Parsad Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I always wait to see what Francis writes, because it gives me some idea of what the guys at Hamblin-Watsa may also be thinking about. Francis' 2009 Semi-Annual report is out, and in there he discusses interest rate swaps to protect against inflation. He's also the only mutual fund manager I know of that refunds management fees if he's unhappy with his performance. Cheers! http://www.choufunds.com/pdf/SeAR%2009%20printing.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardboard Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Thanks for posting Sanjeev. If Hamblin-Watsa thinks like he does right now, I really, really like it. Forget about this Hoisington crap. Yahoo! ;D By the way, I tried buying these constant maturity swaps or interest rate caps, but without success. Big Canadian banks don't seem to have time for retail investors to buy these things. You may want to buy as many contracts as an institution, but still no time for you. If anyone had a different experience please let me know. Cardboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partner24 Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I like the read. Thanks for posting it. I don't understand most of the "swaps" things out there. I don't know if this Charlie Munger comment would apply on these swaps, but here is what Charlie Munger had to say in a recent interview about some derivative stuff : You and your partner, Warren Buffett, have for years warned about the dangers of the modern derivatives markets, particularly credit derivatives, and about interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and equity swaps. Interest rate swaps have enormous dangers given their size and the accounting that has been allowed. But credit default derivatives took that danger to new levels of excess—from something that was already gross and wrong. In the '20s we had the "bucket shop." The term bucket shop was a term of derision, because it described a gambling parlor. The bucket shop didn't buy any securities. It just enabled people to make bets against the house and the house furnished little statements of how the bets came out. It was like the off-track betting system. Comments and information would be appreciated and welcome. Lastly, one can never say never, but I would be surprised to invest directly in these kind of things one day because actually, I may be really wrong on that, what does it sound to me is some synthetic tools of speculation that have significant counterparty risk. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorrofan Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I notice Francis bought some ICO..... cheers Zorro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Partner, that is probably the best approach. Often doing just the simple things is more efficient and usually the results are just as good. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crip1 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I never compared until just now but is it normal for Chou's fund to be so totally dissimilar from the FFH holdings? Example, none of FFH's top 10 holdings appear on the Chou funds holdings. Conversely, only two of Chou's top 10, King Pharma and Berkshire appear on FFH's 13B. I would not expect the these to line up perfectly, but I would have expected some more corrolation. -Crip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FFHWatcher Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 No time right now to double check but I thought I read something last week that showed Chou sold ICO ? Maybe a mis-read it. His semi-annual reports shows a double on ICO but that was for June 30th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Partner24 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Ahaha, Google AdWords is so terrific sometimes. With this thread, I've seen few ads regarding derivative trading and counterparty services! One say that Lehman and others are gone for counterparty services and they offer their own. :D Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omagh Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hi Sanj, This is the first year of Francis' new US$/C$ currency hedging policy. Apparently, he had some clients who were uncomfortable with the currency shifts. If you're talking to Francis, I would be curious to know what his thoughts are on the US$/C$ going forward. He previously was of the opinion that the US$/C$ was a long cycle that didn't have significance since the swings were roughly cyclical around a mean. Has his view changed now that the US (deficit $2T on $15T GDP ~ 13%) is in a significant recession while Canada (deficit $0.05T on $1.5T GDP ~ 3%) is in a milder recession? Buffett seems to think that the US$ vs world currency basket is going to decline. BTW: good luck on the burger quest! -O I always wait to see what Francis writes, because it gives me some idea of what the guys at Hamblin-Watsa may also be thinking about. Francis' 2009 Semi-Annual report is out, and in there he discusses interest rate swaps to protect against inflation. He's also the only mutual fund manager I know of that refunds management fees if he's unhappy with his performance. Cheers! http://www.choufunds.com/pdf/SeAR%2009%20printing.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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