Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[Blugolds]

1 hour ago, Jaygo said:

I think this goes for lot in our economy. Just look at heavy duty trucks. That’s not a $95,000.00 super duty. It’s only $1,200.00 a month. 
 

without borrowing our current economy would stop dead in a week. 

 

Agreed, the price of the "asset" doesnt matter, neither do rates really because they just extend the term. The same is/has been happening in the boat/RV markets. Auto loan terms of 72mo are becoming more and more common vs previous 60 mo considered "the long option", especially with rates increasing. Boat and RV loan terms are already able to go out 10 years. These will only increase. 

 

Might come a time when the traditional 30yr mortgage becomes 35-40. 

 

When the majority of your potential buyers (middle class America) wages have not kept up, and in fact are losing purchasing power, prices of goods/materials continuing to rise to maintain profit margins etc,  rates rising..the only option is to extend the term in order for them to buy. The entire economy hinges on monthly payments. With manufacturers increasing prices and profit margins and the fed increasing rates, length of the note is the only lever to keep the music playing and the party going.  

 

 

[yesman182]

4 hours ago, gfp said:

I don't know if Charlie has told the story before or not, but it was great when he said he used to always fly coach to the Berkshire annual meeting each year and the plane from LA would be full of all these rich Berkshire shareholders headed to the meeting and they would all applaud and cheer when he took his seat in coach.  "I miss that." he said

 

Now he flys on net jets.  

 

I was also surprised how ruthless Buffett was on "Wheels Up," basically implying that people that gave them money for their jet cards ($1 Billion) would basically lose out (unsecured creditors in line at BK)...  He doesn't want to cause bank runs by naming any firm specifically but went straight for the jugular on Wheels Up.  I don't know anything about them but it sounded like a SPAC deal from context.

Kinda like how he slaughtered the Norfolk southern ceo on that interview in Japan. 

[yesman182]

Anyone do the math to determine the buy back in April? I was surprised to see them buy so much at the $310 average in March. 

[backtothebeach]

7 minutes ago, yesman182 said:

Anyone do the math to determine the buy back in April? I was surprised to see them buy so much at the $310 average in March. 

Yes, $150-160 million additional buybacks in April.

[crs223]

$4.4B in repurchases in Q1 (0.66% of outstanding shares).  This was a good quarter for repurchases.  Apr 1 - Apr 25, BRK repurchased an additional $150M (0.02%).

 

[John Hjorth]

I stopped viewing and listening to the streaming of the AGM at the end of the afternoon section of the Q&A session, where there was a planned break of one hour before commencing the formal business part of the annual shareholders meeting according the agenda in the relased proxy statement filing available on EDGAR.

 

This morning I tried to find the streaming of the formal part of the meeting, finding out, thats it's not public available.

 

While I certainly understand the position of likely a lot of attending shareholders, management and board being totally fed up with the formal shareholder meeting being more or less high jacked by evrironmentalists and the likes getting the word promoting own personal ESG related agenda by having submitted ESG related proposals, that from a voting perspective have absolutely no chance to carry through with a majority of "FOR" votes as voting outcome, I still find this decision questionable, because I am as a non-participating shareholder without access to the voting results, at least by now [here, it's 13:15 Sunday afternoon rigth now].

 

I suppose a transcript of the meeting at least will be released soon, or perhaps also a 8-K filing next week.

 

Or has something skipped my attention here?

Edited May 7, 2023 by John Hjorth

[Dynamic]

I was at the meeting (my first in person) and did attend the formal meeting where all shareholder proposals were defeated based on votes submitted in advance alone. Results will be filed with the State of Delaware and SEC in due course including those votes from the floor which won't change the outcome just the numbers. There were problems with the microphone at the initial station they used which delayed things in that section and they limited proposers to about 3 minutes rather than letting them go on and on with their soapbox.

 

I think only one of the proposers came across really well with her two sets of remarks. I think they'd stand a better chance next year if they proposed something less far-reaching that would be simple and convenient to implement and perhaps seek to expand from there in future years. A very brief, clearly written proposal with very limited scope on one of the topics chosen might actually stand a modest chance.

 

Perhaps the Board or CNBC even, realised that one of the guys was planning to use the platform to promote his Conspiracy Theories and ended up saying some pretty nasty and defamatory things mostly aimed at Bill Gates. He ended up being removed from the meeting after being given a second opportunity to continue at the microphone in a sensible manner. I'm quite relieved that only the in person audience was exposed to his soapbox rant, rather than exposing more people online to misinformation and political tribalism/extremism that feeds from it. Free speech may have its place, but hijacking a business meeting is not it. I would defend the right to free speech, even of that sort, in public places, but not allow them to hijack a platform such as Berkshire's AM.

[Luke]

10 minutes ago, Dynamic said:

I was at the meeting (my first in person) and did attend the formal meeting where all shareholder proposals were defeated based on votes submitted in advance alone. Results will be filed with the State of Delaware and SEC in due course including those votes from the floor which won't change the outcome just the numbers. There were problems with the microphone at the initial station they used which delayed things in that section and they limited proposers to about 3 minutes rather than letting them go on and on with their soapbox.

 

I think only one of the proposers came across really well with her two sets of remarks. I think they'd stand a better chance next year if they proposed something less far-reaching that would be simple and convenient to implement and perhaps seek to expand from there in future years. A very brief, clearly written proposal with very limited scope on one of the topics chosen might actually stand a modest chance.

 

Perhaps the Board or CNBC even, realised that one of the guys was planning to use the platform to promote his Conspiracy Theories and ended up saying some pretty nasty and defamatory things mostly aimed at Bill Gates. He ended up being removed from the meeting after being given a second opportunity to continue at the microphone in a sensible manner. I'm quite relieved that only the in person audience was exposed to his soapbox rant, rather than exposing more people online to misinformation and political tribalism/extremism that feeds from it. Free speech may have its place, but hijacking a business meeting is not it. I would defend the right to free speech, even of that sort, in public places, but not allow them to hijack a platform such as Berkshire's AM.

Curious what exactly did he throw at Gates? At the AGM we also had the question at Charly about the MRNA vaccines..:D

[hasilp89]

19 hours ago, John Hjorth said:

 

Agreed @gfp,

 

I'm pretty sure he follows just about everything that may be going on with US T-bills, and that's certainly for a reason of being a material buyer.

an answer on this topic that made me chuckle - believe it was in response to being asked about enjoying what he does (paraphrasing)

”some days I have stuff to do, some days I don’t, at the least I can roll some t-bills” 

 

 

[Dynamic]

Yeah, but the questioner called them Gene Therapy, which is not factual, a red flag that he was a pseudoscientific antivax proponent. Anyway Charlie immediately said he completely stood by his previous remark and in seconds moved on to the next serious question from Becky.

 

Suffice to say, many conspiratorial talking points that the Gates Foundation evilly indoctrinates Kids with Critical Race Theory and other idea on the evil "Woke Agenda" (with scare quotes), the defamatory accusation that having met Epstein at some times in the past means Bill is an evil something or other. Don't think he went full David Icke and accused him of being a shape shifting lizard person, but perhaps with another minute at the microphone he might have. I'm doubtless being unfair but extrapolating what he might have said next, which is deliberate and simply a way to show my frustration at the idiotic and defamatory rant he embarked on before being rightfully cut off.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Dynamic

[John Hjorth]

@Dynamic,

 

Thank you very much for your posts above and all the detailed information in them, - much, much better to read your stuff above than reading any transcript , or whatever. Christ, what a soap rant it must have been to experience.

 

Lunatics, perhaps even with personality disorders, are about everywhere.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

I hope you have enjoyed your stay in USA with your wife so far.

Edited May 7, 2023 by John Hjorth

[Luke]

31 minutes ago, Dynamic said:

Yeah, but the questioner called them Gene Therapy, which is not factual, a red flag that he was a pseudoscientific antivax proponent. Anyway Charlie immediately said he completely stood by his previous remark and in seconds moved on to the next serious question from Becky.

 

Suffice to say, many conspiratorial talking points that the Gates Foundation evilly indoctrinates Kids with Critical Race Theory and other idea on the evil "Woke Agenda" (with scare quotes), the defamatory accusation that having met Epstein at some times in the past means Bill is an evil something or other. Don't think he went full David Icke and accused him of being a shape shifting lizard person, but perhaps with another minute at the microphone he might have. I'm doubtless being unfair but extrapolating what he might have said next, which is deliberate and simply a way to show my frustration at the idiotic and defamatory rant he embarked on before being rightfully cut off.

Yeah pretty crazy wow, would have liked to see it haha...good that they managed him though.

[Dynamic]

34 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

@Dynamic,

 

Thank you very much for your post above and all the detailed information in it, - much, much better to read your stuff above than reading any transscript , or whatever. Christ, what a soap rant it must have been to experience.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

I hope you have enjoyed your stay in USA with your wife so far.

 

You're welcome. The soapbox rant went obvious from his opening introduction but as someone stunned to red flags and spotting conspiratorial thinking and pseudoscience, I quickly got past the idea that he was just politically tribal and realised he was going into a Bill Gates conspiracy rant.

 

Yes, glad to get a lie-in this morning after yesterday in particular.

 

We have half a day's driving today then a full day tomorrow and an early rise and a 3.5 hour drive to return the hire car to where we hired it and fly back to Europe.

 

Got to enjoy some great places in the US on our road trip, including Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park and Monument Valley which were great ways to spend the first few days. Will try to take my in laws to Bryce and Monument next time we're visiting if at all possible, as they don't need to go on a full hike and it's not too far for them to travel.

 

Also appreciated having a bit of time in Denver on the way to Omaha which we really enjoyed, including a really good meal there (and also at Gorat's, where I can recommend the Porterhouse T-bone steak with hash browns, though the Whisky Glazed Ribeye with loaded jacket potato was amazing too. We didn't eat much all day aside from Dilly Bars to leave room for that meal.

 

Enjoyed the whole Berkshire weekend of course, and glad to have done it at least once.

[sleepydragon]

amazing Munger is still so sharp. He doesn't miss a single word and his voice is very strong. Still very healthy.

I am going to buy some sea's candy. 

[dealraker]

1 hour ago, John Hjorth said:

@Dynamic,

 

Thank you very much for your posts above and all the detailed information in them, - much, much better to read your stuff above than reading any transcript , or whatever. Christ, what a soap rant it must have been to experience.

 

Lunatics, perhaps even with personality disorders, are about everywhere.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

I hope you have enjoyed your stay in USA with your wife so far.

+1

[John Hjorth]

45 minutes ago, sleepydragon said:

amazing Munger is still so sharp. He doesn't miss a single word and his voice is very strong. Still very healthy.

I am going to buy some sea's candy. 

 

@sleepydragon,

 

This! And it goes goes for both geriatric gents! It's amazing to experience. Last year, Mr. Buffett seemed a bit slow / tired [?] while starting out, then later got warmed up. This year : Full throttle from first minute!

 

Inspired by what has been posted above about Mr. Buffett : A career of rolling! ... spanning from *rolling* cigarbutts to *rolling* billions of T-bills.

Edited May 7, 2023 by John Hjorth

[LC]

5 hours ago, Dynamic said:

 

 

Also appreciated having a bit of time in Denver on the way to Omaha which we really enjoyed, including a really good meal there (and also at Gorat's, where I can recommend the Porterhouse T-bone steak with hash browns, though the Whisky Glazed Ribeye with loaded jacket potato was amazing too. We didn't eat much all day aside from Dilly Bars to leave room for that meal.

 

Enjoyed the whole Berkshire weekend of course, and glad to have done it at least once.

Where’d you eat in Denver? I may have to add it to my restaurant list! 

[Dynamic]

The Wyndkoop Brewery in Downtown Denver close to Union Station. Really amazing 7 beers and 1 cider we chose between our 2 flights. A microbrewery who knows how to give the flavours they describe without overpowering the flavour or bitterness of the hops and they have won awards for many of them. The one with Anaheim Chile and smoked ancho Chile really had the taste of each and we ordered a pint after our flights. As for food we had a za'atar crusted salmon with giant couscous and sumac labneh which was amazing and a rustic chicken salad which was fabulous especially thanks to the sun-dried tomato relish and roasted red peppers. Worth the price for good beer and good food. I really liked Denver's vibe too.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Dynamic

[ValueMaven]

One thing being overlooked here is how strong Berkshire insurance leadership is.  You have the following employed: Ajit, Joe Brandon (Alleghany), Todd Combs (GEICO), Kara Raiguel (GenRe - who Ajit has praised several times), Pete Eastwood (BH Specialty) ... just to name a few.  Plus Warren of course!  This is the best diversified insurance leadership the company has had in its history.

[gfp]

15 minutes ago, ValueMaven said:

One thing being overlooked here is how strong Berkshire insurance leadership is.  You have the following employed: Ajit, Joe Brandon (Alleghany), Todd Combs (GEICO), Kara Raiguel (GenRe - who Ajit has praised several times), Pete Eastwood (BH Specialty) ... just to name a few.  Plus Warren of course!  This is the best diversified insurance leadership the company has had in its history.

 

I agree those are all huge assets to Berkshire, although I don't know if we are overlooking that fact here on this forum.  I have heard quite a few people here and elsewhere refer to Todd Combs as "a joke" which I found amusing but everyone is entitled to their opinion.  If you think Todd is "a joke" at least listen to his NFM podcast interview to introduce yourself to the guy.

 

Berkshire is absolutely filled with extremely talented people at headquarters.  Marc Hamburg's team (and Marc himself) are very very good.  

 

What struck me at the annual meeting was Warren coming right out and saying that if something were to happen to Greg (like Warren and Greg go down in a plane), there is no next in line identified and the board would be in a tough place.  Greg is that good and it isn't super easy to identify the next person.  I am comforted that Ted Weschler, Ajit, and Todd would be there and the home office team can run the place just fine but maybe "swim to Greg" is the new "swim to Ajit."

[ValueMaven]

GEICO has 500 or 600 legacy IT infrastructure systems that dont talk to each other ... and that need to be ripped out and replaced.  Ouch

[tede02]

I found Buffett's comments about declining earnings across their businesses as very likely this year notable. The subsidaries touch so many different industries. It really provides insight into the broader economy. 

 

I also found the disagreement between Buffett and Munger with respect to investing opportunities intriguing. Basically Munger said (and has been saying this for a number of years), that investing is a lot harder now because there's so much more competition scouring over everything. But Buffett disagreed a bit and said he still thinks there are plenty of opportunities especially in smaller stuff. 

 

I also enjoyed their comments on the banking system and all the insurance businesses that have started and failed over the last decade or so. The commentary around these issues were striking to me. Buffett and Munger must be unmatched in terms of managing risk considering the length of their investing careers. After the AGM, my respect for Buffett's depth of business knowledge always increases. It's probably not a stretch to say there isn't anyone better and may never be. 

Edited May 8, 2023 by tede02

[yesman182]

2 hours ago, ValueMaven said:

GEICO has 500 or 600 legacy IT infrastructure systems that dont talk to each other ... and that need to be ripped out and replaced.  Ouch

I think it was 50-60 not 500-600. But I too cringed when I heard that. At some point they had one system, then 2…… I don’t understand how places just keep adding disjointed systems on top of each other, especially at a place like Berkshire. Really disappointing. In my past life I would come across so many SAP systems that had all these weird layers of software cobbles together half talking with either other. 

[dealraker]

Munger saying Ben Graham made half his money on one stock, Geico, was quite special to hear.

[bluedevil]

I was not sure I fully got the point Buffett was hinting at on oil.  He seemed to be saying that oil was not a bad business now because while it was dependent on the market price of oil, the odds were the price of oil would stay reasonably high.  Because if prices dip, then 5m barrels a day of US shale, which has very short lived production, will roll off the market, causing prices to recover.   Did others take away the same point?