Tag Archives: Housing Bust

Prem Watsa, CFA

I used to own Fairfax Financial, which smartly shorted financial stocks and bonds–to the tune of several billion dollars–before they blew up. Here is an enjoyable interview of its CEO–Prem Watsa, CFA–who is a value investor who is sometimes referred … Continue reading

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Frank Stonach Meets John Galt

It is rare to hear the Chairman of the Board of a public company publicly trash government bureaucrats, especially one from a car part manufacturing company, which is heavily dependent on government regulatory approvals. But, here is Frank Stonach, Chairman of Magna, an … Continue reading

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I am a Proud Member of the “I Don’t Know” School

I read the following in Howard Marks’s latest book (p. 138):  “Since the investors of the ‘I Know’ school, described in chapter 14, feel it’s possible to know the future, they decide what it will look like, build portfolios designed … Continue reading

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Prem Watsa’s Thoughts on Current Macro Conditions

Prem Watsa is Chairman of Fairfax Financial, a Canadian P&C firm in the mold of Berkshire Hathaway. Prem is sometimes called Canada’s Warren Buffett. We held a profitable position in Fairfax for a while, but no longer hold any interest … Continue reading

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CAPE Update (Or, was Last Week’s 5.6% Market Pop Justified?)

As of July 1, 2011, the Cyclically Adjusted PE (CAPE) ratio for the S&P 500 is 23.13, which essentially means the average share of common stock in the S&P 500 companies trades for 23.13 times its annual earnings averaged over … Continue reading

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A Looming Problem in China

We wonder what will become of the dozens of Chinese ghost towns, which are literally unoccupied whole cities in China built for hundreds of thousands of occupants on loans such as those in the attached article. What will happen when these … Continue reading

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It’s All About the Benjamins: Or, How the Bernanke Market Could Kill Nascent Graham Fund Managers

The Wall Street Journal published an interesting OpEd piece by Mark Spitznagle today. It described Benjamin Bernanke and Benjamin Graham’s conflicting views of markets. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704425804576220983131318962.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop Two disparate views of markets represent well the range of opinion among U.S. stock market participants … Continue reading

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Bad News: Government Handouts Make Up 35% of All Wages

This is much worse than I thought.  http://www.cnbc.com/id/41969508 Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from 21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to … Continue reading

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Excerpts from Seth Klarman’s 2010 Letter to Limited Partners

Readers of this blog know that I believe Seth Klarman, portfolio manager at the hedge fund Baupost Group, is one of the greatest investors of our generation. We share so many of the same views as Klarman that I consider us the … Continue reading

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Gates and Buffett at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business 4Q 2009 (Video)

This is old, but it is a timeless clip. I watched this meeting live and thought it well done, but it is amazing how much wisdom you can find in a few minute clip from a 90-minute event. Buffett makes … Continue reading

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