Five for the Weekend #67

Let's get right to it -- five items you might check out over the next couple of days.

• I reported selling half my DirecTV Group (DTV) stake this week, when the stock doubled from my entry price. My remaining half remains an important holding for me. John Malone said this week he wouldn't rule out DTV merging with AT&T or Verizon.

• Fairfax Financial announced today that it is voluntarily delisting from the New York Stock Exchange. When I first bought FFH it was trading only in Toronto (this is before launching Controlled Greed). It was easy for me to buy then and I'd imagine anyone in the US won't have a problem buying or selling the stock. My only caution is that Fairfax can be somewhat illiquid in trading volume. I note that in Toronto Fairfax will trade in Canadian dollars and US dollars. I take that as another thumbs-down on the long term prospects of the US dollar. Like DTV, I've sold enough of my Fairfax holding to get my original capital out.

• Longleaf Partners has released the Q3 report for its mutual funds. As I continuously point out to readers of this blog, I think reviewing the thoughts of guys like Mason Hawkins and Staley Cates can be more valuable than those of Warren Buffett. I bow to no mortal in my admiration for Buffett. But the immense size of Berkshire Hathaway limits his investing universe.

• Regular readers know Peter Cundill has been a great inspiration to me over the years. The Cundill name means much more in Canada than here in the US. In fact, many of this blog's readers never heard of him until this blog. Cundill is now retired. This article is about the new managers who have taken over the flagship Cundill Value Fund. Among their buys is Microsoft (MSFT). My take is that MSFT is a hold. And, like yours truly, they're trimming their stake in DTV.

• Megan McArdle writes a spectacular profile of Dave Ramsey, a well-know personal finance personality in America. Ramsey has a hugely-popular daily radio show, a nightly Fox Business show, and is a best-selling author. His most popular book is The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. Some are turned off by Ramsey's religious overtones. Regardless of that, his message of getting out of debt and having an emergency fund are spot on.

And with that, have a great weekend.

Comments

[Jason Frey]

Just wanted to get something about Longleaf off my chest. Their mission statement states their goal is to outperform inflation by 10%. Admirable goal, but complete fantasy. In no period (other than the short term bounce YTD) have they come close to outperforming inflation by 10%. Not in 5 years, 10 years or 20 years. At some point you'd think they'd simply admit, it aint gonna happen folks and remove the comparison from their reports!

[John]

@Jason: I don't see a problem with them keeping the comparison. I'd rather see them keep it, even when they're missing it, than to suddenly drop it after all these years. I think the flagship fund has been beating the S&P500 over the long term, so that's something.