gfp

Also saw this article this morning - https://www.retailbankerinternational.com/news/emirates-nbd-fairfax-stake-idbi/

This morning had an even larger first trade of over a quarter million FFH shares. Interesting!

SBF's lawyers must love it every time he speaks publicly before the trial. Anyway, it is a good read. https://sambf.substack.com/p/ftx-pre-mortem-overview

Thanks for the context Cigarbutt. I remember years ago Gen Re felt so highly of TransRe that they let them have the underwriting pen for a while and it surprised me at the time. But really it was a good show of respect for their underwriting culture and of course they are now part of Berkshire. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/775368/000119312516641267/d222170dex991.htm

Are other people seeing a huge trade at the open on Fairfax's Toronto listed shares (FFH) ? Very unusual. Like $150+ million CAD?

I think the bull case is that inflation is falling and the economy is very strong.

I understand and all but it has always been a pet peeve of mine that "reality" is always described as "a miss" and the guys paid to guess are not the "miss."

So this business is an MGU "Managing General Underwriter" - sort of like an insurance broker with the authority to bind coverage directly (make the underwriting decision). My understanding is that Ambridge placed business not only with Brit but also with other global reinsurers. After this deal closes, they will still have a close partnership with Brit to place business with them. But Brit would no longer participate in the brokerage commission portion of that business. No idea how this differs from an "MGA" (Managing general agent) but I think they are essentially the same.

$75.2m plus whatever the value of Brit's US operations that were contributed to the Ambridge business was. I believe they refer to this business as "BGSU" in the press release.

Thanks Viking for the RBC summary. Here is a video with the Guy Carpenter chairman David Priebe talking about the hectic 1/1 renewals https://www.theinsurertv.com/leading-voices/gcs-priebe-reinsurers-reluctance-to-provide-quotes-created-late-and-fragmented-renewal/?utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.theinsurertv.com%2fleading-voices%2fgcs-priebe-reinsurers-reluctance-to-provide-quotes-created-late-and-fragmented-renewal%2f&utm_campaign=GC’s+Priebe%3a+Reinsurers’+reluctance+to+provide+quotes+created+“late+and+fragmented”+renewal

Is Houbi owned by the guy who paid up for the lunch with Buffett?

I doubt the sales of BYD are connected to some high level take on the global auto industry but who knows. I would guess that the value (and valuation) of the BYD stake became too large inside of BHE and Greg was given permission to make a call on starting a liquidation (or a partial liquidation - we'll see). Warren didn't make the original call to invest in BYD - he sent Sokol to check it out and make the decision with BHE's (then MidAmerican's) capital. I wouldn't be surprised if BYD sales proceeds ultimately fund some repurchases by BHE of the Walter Scott estate shares. Either way, BHE has plenty of uses for the capital.

Interesting data on put option activity from today's WSJ - https://www.wsj.com/articles/higher-rates-tech-selloff-fuel-options-boom-11673214152?mod=hp_lead_pos1 Comments on the spike in the Put-Call ratio from the end of the article: " Despite the appearance of fear, other indicators suggest that options protecting from market turmoil are in low demand. The Nations TailDex, which measures the cost of put options that would pay out in a major S&P 500 decline, recently hit a near-decade low. “Common thinking is that high readings in the Cboe equity put-call ratio suggest fear is rampant, because traders are purchasing a large number of puts,” Mr. Kochuba of SpotGamma said. “Occasionally, this can be correct. In this case, it is not.”"

BHE sold another 10.76 million shares of BYD (HK:1211). https://di.hkex.com.hk/di/NSAllFormList.aspx?sa2=an&sid=2508&corpn=BYD+Co.+Ltd.++-+H+Shares&sd=09/01/2022&ed=09/01/2023&cid=2&sa1=cl&scsd=09%2f01%2f2022&sced=09%2f01%2f2023&sc=1211&src=MAIN&lang=EN&g_lang=en&

https://www.fairfax.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2023/Amynta-Group-Acquires-Ambridge-Group-from-Brit-a-subsidiary-of-Fairfax/default.aspx

Are you saying here that you think Vicki Hollub should be installed as the leader of Berkshire Hathaway Energy?

Looks like Resolute Forest Products is a done deal - https://decisions.ct-tc.gc.ca/ct-tc/cdo/en/item/521162/index.do

Great post longterminvestor - thanks for the color

Thanks Dinar. This video is from March 2022 for context.

Does BTC demonstrate tax-loss selling patterns in losing years? Or are all you crypto cowboys not paying tax on this stuff?

Put me down as not knowing anything about it. Thanks to all for their angelic patience.

I remember 2006 very well. Homebuilder stocks were "cheap" with single digit P/E ratios and growing earnings. Classic cyclical low-PE value trap. The stocks declined throughout 2006 and continued weak until the stock market bottomed in 2009. Of course companies like NVR, with a better model, fared better than the average homebuilder.

Just to follow up, this (OSTRW) was a 100% loss of capital, correct?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the super voting shares also lose their super voting status on Prem's death.

Thanks for answering. I understand your point of view. Is "stable" a good quality for "money" to have? Does extreme volatility and levered correlation with risk assets (vs behaving more like gold) make this super secure thing a poor substitute for things historically used as "money." Why is it so hard for another cryptocurrency/chain to have security as good as Bitcoin? Is this not something that is created by man and therefore man can do it again if they want to? I'm trying to figure out if the "there is no bitcoin in space but plenty of every other limited resource" argument is any good.