Redskin212

I have been doing this for about 25 years. I have two words of advice 1) try not to worry about the day to day fluctuations - I calculate net worth each month end but try to focus on year to year changes and 2) set goals just like a business does. ie. $100,000 by age 30 etc... Best of luck

In the earnings per share note (note 12) there is a line item "Share-based payment awards 423,334 shares" Does anyone know what this relates to? - new item to me.

It is a Forbes article! They could not have a headline with only $700 million in it - it had to be in the Billions.

As a 20 year owner of an Alfa Spider I can hardly wait till Alfa Romeo returns to North America

approx. 40%

"The acquisition is fully financed by Fairfax Asia" Nice!

Prem said about a week.

Watching it now. Very interesting!

Maybe your wife should look for a new job ;) Sanjeev's fund is great!

According to AM Best, First Guard's size is between $10 and $25 million using "adjusted Policyholder Surplus" as a measure.

Options were available on FFH when the stock traded on the NYSE.

This is a terrific thread. A couple of years ago I ended up becoming a full time investor after my day job ending. I had just turn 50 at the time and thought I was well prepared to make the transition even though I had quite reached my number. At the time my children were 2 and 4, I had travelled basically fulltime for my jobs I thought it would be a great time to stay home to be with my wife and young family. To be a value investor you have to be somewhat of a contrarian, so staying home and investing is that much of a stretch for a lot of us if you have sufficient capital. When I left my job, I was a little short of what I thought was my "number" - the continuation of a nice bull run in 2013 has bridged that gap. But one never knows for sure!! For simplicity, I will outline the positives and negatives of my experience. Negatives - Stressful. There is no fall back. Once I started doing this there was (and still is to a lesser extent) a tremendous weight on performing to provide for my family. It is not a steady paycheck and very different from investing when you have a full time job. - Isolating. Definitely. I get those feelings a lot as I miss the interaction at the office place. I go to seminars/conferences on occasion but it is just not the same. - People just don't get it. I really don't try to explain, but I feel a lot of resentment from neighbors, etc.. for the fact that I have been fortunate enough to stop working. Positives - Time with kids/family. It is a cliché but kids grow up fast and you can't get the years back. So it has been awesome to be around the house and be able to attend all the silly little events etc.. with them. - Freedom. Obviously it is great to set your own schedule. I really don't spend that much more time researching/analyzing ideas etc. now that it is my full time job. I have been a serious investor for about 10-12 years now and my process is pretty much set. I don't believe if I spent more time at it my performance would improve. I have the same problem as a lot of value investors have - usually too early when buying and too early to sell. Concerns - Burn rate. There are a couple of things I can't really control which I worry about. 1) Health Care costs and 2) Cost of University for the kids. You just never know, so I tend to worry a lot about these two items. - 5 Year Bull market. Things have gone great for the past 5 years. I survived the 2008/2009 well, but my portfolio was much smaller and I had a job to fall back on. Always nervous of a downturn, I do invest a lot with Fairfax, so hopefully that will migigate a portion of the risk. I hope this helps. It is a very big decision and I wish you all the luck if you decide to go through with it.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101463190

At 12/31/13 Fairfax held 27.4% of MEGA brands with a carrying value of $88 million. At a sale price of $460 million it looks like Fairfax will receive about $125 million earning a 50% return. Not to mention any interest they earn on any debt they issued to MEGA ( I can't remember the details), Well done Fairfax team!!

Quote from: dcollon on Today at 01:05:55 PM Fed to release bank stress-test results on 20-Mar Tuesday, February 25, 2014 The Federal Reserve Board announced that results from the latest supervisory stress tests conducted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will be released on Thursday, 20-Mar, and the related results from the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, or CCAR, will be released on Wednesday, 26-Mar. Results will be released for both exercises at 16:00 ET. I guess JPM will leak their results on or about March 17th.... +1

I personally think a home-office deduction of any kind is a red flag for an audit. I have had a home office for years and never ever made a deduction and "knock wood" have never had an audit. I think there is a correlation.

slkiel If I understand correctly, in order to charge a performance fee partners in your fund must be both an accredited investor and a qualified client? Redskin

"To Catch a Trader" on PBS's Frontline Tuesday January 7th at 10pm EST

My philosophy on TV's is always know where the TV is going in two years as the technology and picture quality is constantly getter better - not to mention lower prices. I currently have a 55" LG LED which is two years old and the picture is fantastic - always getting unsolicited comments from third parties on the picture quality. The TV is in the family room and replaced the 42" Plasma now in the guest room (which replaced the 32" LCD no at my in laws) In the next couple of months I will be replacing it with a 65" Samsung LED and putting the LG in the Master. I always put the latest and great in the family room because it gets the most use. You can't go wrong between LG and Samsung, they are both excellent brands I have owned both and never had any problems with either. Plasmas are really getting cheap these days, however I would avoid them unless the TV is in the basement or a very dark room. I know I sound like a salesman, but it is true that the blacks are blacker on a plasma, however they don't handle sun all that well. That is why I being buying LED's of late. Also, if you watch a lot of sports you may want to pay attention to the refresh rate. I have a 120Hz and it is very good but every once in a while it doesn't keep up eg tennis, hockey slap shots... My next TV will be 240Hz which should eliminate this. Hope this helps.

Skanjete, Your calculation and understanding is correct.

For a lot of people FFH has been flying under the radar for a long time and you have to wonder if all the recent talk about BBRY has made a lot of investors take a closer look at it and they like what they see. HOWEVER we've seen these ups and downs many times before and one has to wonder if its time to take some profit to re-invest later. Is anyone doing this now? Yes sold a little @430 and $440 over the past couple of days.

I have never heard this before either - just unbelievable! But then again it is Patrick Byrne

Kraven ++++1

Congratulations James - great track record! Norm - when are you going to do an article on Sanjeev?

The Zoo is way out of the city and very very large relative to the National Zoo. I would not recommend spending a day out there if you are only there for a few days. I would stick to the downtown core and attractions that are relatively close. You really can't go wrong in TO, it is a great city! Pack a sweatshirt/sweater for everyone if you are from DC. You will be amazed how much it cools off in the evening now that it is August. Have a great trip.