Charlie

"I don't think that this is contradictory. Why should Germany leaving the Euro be bad for Spanish RE?" you are probably right that it is not contradictory, but I think it will politically not happen that Germany leaves the Euro. ;)

"Interestingly, both George Soros and Ray Dalio think that Germany leaving the Euro is one of the more probable outcomes" Interestingly George Soros is investing in Spanish real estate. George Soros has always the tendency to describe ultimate worst cases. It is often more important to look what the gurus do, than what they write. ;) I was in March in Spain and I also think Spanish real estate has very good return potential over the next five years. :)

"If you're looking for some risk averse people outside Japan, Germany might very well be the place you're going to find them." I mean business people who are incentivied from low interest rates, not politicians. :)

I don´t believe there will be big deflation in the euro zone. In Greece there is some deflation. Munger once said that Japan got Deflation because of the psychology of the Japanese people and Japanese people didn´t take any risks anymore. This is not happening in the US oder Europe. Buffett once said that he doesn't´t think deflation will happen in the US. John Templetion once said that most people won´t see deflation in their life time. Since I live in the euro zone, everybody around me is spending like crazy and it is understandable and make sense with this low interest rates. It simply doesn´t look like deflation. ;)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-30/buffett-brand-spreads-as-midamerican-takes-berkshire-name.html Cheers! :)

Here is the full transcript: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101608436?__source=yahoo%7cfinance%7cheadline%7cheadline%7cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101608436%7cCNBC%20transcript:%20Warren%20B Cheers!

I would be interested in the question if he thinks the business cycle has gotten longer and if he thinks so, why? Thank you! :)

I will probably retire at an early age since most of my money is in Berkshire. :) Some of the important lessons I learned from Buffett and Munger: 1. Circle of Competence: You have to know what you know. I think more than 95% of people overestimate their circle of competence. 2. Focused thinking: If your mind doesn´t tend to focus, nothing will help. 3. Health is more than 95% of success. 4. Try to be likeable. 5. Search for Lollapalooza Effects. 6. Try to contribute something positive to the world.

Very good checklist! Thank you :)

""Berkshire has gotten too big" is urban myth. (I received a lot of love saying this in another post in another thread, ha). WEB's letters during the last few years is trying to dispel this." Exactly ;) Annual report: "With this tailwind working for us, Charlie and I hope to build Berkshire’s per-share intrinsic value by (1) constantly improving the basic earning power of our many subsidiaries; (2) further increasing their earnings through bolt-on acquisitions; (3) benefiting from the growth of our investees; (4) repurchasing Berkshire shares when they are available at a meaningful discount from intrinsic value; and (5) making an occasional large acquisition. We will also try to maximize results for you by rarely, if ever, issuing Berkshire shares." Munger would call this a Lollapalooza Effect. When 3, 4 or 5 factors are working in the same direction, you often get Lollapalooza Effects. And Lollapalooza Effects can make you rich or kill you. And this one will make us richer. :)

P/B is 1,287 at year end of 2013. 7% above buyback level. Business momentum is very strong. Reinsurance and the railroad are fantastic. A safe asset with good return expectations with most competent management. I love it. :)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-04/munich-re-raises-dividend-as-profit-beats-estimates.html Cheers! :)

"Most of the original, annual editions of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack in the Rare Books section of The Library of Congress. :)" twacowfca, does the original, annual editions of Poor Richard´s Almanack differ from the normal Poor Richard´s Almanack? I love reading Poor Richard´s Almanack and thinking about it. A few years ago at a Berkshire Annual Meeting I talked to Munger and in one question I inverted the sentence: "An empty bag stand seldom upright" to "A full bag stand mostly upright". He liked that. :)

Business lawyer.

Happy, healthy and successful new year! :) Thanks to Parsad for this great message board.

Thank you for sharing the video. :) I always loved reading interviews with John Templeton, because of his great mind and his great ideas.

"Awesome! Great read. Thanks for posting. Lots of great stuff." +1 :)

"Are you saying the RE is a negative for MCD from WEB's perspective?" yes, ROE of real estate is not good. Buffett owned McDonald´s probably when there was a lot of growth ahead.

"Also have wondered why BRK doesn't have MCD has a top holding. Perhaps just a matter of time." I think MCD is not a top holding, because eating habits change more than drinking habits and MCD owns a lot of real estate.

"Re: BRK becoming the largest US co., Warren showed the market cap at $270B at Omaha this year and openly stated that the next CEO will be heading a BRK with 2x market cap." Munger: “The first $200 billion [in market capitalization] was hard. The second $200b with the current momentum will be relatively easy." Buffett: "The businesses are in place to take it to $400 billion." :) [Pause for a moment and reflect on what this means – Munger and Buffett are calmly confident that Berkshire will eventually be twice as big as it is now.] http://www.sancaptrustco.com/documents/WkendwWarrenandCharlie.pdf

"BRK is the gift that keeps on giving." Some hours ago I thought about the same quote. :)

The business momentum is very strong. :) At P/B of 1,365 it´s not expensive. Just 14 % about buyback level. The railroad is fantastic. Cheers!

Nice short video from Mohnish Pabrai. :) http://vimeo.com/76545026 Cheers!

Merkel wins in Germany election. :) http://news.yahoo.com/germany-votes-merkel-set-third-term-030004347.html Cheers!

At P/B 1,436 there is still more upside. It´s 20% over buyback level. The nature of a very good business model is that it works very well. :)