ourkid8

What do you think of the soon to be Mondelez Brand?

The top two companies I would purchase are PM and CNR. They just happen to be the largest positions in my portfolio as well... #1. Philip Morris International #2. CN Rail

I have a large position in Chou Asia fund and I just switched it into Chou Associates. There is too much risk investing in Chinese companies directly even though Francis does look for a large margin of safety.

$7.48 in after hours, how low can BAC go before you start backing up the truck?

Yup, I am surprised it is at $7.75/share after everything management has done to build a fortress balancesheet. Can it fall further, of course but no one knows and who cares. It is selling at a 70% discount to TBV; unbelivable!!! S

I just sold out of FTR and used the cash to add to my BAC position. I will continue selling out of my lower quality holdings while adding to BAC as it declines. (Sandridge is also very tempting as well) I am trying to moving up the quality scale. As Parsad has mentioned numerous times, this should hit TBV by end of the year.

Finally... the sheer volume of recalls were getting out of hand!!! Outside the recalls, Mr. Weldon did do an okay job at capital allocation by strengthening JNJ's pharma pipeline (one of the strongest in the business), steal of a deal to purchase Pfizer's consumer health care division, walking away from Guident etc etc... Let's hope Mr. Gorsky can turn this ship around OR split this company up as it seems way to large to manage. The decentralized model at JNJ has many benefits but the drawbacks are potentially disastrous. (This is also my #1 worry at Berkshire especially when Mr. Buffett is no longer around) Thanks, S

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/915191/000119312512059815/d300642d13fhr.txt Fairfax added JNJ, RIMM and reduced it's position in LVLT and Dell. It's interesting how Prem is buying JNJ as it is a huge position relative to his portfolio and Warren is selling...

When you say sucking your thumb, are you 100% in cash?

After returning 14% in 2011 so far YTD my portfolio is only up 2.3%. (I know much less then most board members as BAC is only a 2% position in my portfolio) Thanks, S

Thanks everyone for the investment thesis on BAC. This was a small 2% position in my portfolio which has performed exceedingly well. (My cost basis is $6/share) Thanks, S

What is your reserved position? :) (I have to ask!)

I could not agree more!!!!! I would prefer FFH to eliminate the dividend all together but we all understand the reason for it. S

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/canadianpacificrailway-idUSL3E8C35QX20120103?feedType=RSS&feedName=governmentFilingsNews&rpc=43 UPDATE 1-Canadian Pacific dismisses reports on CEO replacement Jan 3 (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd said it was still willing to continue talks with activist investor William Ackman on the company's strategy and dismissed media reports that the railroad operator was willing to consider Ackman's nomination for CEO. Ackman wants the company to replace CEO Fred Green with Canadian National Railway's ex-chief Hunter Harrison. Canadian Pacific had expressed concerns over Harrison's contract with Canadian National and his non-compete arrangements, the company's chairman John Cleghorn said in a letter to Ackman, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cleghorn also said no Canadian Pacific board member "expressed enthusiasm for Mr. Harrison and requested a meeting with him." "Indeed, no invitation has been extended by us to Mr. Harrison, either directly or via Pershing Square." Ackman, whose hedge fund Pershing Square Capital has a 14.2 percent stake in Canadian Pacific, has raised questions about CP's poor operating performance and about its management, although earlier this month the fund said discussions with the Canadian railroad had been productive.

Hi guys, I have not seen this posted yet but here is another restaurant Fairfax is adding to their collection. I have not eaten at Pizza Delight but I have been to Baton Rouge which is a nice chain! http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/breakingnews/new-brunswicks-imvescor-restaurant-group-finishes-25-million-in-refinancing-136389383.html TORONTO - Imvescor Restaurant Group Inc. (TSX: IRG), owner of the Pizza Delight and Baton Rouge chains, has closed a $25-million refinancing that leaves Canadian insurance giant Fairfax Financial Holdings owning more than a third of the company. Included in the funding was $13.2 million from Fairfax (TSX:FFH), Imvescor said Thursday. As a result, Fairfax will own and control more than 22 million Imvescor common shares, representing almost 38 per cent of the company. New Brunswick-based Imvescor said the refinancing will position the company for a return to long-term growth. "The transactions closed today will greatly contribute to position the company for a return to long-term growth and profitability and provide us with a significantly improved balance sheet and financial position" chief executive Denis Richard said in a news release. Imvescor Restaurant Group owns franchised and corporate stores throughout Canada under four brands: Pizza Delight, primarily in Atlantic Canada; Mikes and Scores restaurants, primarily in Quebec, and Baton Rouge, which operates in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Fairfax recently outbid the owner of Swiss Chalet to buy the food services company behind East Side Mario's and Casey's restaurants.

My 2011 rate of return was a strong 14%. It was primary driven by my core concentrated positions: Philip Morris International, CN Rail, Kraft and my timely purchase of Inter Pipeline when the US lost their tripple A credit score which has performed exceedingly well. (Those 4 positions are slightly above 40% of my portfolio) My losers so far have been ATPG (I sold out at a loss), Hanfeng Evergreen Inc (I solt out at a loss), Frontier Communications, Chou Asia, Chou Associates, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Being extremely concentrated has helped me this year and thank god my positions have held up extremely well! :) S

Buying into a auto manufacturer or airline as a hold term investment!!!! S

We have a family business in east Africa and I have to go back home a couple of times a year and Woolworth's is thriving over there! S

How about BYD? This was #2 for me!

You cannot say it was a mistake as prior to the financial crisis, this was the premium companies were paying for high quality assets. What do you mean trying to be a hero? You do not agree with their US strategy which is a low risk retail-focused business model. Their goal was to build the critical mass to succeed in the states as they saw other Canadian banks try and eventually fail. Commerce Bancorp came on the market as a surprise since the CEO (Vernon Hill) had issues with the regulators and the BOD asked him to step down otherwise this bank would not have been in play. TD essentially purchased Commerce for it's best in class strategy at deposit gathering, not asset generation as is the case with most commercial banks. (Deposit growth of 28% annual clip which is absolutely unheard of) This essentially changed TD Banknorth from a company who consistently grew via acquisition to more of an organic growth focused company. Thanks, S Could you elaborate a bit on why you think TD is different? It's not a sector I know much about, but I'm always trying to learn :) TD made some large acquisitions of US regional banks in the 2006 2008 period paid > 2.5 times book and clearly this was a mistake which is not reflected in their income statement or mkt price. BMO has large US exposure but they were have been much more circumspect in when they bought and what they paid. CIBC which was the bank which had the gunslingers in charge changed mgmt in 2007 and the CEO who I have known for 30 years as we both started our careers 30 years ago @ Merrill is determined to have the strongest balance sheet in the industry. The CDN banking industry is in an very interesting position if they could create firewalls between their CDN operations and their foreign subs they could become world leaders and replace the Swiss. The govt. is rightfully afraid of the CDN banks becoming too large as any failure of a CDN bank would be of the too big to bail category if their foreign exposures are not ring fenced.

Parsad, how about companies like PM who consistently repurchase their stock at any price. The debt they issue to fund the repurchase is lower then the dividend yield of the shares they are repurchasing. Doesn't that make good financial sense to continue to repurchase those shares under that scenario even if the stock is selling above its intrinsic value? S

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Prime-Restaurants-Inc-ccn-4078176496.html?x=0&l=1 -Fairfax offer of $71 million which is equivalent to $7.75/share in cash (7.50 /share in cash from Fairfax + .25 /share in a special dividend which may or may not be paid)

CN is a very large position in my portfolio and I know that CN is goverened by the CN Commercialization Act which has 2 key provisions, 1. No individual shareholder can own more than 15% of CN 2. CN's headquarters must remain in Montreal thus maintaining CN as a "Canadian corporation". I am not sure if there are any acts around CP Rail, is there any shareholders on the board that care to elaborate? With the recent backlash around BHP trying to acquire POT, I highly doubt the government will allow CP Rail to be acquired. (The most likely acquirer is Burlington Northern) CP has been extremely badly managed and requires new management but this has played into the benefit of CN Rail shareholders! :) Thanks, S

What do you consider very small?

I am up YTD around 15-17% (using leverage) with my two core positions CN Rail and Philip Morris International leading the charge! My portfolio continues to beat the market and I have no doubt long term it will continue to do so... During the whole debt ceiling issue, I was able to start/add to the following positions: Berkshire, Inter Pipeline, Sandridge and Frontier Communications. Thanks, S