Alekbaylee

Well, was more an inference on my part after reading this: Ross, whose fund specialises in so-called distressed assets, was among a group of North American investors who bought a 35 percent stake months after Ireland signed up to an EU/IMF bailout, effectively giving an early vote of confidence in the debt-ravaged country. He told Reuters in April he was assessing distressed assets in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy and was looking to make investments in the next few months. https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/wilbur-ross-sells-477-mln-080248394.html Lately Fairfax has been investing along with Ross in a few "opportunities" so there's a good change that he does it again in the future. Cheers!

http://www.act.is/PressRelease/190 Actis, the pan-emerging market investor, today announced it has successfully realised its investment in Commercial International Bank (CIB), the leading bank in Egypt. Actis has sold its remaining 6.5% to add to the 2.6% sold to international investors in March 2014. Actis invested in CIB in July 2009 in a transaction that made Actis the largest single shareholder. Since then, the bank has grown significantly despite a period of political instability since the Arab Spring of 2011. Actis has sold its remaining 6.5% to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (“Fairfax”). http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-16/greek-banks-able-to-tap-investors-after-stress-tests-hfsf-says.html Money managers including Paulson & Co., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. (FFH) and Fidelity pumped 8.3 billion euros ($11 billion) into Greece’s four biggest banks in the first half of this year. Institutional investors may again be called on to inject money if the European Central Bank’s own tests in October conclude more is needed, HFSF Chairman Christos Sclavounis said. Ireland, Greece, Spain, Egypt, maybe Portugal and Italy... Truly impressing! Everyone should have some FFH/FRFHF in his portfolio. Go Fairfax Go!

Janamdin ki badhaaee ho Sanj! :)

Brazil vs Chili was fun to watch, as was Algeria vs Russia last Thursday. We'll see if the Algerian team can repeat the prowess Monday against mighty Germany. They'd take their revenge from 1982 and the Nichtangriffspakt von Gijón then. Better late than never... ;)

This article talks about 75K employees... :/ http://www.dealcurry.com/2014066-IKYA-Group-Acquires-Industrial-Asset-Management-Firm-Hofincons.htm IKYA Group, the HR services arm of BSE listed Thomas Cook (India) Limited is acquiring Chennai based industrial asset management company Hofincons Infotech and Industrial Services from Transfield Services Australia. The company did not disclose the value of the transaction however reports peg the deal size to be between INR75 Mn to a billion. The buy further strengthens IKYA’s presence in the business service space whereas for Hofincons it provides a strong financial backing from IKYA’s main parent Fairax Financial Holding.

Sanj, I think it's a strategy on their part -don't forget: they're value investors- They'll wait until the last minute to give a chance to (many) smaller donators to make a modest contribution and maximize the gains pledges instead of discouraging them if they topped up the bucket right away.

is FFH value par share according to Guru Focus http://www.gurufocus.com/news/260380/fairfax-financial-worth-1073-per-share I'm sure Gio agrees... ;)

Is that why FFH SP has been going up lately? Looks like there's suddenly (a lot) more appetite for the stock. Guess some out there are anticipating some huge gains... ;)

Interesting. More on this here... http://www.afgri.co.za/downloads/2014/AFGRI_goes_private_March_2014.pdf

There was a similar case here in Canada last year... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/why-ottawa-is-pushing-for-answers-over-rbc-move-to-outsource-jobs/article10870961/ Maybe you work for the same company? :/

+1 - That's true wisdom... ;)

And one observation of our own: Since 2009, the easing by the Federal Reserve combined with the explosive growth in China, backed by higher interest rates, has resulted in huge inflows (‘‘hot money’’) into China. The near unanimous view that the renminbi would strengthen has resulted in a massive carry trade where speculators have borrowed at low rates across the world and invested in China, almost always backed by real estate. The shadow banking system in China – i.e., assets not on the books of the major Chinese banks – is estimated by Bank of America Merrill Lynch to be approximately $4.7 trillion or 51% of Chinese GDP. Oddly enough, prior to the credit crisis, the U.S. had $4.5 trillion in asset-backed securities outstanding or approximately 31% of U.S. GDP. You know what happened then. When the flows reverse in China, watch out! This is really scary for the entire world... :o

Hahaha... No you think it's Moonish - I think it's Prem...

Neither Prem, nor Mohnish would be caught dead in those pants. Those are white guy pants! ;D And a snakeskin/crocodile belt with those pants and the "Dhandho" shirt...that is pure Buffett! Cheers! Well maybe you're used to see Prem in NA - The picture might have been taken elsewhere... Still think it's him. Moonish seems taller/bigger than the guy pictured. I'd rule out completely Buffett.

I'd say It's Prem...

Not sure in which topic category I should post this, but thought this was interesting... http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/01/03/cyprus-records-deflation-in-2013-for-first-time-since-1964/ OT : Happy New Year to all!

With a journalism and law degree, she could write a book about her experience (and other people in the same boat) to expose this "scam" and sensitize people. Hopefully it becomes a best seller and she could pay off her monumental debt!

Relative to their assets? Not likely. I'm guessing Fairfax wanted to close this thing and with close friends. Looks like Markel and BAM made room for others who wanted to join the party late. Interestingly enough, Lawrence Chin who went to high school with me and worked at Cundill, is now Senior VP at Mackenzie. I didn't now him very well, but I've followed his career over the last ten years. Good for him! I know Tim's always had nice things to say about him. Cheers! Apparently, they had to reduce their stake to make room for Manulife... Manulife Asset Management Ltd., which revealed its investment in a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is purchasing $70-million of BlackBerry’s debt. Because the full $1-billion had already been bought up by other firms, Manulife’s purchase was enabled by Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and Markel Corp. trimming back their previously revealed positions. Brookfield, which said it bought in on behalf of clients, reduced its $50-million stake to $10-million, while Markel pared back a $100-million investment to $70-million. The firms with the largest stake in BlackBerry’s debt are Fairfax, with $250-million; Mackenzie Financial Corp, with $200-million; and Canso Investment Counsel Ltd., which purchased $300-million, the largest stake. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/manulife-buys-into-blackberry-financing-deal/article15355818/

Kind words. What a true gentleman! Did you say this to Parsad? Because he was actually way more critical of wimpy ff shareholders than I was. My guess is....no. You thought you found an "easier" target. I don't think anyone here finds that you're an "easy" target, certainly not me.

Kind words. What a true gentleman!

Although I give Prem a 50-50 chance of winning the BB fight, I find almost funny that every time we think we've seen the worst or got out of the woods "something" comes and knocks FFH down again. Is there any insurance coverage against these "events" - LOL! Seriously, we've seen them all : from TIG to ABH to FBK to the hedges (although this one can still pan out) to BB. Prem, my friend, your faithful shareholders are tired of this bumpy ride. They want a smooth ride, at least for a while, whilst they mend their sore butt.

Looks like it is. Prem has repeated numerous times that he wanted to keep at least $1 B in cash. With his new "investment" in BB and the hedges not "cooperating", he would have found himself below his own threshold and the rating agencies could have downgraded FFH.

Would say it's B...

Hmm... not sure we'll get a dividend in January... ::)

Lol! Thanks Kumar, we very much need some humor! :)