Xerxes

Berkshire was not designed with an end goal in mind of what it ought to look like. It sort of happened over the decades, as different opportunities came and some were added. Mostly by being an opportunity at the right time. Markel in contrast was “architectured” with a clear goal of having a non-insurance business (Ventures) to grow in parallel. Copying Berkshire. Fairfax copied the float idea from Berkshire (easier said than done of course) but ultimately Fairfax was there first as an investor. The insurance outfit was added as a source of float to invest (what Ackman wishes to have). I don’t think there is any “architectural” copying from Berkshire except for the float. One could say Fairfax’ international profile is in deep contrast to Berkshire’ largely domestic business. That takes courage !!

100% He made that statement after a shareholder (whose family office was heavily invested in FIH) expressed a concern about the discount.

Masterclass on shorting by MuddyWaters …. Making excuses (not mentioning FFH by name) Looks like he is shorting BXMT.

https://www.dataroma.com/m/m_activity.php?m=FFH&typ=b I love that one single share of BRK.A that they have like forever in their portfolio. Like a single piece of artwork just hanging on the wall. I guess they want some exposure to Prem Watsa of Omaha, just in case

This is some serious shit

In 2018 AGM they contrasted FIH to a ship sailing independently on a discovery mission. That ship is far enough from the mainland (FFH) such that it does not cause collateral damage. Based on that I think a large bank would not go on FFH balance sheet. Unless the view above is changed. I also realize that FIH doesn’t have the firepower.

Hi Valueventures, To be perfectly frank, i don't follow Mercadolibre that closely. I figured that a management team that build up this juggernaut over 20 years spanning a dozen countries with different jurisdiction, inflation, and other country-specific challenges (a moat one might say) is far better equipped to re-invest that next $1 incremental of value than me going over their 10-K and pretending i understand. So it is on auto-pilot for me, I just lumped inside a technology bucket, but perhaps should be under "operating businesses". I agree that it is more than technology firm as it owns logistics, payment solutions etc. Walt Disney and RTX that I own are also technology companies with a focus in media and A&D. But I put them on operating businesses and not technology. For clarity, i don't target any specific % allocation to any bucket. It is all random.

Cheers. Agreed on the "separatist" and "orange cone" [as i call it .. lol] discounts on assets in Quebec. Almost all of near family are in Ontario. Parents + sister in Ottawa & Brother in Toronto. I am in Montreal.

BRP (formally part of Bombardier Inc.) is controlled by the Bombardier and Beaudoin families. Eventually those large share repurchase might be prelude for a family buyout. Assuming the family is not tendering share pro-rata into buybacks ? I own Bombardier Aerospace. Wont get to the history, as there is a lot of FOD from Canadians who are not familiar with the business or got burn by it, but suffice to say that my bet has always been that once BA puts itself on the right footing as it is doing now, the Bombardier and Beaudoin families would want to perform share repurchases to offset equity issuance in the late 2010s, and that a privatization end-game might be in play at some point (though this latter is far away). For all intent and purposes, Bombardier Aerospace had an "IPO" in 2020-21 as a luxury/business aviation maker as a standalone entity.

i am guessing you are from Western Canada

funny I was watching this last night.

For Canadian, if foreign holdings (aside U.S.) reaches a watermark threshold of $100,000, additional disclosure is required by Revenue Canada. Even if there are no realized gain or losses. And even if it passes $100,000 and dips back below.

And most important: BAE Aerospace.

love it !!

I am actually glad he didn’t mention them. They don’t deserve recognition.

that is somewhat true. For NATO inclusion to be effective, it needs to be based on agreed by both sides border. And not pre-2014 border. Since one cannot expand NATO membership to Ukraine with one fifth of the country under occupation. That would automatically create a formal state of war between Russia and NATO. Russia needs to accept (wether it likes or not) that as price to formally keep the territories in Eastern Ukraine there needs to be a some sort of NATO membership or very explicit security guarantees for the now shrunken Ukraine. Otherwise no one would believe it can hold.

man. Those trailers were so long back in the day.

Looks like both BX and BAM/BN underperformed compared to Ares, Apollo and KKR. Neither Blackstone and Brookfield complex were able to breached their previous all time highs.

I think sometimes Westerners forget (or don’t know) that the entire Western colonial empires were built via taking a bite, appeasing and then backstabbing and taking another bite. Rinse and repeat. All year long. The issue with Chamberlain, Munich and now overused infamous appeasement is that it involved Germany. A rival continental superpower. If the roles were reversed, you would not have a myth built around it as cautionary tale. Only Britain is allowed to pull that. Not Germany. PS: Hitler just followed empire building blueprint pioneered by the British*. His mistake was to use it in Europe against fellow white people. Blasphemy!!!! *yes I am quite familiar with the commercial nature of British empire. But the way they creeped and felled the Mughuls and others slowly biting, being appeased by the victims, biting another limb off. Slowly but surely felling one civilization after another.

The “dead hand” would be the deterrence as the system is built to retaliate in case of a pre-emptive decapitation strike. I have read David Hoffman’ book on it. It was built by a very nervous Soviet leadership before the fall. They saw threats everywhere. They were so paranoid that they did not even disclose the “dead hand” existence. Usually you need to disclose your deterrence capabilities, so that the other side is “deterred”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Hand https://www.amazon.ca/Dead-Hand-Untold-Dangerous-Legacy/dp/0307387844?nodl=1&dplnkId=3ecd89c2-6c4e-4fd3-aeb6-b8edf7903764

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/stock-investor-with-1-900-gain-breaks-long-silence-in-japan-1.2045946.amp.html

these chaps are definitely NOT buying MicroStrategy hands over fist in their tax-deferred accounts. Old Money vs. nouveux riche

@Luca Not related to the war, were you in Germany when this happened ? I am curious about how locals saw it. Surely this must have been an exercise of sovereignty. https://money.cnn.com/2017/08/23/investing/germany-gold-reserves-new-york-paris/index.html “In recent years, rumors and conspiracy theories circulated in Germany about its foreign gold reserves. Some fringe observers questioned whether they had been lost or otherwise compromised. The issue eventually spilled over into mainstream politics, and the German Federal Court of Auditors asked for an inspection of foreign gold reserves in 2012.”