Buffetteer

Thank you kiwing, this is great as I missed the first hour.

Thank you Rainforesthiker. You're absolutely right, that was exactly my intent. I truly wanted people's perspective, good or bad, as I stated in the initial post. And I do appreciate the feedback from members who have provided their opinion (well, most of them ;) ). It's interesting how two people can read the same post and one completely understands the meaning whereas the other just does not get it. Unfortunately those that don't get it, don't get that they don't get it. I agree with the general consensus of this thread that leverage in itself is not necessarily good nor bad. When, how, how much, at what rate, etc. all affect the use of leverage.

+1

I'm sorry, I can't find that thread.

Do we know for sure that that is the metric still being used? in this year's letter Buffett states, "Berkshire's directors will only authorize repurchases at a price they believe is well below intrinsic value." The 1.2 x book may no longer apply.

Whoaaa, take it down a notch little fella, why all the anger? I suggest you re-read my post, very slowly...a couple times, until you truly understand it and not cherry pick and take things out of context. Did you miss the part about asking for feedback from those hurt by leverage? So just take a deep breath and read it again. No need to be so critical just because someone happens to have a different opinion, is there? Now, what do you think Warren had in mind when he said sensible investing?

There were some great points raised in this thread http://www.cornerofberkshireandfairfax.ca/forum/berkshire-hathaway/annual-letter-out/ but I hope we can discuss this important topic in more detail here. Warren Buffet does, for the most part, advise against leverage but I do always have this quote in the back of my mind from one of his letters, "If your actions are sensible, you are certain to get good results, leverage just moves things along faster." So, I thinks one of the most sensible uses of leverage is to buy an index fund or BRK stock. But Buffett advises against that in this year's letter. Would love to get input from other members, especially those who have had several years experience with leverage. I know there is a tendency for people who have been successful with the use of leverage to share their experience, and I would love to hear them, but I would also love to hear from those who have been hurt by leverage. I think both examples would be very useful for all of us on this board interested in this topic. I personally am not opposed to leverage. I think of it this way: If you would borrow money to buy a house (mortgage) why not borrow to purchase an index fund or BRK stock. Both are just as safe as real estate investment and the returns are greater. But I am fairly inexperienced with leverage and would love to hear from others.

Lololol....now that is funny. Nicely done!!!! +1

Thanks merkhet!

Does anyone know? I think he is doing an interview on CNBC on Monday, which would suggest the letter will be released this weekend. Should be great reading, whenever it comes out!

WOW!!!

Could be the sale of XOM. Buffett sold out of the company.

Why is BH down the past couple of days while the overall market is up? Is it due to the decline in the price of AXP? If that's the case, that's crazy. BH owns $13B worth of AXP shares, which equates to roughly 3.5% of Berkshire's $356B market cap. AXP has declined just over 9% in the past couple of days which would represent 0.03% of BH's market cap, yet BH was down almost 1% yesterday alone. Now, there may be other reasons BH had declined, but if it's just due to AXP then it is an overreaction.

A few articles had mentioned it just after the 13F-HR came out. Here is one from Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-14/berkshire-discloses-express-scripts-stake-as-deputies-add-stock.html

We know that Buffett has asked the SEC to keep one of his Q3 transactions confidential. Does anyone know how long these exemptions typically last and when we can expect the details of this trade?