gfp

Dinar is probably talking about Fairfax India being classified as a PFIC for US-based investors. I'm not sure it still is, but Americans can hold it inside an IRA type account and avoid the hassles.

BRK proxy - https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312524069107/d512828ddef14a.htm

Not sure where to post this, either here or in the old Atlas thread but here is the year end 20-F from Atlas / Poseidon, which still reports to the SEC for the Fairfax shareholders who are interested: https://www.sec.gov/ixviewer/ix.html?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1794846/000162828024011260/atco-20231231.htm

You see this sort of "float" with some subscription based businesses where a subscription is sold (cash comes in on day one as total billings) but profit is only recognized over the life of the subscription. I just analyze these companies based on the cash billings and not on GAAP. Some companies are required to hold most of that upfront cash on the books (maybe they offer money back guarantees or have to hold some of it as restricted cash or whatever) so it earns 5% today and more or less in other interest rate environments. A well run, growing insurance business isn't really paying back the float - it is just a revolving fund of fungible capital that should grow over time if conditions are right. Better than the 'un-earned revenue' type of float Anterix would have.

Clearly we are back from the doldrums of exclamation point frugality

I do think the impact of the short report was evident in the increased line by line detail on what the valuations were on each balance sheet mark. A lot more detail than prior years and the intent was obviously to show that these valuations are not crazy reaches.

h/t to kingswell newsletter for highlighting Charlie's memorial service at Harvard Westlake School - Mohnish appears to be the only attendee to post selfies from the event -

The idea is that the pension plan partners won't get stuck with illiquid and unsaleable stock of private businesses. They aren't ever going to IPO or force a sale of a subsidiary but the language is there to protect them. It really is just preferred equity pawn-shop behavior with a friendly partner.

look at all those green candles - what a crap short sale

I don't think Berkshire needs to fill Charlie's board seat since he was not an independent director and Berkshire already had two additional "vice chairmen" (a role that is also not required). But this article got me thinking that Don Graham would probably be a trusted addition by Warren and Berkshire's business with Graham Holdings is concluded as far as I know. Bonus points that Graham is not a fund manager, as the BRK board is a bit heavy on that particular profession. https://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffett-minds-the-gaap-berkshire-hathaway-annual-report-earnings-4f6aa571

CIBC raises FFH target to C$2000 from C$1700 fwiw (not much)

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/indias-iifl-finance-raise-242-mln-via-rights-basis-non-convertible-debentures-2024-03-13/

I guess the closest we have is Matt Levine's column at Bloomberg. Usually pretty hilarious.

Awesome thanks - they obviously hired a talented designer and put a bunch of work into producing it. I figure somewhere there is a big stack of them.

Yeah, I am definitely not advocating for borrowing against Berkshire or any other stock with margin debt (despite the fact that I sometimes do it - but I'm a big boy and I understand the risks). There are other ways to add leverage to your financial life that are far less dangerous for those that are impatient or whatever.

I don't think the insurance companies have that type of dividend capacity to send the money to the holdco for repurchases. And, of course, you couldn't successfully tender for 2/3rds of the stock at current prices and get it (or much at all).

On the subject of Buffett and debt and Berkshire board members making well timed moves with the stock... In 1976 Warren convinced his Mother to sell her 5,272 shares of BRK.A to his sisters Doris & Bertie for $5,440 plus a $100,000 note (to Mom, not the bank or margin). They each got 2,636 A-shares at about $40/share while coming up with only about $2/share in cash. 95% leverage. Kind of puts his stories from this year's annual letter about his sister being one of the greatest investors of all time all on her own into perspective. Charlie Munger did a similarly well-timed masterstroke of estate planning near the absolute bottom of stock prices in the GFC - he got 2,000 A-shares out of his estate, sold to family members in exchange for a promissory note. On 11/20/2008, with BRK.A at $77,500. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000118143108063602/xslF345X03/rrd224408.xml

The first Laguna beach house was $150k and I think Warren paid in cash. He had recently shut down the partnership and that gave him $16 million cash but he pretty quickly spent every dime of it buying shares of stock (and presumably the Laguna house). Then he ran out of cash and had to live on only the $50k annual salary Berkshire paid him and some fees he earned from running a pension fund for FMC Corporation (a sort of favor for a friend). A few years later, Warren paid $300k cash for Howie's first farm in Nebraska. Howie paid Warren rent. I'm not sure if that farm was mortgaged or not.

I finally got it. Fairfax India is having some website issues. This is the full AR not just the letter FIH_-_Annual_Report_2023.pdf

I'm looking for India, not FFH

Who's got the Fairfax India 2023 letter to upload? I can't seem to access it

I'm starting to feel sorry for the old guy. He reads all these newspapers every day - opens up the Journal: Apple fined $2 Billion, about to be sued for antitrust, Pacificorp wildfire verdicts, HomeServices, BHE sued for billions!, Haslam's screwing you! It's rough out there for the deep-pocketed.

The best I can tell about the Japanese investments is that Berkshire doesn't actually take the JPY they borrow from the bonds and use that to buy the Japanese stocks. They borrow the JPY at the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BHI, parent, holdco) level and receive JPY and probably immediately swap almost all of it into US treasury bills. They pay the interest in JPY. Then, separately, they buy shares of the 5 sogo shosha companies inside National Indemnity, an insurance subsidiary of BHI. They transfer National Indemnity's treasury bills and some USD cash to Wallachbeth Capital to settle up their trades.

It's kind of funny, @valueinvesting101, you got me checking into various depository / banking relationships for the BRK subsidiaries and Berkshire Hathaway Specialty (the newer, fast growing Excess and Surplus lines primary outfit) actually has a bank account at Paypal Holdings. Surprised me. Everyone has a venmo account I suppose

Re: ICICI Bank, that is literally only $1,500 USD worth of bank deposit cash sitting in the bank. I don't know where Berkshire "custodies" the Japanese shares but it is probably a division of Citi (or BNY). The shares are purchased using Berkshire's go-to large block trader, Wallachbeth Capital (which is who Warren uses for almost all large trades for the last several years). I have no idea which bank wires the JPY to Wallachbeth to settle up since the bank account balances are just shown in their US Dollar equivalents here. Maybe I could tell by looking at past filings right after a Yen bond sale was completed but I've never wondered myself. *edit: I looked around and none of the Berkshire insurance subsidiaries have a banking relationship with a Japanese bank. I don't know what they are delivering to Wallachbeth to settle up or from where. Might come from Wells but the main National Indemnity Wells Fargo bank account pays t-bill-like interest so there isn't any JPY in there. FWIW, as far as I can tell Ted Weschler tends to trade through this 'woman-owned' broker dealer - "Glen Eagle Wealth" https://gleneagleadv.com/institutional-markets