John Hjorth

Valuehalla, Have you applied simple avarage calculation or Internal Rate of Return in your post?

Added a bit to BRK.B today.

Christopher P. Bloomstran, Semper Augustus Investments Group LLC, released a new Client Letter on 12th February 2017 with the title: "Symphaty for the Dog - 2016 Letter to Clients: Challenging Dogma, Death of the Profit Margin, and a (Brief) Berkshire Redux". [longinvestor linked to it in the recent BRK IV topic on this board - thanks!]. It is - like the 2015 Client Letter discussed earlier in this topic - at least to me, a very good read for BRK investors, and also very entertaining!: Just an example here as an appetizer: p. 5: To me, that actually gave me association as being the best description I have seen for how I have felt while reading the last two books from Mr. Taleb! - Without implying other similarities to any extent! And from what I have read so far of Mr. Talebs next book "Skin in the Game", that does not appear to be much different. - - - o 0 o - - - There are a lot of interesting topics covered in the Semper Augustus 2016 Client Letter - BRK-related and general. Perhaps we could continue discussing the Letter in this topic. - - - o 0 o - - - My take on this, based on these two Semper Augustus Letters: I will start buying BRK again, after a break of about a half year, based on the prevailing market conditions, and the recent relationship between market price and intrinsic value of BRK.

It hasen't - to my best recollection - been discussed, from this particular angle, since the release of the annual letter and the 2016 annual report and all the talk about fees: It's the "badly hidden agenda" of Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger: "Why are you paying all those fees?! - Just send us your money! - by buying BRK stock - We'll manage them - almost - for free."

Why not, Valuehalla? The income [net] from holding the insurance float at about USD 100 B at the moment is included in the insurance results multiplied with a P/E, thereby putting a net present value on holding the insurance float. The listed investments are primarily held by the insurance subsidiaries, financed by float, so the listed investments and the insurance operation are two separate sides of the same operation. Furthermore, this two column calculation of IV does not include a discount on deferred taxes booked in the balance sheet as a liability of approx. USD 78 B. That is calculated as if it had to be paid 1st Januar 2017, however nobody knows when or if it will ever come due.

I read that as a compliment, CorpRaider! [-despite I most likely shoulden't...] ; - )

Yes, it also sounded to me like this basket of airline stocks was for the long term for BRK [to the contrary to a "generally undervalued" trade]. Time will naturally tell.

Personally, I have the same perception ... - somehow it's a shift in his investment universe, so I think he is actually trying to elaborate on his line of thinking. It actually reminds me about an interview some years ago, when he was building/had build [?] the IBM stake, and he in an interview answered to the usual question : Something along this: "Do you care to share what you are buying nowadays?", to which he just hinted : "HAL."

Mr. Buffett on CNBC this morning - a series of small clips, among them comments about buying more AAPL in 2017, and some comments from Mr. Buffett about the Unilever offer.

Just for info, Mr. Buffet's fee message has actually been all over the place also on this side of the pond. Boersen.dk - Top story on main page this Sunday morning: Buffett: Shareholders have wasted USD 100 B trying to beat the market.

Ref. the posts earlier in this topic from among others rb and Jurgis I have been speculating about, if the added sentence to #11 in the owners manual could actually be a hint about the airline positions not been long term.

ValueMaven, Book value per share ["raw" - without adjustments] for B is : 172,108/1,500 = 114.74 [for reference, please see p. 34 in the 2016 AR] Market price at Friday closing: 170.22, so it's trading at 1.48 x BV. Soft buy back treshold : 137.69 [114.74 x 1.2]. So it's trading 23.6 per cent above soft buy back treshold. [[[[170.22 - 139.69]/137.69] *100] percent].

Yes, Valuehalla. [i get 120.04, to be specific - immaterial diff].

At least to me, most likely also to other board members, this is a great question, Ballinvarosig Investors, For my part, this is about: 1. If you just hand over your capital to some other indexing market participant, your capital - most likely - actually ends up as "lemming capital" - with all the consequenses of that, including a fee charged, 2. Most likely, some part of your capital, will be invested against your will and your wishes. And if this is about material amounts of money, this will haunt you, and reduce your quality of life, going forward. Or even worse, family money involved in this game, which is actually worse than other peoples money involved. 3. Make sure your "no guaranties" is actually understood by everybody involved. - They are just coattailing you! - That has to be understood!

Thanks a lot, redskin & aws, That actually skipped my attention. The accounting treatment is actually material here.

redskin, What's your actual basis [Annual Report 2016] for posting this?

writser, It is actually much more complicated than that: This topic is only for those in the know and those invested in BRK and it goes like this: "Have you sinned" recently [sold BRK]. We sit on three-legged stools in a circle wearing white robes and thongs [like ?][some of us even wearing large yellow hats at the session], and if anyone has sinned, they must confess their sins, then there is distribution of Rhohypnoles to suppress the unwanted propensity for those with that need. Being a BRK investor isen't that easy.

Please discuss the contents of the Annual Letter from Mr. Buffett in this topic, and comments about the 2016 BRK Annual Report ex. the WEB Annual Letter here. - To me, it's all getting clogged up here right now.

Placeholder for discussing the contents of the 2016 BRK Annual Report [ex 2016 WEB Annual Letter!]. - - - o 0 o - - - - Just trying to keep some kind of track and order on the BRK cult on here! <end couch moderating>.

Berkshire announced yesterday, that the Annual Letter and the 2016 Annual Report will be avaiable on the website tomorrow at about 8:00 AM Eastern Time [,as usual].

No worries at all. Having been on this forum for almost 10 years, I have a system to not let posts get under my skin. There is an ignore poster feature which I use for certain repeat behaviors (political hacks, know-it-alls- personal insults etc.). I look forward to posts from you. Now let's wait for the letter and we'll have plenty to talk about ;) Yes, and I'm actually home alone Saturday - It will be a day of reading and communication! :-)

longinvestor, If my prior post in some way offended you, I hereby apologize for that. It was certainly not my intention. I love being invested in BRK [almost] as much as you do! :-)

I'm not. - I'm at your side of the fence. What I meant was actually: What does that bet has to do with your - or for that sake - my - return? I really hope we can leave it at here.

longinvestor, Please do not get carried away too much - just hold on to your BRK position [which I know is large!].

Off topic: Welcome on the CoBF board, rolling! Now back to topic.