WarrenWatsa

When I see these types of articles, I typically just go to the comments looking for a good chuckle. ;D

From the description, it looks like the paper discredits or partially discredits active value investing as opposed to passive value investing. In other words, many here may be better off rotating through a mechanically selected group of stocks that appear cheap, such as Magic Formula stocks, rather than extensively researching individual companies and investing in select ones that meet certain partially subjective criteria. I haven't looked at the paper, though. ;D

Got a good chuckle out of this. I wouldn't at all be surprised if there are posters here with a larger net worth than Tilson. Yet, they don't feel the need to aggrandize themselves on TV, let alone put themselves in the same breath as WEB. Feel sorry for the assistant. Hope she's looking for a new employer.

"The tide is going out" What do you mean, Sanjeev?

At the 2009 shareholders meeting, he had said he hoped to stay on past 2015. So, this comes as a little bit of a surprise. Don't blame a guy for stepping down at 75, though.

Did I get anyone? ;D Doubt it. Too many of you are too smart for this sort of thing. Besides, the date gives it away.

From a fellow shareholder: http://www.scribd.com/doc/87676509/Letter-to-Berkshire-Board

I have heard that the right way to calculate it is the market cap of the Wilshire 5000 divided by GNP...

I ran into a problem with this approach recently. My grandfather had purchased shares in Cominco for my mother when she was a young girl. I recently found the original share certificate in my mother's safe deposit box when I added a copy of my will. My mother had no idea that she should be doing anything with the certificate. I contacted Teck Cominco Investor Relations about this share certificate and received the following reply: Thank you for your inquiry to our website. Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada became Cominco Ltd. which merged with Teck Corporation to form Teck Cominco Limited in July 2001. Unfortunately shares of Cominco needed to be submitted for exchange prior to the 6th anniversary of the merger (July 20, 2007) or the shares were deemed surrendered. Following is the excerpt from the Plan of Arrangement. “Pursuant to the terms of the Arrangement, any certificates formerly representing Cominco Common Shares that are not properly deposited with the Depository together with a duly completed and executed Letter of Transmittal and any other documents the Depository reasonably requires, on or before the sixth anniversary of the Effective Date, shall cease to represent a right or claim of any kind or nature and the right of the holder of such Cominco Common Shares to receive Teck Subordinate Voting Shares or any cash consideration shall be deemed to be surrendered for no consideration to Teck, together with all dividends or distributions thereon held for such holder.” It doesn't seem right that the company can forfeit your shares and about 30 years worth of unpaid dividends, but there you have it. file it under: "the dangers of leaving share certificates as a gift for the financially illiterate" That is so unfair. Perhaps there is some legal avenue to pursue that could aid you and your mother. Just not right.

It's only a matter of time before we know the answer to this question. I look forward to it, and am glad ISDA did what is fair and right by acknowledging that a 'credit event' has indeed occurred via the technical default of Greece. Many were worried that the markets were so not free that CDS holders would get screwed over.

I don't think natural gas has bottomed yet. It will go even lower. There is just so much production and money being put into fracking. I thought it had bottomed a couple of years ago and I was wrong. Sometimes things get extraordinarily cheap and I think the players in this industry are going to get hit as their hedges come off. Usually the analysts are optimistic as you start to get cheaper and cheaper, and then some of them start throwing in the towel when they find they were wrong...that's when you know to buy. Right now people think it is cheap, but it will probably get cheaper. Cheers! I agree. Wilbur Ross is usually early, too. Too much optimism on NG right now. Am hearing about it everywhere right now. Not what bottoms are made of. Everyone was talking about Japan early last year and only now is it rallying - after so many fell asleep on it. Maybe next year...

Wilbur Ross bought XCO, and has been buying at much higher prices than it is now... I'm not sure if PMT will remain solvent long enough to see the comeback of NG.

I've never ventured into mutual funds but am just curious if a Canadian would be able to buy mutual funds run by Fidelity in the US? I apologize if the question sounds stupid. Thanks.

I don't know why a historical fact is being reported like it's news. The annual report shared this info almost a week ago and somehow it is 'news.' The funny thing is, I bet some shareholders have reacted to this 'news.' Their loss.

Excellent, thank you.

That's almost exactly how Greenlight Capital's hedge fund did, as well, for the month of January (i.e. 2.7%). Guess their long exposure was not as high as it should've been. This also means that price-to-book right now for GLRE is likely about 1.03-1.05 I would estimate.

Einhorn has returned 20% after-fees since starting his hedge fund in 1996. This figure is accurate as of the end of 2011. Source: http://www.valuewalk.com/2012/01/breaking-david-einhorns-greenlight-returns-9-7-in-2011/

Any thoughts on the safest Canadian bank to invest in, in terms of the business risks and leverage taken on? I know pretty much all of the Big 5 are guaranteed to survive due to their impact on Canada. Royal Bank seems to be very conservatively run, for example. Was trading at a very appealing price late last summer, as well, with a nice dividend to boot.

Interesting read from last year: http://seekingalpha.com/article/306622-greenlight-capital-the-next-berkshire-hathaway I've been waiting for a drop in this stock and it now seems cheap, although I admit it could certainly get cheaper (in which case it would become more attractive). Invest with David Einhorn's hedge fund via his insurance company for, currently, 1.08x book. I believe Einhorn's fund has gotten off to a good start this year so that indicates GLRE's book value has risen since year-end and may in fact be selling for closer to 1x book. While almost all of the return on BV is driven by Greenlight’s investment portfolio, there is some impact from the underwriting side of the business. But, not much and it should even out over time - Einhorn's goal is to increase book via his hedge fund strategies and to break-even or better on the underwriting, it seems to me. Practically like 1% the size of Berkshire Hathaway, so a lot of future potential to grow. And, book value has been growing nicely in recent years. An added bonus over companies like MKL and BRK: Einhorn is successfully able to put on macro positions that you and I wouldn't have access to and may have difficulty sizing up anyway. I think Einhorn's annualized returns via his hedge fund have been somewhere inbetween 15-20% annualized since 1996.

That's the correct understanding (that there may be materially better deals available than even Berkshire). I believe this is why Berkshire didn't have a share repurchase program during 2008; there were just too many other awesome deals around.

Excellent read. Thanks for sharing. Particularly enjoyed the part about how the 5 ways his fund tries to make money.

May I ask how you got this link? How does one get to it from the Morningstar website? Thanks.

Is there anything other than a landline that works well with a fax machine? Yes, I still use a fax machine. The banks still ask for faxes from me. No scan-and-email.