NormR

I've parked the lineup for Fairfax Lollapalooza 2024 on a public webpage over here ... https://www.stingyinvestor.com/FairfaxWeek2024.html If I've missed anything, please let me know.

People going to the FFH AGM should check out Fairfax Lollapalooza 2023 Those who aren't COBF members can read the public version instead.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! May you and yours have a joyful season!

I've gone to them each year for the past decade, or so, and quite enjoyed them. They can vary a bit from year to year depending on the speakers. There are videos of several of the past speakers online. For instance https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/bengrahaminvesting/resources/video-library/ The online format is new for them. So, it'll be interesting to see how they handle it. (The networking and side meetings were really good in the past but, alas, probably won't happen this year.) If cost isn't an issue, I'd go for sure. But it's mostly an industry thing for those who can write off / expense the cost. It'd be a harder decision for retail investors of modest means. The later group might want to wait till next year for the full experience.

Almost 200 years at this point.

Keep in mind that Paul will likely have to do many unpalatable things at Torstar to have a chance of stopping the red ink. A bunch of them, like firing workers, will eat cash. The required repair job would likely have significant negative publicity value if FFH bought it instead - and the results probably wouldn't move the needle at FFH. There is a reason why Buffett got out of the liquidation business. I wish Paul the best of luck in his new endeavor.

Yes. A HISA can be an easy way to park cash at a Canadian bank broker and actually earn some interest. At last check the big ones all payout similar - and not great rates. ~1.1% at the moment, IIRC. Keep an eye out for anti-competitive broker fees that dissuade clients from using HISA of other banks.

A Hogtown carol Ho Ho Ho!

See the asset mixer or Norbert's data

The late 1990s set it up

I'd like to thank everyone for their commentary on this thread. It has been quite helpful!

Cool. Btw, investors can get around the FX issue with a little cross-border arbitrage. i.e. buying RY on the TSX (in CAD) and quickly selling it on the NYSE (in USD). Interesting, so you don't need to buy the data if you can get it elsewhere. I notice they have a minimum # of trades fee too but it's waived for accounts with more than ~$100k. Are there other similar charges that one should be aware of?

I'm looking for a Canadian discount broker (i.e. for Canadian residents) for a modest account (<$200k). What option would be good for value investors?

Many value investors like to take a close look at a firm's balance sheet strength before investing in its stock. What debt factors are the most important / most useful to you when looking at bargain stocks? (i.e. debt/equity, current ratio, year-over-year change in long-term debt, interest coverage, debt rating, market price of bonds, etc...) On a 10 point scale, how important are these factors in your overall investment thesis with 10 being very important and 1 being of little concern?

I'm not saying that Net-Nets are bad. But ... Backtesting microcaps can be problematic due to liquidity. Bid/ask bounce can skew the test. Getting in/out in volume is an issue. There can be big data quality issues in the micro space. etc. I've seen huge spreads (i.e. bid: $8 ask:$10) on small stocks on the TSX in the past with a few hundred shares traded a day - on a heavy trading day. There will also be issues of getting a big basket of Canadian net-nets in many non-bear market years. Frankly, I'm skeptical of backtests with CAGRs north of ~20%/yr for long periods. It usually indicates some problem with the test. i.e. data mining, etc. Healthy skepticism along with a good deal of sensitivity testing is advised. If it's too good to be true... Add: Btw, go to the "counts" tab on the Bloomberg report to look at the backtest's turnover.