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Posted

Increased FNMAJ just shy of 30%.

 

Attempting to roll my FCAU shares into LEAPs deep in the money to get get some leverage and free up some cash for more PDER purchases.

 

Finally finished the rolling of FCAU into LEAPs...missed a little of the upside today, but since I'm nearly 2x levered on that exposure now, it wasn't so bad.

 

Interesting, could ya elaborate what's the expiration day of those FCAU LEAPs.

 

thanks!

 

January 2018 w/ a strike of $3. Just did it to free up some cash to buy other things while maintaining/incrementally increasing share exposure to FCAU (increased by about 15%). End result is basically the same upside potential for FCAU with incremental exposure added to Fairfax, FNMAJ, and PDER for a leveraged, but more diversified, allocation.

 

Keeps the upside, has the potential to cut my downside through diversification and floor on FCAU related losses, and the "cost" of the leverage was around 3.25%. Seemed like a reasonable bar to outperform given that PDER's dividend exceeds that, Fairfax's dividend gets you 2/3 of the way there, and FNMAJ was in the midst of a major rally (up 30-40% since I purchased).

 

Since margin isn't available to me in my retirement accounts, seemed like a cheapish way to get leverage and immediate exposure for the immediate opportunities I saw in Fairfax, FNMAJ, and PDER.

Posted

Purchase more SPY puts at a strike of 110.

 

Now I have LEAP strikes ranging from 185 all the way down to 110. Obviously, there's more money in the nearer-to-the-money options, but will roll down if markets go through a big decline. Just would be odd to have bets at 140 and 110 without really profiting if it hit anything before that.

 

Also, pretty much maxed out on straight shorts and puts that I'll allow myself to hold, so also sold some of my energy exposure and rolled it into ZROZ (25+ year zero coupon bonds). At this point, I'm probably done with my bearish positioning and will play "wait and see" until things start moving dramatically for or against me.

 

Closed out ZROZ back in July since interest rates had hit record lows. Re-entering about 70% my original position now that we've seen a significant sell-off in rates and prices are below where I originally entered the trade at.

 

This is a speculative bet/hedge. I closed all of my shorts and puts over concerns of Trump's lower corporate tax resulting in higher U.S. equity valuations. I am still concerned over the long-term value of equity markets and there's no guarantee his tax policies pass.

 

This is a hedge that is less impacted by the equity markets prospects AND is significantly cheaper now that rates have risen a good bit from where I entered/exited in May/July.

 

 

 

Posted

ffh.to

 

1.1x q3 book, for fairfax that's on the low side historically.  It has been lower for sure, but not bad given how everything else is priced. 

 

Also view it as a way to diversify out of USD.  When you buy fairfax your money is going all over the world at a time that the USD is at 13 year highs.

 

It's just a 3% position.  If it gets to 1x book probably boost that to 10%.

Posted
I'm looking at ffh too (never owned them before) but would need to make room in my portfolio. Will very likely do so when it goes below book.

When you include unrealized gains from investments in associates and certain consolidated subsidiaries it's actually below book now - 0,98 (page 60, 2016-Q3).

Posted

Increased FNMAJ just shy of 30%.

 

Attempting to roll my FCAU shares into LEAPs deep in the money to get get some leverage and free up some cash for more PDER purchases.

 

Finally finished the rolling of FCAU into LEAPs...missed a little of the upside today, but since I'm nearly 2x levered on that exposure now, it wasn't so bad.

 

Purchased more PDER and increased FRFHF by 10% with the cash.

 

Increased FRFHF by 30% by selling a handful of non-significant positions in oil/gas. While the removal of hedges at what may likely be equity market tops is concerning to me, Fairfax has proved they can be nimble and those hedges and duration can come right back on in a day if the market turns.

 

Without the hedges, the earnings power is greatly increased and they have the ability to put billions to work even if they don't re-hedge. Low 400s seems ridiculous.

Posted

BUD

 

What do you think of the 25% foreign tax withholding on the dividend?

I don't like it, esp since I bought it in tax free accounts. If you buy the Belgian common the tax is only 15%. Not sure if one can get the reduced 15% rate on the ADR. But basically if I buy it in a non tax-free account I'd pay more than 25% tax on the div. So obviously not an ideal situation, but not the end of the world either.

Posted

BUD

 

What do you think of the 25% foreign tax withholding on the dividend?

I don't like it, esp since I bought it in tax free accounts. If you buy the Belgian common the tax is only 15%. Not sure if one can get the reduced 15% rate on the ADR. But basically if I buy it in a non tax-free account I'd pay more than 25% tax on the div. So obviously not an ideal situation, but not the end of the world either.

 

I also bought it in tax free accounts. I read that if you do buy it in taxable account and if you qualify to itemize your deduction, you can get tax credit on your 1040.

Posted

BUD

 

What do you think of the 25% foreign tax withholding on the dividend?

I don't like it, esp since I bought it in tax free accounts. If you buy the Belgian common the tax is only 15%. Not sure if one can get the reduced 15% rate on the ADR. But basically if I buy it in a non tax-free account I'd pay more than 25% tax on the div. So obviously not an ideal situation, but not the end of the world either.

 

I also bought it in tax free accounts. I read that if you do buy it in taxable account and if you qualify to itemize your deduction, you can get tax credit on your 1040.

I'm in Canada so things are a bit more different. But I'd still pay more more tax in a taxable account even though i get the tax reclaim. Still I'd like it more if it was US listed and i had to pay no tax whatsoever.

Posted

BUD

 

What do you think of the 25% foreign tax withholding on the dividend?

I don't like it, esp since I bought it in tax free accounts. If you buy the Belgian common the tax is only 15%. Not sure if one can get the reduced 15% rate on the ADR. But basically if I buy it in a non tax-free account I'd pay more than 25% tax on the div. So obviously not an ideal situation, but not the end of the world either.

 

I also bought it in tax free accounts. I read that if you do buy it in taxable account and if you qualify to itemize your deduction, you can get tax credit on your 1040.

I'm in Canada so things are a bit more different. But I'd still pay more more tax in a taxable account even though i get the tax reclaim. Still I'd like it more if it was US listed and i had to pay no tax whatsoever.

 

From the horse's mouth:

 

Under the income tax conventions between the United States & Belgium and Canada & Belgium, United States and Canadian residents are eligible for reduced Belgian withholding tax (for most people, at a rate of 15% rather than the standard 25%).

 

ADR holders eligible for the refund must be residents of the United States or Canada in accordance with the aforementioned Convention. Contact your broker or tax advisor for more information and any applicable U.S. tax forms.

 

Although it isn't very clear if 15% is the automatic withholding tax across various accounts like regular, TFSA, RRSP, etc or if it's only applicable in certain accounts with the proper tax form filings.

Posted

Some CCZ-T

 

Forgotten cloud software provider to the oil & gas industry (mostly gas) with many of the largest producers. Pipeline monitoring: guess what just got approved in Canada? Trades at EV/(depressed sales) of $0.56/$1 and 1/3 of book value.

 

Natural gas has done pretty well since the lows this year and La Nina seems to have its effects on the East Coast. The company is showing improved numbers since the beginning of the year but, still more improvement required and I would say to come.

 

Cardboard

 

 

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