cwericb

Few years a guy complaining to a friend of mine said... “Goddammit, I just turned 65 and went down to file for my CPP (Canada’s federally run contributory pension plan) and they turned me down!! You rich guys get to collect and us little guys get shafted once again!! Goddammed gommerment!” My friend explained... “Listen, you never paid a single cent into CPP. You spent your whole life taking cash payments under the table. You did everything you could to avoid paying taxes. In fact it was only last week that you were laughing and bragging that you hardly paid any taxes during your whole life. That’s why you can’t collect CPP.” “Yeah, well it still ain’t fair!” And that unfortunately is the way a lot of people think. Another true story... Years ago Revenue Canada was doing an audit of fishermen in a certain part of our Province where it was a well known fact that the fishermen were dividing up payments for their catch and on paper they were spreading the payments among the family members including children to reduce taxes and ensure everyone in the family would all get unemployment payments. So this lady phones into the local talk show complaining about their community being singled out for this and how it badly reflected on people in the area. Said it was disgusting. And finished up the tirade by saying... “We make an honest living up here and I will have you know that, just like everyone else in the community, every single person in our family works their full 14 weeks every single year!” Fourteen being the minimum needed to collect unemployment payments. Meanwhile the rest of us were paying for her family's other 38 weeks.

Or, given the number of shares held by FFH it might not be that easy to sell without driving the price down. Like has been mentioned, it may well be that he is looking for a buyer of all the shares. Then again, it may simply an ego thing.

So that would tend to end any thoughts that Prem was hanging on to BB because he had inside information that something big was upcoming and that was his reason for not selling. I for one, am running our of excuses for him. So why is FFH seemingly making no attempt to sell shares? Isn't this the second sell by BB insiders recently?

Seeking Alpha article on Fairfax holdings Q2 https://seekingalpha.com/article/4456094-prem-watsas-fairfax-financial-holdings-portfolio-q2-2021-update?mail_subject=frfhf-tracking-prem-watsa-s-fairfax-financial-holdings-portfolio-q2-2021-update&utm_campaign=rta-stock-article&utm_content=link-0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha

I’m just an East Coast country bumpkin but here are my ‘Seven Simple Steps for Fairfax” to elevate share price: 1) Build luxurious office suite in basement at 95 Wellington St W from which Prem can run Fairfax. 2) Ensure basement door firmly locked. 3) Hire top level PR firm to show the world how successful Fairfax really is today. 4) Ensure no media access to basement. 5) Replace Fairfax website with one not designed by a nine year old in DOS. 6) Check basement door remains locked. 7) When SP reaches 1.5 book, allow media to photo Prem, but only PR personnel allow to speak. I know this is blasphemy, but that’s okay, I’m probably working on a record for the “ignore’ list.

I was reading about Fiskers the other day and they look really interesting, but haven't they gone broke once already? It seems to be a big risk to deal with a small company as much as I like their product. You have to consider parts availability. That is why I had a Corvette for a a few years rather than something a little more exotic as if I was traveling I knew I would never be too far from a GM dealer.

Kia Telluride - if you are lucky enough to find one. I lucked out, traded my 2016 Kia Sorento and ordered a Telluride in February with all the bells and whistles and got it in April. Light coloured Napa leather is beautiful as is the suede headliner. Highest rating Consumer Reports has given a vehicle, has won numerous awards for quality, and Car & Driver, Motor Trend, etc have all raved about them. Some of the magazine testers liked it so much they even went out and bought one for themselves. The Telluride has been in production since 2019 and yet some dealers are still getting thousands over MSRP. Saw a year old one with 30K on it advertized for more than I paid new. Love the HUD where speed, speed limits, map directions, lane keeping, etc are all projected onto the windshield. Car will actually drive itself, but Kia has it set that it sounds a warning if your hands are off the wheel for more than 15 seconds. Lights are all LED and are very bright. Heated and cooled front and 2nd row seats are nice and third row stays down for our Greyhound. This is my second Kia and they are well built vehicles. Fit and finish are way above their price range and in four years with the Sorento had no problems. But Kia wouldn't offer a five year Canadian (10 in the US?) bumper to bumper warranty on a poorly built vehicle. Have a VW Eos retractable hard top for a toy, but a Porsche is beckoning.

I tend to agree with glider. We can all make guesses about Blackberry and what they have under development. On the other hand, Prem Watsa is in a position to KNOW what BB has under development. He may well believe that there are significant projects coming that have yet to be announced and that those developments could have an appreciable impact on share price and the value of the company. Wishful thinking?

I probably agree with Daphne in that Fairfax might well want to sell the company as a whole. However, could there be a situation where Prem is aware of projects presently under development within Blackberry that in future could have a major impact on the value of the company? After all, this is a tech company with a lot of smart people working for them. Or is that just wishful thinking?

What he said....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Lassonde Pretty impressive resume.

No question that Prem has a lot of skin in the game, but I doubt he has plans to sell those shares any time soon, if ever. He knew the shares were undervalued at the time, had the money and reeled in a bunch more shares of his own company. But to put things in perspective, Prem is a billionaire. One billion is $1,000 million. $150 mil is not as significant as it might seem. I doubt he looks at his shares the same way as most investors in the company do. Investors don’t have the same attachment or loyalty to Fairfax that Watsa has. After all, it is HIS company and his timeline is likely unlimited. If he passes on, the shares likely go to the family. I also think that in his mind that he and the company are essentially one and the same. Most investors are looking to take a profit and move on and invest elsewhere, aren’t they? Prem and Fairfax are attached at the hip. Prem simply saw an opportunity to buy back part of his empire at an attractive price. I would view Prem’s buying shares quite differently from the average CEO buying shares in a company that employs him. The average CEO hasn’t built the company from scratch over 40 years. Most CEO’s don’t own a substantial portion of the company they manage and if the average CEO gets a better deal with another company, off they go. Prem is never going to sell out and move to another company as an employee.

Greg, here is the one that gets me.... “I wish Prem Watsa would pay a little more attention to Fairfax’s share price.” Someone always comes back like... “Oh no, no no, he should just concentrate on running the company.” Yeah? Would you feel that way if you needed to sell some shares? Well, this IS the 21st century. In my very humble opinion it wouldn’t hurt Fairfax one little iota to be a little proactive in promoting the strengths of the company and polish up its image. Just for starters, their website looks like a kid designed it in 1985. And I don’t care what Berkshire’s site looks like because Fairfax is not Berkshire. Check out www.fairfax.ca Slick, eh. There is an old saying, “A shiny apple will always sell for more than one just fell off the tree.” Fairfax needs a little polish on their image. In 20016 and again in 2018, FFH was pushing towards $800 C per share. Today things are looking great and shares have jumped all the way up to $560 C from $350 - where share price was in October 2020. So, at the lofty figure of $560 it has finally increased to where it was SEVEN - YEARS - AGO. (Sorry for the caps because I try not to swear here.) I think that Fairfax is essentially a good company. I think Fairfax should have a great future. But this company needs to grow up and realize that perception is important. So here is a hint. If Fairfax has a PR department, fire them. If they don’t, get one! And it that doesn’t tick off some people here enough... I have seen several situations where Prem has NOT come off all that well in public. So rather than promoting Prem Watsa all the time and polishing his personal image and boost his ego, how about hiding him in a back room for a while and let a PR department polish up the company image.

Integrity. Yes that is what I was getting at in my previous post on Fairfax and it legal problems. Essentially the judge in the matter found that Prem integrity was at very best - questionable. And that is overlooking that the deal was crooked in the first place as was found by the court. Wasn't Prem also on the board of Fibrek when it rejected a higher bid for the company only to sell to FFH at a lowball offer? I think this is one of the reasons that the market discounts Fairfax when pricing it. As it is still my largest holding I sincerely hope that he will clean up his act and that the market will come to trust the company again. And before I get criticized for the above, I would suggest reading the reports from the trial and perhaps explain the situation rwith Paul Rivett and Torstar because I think both are issues that raise questions about integrity. HOWEVER... I still think that Fairfax still has the potential to do very well in the future if it can keep its nose clean.

No Blackberry shares sold? Given Prem's position on the board of BB he is obviously in a position to know a lot more than we do. Hopefully he sees significant developments that are in the works and it is not a situation where FFH is so involved with BB that it is very difficult to get out. Just thinking out loud.

It boggles the mind how some continue to hold Prem Watsa in such high regard. But some might now think that his reputation of being the “Buffett of the north” is an insult to Buffett Prem egotistically bought Blackberry - with shareholder’s money - primarily to make himself look good. At least he had the good judgement to put john Chen in charge. But surly by now he has run out of excuses for not selling BB. He told us regulations prohibited him from selling when the price exploded. I believe those prohibitions expired, so did he sell during the last run up or will he come up with a new excuse? Moving on from Blackberry there is that little problem with Torstar. Why did he give Paul Rivett a sweetheart, under the table deal, on Torstar which seems to have cheated shareholders? There are some serious questions that need to be answered here. But some think Prem’s motives are beyond reproach. Read on. Let’s not forget the disgraceful and embarrassing Fibrek - Resolute deal where Fairfax blatantly ripped off Fibrek shareholders and both Watsa and Rivett ended up being investigated for insider trading. That investigation resulted in Fairfax being put on trial and Watsa was hauled into court where he attempted an embarrassing feeble attempt to explain his actions. The judge found Fairfax “was in a blatant conflict of interest situation” and that Watsa’s testimony was “purposely forgetful” and “mindboggling”. “Watsa often appeared to be on the defensive and when pressed on crucial factual elements, the witness hastily took refuge behind ‘I do not remember’ or the like.” “Watsa’s testimony was so vague and filled with so many uncertainties, unlikelihood, unsubstantiated denials and contradictions that it is very difficult for the court to give credence to the affirmations and explanations of the witness whose memory appeared to be failing on the most crucial aspects of his testimony” And of course Fairfax reaction to the judgement against them was: “A spokesman for Fairfax disputed the judge’s conclusions, and said the company may appeal.” For the record, Fairfax did not appeal - which tells you all you need to know. An honest, innocent party would defend their reputation at all costs. Remember how Watsa used to say “Fairfax” stands for “Fair and Friendly” acquisitions? Well in this incident Fairfax was found by the judge to be “complicit with Resolute in the abusive hostile take-over bid scheme to the detriment and prejudice of the dissenting shareholders,” Fair and friendly for sure. https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/watsa-s-mindboggling-reasoning-in-takeover-prompts-court-award-1.1323226 And by the way .... Recently Blackberry shareholders began an attempt to dump Watsa from the BB board as “Watsa is plainly unfit to serve as a director of the Company”. Blackberry shareholders went on to say: “Watsa has a history, when presented with a conflict of interest, of working against the interests of minority shareholders and for the benefit of Fairfax. Even before the Fairfax Refinancing, in September 2019, the Quebec Superior Court rendered a judgment in which it found that Watsa and Fairfax, as insiders of Fibrek Inc., acted in a "blatant conflict of interest situation" for the benefit of Fairfax by enabling the acquisition of Fibrek at the "lowest possible price," to the detriment of Fibrek's minority shareholders who were bought out at an unfairly low price. The Quebec Superior Court, in awarding those minority shareholders $13.5 million plus interest, also found that Watsa abused his position of trust and confidence at Fibrek by failing to disclose Fairfax's true intentions to Fibrek's management, and that Watsa's testimony at trial was not credible—indeed, the Canadian judge found Watsa's explanations to be "mindboggling." The judge further described the situation as "odious" and "reprehensible." One who lacks credibility and engages in odious and reprehensible conduct to the detriment of minority shareholders is not fit to be a corporate director.” https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/concerned-shareholder-urges-blackberry-board-to-follow-lead-of-major-corporate-governance-advisory-firm-and-oppose-watsa-as-director-857512533.html

Article on Seeking Alpha today: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4438293-digit-capital-raise-highlights-fairfax-financials-attractive-valuation?mail_subject=frfhf-digit-capital-raise-highlights-fairfax-financial-s-attractive-valuation&utm_campaign=rta-stock-article&utm_content=link-0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=seeking_alpha

"disagreeing with ideas in a post" Yes Viking, that is what keeps the discussion balanced and adds value. Pointing out the negatives is certainly as important as pointing to the positives.

Ain't that the truth ... Without naming names, there are a number of people on this thread in particular who do an excellent job of analyzing Fairfax - and a number ofl other companies. Yes, there are numerous others who share their opinions on other topics in various sections of COBF, but on the Fairfax section there is a very high level of research, knowledge - and most importantly - credibility. I doubt you guys fully understand how much others appreciate your posts, but a sincere thank you from the rest of us!

After holding Chou Associates for 10 years or so I finally dumped it late last year. So it will likely do very well over coming years. Never fails. Sigh.

And so much for Garth Turner's prognostications. I feel sorry for those who agreed with Turner's line of thinking back then and rented rather than bought, waiting to pick up a house when the market crashed. This is nine years on and prices are rising faster than ever. However the big difference is that the dramatic price increases are no longer confined to Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver, but are spread all across the country. While the pandemic has caused many in the large cities to look at less densely populated more rural areas, prices in the large cities don't seem to be showing any effects from this. One thing for certain, the building industry is booming and the price of materials seems to have no ceiling - and price seems no object, only availability. We live in very strange times.

Look, there is a lot we still don’t know about Covid and the vaccines. But the odds are that the vaccine will likely be the answer to stopping this epidemic. If not, do you have a better idea of how to stop Covid-19? Don’t contribute to the problem, get vaccinated.

“If you get vaccinated, it helps you is the claim for vaccine. But even Fauci is not saying it helps others.” Simple logic would tell you that if you don’t get the virus than the risk of you spreading it would negligible. “It is far easier to convince people to take a vaccine because its good for them rather than make up that it reduces transmission to others which is still being studied and raises suspicions about other claims of vaccine.” I guess if you are trying to apeal to selfish or sociopathic people, but most people are not that way and would do everything they can to avoid spreading it to others. Are you suggesting that there is a qusetion about wether or not people with the virus can spread it? Surely you are not. My point is not very difficult to understand. Get vaccinated and help stop the spread. Pretty damn simple.

Because I care about what happens to others. Because many people have not yet had access to a vaccine. Because if we don't act together many more will die. I could go on, but surprised you would ask the question.

Yeah, and when we start to fly I doubt anyone is going to be allowed anywhere near a commercial flight without proof of vaccinations.