to re-publish his book "Margin of Safety" since it had a cult-like following and had been a good marketing tool. Also, the secrecy behind the annual letters, the "leaks" that happen from time to time, going after websites which publish the letter, has created this aura of mystery and genius. Every interview starts with "Legendary Investor" but, again, he's never claiming that but the interviewer on CNBC. I would love to be proven wrong if his annual performance numbers were ever revealed. As with other investor who are, wrongly, seen as investor gurus, the only reason it bothers me is because it dupes people into investing with them for the wrong reasons.

+1 Agree Also, I always find it interesting how "capitalists" mention "stimulus" in the same breath

This sets such a bad precedent for all companies whose founders believe they are integral to the company they founded, especially when, as is usually the case, a company needs to pivot into new areas which are very different from the original idea. There is already a huge agency problem within corporations and now, once precedent is established, I can foresee all these CEOs blackmailing their boards in good conscience.

Related to the discussion on BABA/TCEHY, and Chinese stocks in general, no matter how much fundamental analysis one does, the Taiwan question is the only one that matters. I write as someone who is looking at his Russian sanctioned shares (Lukoil, Gazprom, Sberbank, etc.), purchased at incredible valuations but now sitting in frozen accounts with regular emails from brokers asking me to move the positions which no one wants to custody. The interesting part is that all of these positions have large unrealised gains when looking at Moscow exchange prices. BTW, I'm a sucker for deals so I'm long BABA/TCEHY and they are a large part of the portfolio. I never learn I guess.

Same

All the funds, other than the Pabrai funds, appear to be listed here. https://www.dhandhofunds.com/

Reading the following book currently which recaps each year's annual meeting. Available on Kindle. "University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting"

Sounds interesting. Please DM me and we can have an initial introductory conversation.

I'm a long time Fairfax shareholder and I have to say it has always been one of the most frustrating positions. Always unloved, perennially undervalued, down when the market is down, down when the market is up. This week is no different.

Very interesting. Where did you find that annual report? It's very hard to find information on these guys. Talk about trying hard to remain under the radar.

Thanks for the reply. I did call Schwab last week and they said they would come back to me with a lower rate. I'll let you know when I hear back.

Base Rate? or Effective Rate?

Power Corporation (POW.TO)

The man has assembled a good team. Amazing depth! Good to see all the names of all the people involved, not many CEOs would do this.

I like your logic on the 1) tax loss in 2021, 2) subsequent dividend in 2022. I'll bring this up with the tax guys but I would expect Canadian tax to have rules such as "part of the same transaction or event" so as to somehow be considered together.

I've reached out to Canadian tax accountants to see if there is something that can be done to reclaim some of the withholding back. Never did I expect that a dividend can be paid to some and not all shareholders. From my perspective a transaction took place where I gave them something I owned and expected cash/value of $500 in return. Why would I as a shareholder received a "dividend" because I tendered my shares while my brother not received a "dividend" because he didn't tender his shares? Mental note never to do anything like this again. If it takes 66 pages to describe a transaction, maybe I should stay away. I could have just sold now at the pop.

I'm really upset about this. I got charged a huge 25% withholding tax as I'm a foreign investor. I really wasn't expecting a dutch auction to result in a portion of the proceed to be deemed a dividend. Very disappointing. Let me know if anyone has found a way around this.

No options for "never"?

Without a doubt, unless it an apple product, then I would go for ThinkPad for business. We have a number of staff members and just stick to the classic Thinkpad T490, a workhorse, which comes pre-installed with Windows Pro.

I think this press release is important since they need to be seen to be giving the public enough notice and enough time between when Fairfax makes purchases of its own shares versus the timing of Prem's $150mil. large purchase of shares for his own account. The market has had plenty of time to digest the news and shares are lower now than when Prem purchased so I don't believe there is a conflict or timing issue of Fairfax now purchasing shares directly in the public markets.

I just received renewal rates for various insurance coverages out of Lloyds. For 2020-21 period, D&O Insurance Premium up 300%, Commercial Property & Liability Insurance up 50%. No claims history on either. Our brokers told me it's industry wide and no risk appetite at the moment. Anyone else seeing increases?

Depends what life stage you're in, for me it's all about preservation of capital at this stage so: 1. Job Curtis 2. Anthony Deden 3. Seth Klarman (I'm glad I have an initial investment with him already but now closed to new investors) The two top guys you've probably never heard of, for a reason. I avoid managers who are constantly on display. I have found to be a negative correlation between tv/video/interview exposure and performance.

If person X is on your side of the book, they make money but you still don't, they are sh*t actor.

Optics is not good on this one. I don't like it. In Feb 2020 Prem commented, “Paul told me recently that for family reasons, he wanted to retire as President of Fairfax. It was with great sadness that I accepted his decision". I've been a big proponent of Prem and hold a lot of shares. Going forward, I'll have to approach any such comments with greater skepticism.

Where's Exxon? I could have sworn he said Exxon on the call, even mentioned what the dividend was yielding at the time (I think 10%).