Munger_Disciple

I have been a long term BRK owner in a taxable account with significant unrealized gains so I am not inclined to sell it even if it is trading at the high end of its intrinsic value (as it is now) unless I need the money for expenses. If I owned it in tax deferred accounts and if I have a better alternative, I think it is easier to sell at these prices as forward returns for sure will be lower than they have been in the last 5 years. I think Ajit is a fantastic risk manager (better than Buffett) and is the best insurance CEO in the world. I defer to Warren & Charlie on Greg; they aren't likely to blow one of the most important business decisions of their lives. I think Ted is very good at what he does; not sure about Todd. I don't think Todd & Ted are likely to move the needle much at BRK regardless of their individual investment results. With Todd, I prefer he focuses 100% of his time on fixing GEICO.

BAC holding now below 10%, so no more reporting outside 13-F. I won't be surprised to see it be gone by the end of 2024. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/berkshire-slashes-bank-of-america-stake-to-under-10percent.html

One thing that bothers me about BHE is that it took BHE management almost 3.5 years to recognize and reserve adequately for the legal problems resulting from 2020 wild fires. I find it strange that the equity value of BHE was $89 Billion in Q3-2022, when Abel cashed out his stock almost 2 years after the wildfires. And now after 2 more years, we find that BHE equity was marked down by 45% from 2022. It seems to me that BHE was very late in recognizing the problems. It looks like Pacificorp hired a new CEO in 2023; probably a result of the above issues.

I also posted this on Fairfax 2024 board: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/hurricane-milton-could-cost-insurers-60-bln-raise-reinsurance-rates-rbc-says-2024-10-09/ No one knows what the actual damage from Milton would be but this analyst thinks insured loss in the range of $60-100B for the industry. Does this imply roughly 1.25%, or up to $1.25B hit to Fairfax (pre-tax)?

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/hurricane-milton-could-cost-insurers-60-bln-raise-reinsurance-rates-rbc-says-2024-10-09/ No one knows what the actual damage from Milton would be but this analyst thinks insured loss in the range of $60-100B for the industry. Does this imply roughly 1.25%, or up to $1.25B hit to Fairfax (pre-tax)?

I found a link to the CS report that doesn't require filling out all the personal info: https://mediahandler.broadridgeadvisor.com/media/653843/GW_Report-Digital_09072024v2_Final_SSK_optimized.pdf I agree with @Dinar that it's pretty useless especially when it comes to the top of the wealth pyramid.

I am sure you are right. It seems like really difficult to get statistics on wealth. Why on earth would people voluntarily share such personal information?

Which report do you like best?

Yes, I know but didn't want to fill all the details.

Can you post the report? Thanks

That's a good point. Yes something is off at BNSF. It does look like Abel has his hands full fixing it.

Ok, thanks

Sounds cheap but why is the distribution low? Is it because they are reinvesting in new properties?

What's your thesis on New England Realty?

Many BRK subs have minority interests. For example, the Blumkin family members who still run NFM (Nebraska Furniture Mart) are minority owners in NFM.

BHE

Berkshire now owns 100% of BHE; there are no other minority shareholders.

For a regulated utility, pretty much all capital expenditures including any maintenance expenses have to be approved by the regulator since they affect the rate base.

Wow! After reading the filing, BRK paid $650 per BHE share, a very big mark-down from $1,174 per share they paid for Abel's shares in 2022. That's a 45% mark-down!! This may very well mean that BHE may be pulling back on utility investments significantly.

But that's nothing new.

I saw that but why would the Saudis do that if they expect more normal demand from China going forward?

I find it odd that oil is sucking wind while everyone thinks China is back. There is something wrong with this picture.

Excellent post! Thanks for sharing your experience.

He tends to shoot first and ask questions later. You are correct of course, Jain would have disclosed if he gifted the shares. Not only that it wasn't a gift, but Bloomstran got the sale price wrong.

It is possible that Ajit is making a private personal investment (for example in India) that would be too small to move the needle for Berkshire. And being the best odds maker in the world, he sees a strong likelihood of capital gains taxes going up in the near future (especially under KH). So he might be selling now at a very attractive valuation for Berkshire. If one thinks about it, the above scenario is not that different from Buffett's rationale for selling Apple.