JEast

I was walking down memory lane earlier today when I noticed Mark Cuban going in for a private meeting. Recall that he even chimed on financial advice that shorting Fairfax was a good idea, or a least that he was shorting it. Cheers JEast

For the old school Fairfax holders, recall that Mr. Cuban stated on his blog that (to paraphrase) 'Fairfax was the best short he had ever seen.' I always wondered where the source that he was getting his information from. Most of us now have a good idea of the source :) Cheers JEast

Ain't pretty for who :) Noticed that China is not allowing Vale's mega-ships into the country as they protect their shipbuilding industry. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/with-china-shut-vale-iron-ore-ships-head-to-philippines-2012-01-26 Cheers JEast

Thanks for the information. I am familiar with Scott Page's work and currently reading his book on 'Diversity and Complexity (Primers in Complex Systems)'. Cheers JEast

I have liked Overstock's website for years and have purchased many items from the company. In the several years as a happy customer, I have had only one issue but which was supported timely and friendly by customer service. I say this as I did not understand the attached Reuters article where 'Overstock.com Inc came last out of the 40 largest online retailers' in customer satisfaction. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/29/netflix-onlinesurvey-idUSN1E7BS03R20111229?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologySector&rpc=43 Cheers JEast

A pre-pre pint tradition and good value discussion sounds good. Cheers JEast

It would appear after the FED's recent announcement to keep a zero percent environment a year longer than expected, 1% on the 10 year treasuries is more likely than 3% anytime soon. Irrespective, I still would like HW to sell some of their/our long-term bonds. Another 70bp would be a nice addition to BV, but assuming FFH is still roughly 90%, or more, hedged, buying some businesses or equities would appear to be more beneficial to long-term shareholders. My 2 or 3 cents. Cheers JEast

Maybe a little momentum is gaining. I love this quote from Denis O’Brien, "We have taken the cod liver oil." He says that he is now ready to invest in Bank of Ireland. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-27/billionaire-denis-o-brien-says-would-invest-in-bank-of-ireland.html Cheers JEast

As a follow-up to the 'Prem Watsa Brings Hope To Rim's Restless Shareholders' thread, looks like H&W have doubled down. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-27/rim-investor-fairfax-financial-doubles-stake-in-blackberry-maker.html?cmpid=yhoo Cheers JEast

What the article does not say is that Californians would rather keep their 50 year-old coal plants than build newer efficient and cleaner power producing plants. That is unless you pay off the eco-mafia. Another reason to like Mid-American as they appear to have restrained from the shakedown, so far. Cheers JEast

'Jon Horvath, an analyst at Sigma Capital Management, an affiliate of hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors in Manhattan, was arrested at his New York City home' http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-charged-61M-single-trade-apf-491853987.html?x=0 It is taking time, but slowly the corruption is getting rounded up - or a least until the next bull market. Cheers JEast

I would say when you pay prison guards a 3X salary as a pension then that defines redistribution for me. I have also noticed the same road contrast over the years and say its spot on. If anyone drives I-80 on the way to (or from) Reno into California, you will know what I mean. Cheers JEast

Not a game changer, but Bing moved into a 15.1% share of the U.S. search traffic moving past Yahoo's 14.5% share of the U.S. market. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-11/microsoft-yahoo-search/52505430/1 Cheers JEast

Property catastrophe reinsurance prices rose 9.5 percent globally for contracts renewed on Jan. 1. As expected, but was hoping for the 15% range. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/property-catastrophe-reinsurance-rates-rise-guy-carpenter-says.html?cmpid=yhoo Cheers JEast

The US has not signed a surface transportation bill (i.e. highway bill) since 2005. The resulting impact has been eight short-term funding efforts by congress. Past legislative bills passed were usually of the six-year plans for the funding. This allowed local governments and businesses to plan. The continuous extensions have put most state projects on hold since local governments cannot plan long-term and subsequently only fund local repairs. Not that I invest on the gamble of legislative, or crony capitalism, but what are the board member's thoughts on some of the benefactors for a six-year deal come 2013? Aggregates? Heavy construction? Cheers JEast

From a price only perspective of MBIA - this is true. However, I am of the belief that once the lawyers and the judges got involved with MBIA then the law changed which flipped the analysis. In the end, we are in the probability business, not the certainty business. One could fault Whitman on this specific case, but much like John Bogle, he has been a steward of the mutual fund industry. Cheers JEast

Just got around to reading the Fall 2011 edition of 'Graham & Doddsville' which was probably put together sometime in September/October. As a big fan of Marty Whitman, I was somewhat surprised that he was quoted as saying Sears was toast. This even though he teamed with ESL on the Kmart deal. I would assume he is starting to like some of the bonds or trade receivables though. Cheers JEast

As premiums for the non-life sector India continues to expand, but at spurts and starts, ICICI Lombard may approach $1B in gross premiums in 2012. http://www.capitalmarket.co.in/if.asp?L=insurance&M=cmedit%2Fstory25-0.asp%3Fsno%3D526483 As a caution though, combined ratio is still north of 100%. Cheers JEast

From someone who likes Sears as I have spent around $6k there just in the last couple of months, and going again this week - I guess the option market did know something after all. Now might be the time to sell the puts for a calculated speculation given that the news is out. Cheers JEast

The New England Complex Systems Institute claims that they have found evidence that traders executed a 'bear raid' on Citigroup in 2007. If I recall, the uptick rule was removed sometime in 2007. http://necsi.edu/research/economics/bearraid.html Download http://necsi.edu/research/economics/bearraid.pdf Cheers JEast

For all the talk about using the option market, I would mention that the option market makers aren't stupid. With the skewed price of the puts, I would suspect that they are priced right. Meaning that SHLD will probably go lower. Anyway, just a cautionary note. Cheers Jeast

We were all asking the company to buy back shares. I guess we got our wish. However, buying shares back via a take under is less than I would have hoped for. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/BI-LO-Winn-Dixie-Agree-Merge-bw-1148306134.html?x=0 Cheers JEast

As we gather steam back to the bond September lows, let’s see if the FFH team finally sells some of those long dated bonds. From the 3rd quarter report it would appear that they had not. I am sure HW sees good equity values currently that we could surely exchange. Given the opportunity for another 25% gain on bonds (some would argue) versus 10%+ earnings yield (plus dividends) seems like an easy exchange. Some bond gains for more equity positions is requested. If the birds chirp more, let’s give them a little in the next few weeks :) Cheers JEast

Not to sound socialist, but USPS does an under appreciated job and connects the country to rural areas that are not to the benefit of profit. Also as an example, the USPS delivers on Saturday whereas most other services (or all) do not. However, I would suspect that we do not need 6 days a week service anymore. The question is what day do you eliminate service on? Cheers JEast

A somewhat funny anecdote, is that I once lived in Texas and ‘my twang’ was foreign to the local twang so all the old Texan's I worked with called me a Yankee as they thought I was from Oklahoma. For full disclosure, I owe the twang to the ovarian lottery which was conceived in southern Virginia and perfected in central North Carolina :) Cheers JEast