Brian Acker of Acker Finley Inc. on BNN

[jonzuc]

Anyone listen to Brian Acker commenting on a Fairfax question during MarketCall daytime. He sure sounded frustrated but didn't say much. If you can't say anything bad... don't say much.

Any comments  ???

[Parsad]

It's at the 11:20 mark roughly.

 

http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip263064

 

Finley is a numbnutz.  He's what you would call a media whore.  I've seen him on there for years, and he's wrong far more than he's ever right.  Take a look at how his funds have done...atrocious!  This is the type of guy who should be answering questions about compensation to his investors.  His Acker Finley Canada Focus Fund has a MER of 3.73% and has returned -9.1% annualized over three years.  And that doesn't include the optional front or back-end load charge! 

 

http://globefunddb.theglobeandmail.com/gishome/plsql/gis.fund_report?rep_type=CYR&pi_report_tab=162&order_by=&direction=ASC&start_row=&pi_report_option=&pi_report_param=&pi_show_criteria_yn=Y&iaction=fundFilter&pi_portfolio_id=

 

He says Prem bet the company in 2008...yet I believe they invested only about $300M in the swaps.  He says that they have a "model price" of $318 on Fairfax.  Barring a 7.0 earthquake in California or another market collapse of greater than 30%, if Fairfax is at $318 a year from now, I'll kiss Finley's butt!  This guy should be asking for tips, not giving them out on a television show.  Cheers!  

[Uccmal]

BBN has roughly 10 hours of programming to fill per day.  There are a limited number of mutual funds who get results above the index (~<5%) for greater than a couple of years.  So, therefore most BNN guests have no idea what they are talking about, or what they are doing.  But the marketing works so those that appear get business. 

 

I can no longer be bothered to watch it at all.  I hate the way it clouds my thinking.  I didn't even watch Brain Acker's statement and now I am going to go around thinking 318 for two weeks.  Somehow seeing an "expert" on some topic on television has the ability to short circuit ones brain.  It is not only bad advice but it is downright dangerous the way it affects ones thinking. 

 

I read a great deal instead.   

 

 

[beerbaron]

Let's face it, we all profit from the public lack of knowledge. The dices are rigged against the uninformed investor.

 

BeerBaron

[Guest Dazel]

One of the funniest things I have ever seen is an interview with Acker and John Embury of Sprott. It was a number of years ago and gold was in the high $300's...Embury got so mad at Acker's  lack of knowledge he almost bent him over and spanked him! They had to go to a commercial because Embury was screaming at him calling him stupid!

We know what happened to Gold...years later I happened to run across Acker recommending Gold between $850 and $900....unbelievable! He is what is wrong with the markets...computer programs and charts...what a moron...

 

Dazel.

[Parsad]

Hi Dazel,

 

In that clip from yesterday, some investor called him on that early in the show.  I'm thinking to myself, so what is your "model" telling you now that you decided to buy gold?  Cheers!

[mranski]

you can't really single out acker, in my opinion, any more than umpteen other regulars, or the hosts who ask the most ridiculous powerpuff questions. Why do i watch, i dont' know, maybe the mad money entertainment factor, plus the odd bit of useful information. If you follow guests recommendations, alot of them were recommending strong buy at the aboslute market peak, and after the apocalypse, were recommending sell? How can a company be worth 1/2 what it was recommended at, and now be a sell?

Another thing that bugs me is bnn adds dividends into guests calculation of return on recommendations.

 

[Viking]

I used to watch this show (years ago) when I lived in Toronto. I saw the spanking by Embry... yes, a classic. I loved it when Brian stated 'model price' like it actually meant something. My read on Brian was that must be good at sales because the logic behind his stock picks certainly was lacking. Nice to hear he is still going strong; gives me confidence that most on this board can continue to outperform... :)

[kyleholmes]

Viking,

 

I used to watch this show (years ago) when I lived in Toronto. I saw the spanking by Embry... yes, a classic. I loved it when Brian stated 'model price' like it actually meant something. My read on Brian was that must be good at sales because the logic behind his stock picks certainly was lacking. Nice to hear he is still going strong; gives me confidence that most on this board can continue to outperform

 

Sit through any finance courses taught at our North American universities.... and you will have great confidence that most on this board will continue to outperform.... variance is risk, markets are efficient, beta means something, etc, etc! It is mind boggling talking to some of these guys who are teaching our "future"!

[oec2000]

Barring a 7.0 earthquake in California or another market collapse of greater than 30%, if Fairfax is at $318 a year from now, I'll kiss Finley's butt!  This guy should be asking for tips, not giving them out on a television show.  Cheers! 

 

Sanjeev, are you clairvoyant? For all our sakes, I hope you haven't jinxed the situation.  ;)

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iPUypYzbtPSRw0bDSVW5LqS0qdHw

 

I agree with you and the other posters about Acker. What galls me is his arrogance. It says it all about most of the fund managers out there - they're just very good marketing organisations.

[drog]

Brian is one of those guys who seems to know everything about everything.  I love it that his model prices are often right to the penny - I mean he must know alot to make predictions to the penny, right?  You know what they say - often wrong but never in doubt.