What are you buying today?

[dealraker]

On 3/30/2026 at 9:24 PM, bizaro86 said:

 

Fairfax is on my "buy on a huge drawdown" list.

 

I bought some for a quick flip when that short report came out during their quiet period and sold it after the earnings bump.

 

I expect to make a few similar type trades in the future on bigger dips.

Beginning in 1994 I've bought Fairfax about 16 times, never selling. Boring outcome, also excessively - almost to the point of embarrassment- profitable.

[Rainier]

7 hours ago, mananainvesting said:

I think you are mistaking Fairfax India with Fairfax Financial. $FFH.TO is an active insurance company, so fails the PFIC test (that is my understanding). Not financial advice.  

 

On 3/31/2026 at 8:23 AM, gfp said:

 

No chance - I feel like this discussion is mistaking Fairfax India (FIH.U - almost certainly a PFIC for US investors, best in an IRA or similar) for Fairfax Financial, which is definitely an operating company.

Thanks for the info.

[frommi]

57 minutes ago, dealraker said:

Beginning in 1994 I've bought Fairfax about 16 times, never selling. Boring outcome, also excessively - almost to the point of embarrassment- profitable.

While i often hear these stories, FFH from 2000 to today was still just a 12% annual return? I mean its great, especially since its tax advantaged, but its also not as profitable as you describe it?

[Cod Liver Oil]

@frommi I think a lot about the length of the runway not just annual returns. Holding a stock forever and letting the compounding machine do its miracle for your lifetime is the holy grail of wealth creation. It's hard to estimate runways but right now I see long ones for Nintendo, Joe, Fairfax, Berkshire and the Knicks. If they underperform occasionally, I'm ok with that. Visible runway length for SaaS companies seems to have shortened. Please add your favorite runway stocks here.

[frommi]

Than why not just buy and hold an equal weight etf, collect your 10% with much less risk and call it a day?

[Cod Liver Oil]

Hubris.

[Eldad]

11 minutes ago, frommi said:

Than why not just buy and hold an equal weight etf, collect your 10% with much less risk and call it a day?

I bet he has made a lot more than 12%. If he bought 16 times in 30 years I’m guessing he got really good deals when he bought. Also, he was much richer during Covid than in 1994 so probably looking at a 35% IRR on that perhaps large tranche. 

[John Hjorth]

4 minutes ago, Cod Liver Oil said:

Hubris.

 

! @Cod Liver Oil,

 

'If you can't fly, then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but what ever you do you have to keep moving forward.'

-Martin Luther King Jr.

 

- - - o 0 o - - - -

 

Wikipedia : Festina Lente 

[cwericb]

2 hours ago, dealraker said:

Beginning in 1994 I've bought Fairfax about 16 times, never selling. Boring outcome, also excessively - almost to the point of embarrassment- profitable.

 

Started buying Fairfax in 2007 at $217.  

That initial buy now represents about 25-30% (?) of my present holding.  

Added through the years. Have yet to sell a share. No regrets.

Through those years I noticed an interesting thing. If we had a recession or a correction in the markets, Fairfax shares would usually rise, and often would offset losses in other holdings.  Definitely the smartest thing I have done on the investing side.

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, frommi said:

While i often hear these stories, FFH from 2000 to today was still just a 12% annual return? I mean its great, especially since its tax advantaged, but its also not as profitable as you describe it?

 

28 minutes ago, frommi said:

Than why not just buy and hold an equal weight etf, collect your 10% with much less risk and call it a day?

 

ETF's aren't necessarily any more consistent than FFH, BRK, etc.  During the Great Depression, you did not hit par again until 1948!  Nasdaq did not return to par between 2000 and 2015.  They are definitely better than mutual funds and outperform 80% of managers over almost every period, but not necessarily foolproof or 100% better than some alternatives.   

 

But if you did average in annually or even every 2-3 years whether it was those stocks or an ETF, you came out much further ahead than just buy and hold.  Same with FFH between 2000 and 2025 as Dealmaker did. 

 

I can't speak to Dealmaker's actual numbers, but I do know he is very comfortable.  I also do know for a fact that some numbers are definitely true.  Ericopoly was a very good example.  Buffett_Groupie is a fact.  There are a bunch of them...many don't really post anymore or lurk.  Viking, Redskin212...all examples and true stories.  I'm a perfect example on a smaller scale than those five...none of this (TCOBF) or my level of comfort in life right now would exist.  

 

Cheers!

 

 

[cwericb]

2 hours ago, frommi said:

While i often hear these stories, FFH from 2000 to today was still just a 12% annual return? I mean its great, especially since its tax advantaged, but its also not as profitable as you describe it?

 

 

Ok, fair enough. We both have been on this board for a long time. The FFH shares I purchased in 2007 are now worth about 11 times what I paid for them. Your holdings may have well multiplied by higher factor over a similar period, but how much risk, work and research would have been involved in increasing the value of your portfolio while during a similar period, I just sat with the shares while I essentially ignored them while concentrating on other investments and adding more FFH when shares seemed cheap? 

 

I am not criticizing or disagreeing with you, just wondering how the outcomes might compare. 

[frommi]

Probably better than what i have done since then, because i really had no clue what i was doing in 2008.  Not sure if i have a clue now and want to get better at holding for longer, but at some point i always see better returns elsewhere and switch over. Dont know maybe i am just not that patient, but when i look at my past sell decisions it was often a good idea to sell, though not always. I sold AVGO in 2019, so much to that.

[cwericb]

29 minutes ago, frommi said:

Probably better than what i have done since then, because i really had no clue what i was doing in 2008.  Not sure if i have a clue now and want to get better at holding for longer, but at some point i always see better returns elsewhere and switch over. Dont know maybe i am just not that patient, but when i look at my past sell decisions it was often a good idea to sell, though not always. I sold AVGO in 2019, so much to that.

 

 Well perhaps I could help you by telling you when I buy and sell, because whenever I buy, stocks seem to  immediately drop 10% or more and when I sell, stocks normally jump.

[dipod]

Starter in SKYH

[frommi]

started buying GPN and FISV

[KPO]

4 hours ago, frommi said:

started buying GPN and FISV

Added these as well. And starter in FIS. 

[roundball100]

19 hours ago, frommi said:

Probably better than what i have done since then, because i really had no clue what i was doing in 2008.  Not sure if i have a clue now and want to get better at holding for longer, but at some point i always see better returns elsewhere and switch over. Dont know maybe i am just not that patient, but when i look at my past sell decisions it was often a good idea to sell, though not always. I sold AVGO in 2019, so much to that.

One of the secrets to successful investing (as others here have stated in various ways) is to find a sound investment strategy that matches your own personality, and stick with it.  Different strategies work at different time periods, and many work over the long-term if you stick to them. The danger is repeatedly switching strategies to try to catch a better one, because by human nature and crowd influence, we tend to switch strategies at precisely the wrong time.  Let your gains compound, let your winners run.  A well known phrase and mental model that works for me: An investment portfolio of stocks is like a bar of soap --- the more you touch it, the smaller it gets.

[DooDiligence]

4 minutes ago, roundball100 said:

One of the secrets to successful investing (as others here have stated in various ways) is to find a sound investment strategy that matches your own personality, and stick with it.  Different strategies work at different time periods, and many work over the long-term if you stick to them. The danger is repeatedly switching strategies to try to catch a better one, because by human nature and crowd influence, we tend to switch strategies at precisely the wrong time.  Let your gains compound, let your winners run.  A well known phrase and mental model that works for me: An investment portfolio of stocks is like a bar of soap --- the more you touch it, the smaller it gets.

 

Nice!

[frommi]

10 minutes ago, roundball100 said:

A well known phrase and mental model that works for me: An investment portfolio of stocks is like a bar of soap --- the more you touch it, the smaller it gets.

I handle my portfolio like a garden i plant seeds and when they've grown up i harvest them  . Some seeds dont grow at all and i pull them out to make room for healthier seeds.

Edited April 2 by frommi

[roundball100]

24 minutes ago, frommi said:

I handle my portfolio like a garden i plant seeds and when they've grown up i harvest them  . Some seeds dont grow at all and i pull them out to make room for healthier seeds.

This can be a good strategy if in a tax-sheltered account.  But the thing to avoid for many of us (including myself too often) is picking the flowers, and watering the weeds.

[frommi]

Depends on what you seed, if somethings grows 20%/year and is reasonable priced i won't sell. But up to now i mainly bought blue chips/slow growers. There are not a lot of businesses that compound value faster than 10-12% (yield+growth), especially dividend payers which was my main focus up to this year. But i slowly converted to be dividend-agnostic. I even bought Fairfax as a dividend stock with a 4% yield  .

[roundball100]

7 minutes ago, frommi said:

Depends on what you seed, if somethings grows 20%/year and is reasonable priced i won't sell. But up to now i mainly bought blue chips/slow growers. There are not a lot of businesses that compound value faster than 10-12% (yield+growth), especially dividend payers which was my main focus up to this year. But i slowly converted to be dividend-agnostic. I even bought Fairfax as a dividend stock with a 4% yield  .

If this strategy is working for you, then by all means, stick with it!   You have found what works for you. 

[John Hjorth]

1 hour ago, roundball100 said:

One of the secrets to successful investing (as others here have stated in various ways) is to find a sound investment strategy that matches your own personality, and stick with it.  Different strategies work at different time periods, and many work over the long-term if you stick to them. The danger is repeatedly switching strategies to try to catch a better one, because by human nature and crowd influence, we tend to switch strategies at precisely the wrong time.  Let your gains compound, let your winners run.  A well known phrase and mental model that works for me: An investment portfolio of stocks is like a bar of soap --- the more you touch it, the smaller it gets.

 

1 hour ago, DooDiligence said:

Nice!

 

I'm by no means sure I grasp the concept .. Does being filthy rich imply that your destiny is to be malodorous?

[roundball100]

55 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

 

I'm by no means sure I grasp the concept .. Does being filthy rich imply that your destiny is to be malodorous?

@JohnH:  Perhaps this is something that we can rely on AI to answer ...

[Spekulatius]

National burrito day. Going to buy two of these: