gfp
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Posts posted by gfp
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Boilermaker, I confess that I stole your ideas again. Sold BRK 197.5 November 2nd Puts at 1.70 yesterday and Sold RHT November 2nd 170 puts at 2.10 right after you mentioned them... Still a couple days to go
Looking forward to Saints-Rams!!!
THANKS!
If I did not already have too many open put positions, I would use writing puts to play the IBM all-cash acquisition of RHT. (I probably will after some of my open puts get past expiration.)
For instance, this morning you could have written RHT 170-strike puts with expiration this Friday for $1.50 per share.
Then on Friday you can decide what your play is for the next week.
As long as you're picking up pennies in front of the steam roller, why not just sell $190 strike puts against RHT (2020 expiration)? Surely the deal won't fall apart. Seems like less work.
Yes if you think the deal goes through and does so in a reasonable time frame. The reason I like options is that I set the date when the play is over. And if I get put to then I can decide whether to hold to conclusion of the acquisition, or write covered calls.
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It was Apple's marketing slide from the actual event...
Context is key of course - they were discussing how far the iPad has come since the original iPad, 8.5 years ago
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Everything works for me on Safari, but at some point in the middle of the night last night (US) it seemed like the simple machines database was offline. Probably unrelated. I have a 14 week old puppy so I'm up a lot at like 2am lately...
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WSJ running an article this morning on Todd's recent investments in early stage Financial Technology firms globally
For reference, StoneCo Ltd trades on the nasdaq under the ticker STNE
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This article is an update on the ballot item in Nevada to open up NV Energy's regulated monopoly to more choice. Obviously NV Energy would still own the distribution infrastructure. BHE has been spending a lot of money on lobbying / advertising. Some large individual casinos had already won the right to pay a termination fee and buy their power from an independent producer.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/27/adelson-buffett-nevada-890190
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You are correct. You never become a partner / member if you do not end up owning the units directly. So no K-1 unless you exercise, get put-to, etc..
If I own options on an MLP but never buy the stock, will I still have to file a K-1? I imagine the answer is no, but I want to make sure.
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It’s too bad they can’t safely electrify something in the rail. Carrying many tons of batteries around is less than ideal and probably not close to cost effective. More likely that for now these battery locomotives are used to reposition cars locally to cut down on emissions in a local area. Ultimately... the trains are already electric so maybe some type of fuel cell or clever safe electrified rail will work out. I don’t see them adding wires above like i’ve seen in Asia.
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BRK.B calls, Spectrum Brands
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I'm adding today as well. Something like 500 Billion at today's price
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One of the standard answers is the paycheck processors, like ADP and Paychex. They have a float that earns short term deposit rates - usually called something like "interest on funds held for clients."
Really any float based business like Banking or Berkshire can benefit, but not all of them will. I would rather own a smart capital allocator like berkshire than a portfolio of life insurance companies if I was trying to position for higher rates. The Life insurance companies own a bunch of bonds. berkshire does not.
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If you don't normalize interest rates when the economy is going gangbusters, you don't have any room to ease when the cycle turns. I won't get into the debate on whether we should even be trying to soften the extremes of the cycle - but the rate environment many people got used to was not 'normal.'
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Not sure where to link this, but Warren did an event sponsored by newly acquired MLMIC, New York's largest medical malpractice insurer - where he had a public conversation with Dr. James Reed, CEO of St. Peter's Health Partners. (if you've reached your 'free limit' for reading the article, open the link in private or incognito mode to read)
https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/news/2018/10/18/warren-buffett-health-care-st-peters-reed.html
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I suppose you could try creating an ask of your own that would facilitate the bid you want to place. Otherwise, beyond using a different broker the solution is probably all too familiar when it comes to illiquid microcap accumulation: wait patiently.
Hi All,
I ran into an issue on a microcap/OTC stock that I have been accumulating a position in. There is a ask for 2 shares out on the stock for 3 times the last trading price. Fidelity will only let me bid 50% of the amount of the ask price. More or less stopping me from continuing to add to my orders. Anyone found a work around?
Thanks!
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General news / Berkshire / 3G
update - an article on the company from SA. Obviously more likely a Ted or Todd deal but who knows with the Brazilians involved:
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Nope, watched it on a television set up outdoors with a group of friends. We have guests in town who were at the dome though. (I think we might be the only two people on this message board that care about this LOL) Back to value investments!
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Thanks Mike, Congratulations Drew! It was like they weren't even trying to defend that pass to just get the record breaking ceremony over with. Drew can now hopefully add to that record for a few more years and it may stand for an awfully long time. Geaux Saints!
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There are several factors in addition to repurchase activity that could be pushing BRK up relative to the market. One is the rise in interest rates and Berkshire’s unique positioning relative to interest rates (float based businesses become more valuable along with money, but most insurance companies hold large bond portfolios that get marked lower - Berkshire’s traditional long bond portfolio is comically small relative to total assets).
Another is simple technical analysis reasons, which also relates to violated option strikes, where Brk held above its recent breakout. Might sound like Mumbo Jumbo, but covered calls are a factor at Brk, where everyone holds at a gain, most with large gains they are not eager to be called on and realize.
But stock repurchases are undoubtably a factor as well
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My understanding is that nothing has to be publicly disclosed in a filing when an issuer is using the plan for a repurchase. Other types of plans, for insider selling for instance, usually get mentioned in the form 4 - but the confidential details of the trading rules are usually not public. Sometimes you can divine them through other disclosures though - a cap price can sometimes be observed if trading prices are detailed in a form 4.
So no, Berkshire doesn’t have to file anything but might mention it in a footnote later.
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Correct. If they are doing it the way I am guessing they are doing it, there can be steady open market purchases throughout the usual blackout periods. You can get really specific with formulas and rules and changing price caps/floors - but I would bet they have a simple price cap, % of daily volume instruction. Just a guess of course.
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My understanding is that they are limited by rule 10b-18 to buying no more than 25% of the daily volume. They are also not supposed to trade in the final 10 minutes before the close.
I would be very surprised if Warren purchased anywhere close to 25% of the daily volume of the combined share classes. My impression is that he would feel that repurchase activity near the 25% level would influence the share price more than he desires. It is impossible to completely eliminate your influence on the share price (witness the generally rising stock, closure of A/B share premium/discount, etc).
If I had to guess, I would guess that Berkshire established a 10b5-1 plan specifying a maximum price and a percentage of the trailing ADV to purchase. I would guess that they specified somewhere around 10-15% of the Average Daily Volume, not to exceed 25% on any given day unless a large transaction was privately negotiated outside the plan (which would not be considered to be protected by the safe harbor of the plan).
They probably filed the 10b5-1 plan directly following their 10Q, allowing them to begin purchases under the plan immediately. Buffett would receive daily trade confirms but isn't supposed to have any other communication with the broker he chose to administer the plan. So he would know what was purchased each day and "we bought a little" is very difficult to quantify when you are talking about a half-trillion dollar market value enterprise...
We'll find out soon enough with the next 10Q and we can try to reverse engineer the % of daily volume they specified...
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Beat me to it man... Its so obvious
BTW, someone can remind me why AIG/etc are subject to stress tests and BRK is not. Isn't BRK (re)insurance arm bigger than these companies?
Because Buffett and Soros have been bankrolling the Illuminati who are controlling the fed behind the scenes.
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Hard to tell what specifically he means by reading the article alone. Is it "too much" exposure based on a firm's total assets, market cap, something else? I am guessing total assets but that is just a guess..
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Berkshire finally closed this acquisition of a previously mutual medical malpractice liability insurer.
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Ted filed on a small Roanoke VA based company, causing a bit of a spike. Wonder what the story is -
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1000230/000091957418006295/d8073090_13g.htm
Fairfax 2018
in Fairfax Financial
Posted
Results out -
https://s1.q4cdn.com/579586326/files/doc_financials/2018/Q3/FFH-2018-Q3-Press-Release-(Final).pdf