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Buffett/Berkshire - general news


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2 hours ago, jbwent63 said:

Still requesting confidential treatment.....dammit.


Can’t remember the posters name, but there is a guy in the Citi thread who believes Buffett has been buying the stock.

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2 minutes ago, Sweet said:


Can’t remember the posters name, but there is a guy in the Citi thread who believes Buffett has been buying the stock.

 

It is Dazel who thinks Warren Buffett is secretly adding to Citi despite Citi showing up in the 13F quarter after quarter.

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3 minutes ago, Sweet said:


Can’t remember the posters name, but there is a guy in the Citi thread who believes Buffett has been buying the stock.

 

Might be right.  Buffett has had a couple of meetings with Jane Fraser, CEO at Citi.  Cheers!

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/warren-buffett-tells-citigroup-ceo-fraser-keep-going-with-overhaul-source-2024-01-20/

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/berkshire-sheds-holdings-mum-investment-213748123.html

 

Quote

In its third-quarter report in November, Berkshire hinted that its confidential investment may involve a bank, finance company or insurer because it had recently spent $1.2 billion on stock in that sector. It has yet to reveal where the money went.

 

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3 hours ago, Hektor said:

They also exited StoneCo, which is (was?) a Todd Combs position. Earlier last year, he also exited One97, which own s Paytm in India. Both have similarities with Alipay/WeChatPay.

 

I just sold my LEAPs as well (StoneCo) two days ago. Rode that one up from ~9->15 in shares, then LEAPs from there to like 18.50. Thanks, Todd.

Edited by LC
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HEADLINE: SHOCKING NEWS! BUFFETT SELLS APPLE! READ ALL ABOUT IT! IN A STUNNING TURNAROUND THE WIZENED WIZARD OF INVESTING HAS TURNED ON TIM APPLE AND DECLARED HIS COMPANY MUSHY, BRUISED AND NO LONGER EDIBLE !

 

Body: Berkshire sells 10M out of 900M AAPL shares it owns or barely 1%.

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57 minutes ago, ValueArb said:

HEADLINE: SHOCKING NEWS! BUFFETT SELLS APPLE! READ ALL ABOUT IT! IN A STUNNING TURNAROUND THE WIZENED WIZARD OF INVESTING HAS TURNED ON TIM APPLE AND DECLARED HIS COMPANY MUSHY, BRUISED AND NO LONGER EDIBLE !

🤣

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I was doing some work on Terravest last night and was thinking that another line that would fit was rail tank cars. So a quick market search puts Union tank car company as the big dog in the industry. Well that’s a Marmon subsidiary. They build, repair, certify and own/ lease hundreds of thousand of tank cars. 
 

so I started a little digging on marmon and am just amazed at that company. They have businesses in everything, tons I didn’t know I know and see in life.
 

 The filters for my water softener are filtrex, the work cloves I buy from Lowe’s, the special rubber coated screws I used on my shop roof are atlas, a marmon company. 

 

my point is that if Marmon alone is a treasure trove of businesses what is the rest of Berkshire? We see the numbers at quarters end but are we really getting the whole story here. I believe that the book value of brk is now completely useless and this thing would be worth multiples if these businesses were separated. 
 

what would Marmon be worth alone if little Terravest is now at one billion. 
 

Im not saying a breakup is needed or warranted but simply that brk is a value stock compared to the market as a whole. 
 

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Marmon's revenue is roughly 2X since the initial purchase in 2008.  Anything bought in 2008 was purchased at depressed prices.  so yeah, there's a bunch of intrinsic value inside Marmon that doesn't translate to the book value of Marmon and the overall BV of Berkshire.  Marmon could easily be worth $18B-$20B today.  

 

However there are some dead businesses inside Marmon as well.  Greg mentioned them in the 2020 annual meeting - not by name but my thought immediately was they were Marmon businesses when he discussed.

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2 hours ago, longterminvestor said:

Marmon's revenue is roughly 2X since the initial purchase in 2008.  Anything bought in 2008 was purchased at depressed prices.  so yeah, there's a bunch of intrinsic value inside Marmon that doesn't translate to the book value of Marmon and the overall BV of Berkshire.  Marmon could easily be worth $18B-$20B today.  

 

However there are some dead businesses inside Marmon as well.  Greg mentioned them in the 2020 annual meeting - not by name but my thought immediately was they were Marmon businesses when he discussed.

Does brk break down the revenue or are you getting the numbers from another source? 
 

 

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1 hour ago, Jaygo said:

Does brk break down the revenue or are you getting the numbers from another source? 
 

 

 

Berkshire discloses Marmon's revenues in the annual report and Marmon discloses a more up to date figure ($12 Billion) on their website.  We'll get another update on Saturday.  Marmon has done several acquisitions and is also the home for most of the operating companies Berkshire bought with Alleghany.  Marmon management also ran Duracell when Berkshire acquired it, although it is not part of Marmon.  I don't know if Duracell is now run by Marmon or not but I assume it is fully stand-alone reporting to Greg directly now.

 

Marmon bought another business from the Pritzkers, Colson Medical, in 2019, reuniting the companies after Colson was carved out many years ago.

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15 hours ago, Jaygo said:

I was doing some work on Terravest last night and was thinking that another line that would fit was rail tank cars. So a quick market search puts Union tank car company as the big dog in the industry. Well that’s a Marmon subsidiary. They build, repair, certify and own/ lease hundreds of thousand of tank cars. 
 

so I started a little digging on marmon and am just amazed at that company. They have businesses in everything, tons I didn’t know I know and see in life.
 

 The filters for my water softener are filtrex, the work cloves I buy from Lowe’s, the special rubber coated screws I used on my shop roof are atlas, a marmon company. 

 

my point is that if Marmon alone is a treasure trove of businesses what is the rest of Berkshire? We see the numbers at quarters end but are we really getting the whole story here. I believe that the book value of brk is now completely useless and this thing would be worth multiples if these businesses were separated. 
 

what would Marmon be worth alone if little Terravest is now at one billion. 
 

Im not saying a breakup is needed or warranted but simply that brk is a value stock compared to the market as a whole. 
 

Very good info on union tank car. Not to make it a Terravest thread but I was also thinking about that the other day and was thinking about underground gas station tanks and grain dryers. 

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26 minutes ago, scorpioncapital said:

 

Do we know the date it HAS to be disclosed?

I was guessing maybe AIG but we just don't know until its disclosed.

 

It has to be disclosed on the 13F date where they do not ask for and receive confidential treatment because they are no longer actively conducting a "buying program."   (on the date of the 13F filing, not just the quarter end) 

 

If they go above 5% voting control I believe they have to file a 13g regardless of the above.

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Does that not lead you to believe it is either very massive or else low volume?
 

PYPL is roughly the size of OXY with double the daily volume. 5% would only be 3 Billion.  

Edited by Eldad
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what a well written letter. i wish i am as clear thinking and articulate when i am 90+ as Warren is.

 

the part about charlie was quite sad - he is missing his best friend. 

 

overall great results - stock will hit ATH monday 

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Quote

Charlie Munger – The Architect of Berkshire Hathaway


Charlie Munger died on November 28, just 33 days before his 100 th birthday.
Though born and raised in Omaha, he spent 80% of his life domiciled
elsewhere. Consequently, it was not until 1959 when he was 35 that I first met him.
In 1962, he decided that he should take up money management.


Three years later he told me – correctly! – that I had made a dumb decision in
buying control of Berkshire. But, he assured me, since I had already made the move,
he would tell me how to correct my mistake.


In what I next relate, bear in mind that Charlie and his family did not have a
dime invested in the small investing partnership that I was then managing and whose
money I had used for the Berkshire purchase. Moreover, neither of us expected that
Charlie would ever own a share of Berkshire stock.


Nevertheless, Charlie, in 1965, promptly advised me: “Warren, forget about
ever buying another company like Berkshire. But now that you control Berkshire, add
to it wonderful businesses purchased at fair prices and give up buying fair businesses
at wonderful prices. In other words, abandon everything you learned from your hero,
Ben Graham. It works but only when practiced at small scale.” With much back-sliding
I subsequently followed his instructions.


Many years later, Charlie became my partner in running Berkshire and,
repeatedly, jerked me back to sanity when my old habits surfaced. Until his death, he
continued in this role and together we, along with those who early on invested with
us, ended up far better off than Charlie and I had ever dreamed possible.


In reality, Charlie was the “architect” of the present Berkshire, and I acted as
the “general contractor” to carry out the day-by-day construction of his vision.
Charlie never sought to take credit for his role as creator but instead let me
take the bows and receive the accolades. In a way his relationship with me was part
older brother, part loving father. Even when he knew he was right, he gave me the
reins, and when I blundered he never – never –reminded me of my mistake.


In the physical world, great buildings are linked to their architect while those
who had poured the concrete or installed the windows are soon forgotten. Berkshire
has become a great company. Though I have long been in charge of the construction
crew; Charlie should forever be credited with being the architect.

 

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2023ltr.pdf

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