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Investment Q&A

Not investment advice or solicitation to buy/sell securities. Do your own due diligence and/or consult an advisor.

Q: Hi guys, does Fairfax 'crash' hedges get reflected in price (either due to fundamentals or sentiment) in your view? I know its only a portion of their vast holdings, but I always get nervous when FFH is up like today's 3% move. Do you also view the stock as a bet against the market short-term due to their hedge book?
Read Answer Asked by Frank on August 30, 2016
Q: Hello Peter,
I was expecting Fairfax, CRH medical, and Constellation to go up significantly after the earnings announcement. Fairfax dipped, CRH and CSU went up slightl. Any comments please? Do you think it is too late to enter Electrovaya at 3.40 or above? Also, do you think Knight (gud) is a type of stock you can buy and hold it for years given the credibility of the management team? Thanks very much.
Read Answer Asked by umedali on August 02, 2016
Q: Please advise me
Out of the three insurance co.s MF, SLF FFH which one is better to invest
for growth and dividend
Read Answer Asked by Ben (Balbir) on July 18, 2016
Q: Hello Peter,
Can you please explain the various reasons for gold to move higher? One of the reasons i have been reading is deflation. If that is true, it appears that Prem Watsa at Fairfax is betting on deflation. His portfolio supposedly will do well if he is correct. If gold is going up due to deflation, why is Mr Watsa not buying gold? I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks very much.
Read Answer Asked by umedali on May 02, 2016
Q: Hi Peter, Can you please suggest me 5 names based on today's price which I will hold until 2030 and those will have a good growing dividend? Does Fairfax financial qualify? I just mentioned FFH as I am looking for those names that will predictably increase book value and dividend on a 15% CAGR basis for next 15 years. Just want to mention that the changes 5i made to the site is very effective. Great service!!
Read Answer Asked by Sridip on April 18, 2016
Q: Hi Peter, I know the question I am asking is very hard to predict/answer. Although I would appreciate if you give it a shot.

I currently have your growth portfolio and some stocks from your balance portfolio on a margin account. I have some US growth stocks too(like AGN, CERN, BIDU). I have enough cushion but I do have 30% of my portfolio on margin. I would appreciate if you just do not advice me not to use margin(like other financial professionals).

My question is do you think considering all current turmoil and risks looming(US election, oil price, global recession), should I be better off taking some profit off the table? I was reading Prem Watsa's 2016 letter and he was very negative things to say regarding current valuation. Basically what do you think Canadian/US market would be at year end? Do you think there might be some opportunity(like last August or October or like Feb 2016)? I would really appreciate your insight. What would you do in this situation if you are in my shoes?
Read Answer Asked by Sridip on April 06, 2016
Q: Hi,

I am considering buying a FFH bond. I do have some bond ETF's but I like the certainty of a known maturity date when I get my original investment back and the ability to select the company. I have never owned a bond directly and would like your advice. Two concerns: 1) trading fees from BMO investorline seem quite high at 1% plus there is no bid/offer spread so they probably gouge me on that too. 2) Specific to FFH the +3% yield seems high compared to other names which I presume implies it is riskier. I understand FFH have a lot of equity hedges to protect against deflation so wouldn't that mitigate risk? Am I crazy to start down this path and am I missing something wrt to FFH in particular?
Read Answer Asked by Morgan on April 01, 2016
Q: Do you know how one would go about purchasing Fairfax "7.375% Senior Notes due April 15, 2018" (they don't seem to be listed in TD's quote system)? Also, could you please explain what "Senior Notes" are and what level of risk they have i.e. riskier than equity, preferred's etc. Thank you.
Read Answer Asked by Alan on March 18, 2016
Q: I know you generally recommend that anyone who is worried about the market move to cash, but I am curious as to how a professional hedges. When Prem Watsa says that Fairfax is 100% hedged what does that mean? If Fairfax’s market holdings drop 30% does it mean that their hedge will earn them the equivalent amount so that the net will be neutral? Does it work the same if their holdings increase in value? (i.e. any gains would be offset by losses in the hedge) What investment vehicle would Prem Watsa likely be using to hedge and what would the cost likely be in terms of percentage of total holdings?
Read Answer Asked by Steven on March 17, 2016
Q: Good day,
I have been considering trimming if not selling my insurance exposure out right because of falling interest rates. With more and more Central Banks experimenting with negative rates it is possible that eventually Canada and the USA try out negative rates. Would there be any merit in selling GWO,MFC,SLF to buy FFH? My rationale is I could maintain some insurance exposure but if the whole system implodes (this is why they are considering negative rates to begin with because traditional monetary stimulus isn't working), clearly there must be some risks of a black swan event out there. Like you, I don't like to go zero weight any sector so this way I could maintain insurance exposure but also have down side protection? Or should I keep it simple and simply reduce my insurance weight.. Thanks.
Read Answer Asked by Chris on March 15, 2016
Q: Not really a question, more a reminisce and comment on the shorts.I recall years ago a short attack on Fairfax Financial, I think it came shortly after they listed in the U.S. The stock was driven down into the $70 dollar range. The innuendo was that Fairfax management was using off-shore companies in a less than kosher way. I just looked at my FFH this morning and it is at $650, high earlier this year $739.
Best defense against shorts (the mudslinging variety) is to know the company and have faith in your investment analysis and the management (and of course one particularly un-conflicted investment web site).
Many thanks to the 5i staff.
Mike
Read Answer Asked by michael on October 29, 2015
Q: Hi Guys,

I have a large loss with a Fairfax Financial preferred (FFH.PR.I).

I was thinking of selling it and then purchasing FFH.PR.G. I would be in almost the same position as if I kept the original preferred but I would have a large tax loss to use. I would lose 29 basis points on the new rate and the reset would be a couple of months earlier but I would gain on the selling of FFH.PR.I ($15 bid) and purchase of FFH.PR.G ($13.70 ask).

Your comments would be most appreciated on this move.

Regards
John
Read Answer Asked by John on October 08, 2015
Q: Can you please comment on FFH series C Pref. The last 2 dividend payments the Pref. paid out was less than the previous 20 dividend payments dating back to Dec. 2009. I did not see any news release stating the Board of Directors voted to reduce the dividend. If their was a news release would management have stated WHY they cut the dividend ? Would we have received something in the mail ? The share price closed at $19.40 today,down significantly from the $25 issue price. I thought the dividends on prefs are pretty much a safe thing.
Read Answer Asked by James on July 23, 2015
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