Granitepost

BRUSSELS, Jan 25 2017 (Reuters) - The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS -- U.S. medical devices maker Abbott Laboratories to acquire U.S. diagnostics company Alere (approved Jan. 25) -- Canada-listed holding company Fairfax and Sagard Holdings, a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada, to acquire joint control of sports good manufacturer PSG (approved Jan. 24)

Aug 17, 2016, WebBroker Service Interruption You may have experienced problems logging into WebBroker on August 15, 2016. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. At TD Direct Investing, we value your business and are committed to providing you with the highest level of service.

I have also found it to be a real problem several times this week, especially early in the morning. When this happens it is not useable. I know they have been substantially upgrading the format of their site for several months now, but the last few days have been painful. Cheers, Granitepost

Link to FFH 2016 Q2 Earnings Call http://finance.yahoo.com/news/edited-transcript-ffh-earnings-conference-170158528.html

Sanmar deal is a go, with Fairfax India investing $250 million and Fairfax the balance. https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/fairfax-india-lines-us-300-million-deal-pvc-113236682.html

Fairfax India and its parent company are indirectly buying one-third ownership of the main commercial airport for the city of Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore for $321 million dollars. http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/fairfax+investing+million+onethird+share+indian+airport/11812995/story.html?__lsa=07cb-ef58 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/fairfax-to-buy-bangalore-airport-stake-for-322-million/article29401580/ Cheers, Granitepost

https://www.waterlootechjobs.com/jobs/company/741/ Short overview of this innovation initiative of Fairfax. No jobs presently available. Also below is link to a description of FairVentures based on the BNN interview. http://betakit.com/fairventures-director-explains-why-fairfax-chose-communitech-on-thedisruptors/ Cheers, Granitepost

FAIRVENTURES Fairfax has recently opening an innovation lab in Waterloo, Ontario, to bridge the gap between startups and Fairfax, and to act as a matchmaker to allow them to work together. It is not that easy to describe or understand this bet on innovation, but certainly it will prove to be very interesting. It will potentially generate many projects that will help Fairfax to reduce the risk of new ideas from harming its existing businesses as well as contributing new ideas to make more money in the long run. Prem should be congratulated for getting involved in this creative project. http://www.bnn.ca/Shows/the-disruptors.aspx See original BNN TV show dated March 3 2016 which I saw on March 8. It will be interesting to follow this as more info becomes available. I don't believe there has been on official announcement of this venture yet. Cheers, Granitepost

I don't believe it is Amazon that refuses to ship to Canada. I believe it is the individual seller that has put these books with Amazon to sell on their behalf. Cheers from Canada

Please allow me to draw your attention to the large appreciation in Toronto real estate prices in the Spring of 1974 (about 35% in a few months I think), which prompted the Government of Ontario to enact the Land Speculation Tax Act, 1974. This Act provided tax on capital gains on houses in excess of 100% of the gain and resulted in the killing of the market for houses for an extended period. The resultant lack of liquidity and uncertainty about market price of properties caused a major disruption in the market as speculators who had bought several houses were unable to sell. Other periods like 1989 were not as severe as 1974 in many respects. It is not mentioned these days because it was an Ontario centric event and was before many of our Board members were born, but is indicative of the fact that you just never know what will happen in any market and what will be the cause a disruption. The 1974 Act was I believe repealed a few years later and after a while the market gradually recovered. I remember speaking to a real estate agent at the time. When I asked her what the market was like, she simply said there was no market.

FFH is now over $600 in Toronto which I believe is its all time high. Congrats to everyone who has invested over the years. Cheers.

There are no options on Fairfax in Canada or in the US, so you will have to buy the shares directly in either market. In Canada the symbol is FFH.

The record date is Jan 21 not 22. From the press release: "TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 3, 2014) - Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (TSX:FFH)(TSX:FFH.U) announces that it has declared a dividend of US$10.00 per share on its outstanding multiple voting and subordinate voting shares, payable on January 28, 2014 to shareholders of record on January 21, 2014. Applicable Canadian withholding tax will be applied to dividends payable to non-residents of Canada."

This is actually quite a complicated area with respect to the taxation of trusts. There are basically 2 types of trusts. The first one is set up during your lifetime and the second is set up by a clause in your will. The tax implications for the trust will differ in these 2 situations in Canada.

You could probably just have title to the property put in your name in trust for (name of beneficiary kids). There may be differences in Canada and the US, but I believe the main advantage would be so you could resell or rent when your kids are under the age of majority and hence are likely limited in their ability to enter into legal contracts.

Bloomberg is saying that Fairfax Financial is reporting a 9.9% state in RIM. Prem must be quite confident in RIM and think that the hugh amount of negativity in the market surrounding RIM has been vastly overdone. Almost everything you hear about RIM these days is negative, here and in the press, perhaps justified and perhaps not justified, but Prem seems to have taken the opposite view of the situation with RIM as he has often done in the past with an opinion contrary to the consensus. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/rim-stake-idUSL4E8IN45Q20120723?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews&rpc=43

Hi Myth: The "Market Correction Coming" thread was started by Bronco on May 4.

I should add that the baby boom's retreat from the large family home may very well mean that the price of large houses fall and that of small houses (especially bungalows with no stairs) rise due to supply and demand. It might even turn out that the smaller and larger houses end up having the same value as people move to have less to maintain and heat. The location that is in demand may very well change over time as the need to live close to large metropolitan areas (where the jobs are) declines as the baby boom approaches retirement. Thus, the sleeper here may be the smaller bungalow away from the congestion of big cities.

I think a little perspective might be good here based on what has happened in Ontario, Canada, in the past. In about 1974 during a period of huge house price increase, the Government suddenly brought in a Land Speculation Tax that put a tax of over 100% on any profits for those who bought and sold a house in a short period of time. Immediately the housing market went dead. I asked a real estate agent at the time how the market was and she simply said there was no market. It took years for a normal market to return thus taking away the liquidity from an investor in residential real estate. Another delightful Government action was to bring in rent controls on residential apartments and houses, where each year the Government would only allow landlords to impose a certain very low percentage of rent increase to existing tenants. Also, landlords were not allowed to terminate a residential lease except for a few very specific reasons as set out in certain legal forms devised for this purpose. One reason was to substantially renovate the house, but in this case the former tenant had to be given the opportunity to move back when the reno was finished. Another reason was that the landlord or a member of his immediate family wanted to move in himself. If the landlord wanted a higher rent increase, he could try to justify it to the Government at the prescribed hearing by showing certain unusual cost increases and where the tenant could also present their information at a hearing prescribed by the Government. The Land Spec Tax is long gone now but regulation on rental housing is still a pain. In addition, mortgage interest rates at one time went up to about 22% in an effort to stop inflation so mortgage renewals were almost impossible to get, forcing property to be sold. These are the kind of restrictions that people may not consider when making a decision on buying and renting a house as an investment. These laws may suddenly appear after an investor has bought and prevent a safe retreat without a substantial loss of capital.

Bloomberg reports an 8.9 magnitude quake off the coast of northern Japan which has caused an explosion of an oil refinery and resulted in a 10 meter high tsunami going 1 km inland, causing widespread damage. 18 are reported dead. Nuclear plants are reported to be closed for assessment as Asian markets are off sharply. In Europe, Munich Re is down 4.6%, Swiss Re down 4.38%, etc. at the present time.

I am sure all of the members of the Board would join me in thanking and congratulating you for your efforts in relation to this wonderful Board. I understand that the Board has made a big impact on you, but I presume you also are aware of the impact it has made on others that read it diligently, especially in the early days when FFH was not as strong as it is at the present. Thank you.

I believe Ram was a top pick of Rule on his former appearance on BNN. About half way through the present show they look at the former top picks and how they have performed. So go to the Oct show and listen to the discussion when they were talking about the past picks. I have not found his earlier show and don't know if it is still available. Rule did seem to make a good impression on the show. I notice that in http://www.stockhouse.com/columnists/2010/feb/8/rick-rule-s-favourite-resource-sector and apparently also in the same article at http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Rick-Rule-and-his-fancy-for-geothermal-uraniium-25597-3-1.html that it identifies Rule's favorites as being geothermal and uranium. The following quote from this source might help. "I really like geothermal," he says. The best place to explore is in the U.S. Political consensus is that geothermal is good. Power companies want it and are willing to pay up for it. They pay up for it because it's green. Political subsidies make the economics of geothermal really compelling. Rule maintains you can earn a 22% internal rate of return with a cost of capital less than 5%. These are far better than returns generated by solar or wind projects. "I can't say when geothermal will take off," Rule said. "But the businesses work stupidly well. They really work. It almost doesn't matter what stock you buy, just own the sector." Rule reeled off four names to own – Ram Power (TSX: T.RPG), Nevada Geothermal (TSX: V.NGP), Sierra Geothermal (TSX: V.SRA), and U.S. Geothermal (TSX: T.GTH).

The recent references on the Altius thread to Rick Rule made me curious to find out more about him so I thought this thread would be appropriate. If you want to get a better idea of how Rick Rule thinks, you can watch the BNN show he did on Oct 18 2010 at: http://watch.bnn.ca/market-call/october-2010/market-call-october-18-2010/#clip362225 See: http://www.gril.net/interview/rick-rule-on-the-energy-report-caution-extreme-volatility-ahead for some of his views on the future of oil, gas and geothermal. His beliefs about gas should encourage those on the board who are optimistic on SD. See: http://www.metalsnews.com/MetalsNews/Allen+Alper+Jr.+and+Aaron+Hoos/EXPERT288861/Rick+Rule+Explains+Why+and+How+a+Contrarian+Approach+is+a+Profitable+Approach+for+Investors.htm One of his ideas that has gone down since he mentioned it is Ram Resources, a geothermal company which Rule identifies as being in one of his favourite areas. He must have originally recommended it at about $3.36 per share as it was down 33% when at $2.24 on Oct 18. “BANGALORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Canada's Ram Power Corp <RPG.TO> said its San Jacinto-Tizate project in Nicaragua encountered construction delays, and was also facing higher material and labor costs, sending shares of the company down to a nearly 21-month low.” Probably as a result of this news, Ram closed at $1.50 today. It looks interesting, but I have no idea how to estimate its potential revenues a few years out when several of its projects are completed and it could start to be priced as a utility with stable income. See: http://www.ram-power.com/

FFH Dividends are in my TDWaterhouse accounts now. Cheers.

I believe pure gold would be 24 K but too soft to be very useful in jewelry. Thus 10K would be 10/24 or 41.66% pure, 14K would be 14/24 or 58.3% pure, and 18K would be 75% pure. Most jewelry sells at perhaps 600% of the value of the gold content so, even when advertised for 50% off, it is still about 300% of the gold content, so the gold value is a fraction of the original cost, hence the reason that jewelry is not a good investment. The other problem here is that the person advertising to buy your scrap gold wants to pay substantially less that the value of the gold content, so the discount from original cost is even greater. Perhaps there are avenues other than scrap dealers, (maybe local auctions, garage sales, etc. where you could recover a higher percentage of the value as someone might place a value on the item in excess of the gold content, but remember also that the auctioneer would likely take a 25% commission off the selling price before you get your money. I wonder why people go to local stores that offer to purchase old gold, or even mail their old gold in response to TV ads promising a cheque, as you do not know how much of a discount you are really accepting from the purchaser, unless you have very accurate scales and do the calculations yourself. Getting offers from several purchasers would seem to be appropriate. What about a local pawn shop? I am interested in seeing what suggestions the board suggests as it seems to me that you have created a difficult situation for yourself. I am somewhat sad to see a lot of the beautiful old jewelry and silverware being melted in times of high metal prices. This mania for melting old silverware was rampant when gold hit its old high many years ago. Surely someone else in your friend's family would appreciate either receiving them as a gift or being given the opportunity to buy them at a realistic price before they are melted.