mhdousa

I find Scottrade's interface insanely frustrating to use. I think Fidelity has the simplest and best interface. Depending on how big your account is, both Scottrade and TD will give you cash for establishing a retirement account there. Might mitigate any difference in fees.

I'm confused. It looks like he added to Sears? Oops, you're right. I was confusing him with Berkowitz.

most recent CHOEX filing reveals 40% cash, and 24% in RFP. SHLD is down to 6% MBIA 5.7% OSTK 4.81% http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=CHOEX&region=USA&culture=en-US Any thoughts on the RFP holding (I know there is already a very extensive thread on this company)?

Allan is on here and posts rarely. Maybe he'll respond to a PM.

Dropped his BRK and BAC holdings by a little bit, sold almost 40% of his LUK, added a good bit of Vistaprint and XPO Logistics, and initiated C.H. Robinson and Innerworkings.

My exposure to OSTK was through my holdings in the Chou Equity mutual fund. However, Francis must have dumped a lot of it as the NAV only increased by 0.57% on a day when OSTK went up 22%. Slightly frustrating, but I'm sure Francis had good reasons.

This sounds like real innovation to me: http://www.fastcompany.com/3008346/deep-inside-taco-bells-doritos-locos-taco

Have you considered buying sovereign CDS (on Japan, Italy, etc.)? The market is clearly trading orders of magnitude away from your prediction. A good indicator on this will be Francis. He is one of the few mutual funds that has clearance to buy CDS. If you see him doing something like that in the next few months, it will be a pretty good guide. Cheers! Sanj, do you know if this is true for his American funds, or just the Canadian ones?

http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=VAFGX&region=USA&culture=en-us

It's basically just Fairholme plus a little Fairfax, he doesn't necessarily size his positions by number of COBAF posts. :) But I do see a problem. VAFGX 1.64% FAIRX 1.00% You're probably right. But, now that you mention it, how can we be sure Bruce B doesn't lurk here.... I am sure he does, but would never admit it. I think people want to think that "superstars" don't do things like check out a message board. He is just a guy sitting in a home office. He almost certainly checks in from time to time. Interesting. What do you say, Sanj, any IP addresses from Miami??

It's basically just Fairholme plus a little Fairfax, he doesn't necessarily size his positions by number of COBAF posts. :) But I do see a problem. VAFGX 1.64% FAIRX 1.00% You're probably right. But, now that you mention it, how can we be sure Bruce B doesn't lurk here....

I was looking at the holdings for the Valley Forge mutual fund which is managed by Brian Boyle of Boyle Capital. Look at these -- this has got to be someone who reads this board, right? Right? MBIA 14% AIG 13% SHLD 11% BAC-WTA 9% SD 5% FFH 4% LUK 3% BRK.B 3% JCP 2% CHK 2% MSFT 2% CWGL

It's easier to watch... http://holdings.nasdaq.com/asp/OwnerPortfolio.asp?FormType=OwnerPortfolio&CIK=0001568820&HolderName=ARLINGTON+VALUE+CAPITAL%2C+LLC NEW positions: LUK SOLD positions: FFH SD Wow. That is much easier. Thanks!

New portfolio out as of 3/31/13. Still about 60% BRK. Added a lot more Vistaprint and XPO Logistics. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1568820/000139834413002407/fp0007252_13fhr.txt

New portfolio, as of 3/31/13 out from Chou Equity: Top Holdings As of March 31, 2013 Top 10 Holdings percentage of assets Resolute Forest Products Inc. 17.5% Overstock.com Inc. 16.6% Sears Holdings Corp. 4.9% MBIA Inc. 4.5% MannKind Corp. 4.3% Bank of America warrants 3.6% JPMorgan Chase warrants 3.6% ASTA Funding Inc. 2.6% UTStarcom Holdings 2.5% Wells Fargo warrants 1.6% Close to 40% cash now. Per http://portfolios.morningstar.com/fund/holdings?t=CHOEX&region=USA&culture=en-us, he -upped his RFP stake by a 1/3 - decreased OSTK and MBI by about 10% each (right before earnings and the BAC deal, respectively....oof!) -dropped SHLD by about 40% -unloaded over 1/2 his Mannkind -dropped UTStarcom by almost 1/2 -dropped almost 1/2 his BAC warrants Any other comments?

Two years ago I had surgery on April 4th. Didn't walk again for a couple of months. Last year we were in California house hunting April 1-15th. This year I turned 40 on April 10th (day of the meeting) Perhaps the right time will come along. I think you should make some time and come next year. I'd like you to present and do a short Q&A if you are up for it. Cheers! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHuRusAlw-Y Except instead of young women screaming and losing their minds, it'll be middle-aged balding finance geeks (I can say that because I'm one of them)...

Interesting. He admits he's victim to anchoring bias. Shows you how powerful theses biases are when even someone like him can't get around it (bolded by me): Instead of staying flat for a month after selling the warrants, the price rose appreciably and we were not able to buy back the TARP warrants at a cheaper price. The higher price was still relatively inexpensive, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy at a price considerably higher than what I sold them for.

What's the story here?

I agree. I wonder if we get value investors railing against quantitative easing because nothing pisses them off more than the rising tide lifting all boats. How can you distinguish yourself if everything is going up?

Quoted for truth.

I'm in the exact opposite camp. Margin of Safety is the closet thing to a Holy Grail in investing imo. Also, Klarman has fantastic quotes/paragraphs on investment process that sum up successful investing so well. I like Margin of Safety too. Regarding his annual letter, part of it, could have been written by Robert Rodriguez or Roger Lowenstein. Prem Watsa has talked about the macro environment as has Warren Buffett. Klarman is doing the same. Loved these sections: Antifragile and High Bar. I think there's a difference. Prem (who devotes 1-2 sentences to macro in his letter) uses his macro thoughts to explain their investment thinking and process. Somehow, Buffett is able to write a whole letter about the dozens of companies he owns and not mention the word "Bernanke" once. Klarman devotes most of this excerpt to railing against everything that he sees wrong with the current macro environment. There's clearly a political agenda with the letter. In no way am I hoping this thread devolves into a political discussion.

Klarman is a great investor, but that's what he is. He's not an economist and he's not a behavioral scientist. He should lay off the moralizing and the macro. This letter would be a lot more interesting if he actually discussed one of his investment theses in detail, but, of course, we get none of that.

I would own a large allocation in Fairfax if I couldn't own BAC. I do have 25% in AIG warrants at the moment -- that's the only non-BAC thing I own. So if BAC were taken away I'd probably put 50% in FFH and buy more AIG warrants (to a 50% allocation). Eric, I am trying to get up to speed on Fairfax. The fact that you say that means a lot. Could you let me know why feel so strongly about Fairfax? I have read the Fairfax board. Obviously the lack of uw profits doesn't bother b/c you like mgmt, ability to allocate capital, etc. I don't feel strongly that Fairfax is going to explode to the upside. I feel strongly that if I venture out on my own, my net worth is likely to explode to the downside. So choosing Fairfax is really a signal that I don't trust my ability very much. I view it as a hedge fund of sorts. They do a good job over time and unless something really easy to understand like BAC comes along, I'm pretty much better off to be with them (or another manager. This is why I bought the minimums in each Berkowitz fund. I know very little and will eventually need to park the money somewhere -- quite likely at a time when there is nothing simple enough for me to figure out. Interesting. I actually can't buy BAC or AIG due to them being restricted securities at my wife's employer. And I don't think I know enough to do a good job of picking other companies. So I've entrusted most of our net worth to Watsa, Berkowitz, and Chou. Good to know Eric shares this thinking.

Thanks, James.

Hi all - I got the following message from TD Ameritrade. I'm a US citizen, holding Fairfax in a taxable brokerage account. I assume I have to fill out for NR301, right? We want you to know that effective January 1, 2013, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) implemented new requirements for receiving reduced tax withholding on Canadian-sourced income payments. Our records of your holdings indicate that you may be affected by this change, so we want you to know what to do to avoid possible additional tax withholding on those payments. About the new requirement: - Previously, your name and address information in our files allowed us to apply a reduced withholding rate to your Canadian-sourced income payments. - Under the new regulations, however, we will need to have a Canadian non-resident tax form(s) on file in order for you to be eligible for the reduced rate. - Please note: Unless we receive the appropriate documentation, we will need to withhold the full statutory tax rate of 25% on your Canadian-sourced income. To ensure you receive the appropriate tax withholding, we urge you to act promptly. - Note: If you have an account with more than one account holder, such as a Joint Account, each account holder must complete a separate form. What you need to do to avoid additional tax withholding: 1. Choose the appropriate form for your particular circumstances, as different forms apply to different situations. Please consult with your tax advisor to determine which form to use. The forms include: - NR301 – Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a Non-resident Taxpayer. - NR302 – Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a Partnership with Non-Resident Partners. - NR303 – Declaration of Eligibility for Benefits under a Tax Treaty for a Hybrid Entity.