gfp

Omaha is obviously a very inexpensive housing market, but that house is certainly very dated. Radiators, carpet, old kitchen, baths, etc.. Thanks. Wow only $370k... I can barely get a fixer at that price in my area.

http://thegoodlifegroup.npdodge.com/property/39862762/306-S-54-Street-Omaha-NE-68132

BNSF 10-Q is out as well - always interesting to see. Another Billion dollar dividended out to Omaha this quarter - http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/934612/000093461215000016/llc-3312015x10q.htm

I assumed he was asking about total share count (A equivalents or B equivalents) and not changes in the categories that combine for total share count.

jobyts, did I miss where you shared your AUM?

Graham Holdings stock swap primarily.

"BV didn't budge. Haven't figured out why." Page 4 of the Q breaks down the changes in comprehensive income. Unrealized investment losses and foreign currency translation are responsible for most of the difference between the income and the $1.3 Billion increase in net worth. "Other investments" was hit by a little over a billion dollars - remember that BAC was at 17.89 at year end and 15.39 at the end of the quarter... warrants to purchase 700 million shares

1st Quarter results are out - http://berkshirehathaway.com/news/MAY0115.pdf http://berkshirehathaway.com/qtrly/1stqtr15.pdf

Different currencies

This quote from a site below kind of sums up why US investors are just recently worrying about it. There were changes in the last few years that alerted folks to the issue -- "The FATCA legislation not only requires new self-reporting on PFICs and other foreign held financial assets, but also requires all “foreign financial institutions” to report on the assets held by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents directly to the IRS by 2014. While it may seem hard to believe that foreign financial institutions would willingly comply with such reporting requirements, the fact is that industry observers expect nearly universal compliance with the new rules by banks, brokerages, insurance companies, mutual funds (anything “financial”) around the world, because of the severe sanctions the FATCA law imposed on non-compliant financial institutions. The point is that all U.S. citizens must assume that as of 2014, the IRS will have a direct and easily accessible window onto their holdings in foreign financial institutions. It will be easy to cross-reference direct reports by these institutions to the IRS with self-filed form 8938 and 8621 and determine whether or not your PFIC investments have been properly reported and the tax properly calculated and paid." http://thunfinancial.com/why-americans-should-never-ever-own-shares-in-a-non-us-incorporated-mutual-fund/

... Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1983-Part_1.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1983-Part_2.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1983-Part_3.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1983-Part_4.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1984-Part_1.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1984-Part_2.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1984-Part_3.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1985-Part_1.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1985-Part_2.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1985-Part_3.pdf

(the part 1, 2, etc... is due to a 10mb file size limit over at chucks_angels) Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1981-Part_1.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1981-Part_2.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1981-Part_3.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1981-Part_4.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1982.PDF

I have some of them, courtesy of Prem Jain on the chucks_angels yahoo board. Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1974.PDF Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1975.PDF Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1976.PDF Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1977.PDF Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1978.PDF Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1979-Part_1.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1979-Part_2.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1979-Part_3.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1980-Part_1.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1980-Part_2.pdf Berkshire_Hathaway_Inc._1980-Part_3.pdf

I realize it is way off topic here, but why is there a rather hard floor at 1.3x? Unless BVPS has gone up significantly last quarter, it is still sporting one of the highest multiples it has had in recent memory. Somewhere at 1.4X range, we'll see more precisely at Q1. I did not adjust for HNZ/KRFT. It's not very cheap, but considering a rather hard floor at 1.3, it's possibly unlikely that one can get BRK much cheaper. Whether it's worth paying 1.4X is something people have to decide for themselves. :)

It's his standard comment that Burger King paid ~$12Billion for Tim Hortons. "Why would you spend 12 billion to save 30 million"... I can't say anything about the exact US federal cash taxes that BKW has paid, but BKW doesn't have "earnings" anywhere close to $12 billion. I suspect there was some kind of a typo here or misunderstanding.

He's talking about realized loss as a percentage of total net worth of the firm. I've seen him say this more than once, but is this really true? Looking at http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2014ltr.pdf , 2008 shows 9.6% book value drop, 2001 shows 6.2% book value drop. Are these not related to portfolio drops? (I guess they might be operating business goodwill writedowns - 2001 could be GenRe, I'd have to look up...). Also didn't he have Washington Post drop over 50% as he was buying it and wasn't that a large part of his portfolio? It is still very surprising that he never suffered higher than 2% loss per year in his portfolio - if that's what he means. I don't think there's anyone else who has this kind of record...

Here is Clayton's initial response: http://www.omaha.com/clayton-homes-statement-on-mobile-home-buyer-investigation/article_7052e0c4-da3b-11e4-8abd-5f0b53380837.html

redheads, asians, blondes... Charlie Rose must feel awful special

"1. They have stated they plan to buy in the $8B Berkshire preferreds in 2016 (these yield 9%! - that is an after tax cost to common shareholders) using debt issuance (BBB-) of the same amount (so figure, I don't know, something like 4% pre-tax or 3% after tax for the debt for a cash savings for common shareholders of the difference 6% (ie 9% minus 3%) of $8 billion or around $500 million; this is consistent with Kraft's merger presentation where they state savings of $450 to 500 million). All that to say net debt increases from $20 billion in 2015 to $28 billion in 2016 to buy-in the Berkshire held preferreds, however there is an extra 0.5 billion going to common per year because of this planned exchange in 2016." - One thing to remember is that there will be a premium to redeem these preferred shares at their earliest possible date. Prior deals indicate it could be 10-20%. Lets say 10% since 3G are friends, but that is still another $800 million to BRK up front. It could very well be a higher premium, as they usually decline over time and this is the first call opportunity (2016). It's probably safe to model $9 billion in borrowings to replace the $8 billion in BRK pref.

Interestingly it sounds like quite a few of the international brand licenses that they put inside Mondelez in the separation will ultimately revert to Kraft over time (by 2020 it sounds like for most?). No factories come back, but Heinz has many facilities around the world to use. I hope Philly cream cheese comes back over.

Kraft Heinz will be public going forward. Berkshire will own something like 26%, 3G 25% and former KRFT shareholders get 49% and their $16.50 per share cash dividend.

I think you'll find that Berkshire owns 192,666 shares of Kraft before the deal.

I was looking at this too and listening to what Buffett said on CNBC this morning. It basically looks like a double, DAY 1! That certainly seems like a hell of a deal for Berkshire. I think it's more like a double, Year 2. Also, on the "2. Over the longer-term, Kraft should be able to leverage Heinz's international distribution. " point - there are certain brands - Philadelphia Cream cheese for example - that Kraft did not retain the International rights to. Perhaps Mondelez will make a deal to send them back to Kraft, but there may be a few brands like Philly that can't just be plugged in to the Heinz international distribution network.

Berkshire will end up with $9.5 Billion cost basis on 320 million KRFT shares after (not receiving) the 16.5 dividend. Looks like that stock will be worth over $20 billion and pay a decent dividend. No mention of the preferred, but I bet it's still there earning him 9%. Interesting deal! He said it came about in 4 weeks.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/kraft-in-talks-to-be-acquired-by-3g-capital-1427238184?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories Bloomberg reporting it may be merged with Heinz - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-25/3g-capital-said-to-be-in-advanced-talks-to-acquire-kraft-foods NYT picking up the Heinz possibility as well - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/business/dealbook/h-j-heinz-said-to-be-in-talks-to-buy-kraft-foods.html?_r=0