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So here's my math: 9/30/2018 share count was 1,642,269 A share equivalents [2,463,403,858 B share equivalents] - from page 23 of the Q3 10Q 10/25/2018 share count was 1,641,681 A share equivalents [2,462,520,906 B share equivalents] - from front cover of Q3 10Q So subsequent to quarter-end, they resumed repurchases and it was about $181 million worth of stock through 10/25. Which means they didn't stop in August because of a black-out period - they stopped because they have a ceiling price on their purchase plan. * [sorry, should have included the difference, about 588 A share equivalents repurchased in Q4 up to 10/25, or 882,900 B shares eq.]

BK, USB and GS were all being accumulated the previous quarter and are logiical bets. Maybe something new. It’s funny the headlines saying stuff like this Rolfe quote from the WSJ: No mention of the huge purchases of equities in the quarter or explanation of why the cash balance is declining and didn’t print $120 billion this quarter like it would have, absent massive buying of investments... Just look at the equity portfolio’s growth in the past 12 months. They have been buying a lot to keep cash at $100 Billion ----------- in other news, BNSF continues to roll over debt at extremely attractive rates. Look at this 30 year issuance from Q3 - Seems like all the borrowing lately is 2048-49 stuff - And the entire bond portfolio for a company with $736 Billion in invested assets is $17.8 billion at cost ($18.3 at market). An insurance company with a 2.5% allocation to fixed income.

Don’t use average as quarter end

Interesting... Call options on JBGS ?

Bloomberg finally picked up on the BAC purchase. I was surprised that nobody reported it. CNBC would rather tweet about Mark Cuban recommending that you should buy a years' worth of toothpaste at a time.. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-03/buffett-s-buying-shows-appetite-for-stocks-including-his-own?srnd=premium

You would hope if he liked something in September he would still like it at much lower prices in October. I have thought he would buy JPM for a long time, but I gave up on that hope when Todd joined the board of directors of JPM. I am unclear if Todd being on the BoD at JPM would require Berkshire Hathaway to file with the SEC, but it might. Which would rule out JPM. Too bad, because he's going to want a certain allocation to the banking business and its going to get harder for $1 trillion, 2 trillion, etc, Berkshire to do that if they are forced to keep selling most of them above 10%. 9% of JPM would have been a pretty good solution and you know he loves the management, loves the business, etc... Plus JPM was available at great prices for a really long time. Since he was buying USB, BK and GS before the quarter, it seems logical he continued. But there could be new positions as well.

Yeah - that's what I'm getting at in the other thread. They purchased $17.657 Billion of equities in the quarter, and around $15 Billion of that is Banks, Insurance, Finance. And I think 200 million BAC shares is definitely part of it.

Is anyone else coming up with numbers that suggest Berkshire added 200 million BAC shares in the quarter? As in, used to own 700 million, now owns 900 million? That would account for over $6 billion of the $15 Billion increase to cost basis in the category "Banks, insurance and finance." I have long speculated that he would add JPM, but with Todd on the board I would think he would have to file. Still a lot of "Banks Insurance and finance" that he bought during the quarter beyond just the BAC stock I am thinking he added. I guess the other likely suspects would be USB, BK, and GS.

I mean, yeah, "one of the biggest quarters" is correct if you use an almost meaningless headline number under these new accounting rules. Even lowly Apple Inc just reported a pitiful $14 Billion net income quarter (must be embarrassing I know). Apple has made over $18 billion in a quarter (Q1) before, hence the "one of" language. [*edit - Apple made $20 Billion in the quarter ending December 2017] But if you're going to focus on a meaningless headline number, why not use Berkshire's 2017 Q4, where the tax related gain added $29 Billion to Berkshire's actual earnings for the quarter.

I'm not sure where I got 8 days from, I've been out all day. Perhaps it was an error in reading my notes. More likely, with the price cap that appears to have been in place, it was 11 trading days. If I remember what the hell I was thinking about when I wrote that I'll let you know.. But, yeah, as mentioned earlier - the 10Q on page 45 says, "Period" "August 7 through August 24:" And he had mentioned in the original announcement that he would wait until everyone had the same information (after earnings were publicly released). Then he apparently waited one additional day, potentially for the reason I speculated in my previous post. The gist is that Berkshire isn't buying back anywhere close to 25% of the average daily volume. And there appears to be a price cap, likely based on a multiple of book value so it may change quarter to quarter. Did the 'soft floor' just become a 'soft ceiling' ? LOL

The october repurchase activity can be estimated by using the 10/25 share counts, accounting for A to B conversions, and estimating the "missing" shares. It won't be spot on, because like you mention there are other factors that effect share count, but when there is a reduction in the number of outstanding shares we can safely assume that is from net share repurchases. All the other factors that effect share count would generally lead to small increases in share count. I have a slightly different number, but similar conclusion to you. Total B-equivalents of 4,476,692 repurchased for $928 million during the quarter, for an average price of $207.3. I'm not sure where you are seeing the October numbers. It seems you are drawing conclusions from the reported share-count at Oct 25? I think that's reasonable, but there could easily be other factors that affect share counts aside from repurchases, as there were this quarter as well. Buyback was a little underwhelming. The rest of the earnings are rather good though. So good report overall, IMO.

So the way I read it is that they were only active for 14 trading days during the quarter: August 7th - August 24th, from which you can estimate the cap price in their repurchase instructions. During those 14 trading days they repurchased approximately $927.566 million worth of stock, for an average of about $66.25 million worth per trading day. No further repurchase activity during the quarter. Then, subsequent to quarter end, up until October 25th, they were back in the market, repurchasing approximately $181 million worth of stock in 8 trading days, for an average of about $22.625 million worth of stock per day. This is consistent with the estimated cap price that can be divined by the August repurchase activity. They did not repurchase anything the first day the were allowed to, August 6th, probably because they had a one day delay starting trading on the 10b5-1 plan I assume they are using.

Man, I used to be interested in this company but they are not looking good. They will lose Sam's when that comes up for renewal and I would not be surprised if Amazon drops them at the first opportunity. SYF is basically the antithesis of 'relentlessly focused on pleasing the customer.'

"one that got away" - Bloomberg article on Berkshire's interest in acquiring WPP Group in 2012 https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/buffett-sorrell-chatted-about-potential-wpp-deal-six-years-ago

Results out - https://s1.q4cdn.com/579586326/files/doc_financials/2018/Q3/FFH-2018-Q3-Press-Release-(Final).pdf

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! 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.

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

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...

WSJ running an article this morning on Todd's recent investments in early stage Financial Technology firms globally https://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffetts-firm-invests-millions-in-fintech-1540807200?mod=hp_lead_pos5 For reference, StoneCo Ltd trades on the nasdaq under the ticker STNE

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

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..

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.

BRK.B calls, Spectrum Brands

I'm adding today as well. Something like 500 Billion at today's price

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.