schin

@landstander - Did it talk about his hedge fund and their large bets? I know there are strong personalities from his lieutenants that are interesting and possibly, dumpster fires. I know the book I read had a small part on his ARM Holding analysis.

It's amazing how Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates were going to dilute/screw Paul Allen on Microsoft and of course, Steve Jobs screwed Woz on a check early on.... Maybe, it's a birthright.. but, it's crazy. I read this Masa book and it glossed over on Alibaba and WeWorks. https://www.amazon.com/Aiming-High-Masayoshi-SoftBank-Disrupting/dp/1529338581 Does this book dig deeper in Alibaba, Coupang, and WeWork investments?

I think toxicity has several levels.... It can kill you immediately .... or for most, it's s slow dose of arsenic poisoning each day.

@valueinvesting101 - We should create a new list! If the prior list was equally weighted, do you think it would have performed better than BRK? DJIA? QQQ?

I inquired at the "event" forum -- but, is there a different vibe at the FFH AGM and their events relative to the Berkshire AGM? I have been to Berkshire's AGM meeting once, but never to FFH... worth it?

@rkbabang - Can I rent your vacation home for two weeks when you're not there? LOL. You are a true baller. This discussion is comes down to ... if he wants a home or a house.

He would be a billionaire in rupees or pesos, right?

@formthirteen - It has some IP in Marilyn Monroe pictures, but is it still relevant anymore or even with Hugh Helfner IPO'd it. It has no P/E or earnings.... it is probably a great target for a pump and dump...but, it's not a great business by any stretch.

@dealraker - In terms of transporting goods, railroads are still the best deal on land. Do you think autonomous vehicles/trucks will cap their prices. Even if rails raise their prices, there are not a lot of cost-effective alternatives. Do you think the value and benefits from precision scheduled railroading from Hunter Harrison has been fully realized? It's the new norm and there's no more they can do?

All the railroads seems interesting at these prices points (US and Canadian). They always say transports were early indicators for the economy, so I am looking for a rally... but, market does look frothy. But, the price points are not too expensive historically... and not dirt cheap either.

@Saluki - UiPath and NuBank (which I really like) They IPO'd a long time ago... but, european banks.... I like DB.. which is broken, but business fundamentals are looking good.

"In 2024, Berkshire did better than I expected though 53% of our 189 operating businesses reported a decline in earnings. " Is this an indicator he ever used? That's interesting. Is it easy to get this type of read from ValueLine or S&P somewhere? A percentage of business that declare declining earnings?

@Vish_ram I think your row 2 S&P .03 should be .003

@Malmqky - Do you use brokers to find these local businesses? I've been wanting to find something local, but don't know where to start... and is it so competitive that that 2-3x earnings don't exist any more? Or someone in your network kinda things.

Does anyone have experience on how takeovers or mergers work on OTC or ADRs positions? For example, if Unicredit (UNCRY) takes over Commerzbank (CRZBF) using stock -- do US investors get UNCRY? Or whoever the CRZBF (acquiree) administrator generate a new OTC/ADR symbol? Or if BBVA (NYSE) merges with Sababell (BNDSF), how does the administrator in Sababell handle this in the US? I understand the fractional shares will be paid out, but will BNDSF owners get a new BBVA ADR system or will it translate to a BBVA shares on NYSE? If a shareholder has 1,000 shares of Banco Sabadell, BBVA would exchange them for 199 shares of BBVA (1,000 / 5.0196) and the remaining fractional share (0.219) would be paid in cash. The shareholder would also receive a cash payment of €57.77 (1,000 shares x €0.29 / 5.0196). I am interested in how mergers/takesover are handled in ADRs and unusual tax treatment by IRS.

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” — Mark Twain

Can you imagine if he invested in Nvidia? He could have put his money in Lucent Technologies, Nokia, etc.... this is clearly resulting.

@Blake Hampton - I never heard of Robert Vinall. What's his claim to fame?

Awhile back I use to get the Walker's Manual looking for these small bank stocks like Trinity Bank and Burke & Herbert bank, I struggled to get a large position as it can take months to build it... and it was harder to get out. It can be a great long term, buy and hold forever.. but, their thinly traded market is hard.

@Brett - Do you feel anyone is doing the type of due diligence and early activism he did? Are you planning to do something similar to Charlie's partnership?

@Brett - Thanks. I'll look forward to it. Please remember the little people on theCOBF when you become famous.... that's all we ask.

@Brett Your book reminds me of this book about Warren's early investments. Have you read this and do you delve more in certain areas? https://www.amazon.com/Deals-Warren-Buffett-First-100M/dp/B07V5NVRNQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3U9AOZ8X8447O&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CIyUYcC3FjK_Z53MyKpdESDGkIvPbTH39RZpKO3nZqWiOjyvhiZkf4bYb2sogvCiic_Yt3tXDD1BzvSNwG0Rn7AI_9JDGHRVdurW4egCF3VppnEwViQPq2qnRV4qZN6O0sz7RlfLo3Qj6CQ2VEMWbqrzboJ45rJvErv2PT1oMYBXF_OPJ5xMbaPzVYnW-K1F0XcJJKLS71rzJBUN5yvq6XSJj0Q71_UCumbF2fiptcs.-CQfrtZfu9_33xGfkjnNCZpbKSUOIkV7ZhHDeDqSHew&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Deals+of+Warren+Buffett&qid=1728412392&s=books&sprefix=the+deals+of+warren+buffett%2Cstripbooks%2C1175&sr=1-1

I'm all about laissez-faire governance... But, when some level of leadership and guidance is needed, it has to be nipped in the bud early, or it'll fester and the snowball on technical/admin debt starts accumulating the wrong way.

@DooDiligence - It's sad. They are probably getting feedback from customers, BRK loyalist like you, and just cannot get out of their own way. I often tell my teams... the money is actually the easy part.. the management and implementation is the hardest part of any business...

@Hektor - I believe so too. I think GEICO and BSNF is different because they're so large that writing them off -- even gradually is not acceptable... but, their problems are about IT and under management.... unlike Salomon, which was about fixing a culture and integrity.... The IT systems were not flawed.... the people were.... because of lax IT controls? But, the main point is BRK is not engineer to provide management talent... or fixers... it's not their business model, but it is turning out to be the case. Is Greg Abel the ultimate management consultant? The Marvin Bower of McKinsey's heyday? But, there's only 1-3 people at corporate to save a whole portfolio of companies. It doesn't scale.