Alekbaylee

Nope, I guess it will appear tomorrow.

Pulp prices holding steady and FBK s/p has not moved. ??? http://www.paperage.com/foex/pulp.html

They just distributed few millions in dividends, so they must be pretty confident with their results. Or maybe I'm just too confident. :-\

Meanwhile, BH is up up up! $450? What the heck is going on here?

$10 again this year. Sweet... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fairfax-Declares-Annual-iw-558682088.html?x=0&.v=1

Funny, this guy gives a conservative fair value of $35... http://seekingalpha.com/article/244633-don-t-let-biglari-steal-fremont-michigan-insuracorp?source=yahoo

Happy holidays to all and a special thank you to Sanjeev!

SJ, Not sure where you take all these numbers... Even purely economically your reasoning doesn't make sense. If everybody was to make more than $15/hour, you'd be the first complaining about the inflation. Some new immigrants provide - for a time - some cheap labour that you and me benefit from. I bet you we'd be paying our pizza much much more if there wasn't those immigrants that you talk about. Most of them however work during the day and study at night to get better jobs. They don't stay stuck with those lower income you mention. Another good chunk of immigrants are highly educated people that get there because of their skills/education. And what makes you think that everyone will want to bring his/her parents or grandparents? And what makes you think their parents/grandparents will abuse the health care system systematically? Generally speaking immigrants use less health care system than the natives because a) they're not used to having one; 2) they have better life habits than the average NA Joe (they cook their own meals, eat a lot more vegetables and fruits, etc.). The truth is Canada's growth is tied to immigration. Canadians don't have enough children. And this is true for all Western countries. So yes, to get our fair share of immigrants, we'll have to accommodate them in some sort of way, but we'll get more than we give. Times are changing. It's not post WWII anymore. People move, from one country to another almost freely and will settle in the one that make them feel at home. Don't be fooled, immigrants are a highly "competitive commodity". The whole western countries is competing to have the best and it's not going to stop anytime soon...

SJ, Again, the facts : If you are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, you can sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner, dependent child (including adopted child) or other eligible relative (such as a parent or grandparent) to become a permanent resident. If you sponsor a relative to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you are responsible for supporting your relative financially when he or she arrives. As a sponsor, you must make sure your spouse or relative does not need to seek financial assistance from the government. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp No nephew/no niece, no brother/sister, no cousin! And the person you sponsor undergo a strict medical exam to be sure he/she will not be a burden to the canadian health system. If they have any chronic medical condition, they will be refused. How is this?

Lots of luck on moving to Canada. Instead of accepting immigrants who are well educated, are familiar with the culture, speak perfect English, and have a significant nest-egg of capital, we instead prefer to select refugees and family-class immigrants who often have no education, speak neither English nor French, find the culture alien, have no money and have no prospect of economic success. But, it does make us feel morally superior to select these inferior immigrants... Well, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinions (or prejudices), but the facts are the facts: In 2006, the proportion of recent immigrants with a university degree was twice as high as among native-born Canadians. Despite this high level of schooling, several indicators reflect difficulties that recent immigrants entering the Canadian labour market encounter. Their employment and unemployment rates and their earnings are, in general, substantially different from those of native-born Canadians http://www.google.ca/search?hl=fr&source=hp&q=immigrants+more+educated+than+natives+in+canada&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= As for refugees, they represent a tiny percentage of immigrants (less than 1% of the population, roughly 30 000 are allowed to enter the country each year, mostly selected by the High Commission of Refugee and Immigration Board/United Nations). The rest of the immigrants, roughly 300 000 people/year, are carefully selected by Immigration Canada and/or Quebec on the basis of their education and/or skills, i.e. according to Labour shortage in the country/province. We see what we want to see...

Well, it's about time! Would be nice if a hard market follows... ;D

Some more good news for Netflix http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/Netflix-signs-licensing-capress-1088722820.html?x=0

Doesn't look good for Europe. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101206/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_hungary_financial_crisis

Swiss Re reports a total of $222 billion in worldwide economic losses due to disasters in 2010; insurers' costs rise 34% from last year. http://www.insurancenetworking.com/news/insurance_swiss_re_catastrophes_manmade_disasters_claims_losses-26432-1.html

Hi Shalab, Why should the rate be on the pretax or gross income? Looks to me the after-tax income would be more accurate, as we don't have much of control on the income tax we pay, no?

Yep, very frustrating. Prices are steady however in NA... 9-Nov-10 969.64 958.37 870.00 617.72 2-Nov-10 972.33 959.31 870.00 627.84 http://www.paperage.com/foex/pulp.html

If book value equates to liquidation value, I would rather have $29 cash than $27.77,[/i] Me too my friend, me too. I hold a small position and would be happy to sell for $29, but I'm sure management would ask more if it's willing to sell, which doesn't seem to be the case or at least they don't seem to be in any hurry : "With regard to recent SEC filings by certain shareholders, we issued a news release on Oct. 14, 2010 indicating that the Board of Directors had asked its previously appointed Special Committee to review the matter and make an appropriate recommendation to the Board on what it believes to be in the best interests of all shareholders and the Company. The Special Committee is undertaking a careful examination of the issues in fulfillment of its fiduciary duties and will make a recommendation when it is feasible to do so. In the meantime, we will continue to operate Fremont in a way that enhances shareholder value."

Book value increased to $27,77. Guess Biglari will have to hike up his offer... http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fremont-michigan-insuracorp-reports-third-quarter-2010-earnings-and-announces-quarterly-cash-dividend-106890693.html

Apparently yes... http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/biglari_shareholders_approve_ceos_incentive_pay_106797313.html

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101105006126/en/Leucadia-National-Corporation-Announces-Month-2010-Results

Wonder how long they'll need/take to "review" the offer. I figure their answer will be positive, otherwise they would have already issued a statement. Must be working on the details...

Bronco, I already own some L and wanted to diversify a bit, specially now that the hurrican season is almost behind...

Looks cheap historically and compared to peers, with a price/book value <80%. On Sept. 2, management said it will repurchase more shares (White Mountains Chairman and CEO Ray Barrette stated, "We continue to pursue many value enhancing opportunities, but at current prices we believe buying back shares is the best use of our undeployed capital for now.") Must dig a bit more though...

Net worth in US or Canadian $?

Joyeux anniversaire! I'm a proud shareholder of this gem since 2001 and intend to be for many years to come. Congratulations to the team at Fairfax for their hard work and dedication. May we all prosper!