NormR

It was wonderful. Kudos to Sanjeev for the excellent dinner! But after three days of non-stop meetings, I'm going to follow Mohnish Pabrai's advice and take a nap. I'm sure others will fill you in. :)

Well, he's never slacked off, but he always kept comments relatively brief and concise. This was probably the best letter I've read by Francis in years, and one of the best letters I've read this year by any manager. Cheers! I think it's a little more polished this year.

He seems to be working harder on his letter these days.

No bulls here? Can anyone say why Prem (and Francis) like the stock? That is, you might disagree with their reasons, but what is their thesis?

Can anyone make the bull case for Torstar?

The meaningful buybacks assume a lower than current multiple. Why do you think BRK will be able to grow operating earnings at a double digit rate?

Do you have any nominations? :)

Please keep in mind that I didn't get to pick the title of the story.

I appreciate Prem's enthusiasm! While it's not a big thing, someone might want to kindly mention to him that less is often more when it comes to exclamation marks.

Hi Norm, The CCFC is actually providing a couple of volunteers this year, and I will be talking to George to see if we can get a couple of students from Ivey as well. Cheers Most excellent!

Perhaps Sanjeev might appreciate a few more volunteers to help run the FFH Dinner?

I love the intelligent investor, but I find the moderately archaic language to be off putting to some new investors. I think a better starter book would be David Dreman's Contrarian Investment Strategies or something similar. A new investor should also seriously consider if they really are a value investor. Many people are not, and it can take some time to figure that out.

I don't see this as a big change from Sanjeev. He has always been cautious about discussing his picks. It makes sense because it is the core of his business. Talking about a few picks from time to time helps on the advertising front, but it's optional.

Humm, does iShares S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index Fund (TSX:CDZ) still hold a huge chunk of the stock? (It seems to have about $32 million worth based on the iShares website - or about 8% of its RET.A's market cap.) Since RET.A cut its dividend recently, the stock will move out of the index and then the ETF. So, there should be a good amount of forced selling when that happens. Anyone have an idea of when that might be?

I'd like to thank everyone for making it possible! Best wishes and a merry Christmas to all!

What do you want for Christmas?

Congratulations on #2, I hope that she's doing well. Wishing you and your family all the best.

I use terminals at work. All databases have issues from time to time. You have to play with them a while to figure out where they fall down. Microcap / non-US can be problematic on occasion. Check the data before investing.

Do you have more details on the effort / where one can give money?

Thanks, I didn't know about them. IIRC, there's a Canadian outfit that does something similar.

I have to admit that I'd prefer to give money to experimental physicists. ;) Btw, did I see that you're in York, TO? If so, PM me, we should go for coffee some time.

If you don't mind my asking, which section? I walked much of the Northern part in my youth.

I'm looking to do a little charitable giving this holiday season. Can anyone recommend a good / their favorite charity?

I'd like to thank Keith for graciously taking the time to answer my questions. It was my pleasure to bring his story to a wider audience. But I also apologize because he might have to field more questions at the next FFH Dinner than Francis. ;)

Personally, I like to see both gross and net numbers. One goes to manager skill and the other shows how much is left for investors.