More Proof That Fabrice Taylor Has No Clue!

[Parsad]

Some of the long-term Fairfax shareholders may remember our friend Fabrice Taylor.  Taylor worked as a journalist at The Globe & Mail during 2003 when Fairfax was under attack by the shorts.  Fabrice fully subscribed to the same theory propagated by John Hempton, Jim Chanos, Peter Eavis and John Gwynn.

 

A couple of years later, Taylor decided to restart "Frank" magazine which would investigate and report on everything Bay Street didn't want aired.  His venture was financed by powerful investors that the would not name.  The magazine tanked and was out of business within a year!  After that Taylor slowly made his way back to writing for the Globe & Mail.

 

I was reading last week's copy of MacLean's magazine, and in there I ran across an article by Peter C. Newman on a fellow named Navjeet "Bob" Dhillon who runs Mainstreet Equity Corp.  Dhillon for some time now has been spreading the word that he wants to be the first Sikh billionaire and that he's halfway there.  Mainstreet is a heavily leveraged real estate company that buys up old buildings, refurbishes them and increases the rent on the units.  Dhillon then refinances the properties and pulls the cash out.  Think "Flip This House" but on steroids!

 

Anyway, I had written about Dhillon on here before, but I couldn't believe that Peter C. Newman had given this guy publicity in MacLean's.  While writing a letter to MacLean's, I found this article by Taylor written about a month ago, touting Mainstreet Equity's stock.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/mainstreet-equity-an-astute-player-in-wests-apartment-rental-market/article1164277/

 

How Dhillon or Newman came up with the fact that Dhillon is halfway to being a billionaire, I have no idea.  Mainstreet has no tangible equity, but the company is somehow valued at just over $100M.  Dhillon owns 36% of the company, so on paper he is worth tens of millions.  But he is nowhere near half a billion.  In fact, there is no way in hell that I would value Mainstreet at $100M.  I wouldn't pay a dime for it. 

 

I suspect it is only a matter of time before Dhillon's leverage catches up with him.  We'll see what happens in the future, but I'm certainly glad I'm on the other side of the bet than Fabrice Taylor!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

Mainstreet is in the news...tenants in Vancouver condos are complaining of no heat or water for 2-3 weeks.  The company says they are doing upgrades, but there is now mold appearing in some units.  Wait till interest rates rise at some point or real estate prices in Canada correct...this sucker is going to go down.  Cheers!

 

http://www.globaltvbc.com/residents+of+a+surrey+apartment+complex+left+in+the+dark+and+with+no+power+while+building+repairs+are+made/6442777591/story.html

[Palantir]

On a different note, I think there are Sikh billionaires - the Ranbaxy guys.