Hello All,

My wife follows this board when I am away or busy and she mentioned that there was some recent rumours going around about Misfit1 so I thought I would come on and clear them up.

First off, the last couple of week's have been extremely busy for me in terms of my non-stock life so I thank you for thinking of me while I was gone.  I did have a chance to write last Friday at a kiosk but being away from NOT for a week seems like an eternity.

From the looks of things, I only missed the drama in the last week.  I was surprised to see the fall to below $4 a few days back but am glad that we are back over $5 where we belong.  I also see that we have a new agreement with Hawk which follows the R.N. strategy of sharing the wealth on the financial risk and work of other companies (and there shareholders), so this bodes well for us as there is little risk to a NOT shareholder except the risk of not getting the other 50% of the pie if it is found.  But the key word is "If".  The other companies are taking a lot of risk which we do not have to PP or pay cash for so it is nice to be in the other person's shoes this time (Noront has previously JVd many properties from others whereby they issued shares and had to perform the drilling).

A couple of thoughts for the weekend.  The first is Richard Nemis.  Having followed this company for just over a year now, I will say that 1) I am not him, and 2) he is known for being an excellent deal maker.  Not only is he a lawyer by craft, but a lawyer who has been involved with mining for a very long time.

Think about the Mexico deals from earlier this year.  He went out and renegotiated them down due to the high price of Noront at the last half of they year.  He must be a really good negotiator as I cannot imagine an operator taking less shares or cash six months after a deal was done.  I still cannot imagine how this was done.

Now we are seeing him at his best.  Working out deals that take portions of the large Double Eagle claims and JV'ing them out to other companies.  With the size of Noront at present, it would take ten years to fully drill the area.  Bringing partners on board is an excellent idea, as we profit with upfront shares and cash, they perform the drilling at their cost, and if they strike out share price and the shares we hold in the other company both increase.

It is important to remember that Noront is an exploration company.  With the exception of Windfall which is at least at the bulk sample mining stage, Richard has always JV'd with others to do the actual mining.  Probably because the fun is in finding the goods and interpreting the results rather than the logistical work of operating a mine.

The next item has to do with Berkshire Hathaway.  This is the company that Warren Buffet owns.  Two things are for sure.  1) I am not Warren Buffet.  2)  If Warrent Buffet was to give me 8 shares in his company, I would be a millionaire.

After being in the market for some time, it is not surprising that one of the world's richest men keeps his companies stock price at over $130,000 dollars.  What better way to keep shorters, day traders, and others out of a stock.  If you shorted just 100 shares of his stock, it would cost a mere 13.4 million dollars.  Now let's say he took some of his billions and drove the price up 1%,  You would be out $134K in seconds.

I like how the guy thinks.

But there is another reason why I have his picture on my MISFIT1 profile and it has nothing to do with his investment savvy or riches. 

It has to do with his generosity and philosophy on wealth, during and after one's life.

Getting up in age, Warren Buffet proactively set up three foundations for his children and also gave a hughe amount of $$$ (in company shares I assume) to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.  I cannot remember the exact number but I believe it was close to $5 Billion (ten million of the BRK.B shares valued at $4400 a piece to Bill's foundation alone over a set number of years.  I have included links below that talk about his giving philosophy.

Like many upper middle class Canadians with a good education and years of hard work both in school and in the workplace, I have so far been blessed even though I do not have millions (yet).  If stock's were to all stay flat for the next ten year's, my life would not miss a beat as I rely on my work to support me and my wife.  The stock profits are simply a bonus which buy some toys and life options such as travel.

But one must stop and think of the purpose of wealth and the value of giving back.  Not to preach, but I would sincerely hope that many who have been blessed to see Noront rise from the ashes of the .30s to the current prices in the last three months have given some of their profits to the less fortunate at the time they cash out some of the profits.

That is one thing that excites my wife and I about investing.  Besides the thrill of seeing the stocks go up (and down) and enjoying the research involved in finding big plays, knowing that a portion of the crofits is supporting worthy causes here and around the world is highly motivating.  We set aside an amount each time we pull out actual cash from the portfolio while letting the remainder of the portfoilio compounds and accumulates.

And I am not talking about throwing ten bucks into the Sally Ann jar at Christmas or supporting your kid's school by buying a box of Almonds.  I am talking about serious money on serious profits.

Some of the most successful people in life are givers.  An accountant I know who does books for wealthy people says that over the past 20 years, the clients who gave 5%+ of their earnings to charity typically earned 7% a year on average on their investments, compared to a 3% return for those who did not give a penny.

So my challenge to all who read my musing today's is to ask yourself, "Is this all for myself or is there a need somewhere in this city, country, or world that I can help fill with a portion of my profits?"

Everybody knows of a need somewhere.  If you do not then you are really out of touch with the world.  I was in Los Angeles last week and driving around Beverly Hills where my hotel was showed me that we truly do live in countries were anything is possible, including great wealth.  And I am all for great wealth.

But it has to come with balance.  While I was in L.A. there were two fundraisers being put on.  A benefit concert by John Meyer and a silent and live auction which saw a Bentley donated.  Somebody actually gave a Bentley for the cause.

My point is that regardless of your net worth, there are two types of people in life - givers and takers.  At all income levels.

My hope is that during this Christmas season, we might look not to just what we give at this time of year, but whether we have a philosophy of giving in our lives which govern our outlooks, portfolios, and beliefs.  A life of giving is a path that rarely goes unrewarded.

Misfit1.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity2.fortune/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/25/magazines/fortune/charity3.fortune/index.htm 

http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/donate/webdonat.html  

What many people do not know is that  

Many of you might be saying it is easy for a guy who has everything to give