adventurer

Thank you all!

Hello, I am trying to figure out parallels between bubbles. Hence one needs to know their characteristics in order to compare them. Are there any books out there on this topics? Does anyone know any? I know "1929" but I am more looking for a discussion of this matter on a meta-level. As in what makes them similar and how they differ. Any ideas?

Now BRK 64,2% FFH 35,8% I believe strong management and diversified businesses offer good long-term potential, similar to the S&P 500 but with less tech exposure. With solid management, I see a strong chance of occasional outperformance. Inspired by Charlie Munger's '3 businesses' idea, I'm aiming for a 50:50 portfolio split (since there is no third company in sight for me) and slowly approaching my first 100k. Fingers crossed! Always open for critique.

Thank you. Can somebody please explain the concept of buybacks with respect to the time horizon? Are buybacks always announced the way Fairfax`s has been announced (above)? And is it not always desirable to own shares during these periods? At least if around 10% or above of the outstanding shares are to be acquired? And does somebody have experience as to how probable it is that Fairfax will be able to acquire the full amount of shares? Did they manage to acquire the target amount in the past?

Any thoughts about how the rate cuts may impact WEBs decision making in the future? He emphasizes that it is all about valuation and whether price is good or not. But I am a bit worried that valuations will now go up even further due to the rate cuts. Valuations will become even crazier it seems...

Anyone know whether there will be an interview with WB on his birthday with Becky Quick from CNBC?

Ah ok, so due to the equity accounting method profits over the years increased the value of the investment even though the company`s market cap never reached that amount. The company has a market cap of approx. $200 million. Does anyone know when FFH invested in Exco for the first time? Because over $218 million in profits seems like a lot.

Hello all, consider the excerpt attached of the Fairfax annual letter for 2023. I don`t understand how Exco Resources is being carried at $418 million or $18,24 per share on the balance sheet while the company itself has never reached that valuation. What am I missing?

Hello, perhaps this has been discussed before but I did not find it. What is the consequence of these share buybacks? Say this goes on for another 5 years, wouldn`t the company be taken private at some point? I can see that the value of the shares will most probably rise but at some point the outstanding shares have been reduced to a point where it is possible to take Fairfax private and delist it. And thoughts on this?

Hello, can somebody explain to me the idea behind setting a multiplier when valuing a business as well as to which factors determine the multiplier? I have read about it in the Intelligent Investor and in Security Analysis but I did not get it fully. For instance why doesn`t the price-earnings ratio or any other of those numbers (P/B-Ratio, P/S-Ratio, P/CF-Ratio etc.) suffice instead? Perhaps somebody has a link to similar topics on here? Thank you.

I only own Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 37% Berkshire Hathaway B 37% Fairfax Financial 25% Still having to save a bit more to reach 33,33% each.

If depreciation and amortization do not apply for results of insurance operations (which I do not yet know as a newbie), yes. But considering all the non-insurance operation Fairfax is involved in it may be more useful to dispense with EBITDA. Out of transparency at least it seems to me.

Hello, is anyone here concerned about the fact that in the annual letter to Fairfax shareholders the CEO keeps talking about EBITDA? EBITDA does not seem to give an accurate update on the earnings as opposed to EBIT to my mind. Was there a discussion about that somewhere?

Hello, KraftHeinz is a recent example of a huge writedown on its brands Kraft and Oscar Mayer. How do these huge writedowns come about and what are the motivations? Because measuring values of intangible assets is not easy after all since I am not aware of a unified method in coming up with a value for an intangible asset. And if that is the case, how does one do the complete opposite (writing an intangible asset down)? In Ben Grahams books readers were referred to always trying to find the fairest value of an intangible asset (or an asset at all). So the conclusion was to not completely write down intangible assets as well as to not overstate them but grant them a fair value. However I do not remember the exact method as to how (got to reread that ;D). Any Ideas?

Hello! Does anyone know where I can get daily sales statistics of the Dow and S&P? Ideal would be an overview of how much revenue has been made each day. So for instance on the first of October the transaction volume of the S&P was at blablabla. Because depending on the volume that has been traded during the last month for instance you may be able to identify an upcoming consolidation. Obiously it may be just one factor, but still it would be useful I think.