jbwent63

The huge buybacks in June give us a strong hint at their analysis of capital allocation. They spent about $800 million USD on those buybacks that could have been used for other purposes, investments in bonds, equities, minority buybacks etc. Gives you a sense of how overvalued the markets are in their (and many other people's) minds. I'm interested to see if they sold BB to fund any of this. Secondly, I think we have an option to purchase minority interest in Allied World this summer/fall. I wonder if this buyback is instead of that, or in addition to that investment. Always interesting times at Fairfax.

It will most certainly be interesting to see how this was structured. Possible it was a simple loan from Parent Co to FIH? If it was share issuance, one would think that would be a disclosable event under securities regulations.

Has there ever been any disclosure by Fairfax of ownership of Peller shares prior to the announcement of the takeover? I don't see any mention of it in the press release.

Yes, RD is a good business, very challenging from a vendor standpoint (not a bad thing as an owner). I wonder if the Berkshire/Buffett model of not getting into auction-like situations also is a factor in not finding the elephant.

I would add that the only reason to look at the price every day is if you are actively looking to buy or sell. Otherwise it is just entertainment IMO. Has the information on May buybacks been released?

A couple of comments/thoughts: 1. The Japanese Trading Houses and Tokio Marine Holdings have a current market value of about $42.7 billion (even after the last month of significant underperformance vs the Nikkei 300). 2. Is it possible that in the background Google is dealing with BHE for electricity for its AI infrastructure build out, and BH's investment in GOOG is a way to ensure BHE is a long-term partner in that electricity business?

On BB, now that they are below 5%, we will not know if they sold more than what was disclosed in early May until or unless there is a press release or the filing of the next 13-F. If I had to guess, I would think they have already exited the position given the recent activity and share price...

Per the 2023 shareholder letter, the cost per share was $17.16 as of that date.

Between the Sanmar write-off in Q1 of about $75 million ($102-$27) along with the mark-to-market losses on the public company portfolio of about $400 million, the total loss is $475 million or just over $3.50 per share. Before any write-ups of BIAL or other profits, the BV of the shares will drop to below $19.50 at the end of Q1, a long way from $23.35 with 9 months to go. Looking forward to the Q1 report and update.

Unfortunately I am unable to attend this year as I will be away on vacation next week. I do not see it mentioned anywhere that there will be a replay of the meeting available nor can I find any historical meetings on the website. Does anyone know if there will be an option to view the meeting after it has been held?

We have now got the quarter-end closing prices for the 5 public companies. Their value in USD did not change from the comments above. In USD (roughly) the value of these holdings is down $400 million USD from year-end. Almost $3 US per share (assuming no material stock buybacks). As I write this, the FIH shares are trading at $16.41 vs the prior quarter end of $17.29, or about an 88 cent haircut. The BV/P ratio has most likely dropped significantly unless there are gains in non-public investments to make up some of this difference. Or, to put it another way, the discount to BV has narrowed, potentially substantially.

I was just looking at the change in the value in USD of the 5 public company investments held by FIH. They have dropped approximately $304 million USD ($2.25 per share) on a starting value of $1,220 million (about 25%). This is due in part to the decline of the rupee by about 3%, but the bulk of the decrease is from the INR price of the shares (wtd avg drop of 22.9% in local currency). With the FIH shares trading slightly up on the year, it appears either the price vs book value/intrinsic value is narrowing, or the market believes the non-public investments are making up for the public companies underperformance. For further reference, in local currency, the indexes are down around 10-11% for the YTD. Might be something to watch...creating an opportunity to buy or buyback at lower prices (one can hope).

I just hope that telegraphing that the buybacks are on (a couple of months before we would normally find out with the Q1 10-Q) the shares don't go above the intrinsic value calculated by Omaha! I took the announcement as Abel demonstrating to shareholders that he will be more forthcoming with information. I wish the annual report was twice as long with much more information....but that's me. An information junkie.

@gfp I'm hoping you can send these along again once the year end reports are filed. A few of us like to look way under the hood at the insurance subs. Many thanks in advance.

A new tradition starts tomorrow morning. Instead of Coffee with Warren on a Saturday morning in late February/early March, it is Coffee with Greg. It will be interesting to see what changes, or even improves or if Warren has anything to contribute. Not quite as much excitement as in prior years, probably trying to lower my expectations. Enjoy!