cubsfan

IF your holding period is long enough (3-5yrs), you will do quite well. Have some capital for bad market days, where you can add - but if you are lucky enough to get BRK in the low 150's, maybe high 140's - then you're really lucky.

From longinvestor - you hit the nail on the head. All of the methods used to value BRK , as elegant and/or conservative have resulted in Mr. Market being wrong to grossly wrong about BRK's value. This has been the case for years.. Being elegant in paper calculations doesn't preclude being ridiculously wrong. So true in the case in the case of Berkshire! Berkshire's float is invested neither in bonds nor securties but increasingly in long lived assets, whose earnings in turn are invested in other businesses (the real estate within BHE as an example), plus arguably their own kind of deferred tax float. Buffett calls this rabbits making more rabbits. It all adds up to the 20% earnings growth we're seeing since 1999. Thank heavens the market is wrong! Berkshire - the gift that keeps on giving.

Do you remember how long ago that was? Reason I ask is the basket has changed significantly since 2009. Was that statement made pre-2009? I'm pretty sure it was 2012 meeting.

I was taking a 35% position :) I sold virtually every nonfinancial stock I had and put it in Berkshire. I wish I'd levered it. I'm at 40%+ on BRK and very comfortable with it.

Over long periods of time, it has worked extremely well. That said - it is a "blunt tool" - and I agree the 2 column method is the best.

But the price/book on the S&P is 3 .... and BRK should be a superior investment to the S&P if we really are a collection of "Moat" businesses with superior capital allocation. And with BRK price/book is 1.4 --- that's why I don't want to go near the S&P with BRK at this price.

I'll take my chances with BRK. I don't own any index funds, but have a large stake in BRK beginning in 2002. I scaled it up a lot last year. How much diversified do you need to be considering the makeup of BRK? To me, it's a hand picked index fund with no fee. Warren will never promote BRK - never has, never will. At this point, with the S&P at 20 or so PE - I think BRK will do just fine.

+1 ...yup

I think the story was that the family members were really upset with this part of the book, and that had much to do with Buffett putting Alice on ice. Personally, I didn't really care for that part at all.

Longinvestor - great comments today.

Having hired many, many sales reps over my career - I'll give you my list: Focus Passion & desire Work ethic Attititude The really great salespeople love to sell, and the real "A" players, as we call them have an ability to "put themselves in the customer's shoes" - it's about the customer, not what the sales rep needs. If you can identify those characteristics, you have yourself a great one.

Seides' letter is a real crock of sh*t. Like my French wife says: "With all those 'if's - you could fit Paris in a bottle".

About 5 years ago, I saw Josh do a presentation on Markel - was terrific. Of course, I didn't buy it.... But he's a sharp and thoughtful young guy.

Markel Brunch Meeting and Registration: http://markelbrunch2017.markelcorp.com https://www.markelcorp.com/investor-relations/brunch-faq

For the Tilson cocktail parties: 1) Reminder: On May 6th I will be attending my 19th consecutive Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha. If you're going to be there, I'd like to invite you to two events on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, both at the Omaha Hilton (I’m not sure which rooms; there will be signs): a) My friend Chuck Gillman and I are hosting our annual cocktail party from 8pm-midnight on Friday, May 5th. No agenda, no speeches, no dress code - just come, enjoy the drinks and snacks, and meet other value investors. b) Chuck and I are also sponsoring a casual get-together immediately following the annual meeting (~3:30) on Saturday, May 6th - just walk across the street or take the skybridge to the Hilton. It will end around 6pm. To RSVP for either of these events, please email Ram at [email protected] and include: · Which event(s) you plan to attend · Your name as you wish it to appear on your nametag · Your city as you wish it to appear on your nametag I look forward to seeing you!

"I was very surprised, when I read Todd Combs would join the board at JPM. That board seat seems to me be quite "heavy", involving a lot of work, along with Mr. Combs work as Berkshire investment manager." Given Todd's background as a bank examiner, perhaps he will have a leg up on all the work required.

I've been a member for 4 years and am very happy with MOI. You'll see plenty of ideas, believe me - more than you can process. Original - yes. High quality - yes. If that is what you're looking for - it can be like drinking from the firehose. Use it as a starting point. I've always enjoyed the online conferences as well as the monthly publication. Also the website for premium members offers a wide variety of great interviews and past presentations. The founders are very accessible and very open to suggestions. They'll put you in touch with great resources/members if that is what you are looking for - it's a great community of value investors. IF you use it - it's a great resource. I would suggest to you - get them on the phone, lay out your requirements to them, see if you believe they will deliver. If you are not happy - MOI is very unlikely to want an unhappy user - and will fix it.

That was really a great read.

What an effort - thank you for your contribution !

Another anecdote - this from the doctor's viewpoint. My very good friend is a hand surgeon here in Chicagoland. He's a very kind and charitable type. Has always done lots of free care with no complaints. He explained me the problem of Obamacare from his standpoint. He's one of the best hand surgeons in the area - and a sole practitioner, so he can make his own calls without worrying about the partnership impact. Anyway, when he would get Medicaid patients - he'd make very little money due to rates, but there wasn't much hassle - and he felt like he was helping the poor - so he gladly did it. When Obamacare came along, it's basically the same situation with patients, but the hassle factor was incredible. He's filling out 20 page reports justifying the surgery, going back and forth to get approvals. Meanwhile, patients might have excessive waits while he's fighting for the coverage. Finally, he just pulled out altogether - "I'm trying to help these people, I don't make anything, yet it's an incredible burden for me to get anything done". His opinion - that's why doctors are pulling out. He says "Look, the Obamacare patients have COVERAGE, but they don't have physician ACCESS to the best care." When someone approaches him now, they may have to search all over and drive 100 miles to get ACCESS to the best care. He feels sorry for the patients because they think they have GOOD coverage, and they don't. It's can be an incredible hassle for them - even though they THINK they have high quality coverage. This system is so broken. I thought I was the only one pissed off due to my insurance premiums going up 400% in 7 years. Many doctors hate it, and patient care is suffering as well. This system has to be improved.

I'm with you!

Yes, those are really terrific clips - thank you Charlie.

A very good idea.

KC - I think those are very good points regarding the float. My mistake. That said, I think the risk of investing in decent SaaS companies is lower than the prior licensing models, since the implementations are less risky for the customers.

They charge all 2-3 years in advance? Or annually? The drawback of the SAAS companies is that they are investing heavily in Customer Acquisition Costs. So the float dynamics are burdened by the customer acquisition costs. Assume you spend $1500 to acquire a 3 year contract at $500 per, billed annually in advance. Technically, the float would be $500. But in reality, net cash is -$1000. Depends on the company and the sales policy. Many are "term" licenses, 2/3 yr, paid up front. Some are same term, but paid annually. Need to get from the 10-K. I think almost as important is the renewal rate, which gives great predictability. The customer acquisition costs are the same as the guys selling perpetual licenses just like in the old days. Field commission rates are the same. It's just that the maintenance is bundled into the term license and license (rental portion) is recognized month by month. On the Perpetual licenses, all the license fee is recognized up front, leading to these huge hockey stick quarters, especially Q4, where you are on pins and needles waiting to see if they will make their numbers.