DCG

;D

Blamer needs to stop speaking in public. He comes off like a low-level executive that often does not know what he's talking about. Rather than working to improve his company's image by focusing on innovation, he really seems like he's focused on talking trash about companies that are blowing past Microsoft. IMO, he's embarrasing himself and Microsoft. I understand the desire to defend acquisitions made about Microsoft, but he just does it in a very untactful way.

I don't agree with the statements that Apple only supports it's software and hardware for 2-3 years, and that everyone upgrades every 2-3 years. Much of Apple's current software and OS will run on somewhat old Macs (a caveat is that Leopard generally won't run on the older computers that do not have Intel hardware). People do not upgrade their mac computers every 2-3 years. I've personally owned only Mac's for the last 10 or so years and am only on my second computer, which I don't plan on replacing any time soon. As far as products like phones, people usually get new phones every 2 years, regardless of what type of phone they have and what company manufactures them. I'd argue that if people upgrade Windows products less frequently, it's because the products aren't innovated very often, and people are even afraid of upgrading Windows OS due to problems.

I just read over their website and their latest annual report. Real impressive track record, and management is closely tied to the performance of the company. Some of their businesses are in industries that might continue to struggle a bit in the near term (they're heavily invested in health care and the airline/aerospace industry), but otherwise seems like a well run company. They're apparently the 2nd largest employer in Canada after the federal government. They posted a loss of $84 million for the first quarter.

I've been keeping an eye on BMY recently, as it seems cheap to me. They have some key drugs coming off pattent soon, but have some new drugs in the pipeline. I generally try to stay away from Pharma and Biotech stocks though, as they're far from being in my circle of competence.

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft uses it's cash to make a bid for RIMM at some point. I think both Microsoft and RIMM currently make products that are inferoir to companies like Apple and Google, but Microsoft still dominiates the enterprise market. Blackberry has a pretty strong grasp on the mobile business market, and if Microsoft still struggles with it's mobile devices after they release Mobile 7, buying RIMM would make some sense. I'm not saying I think that would be smart of them (I think Blackberry's are currently years behind the iPhone and Android in terms of innovation), but it wouldn't surprise me. MSFT stock is a pretty good value for the consistent $ they make, but they do not have the long-term growth, and their lack of innovation over the last decade or so is pretty pathetic. They've gone into 'copycat mode', where companies like Apple and Google release innovative products, than a couple years later Microsoft produces an inferior copy (just as those other companies are already moving on to new things). I wonder if Gates will ever feel the need/desire to rejoin the company, a la Steve Jobs after he left Apple.

The ridiculous spam of a website aside, Waste Management seems like the better value and better run company of the 2.

Apple is not a 'bubble' stock. It actually still seems pretty cheap to me. It's selling for 19 times conservative estimates of future earnings, and if you strip out their cash, it's only at around 12x earnings...for a companies that just posted 90% growth in earnings. And that's not an 90% earnings increase similar to a lot of other companies that had terrible earnings the year before. It's 90% growth over record earnings a year ago.

Does Allstate really have $100 Billion in investments? Their market cap is only at $17 Billion.

How much are you paying in shipping when ordering Tires online? I'd think shipping costs would offset the price being cheaper than buying retail. Also, most auto companies charge more to mount tires that are not purchased from them.

Mint.com is great and free.

Berkshire is tied pretty heavily to the housing market though, and I think it's going to take at least a couple years for the housing & construction markets (especially for new builds) to really start to bounce back. I expect companies like Acme, Benjamin Moore, Clayton Homes, Shaw, Johns Manville, etc to weigh on Berkshire's earnings for a while. I hope I'm wrong though.

I'd say 'Common Sense' trumps a lot of other investing abilities/skillls. Most people try to make investing much more complicated than it is and spend most of their time digging through crappy companies in industries they know nothing about. I don't really think the time you put into it is a huge factor. When you exclude all the companies and industries you don't understand, it makes investing much easier.

Now I have an additional reason to route against France in the World Cup. :P

Thanks for posting the transcript. That was a great read. It sounds like the people doing the interview are morons who know verry little about Berkshire and were uninformed, but Buffett was candid and insightful as usual.

Agreed. I usually tell myself that Prem and crew must see something that I'm missing most of the time, although seeing companies like Dell (one of their largest holdings) reporting bad results quarter after quarter makes me question some of their recent decisions.

The only thing I'm not impressed with is the investment results for the quarter. Prem seems to still have a good chunk of cash invested in some crappy companies.

Care to share the other 2?

The street doesn't like the fact that it's an all stock deal and that XO is assuming $10 Billion in XTO's debt, but it otherwise sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I have a small position in XOM but will add to it if it continues to sell off a bit more.

I've read through this thread and am still a bit unclear on this. I own some FFH shares in the United States through Scottrade in both my equities account an an IRA. Are there any steps I need to take or will the shares automatically be converted to the Toronto Exchange? Regarding dividends, do I now somehow have to report them to Canada?

Huge resurgence of Dell? lol.

I don't really agree with the hedge fund analogy. Fairfax in an insurance company first and foremost. With that comes the risk of needing to pay out large amounts of $ at the drop of a hat in the occurrence of a major catastrophe. This is of course the reason it (and so many other insurance companies) trade below book value, as cash they have on hand or in equities is not = to a company like Apple sitting on a boat-load of cash. While hedge funds can be faced with quickly changing market prices and redemptions, it is not comparable.

This deal was structured so that BRK didn't have to tap very far into its current cash.

Great interview. Thanks for posting.

I'm sure Warren is viewing it as a fair price to earnings farther out in the future (maybe 2012 or beyond), than 2010, but it still seems a bit expensive considering the large amount of debt and loan he had to take on.