DooDiligence

Why isn't breaking up BRK an option eventually? It wouldn't be possible until WEB dies, as he would never do so and has control. But once his stock gets sold by the foundations however many years after his death it could happen. It would require a huge discount to IV, because of the huge amount of capital required. The structure around the assets being held in insurance companies would also make it take a long time. Although if the insurance commissioner is letting them use $X for the value of a railroad in their statutory accounts, presumably they'd still be fine if they sold the railroad for $X in cash... Spinoffs would be much less likely. I agree re: eventual breakup. WEB has stated that he could post ginormous returns on a smaller base. I say, "well, prove it." I'm not sophisticated enough to imagine how the shrinking would play out but wouldn't mind seeing it happen with spinoiff's. If BRK was primarily a risk management / finance operation with a smaller capital base, could Ted, Todd, Ajit & Greg shoot the moon over the next few decades?

omagh, If there was a "like" button here on CoBF, I would personally use it on your post! [simple Machine forums put an honor into being old fashion!] - So you'll have to settle with a quote ... - please consider it some kind of "retweet"! I liked that too & actually did Tweet it. (with proper citation) I am a Twitter Twerp & my Tweets get no attention. --- edit: Hey, you retweeted my tweet. Nice!

That'll be a humdinger of a field trip permission slip.

Is that a mouse in your pocket?

https://www.theledger.com/news/20190503/highland-homes-sold-to-berkshire-hathaway-subsidiary

Bank

Noice! $90B 2 go is exactly what I thought when I saw it ;)

That makes sense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_railways Crap, they're all state owned. Who needs money though?

I think the stress of what he's done has been too much and he's gone batshit crazy...

Not an elephant but interesting. http://investors.applegreenstores.com Courtesy of @Wexboy_Value on Twitter.

Added a little DVA in my tax advantaged account. Hopefully the market isn't signaling the demise of the DMG UNH deal.

Go Berkshire!

I hadn't considered that.

BBH for a 30ish % gain in a non-taxable account. Slowly paring down the number of things I own.

Hi wachtwoord, I'm not sure this is worth time spent especially in terms of short-term forecasting but if you give importance to where we may be in the cycle, here are some useful tools to answer your questions: https://www.brandes.com/docs/default-source/brandes-institute/2018/the-cape-ratio-and-future-returns-a-note-on-market-timing.pdf From an academic point of view, models are never wrong and one has to adapt the reality to the model. ::) People who publicly discuss these valuation models as potential forecasting tools tend to mention that deviations can occur and say that pendulums do swing and underline that they will eventually be proven right but broken clocks can also be right. In reality, as individual investors interested in that line of thinking we have to decide which scenario applies: -markets can sometimes stay irrational for long periods -this time is different It's interesting because the opening post referred to an article written by Mr. Buffett in 1999 (I still have the original article with contemporary hand-written notes on it) and, from 1999 to today, his “prediction” about reasonable expectations ended up quite prescient. Maybe that's because of his long-term outlook and because he avoided to think in a binary fashion. I guess then that it would be reasonable to maintain a similar outlook for the next twenty years with a nearer-term path defined by ultra-low interest rates (whatever the implications of that). BTW, I meant to ask you a question about Bitcoin but found out the fundamental explanation behind the price action: the price of avocado. :) https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/04/03/analyst-bitcoin-btc-likely-to-continue-surging-to-5500-but-significant-pullback-is-imminent/ I'd rather eat an avocado but to each his own. https://diegorod.github.io/WillMcAfeeEatHisOwnDick/ :D

"You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass." I originally saw this on @WarrenBuffettHQ but that Twitter account is suspended now for some reason. --- edit: Let me add: "don't be trolled" (easier said than done...)

Who knew that a discussion about politics could take such a useful turn?

The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World https://www.amazon.com/Beast-That-Shouted-Heart-World/dp/B0007GMJXI/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=3APKGTUH6KLX5&keywords=harlan+ellison+the+beast+that+shouted&qid=1554043798&s=gateway&sprefix=ellison+beas%2Caps%2C314&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

It gotten wayyy better since poliBS got sandboxed. I am usually able to look away when passing an accident in traffic & the same applies to the politics section. Do yourself a favor & acknowledge that it exists and simply look away.

I'll toss another penny in to make more cents.

Twitter has been getting jammed up with poli-nonsense for a while now too. I recently discovered that you can mute keywords. A few choices that have done a lot to clean up my feed: Politics Political Republican(s) Democrat(s) Congress Senate SCOTUS Trump + I'm quick to block just about anyone who regularly posts poli-BS.

CLB

It exists so we don't have to do this. http://uglymule.com/images/fingers-in-ears.gif