ourkid8

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

Absolutely wonderful interview...

Good for you for having your expenses around $9,000/year!!! I pay $600/week in mortgage payments + just under $700/month to our lovely town of Richmond Hill in property taxes. Just on those 2 items alone, I hit about $9,000 in under 3 months! Shahed Stanley you are my new role model. BeerBaron hahaha. thanks, man! 8) Wow! $6-9k a year?! That's impressive. Are you currently incarcerated? That's the only way I could see expenses being that low. Pretty much! Well, my electricity is about $50-$100 a month. My food is $100 or less (i would guess probably closer to $50). Gas is about $100. My insurance (car, home, health) is around $200 or so a month. My property taxes are around $2000 per year. My internet is about $35 or so. Hmmm...if we say $80 for misc stuff (gifts, dates, etc)....that's about $9,000 or so a year.

I am in the same situation since that would be Utopia! I am only 30 but my goal is to fully retire at the age of 45 and live off my dividend income. In the next couple of years I will be earning close to $1,000/month from dividends (before taxes) and my ultimate goal is for the dividend distribution to replace my income.

I am a bit confused as what is the difference between both examples? They both returned 30% in 2010 either though capital gains or dividends. It will be significantly difficult for scenario #1 to outperform scenario #2 over the long term especially since KO is able to increase it's dividend 7-10% YoY over the long term. Scenario #1 You have a portfolio that returned 30% in 2010 Scenario #2 I am holding KO with a dividend yield based on initial cost of 30% in 2010

That is exactly how I have tailored the majority of my portfolio. (54.15% as of Sept 30, 2011) My primary focus is on safe and stable companies that pay a large and growing dividend which I can leave on cruise control. This strategy allows me to build cash to invest in other opportunities which may arise that does not pay a constant stable and growing dividend (ie. Fairfax, Berkshire Hathaway, Sandridge, etc) I am also able to use leverage as I have strong cashflow coming in from my core dividend paying positions. In case of an emergency, the dividend payment easily covers the interest. -Philip Morris International - yield: 6.82% -TD bank - yield: 5.05% -Johnson & Johnson - yield: 3.69% -KFT - yield: 4.39% (We have not seen dividend increases in a couple of years which has been disapointing as they have been digesting Carbury but large stable dividend growth is very soon) -CNR.to - yield: 3.08% Over the last 3-4 years, I have focused on this strategy mainly because of Mr. Buffett's investment in KO and See's candy. His dividend yield on KO is well over 30%+ on his initial investment. For See's it is over 100%!!! In the example of KO, if the stock does not move that year, he made over a 30%+ return which is unbelivable! (and that yield grows YoY) Thanks, S

http://choufunds.com/europe.html I definitely recommend Chou Europe if you are looking for a European focused fund with one of the best value fund manager (Francis Chou) at the helm. I currently hold 2 of his funds, Chou Associates and Chou Asia and what impresses me is his honesty, integrity and focus on long term value. Thanks, S

I have made a few changes to my portfolio: PM, FFH.to, TD.to, CNR.to, JNJ, Chou Associates, BRK.B, KFT, Chou Asia, WFC, USB, FTR, SD, CASH, IPL-UN.to and ATPG. (My top 4 positions is about 54% of my portfolio - PM, FFH.to, TD.to and CNR.to) I am actually surprised that there are hardly any individuals who hold Tobacco companies in their portfolio. Tobacco companies in general have long term track record of delivering above average returns while being dedicated to creating shareholder value by distributing a large portion of their earnings via Dividends and share buy-backs. Thanks, S

This is the generic press release they always announce around this time...

I would like to add Philip Morris International (PM) as very shareholder friendly in returning cash in the form of a large dividend and a very large share repurchase program. Since the March 08' spin-off from Altria until the end of June 11' Philip Morris International spent $18.9B to purchase 378.4 million shares, representing 17.9% of the shares outstanding at that time. The average price of the stock repurchased was $50/share and at current price of $69.08 represents a 38% RoR on their investment. PM also pays a very generous dividend of $3.08/share and since retiring 378.4 million shares since the spin-off saves annually $1.1B in dividend payments! This is my largest portfolio holding and I plan to hold this investment for life! :) Thanks, S

I am the same, I stay away from shorting and using options as well. Leverage is my only vice and I am trying to kick the habbit. I have a 3-4 year plan to be debt free as I do allocate the majority of my salary towards debt repayment or investments. Thanks, S I'm 29, but was never attracted by leverage. I also don't short or use options. Guess it's a "keep it simple" thing.

Huge improvement! Great job guys...

I have a Debt / Equity (asset) ratio of approximately 0.38. I know it's rather high but I am a 30 year old who used a lot of leverage when I first started investing about 5 years ago and then doubled my leverage during Feb / March 09' crash to juice my returns! My goal is to reach zero leverage (In 3-4 years) as well but I honestly cannot help myself during these sell-offs! ;D Thanks, S Out of curiosity, how much leverage do you have? Having zero leverage is one of my risk control methods, and sometimes if feels like I'm in a minority around here doing that.

Same. :'( I was considering using some more leverage but decided against it.

During today's bloodbath I purchased the following: -Added to my stake in brk.b @ $66.98 -Initiated a stake in Inter Pipeline fund (ipl-un.to) @ $14.44 for my RRSP account Thanks, S

I think this will definitely create tremendous shareholder value as the Global snack business will definitely command a higher multiple then the grocery division based on their growth profiles. The global snacks business (Oreo, Lu, Cadbury, Milka, Chocolates, Trident gum) is growing at a much faster clip globally then the grocery division (Kraft macaroni and cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Philadelphia cream cheese, maxwell house coffee) which is predominately in North America. This is a 'similar' move that Altria recently did by spinning off Philip Morris International... Thanks, S

I just put all my cash to work and bought a position yesterday in Berkshire, it's way to cheap to ignore. I now have 0% of my portfolio in cash...

I agree, 5-7 years...

For everyone with high cash balances in your portfolio, what are you waiting for?

I am up 11% YTD and I am very happy with my portfolio and it's long term prospects. I am sitting on just over 5% cash waiting to be deployed!!! (My trigger finger is getting itchy...) My winners: (This does not including forex) PM - 17% CNR - 14.5% SD - 44% Thanks, S

I am at about 5.39% and wish I had more!!! I am just waiting on the right opportunity...............

Without a doublt if I had only one stock to buy it would be Philip Morris International (PM). PM is my largest position in my portfolio at around 17% and I have a purchase price of $45.19 which gives me a dividend yield of 5.7% and growing. Right now it is a bit pricey but management is absolutely comitted to creating shareholder value by paying outover 100% of their earnings in Dividend (65% payout ratio), acquisitions and share repurchases. This is a position you buy and hold for life... Benefits- -addictive! -100% of earnings comes from outside the USA but translated back into US$'s which is currently giving us a nice lift with the devaluation of the US$ -PM has signed an exclusive agreement with China national tobacco corporateion (CNTC) to exclusively sell their Marlboro cigarettes in China (This will payoff long term) -PM is actually growing volumes in Asia at a very nice clip which is offsetting the volume declines in EU -Since this is an 80/20 stock where over 80% (it is 100%) of their earnings comes from outside the US the withholding tax paid on dividends is 1% instead of 15% for all canadian investors -owns 7 of the top 15 international brands in the world -Marlboro is the #1 brand in the world and is outselling it's next 2 closest global competitor brands combined!!! -Can raise prices above inflation -consistently looks for efficiencies and over the last 4 years have cut over $1B in costs (Another $250M will be cut this year) -Completed a 2 year $13B share repurchase program and is working on completing a 3 year $12B share repurchase program Risks- -Lawsuits (significantly reduced by splitting away from Philip Morris USA) -plaine packaging -trade down -health concerns -gov legislation restricting smoking I can keep on going with the benefits but this is definitely a stock I would hold for the next 5 years and beyond! Thanks, S