Kraven

I say high, you say low You say why and I say I don't know, oh no You say goodbye and I say hello

I think it can be done if you're the "boss" (per warren's case). I mean if you determine it's your job, and it's something that you enjoy, why not day in and day out? It just isn't possible. Sure, on any one day you could do it, but every day? What if there are calls to be made? What if there are meetings? What if you guest host CNBC Squawk Box every week? These things would all take away from your 500 page requirement and then it would be that it's the exception not the rule. Of course it also depends on what is being read. Is it paperbacks or indentures? No one is reading 500 pages of indentures every day. Even if it was paperbacks it would assume that daily someone was reading an entire book, plus some more of another. Ratchet it up to something that requires an iota of brain power and it's just not possible. Flipping pages in the newspaper doesn't count. We're talking about reading something word for word.

This makes me smile just thinking about all the people attempting to bang out 500 pages a day. It was and is impossible* despite claims to the contrary. 500 pages a week is of course a different story and many people are doing that. * When I say impossible, I am not referring to a single day in which it can obviously be done, but day in and day out where it cannot.

Book review on "Dream Big", a book about 3G that was just recently translated from Portuguese to English. Apparently it's now available on Amazon. https://www.santangelsreview.com/2014/04/28/book-review-and-lessons-from-dream-big-a-glimpse-inside-the-strategies-and-tactics-of-3g-capital/

The HBO movie is available for free on Youtube (thanks to Otsog for pointing that out): http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/general-discussion/barbarians-at-the-gate-(tv-movie)/ The book is very good, the movie is god awful.

Today I am buying a sandwich and drink.

Nicely done.

I'll say what no one else wants to. It's amazingly self serving and hypocritical and if wasn't Buffett, but just a "well respected business leader" who did this the wrath of value investmentdom would reign down.

Malcolm Gladwell discusses this topic in one of his books. Maybe it was in Outliers. It's in the context of the luck component of success in life. How when you are born (and where you are born) is a large factor in what one is able to accomplish. He talks a lot about people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and how it isn't a coincidence that they were both born in the mid 1950s. That they both came of age at a time when computer availability was in its infancy and in a place where they both had access. So if they were born maybe even a year or 2 earlier, they come of age prior to that time and if a year or 2 later someone else beat them to it. The other thing I remember about his discussion is how he looked back at how very few of the "most" successful people were born I think in the 1910s or 1920s because they would have come of age during the Depression and there wasn't the opportunities around, but someone born in the 1930s came of age after the Depression and WWII during a period of expansion. He talks about Canadian hockey players and how most great ones are born early in the year because of how leagues are organized and how, for example, 8 year old boys are grouped together, but there is a big difference between one born in January and one born in December (almost a year older). Anyway, Gladwell is just pop science, but it's always interesting and applicable to the topic you raised.

These are internal demons most of us investors face since it directly contradicts his main message of ignoring Mr. Market. Keynes, Buffett and Graham himself heavily emphasize the dictum: It is preferable to buy dollar bills at seventy cents, rather than selling them at seventy cents in the hope of subsequently repurchasing the notes at fifty cents. Vinod As much as Graham believed in the Mr Market parable, there was a part of him that always feared losses, even paper losses if they lasted too long, as a result of his experience during the Great Depression.

If possible please ask him the following: Here is a multi part question: first, do you think Fairfax can return 15% a year; second, do you think Sears is a good or bad investment; and finally, have you ever worn a fake mustache and, if so, did you buy it at Sears and if not, and you found yourself in need of a fake mustache in the future, would you consider Sears for your fake mustache needs?

Some good topics for discussion: 1. Which is the best religion? 2. Who is a better driver, men or women? 3. Coke or Pepsi? 4. Which Darrin was the best on Bewitched? 5. What is the best music group ever?

I was there and was sorry not to meet up. Next year for sure, my friend. I will wear a light blue polyester tux with ruffles on it so you can find me.

;D ;D ;D Sanjeev, You know those gorgeous models hired by The Keg? When one of them handed me the gift card with $25 bucks for free, I didn’t have the readiness to address her this way: “Wow! Now that I have $25 bucks for free, I must surely offer you a dinner!!” … I would have made Kraven proud of me, but I miserably failed the test … I tortured me for days after the meeting! ::) Cheers, Gio PS Truth be told, I am dating Ginevra right now, and she is gorgeous too! ;) Say that you at least winked.

I'm curious as to which board members are standouts: - Which board member is most creative? - Which board members are the best friends? - Which board member has the prettiest hair? - Which board member has the prettiest eyes? - Which board member has the prettiest smile? - Which board member is most athletic? - Which board member is most likely to succeed? - Which board member has the best physique? - Which board member has the most board spirit? - Which board member is most scholarly?

What can you say about someone who has given so much and taken nothing in return? How do you breathe a portion of his air? If he tells you to invest the only appropriate response is "how much?" I don't know what to say or do that would be a fitting tribute. I would gladly give my life for his.

I noted many times that the capital return would likely disappoint and be low. My views on this were hissed by many of the true believers on the board. People believe what they want to believe.

Good post. I think most people have stopped believing in large market declines after the bull market of the past 5 years. When valuations decline, and it inevitably will, the results will show a different story. I like what FFH is doing. They haven't forgotten the first rule of investing: never lose money. This is a theme I've seen on the board recently. It's as if the good times will never end and markets never decline. Somehow 2008/2009 is viewed as a fairly harmless blip that we navigated through without issue. I don't remember it like that at all. I remember how the fear was so strong, not just for investors but everyone. Friends who had never invested a dime were watching the news to see how bad the stock market was doing and wondering how things would survive. Since that time I've kept cash on the sidelines. In retrospect it's been stupid because I could have juiced my returns a little more for the past five years. Yet no one knows when the next crash or downturn will happen, and the last one caught a lot of people off guard. I'd rather be patient and be able to seize opportunity than miss out. This is exactly right. In hindsight things are always obvious. It is clear now that 2008/9 was perhaps the buying opportunity of a generation. I know that everyone wants to believe that regardless of what happens people will continue drinking Coke and getting mortgages from Wells Fargo, but that isn't manna from heaven. There are other things that could have occurred. The entire financial crisis is a series of events that of course happened as they did, but could have very likely have occurred in different ways. Likewise, the "buying opportunity" and the tremendous return on CDS might not have occurred either. What if instead of Lehman going under the Fed acquiesced and backstopped Barclays for a couple of days. I think people forget that prior to Lehman the market was still in reasonably good shape all things considered. Sure, it was down, but not that much. So Barclays neatly takes over Lehman and perhaps there is no financial crisis in the way it occurred.

He is saying don't buy a full position to start since you will almost certainly have an opportunity to buy more if (when) the price falls. So scale into a full position. Likewise, on the way out start selling as something reaches fair value or close to it and leave some room (if warranted) for some additional upside and sell on a scale on the way out.

He did consider historical prices as part of his consideration. He generally liked things near the lows of at least 3+ years. It was viewed more as a qualitative factor in the sense that psychologically other investors would be more willing to bid something up to a level it had been before. I do not believe it was a controlling factor for him. Interestingly, both Graham and Cundill also reference prior prices as well as one factor in their analysis.

This is the equivalent to the reading 500 pages a day thread. Unless he has set up a system and tracked exactly how long he spends on each investment, it's a symbolic figure. "Well, I spend a lot of time, must have been something like 500 hours on each one." It's not intended to be a benchmark for how long one spends. The answer, of course, for how long one must research a stock is just long enough. There are stocks I've bought after thinking about them for a long time and stocks I've bought after 2 seconds. Position sizes differ. It's akin to the famous Potter Stewart line about knowing it when you see it. The more experience you have and the more you have a workable process the easier it gets to pull the trigger.

I have never felt more relieved in my life than when I realized this was just a joke. Talk about a nightmare!

You must be new around here. As opposed to everything else? ^^^^This guy might be the most serious guy on the board. ;) Note: He also gives great dating advice! Last I heard his dating advice was a flop..... I would argue it wasn't the advice, but the execution. Now are you entirely sure about this? I will let the board membership be the judges. advice from Kraven 1. Unbutton 3-4 buttons on your shirt and wear lots of gold chains. 2. If you have various tattoos, make sure to show them off. 3. Order for her and if she says she doesn't like what you ordered shush her and tell her you know what you're doing. 4. Flex your muscles as often as possible. For example, if asked where the ladies room is make sure that when you point you show off the guns a little bit. 5. Talk about various "fantasies" you have and ask her to describe hers. Women enjoy talking about possible escapades on the first date. 6. Get very, very drunk to demonstrate that you are able to hold your liquor. 7. Start a fight with a guy sitting at a table near you. Women love to feel protected. 8. Swear a lot. Women like a man who talks like a man. 9. Talk only about sports and money. Like #8, women like this. And finally, 10. At the end of the date, tell her you had a great time and that she is exactly like your mother and that that is a very good thing (and wink). Side note: You forgot the part about inviting her back to your place in the bedroom next to your parents.... I agree that your side note is a good tip, but if it was deserving of being in the top 10 it would have been in the top 10.

You must be new around here. As opposed to everything else? ^^^^This guy might be the most serious guy on the board. ;) Note: He also gives great dating advice! Last I heard his dating advice was a flop..... I would argue it wasn't the advice, but the execution.

You must be new around here. As opposed to everything else?