Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[KPO]

3 hours ago, backtothebeach said:

 

Not particularly large historically as a % of market cap.

 

Personally I think Warren wants to be ready for an elephant, maybe even has one in sight. The answer to the question why he sold some AAPL was obviously BS, rambling on for 5 minutes before coming up with a half-way coherent reason (tax rates possibly going higher).

He rambled, but it was tax rate arbitrage. Also, you have to wonder if he isn’t trying to give Greg optionality with the larger cash position and a less ridiculously sized single equity position. 

[Eldad]

33 minutes ago, KPO said:

He rambled, but it was tax rate arbitrage. Also, you have to wonder if he isn’t trying to give Greg optionality with the larger cash position and a less ridiculously sized single equity position. 

Charlie gave him crap for the tiny AAPL sell a few years back. WEB replied it would likely be a mistake. Then this. 

Edited May 7, 2024 by Eldad

[Xerxes]

It is incredible.

 

Buffett presented the now infamous slide in 2020’ AGM, where he showed the world biggest Japanese companies in late 1980s, and contrasted that to the FANG era, yet he kept and let Apple run for 4 more years and just now he started his “trim” for tax reasons. 
 

Berkshire is happy to pay tax, but Buffett is also very happy to arbitrage against potential corporate tax increases and offset with Paramount tax losses. 

[gfp]

In case anybody wants more detail on these two subsidiaries, they also file with the SEC.

 

BNSF 10Q -

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/934612/000093461224000009/bni-20240331.htm

 

BHE 10Q -

https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001081316/000108131624000010/bhe-20240331.htm

[Eldad]

12 hours ago, Xerxes said:

It is incredible.

 

Buffett presented the now infamous slide in 2020’ AGM, where he showed the world biggest Japanese companies in late 1980s, and contrasted that to the FANG era, yet he kept and let Apple run for 4 more years and just now he started his “trim” for tax reasons. 
 

Berkshire is happy to pay tax, but Buffett is also very happy to arbitrage against potential corporate tax increases and offset with Paramount tax losses. 

Just hold the dang stock as Charlie would tell him. He is too active. You think he would be selling 13% for 27x if Apple was wholly owned? Follow your own wisdom dude, be consistent. 

[Whensthepaintdry?]

He also sold Costco in the 300s I think. I would love to hear Munger’s reaction to that. 

[Hektor]

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/6f63c4a9-f79e-398b-abbd-30450d38d1df/this-day-in-markets-history-.html

 

This Day in Markets History: Warren Buffett Takes Control of Berkshire Hathaway

 

On May 10, 1965, In a boardroom on Cove St. in New Bedford, Mass., a young, crew-cut Warren Buffett took control of a decrepit textile maker. Stock in Berkshire Hathaway closed that day at $18 a share. Nowadays, the company's class A stock trades above $600,000 a share.

[gfp]

6 minutes ago, Hektor said:

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/6f63c4a9-f79e-398b-abbd-30450d38d1df/this-day-in-markets-history-.html

 

This Day in Markets History: Warren Buffett Takes Control of Berkshire Hathaway

 

On May 10, 1965, In a boardroom on Cove St. in New Bedford, Mass., a young, crew-cut Warren Buffett took control of a decrepit textile maker. Stock in Berkshire Hathaway closed that day at $18 a share. Nowadays, the company's class A stock trades above $600,000 a share.

The dog that caught the bus.  At least it came with a snazzy name.

[John Hjorth]

24 minutes ago, gfp said:

The dog that caught the bus.  At least it came with a snazzy name.

 

Actually a totally wild story, almost beyond imagination. After an endless amount work and transactions during now 59 years, this piece of crap is by now rank #8 on the list of world's most valuable companies.

 

Somehow I always end up  thinking in visualizations about this dog comes to think Garfield The Cat's doggo friend Odie chasing cars, remembering a cartoon, where Odie actually catches the rear bumper on a car, stopping, and thinking "What to do now? [Odie at the end of the carton seen siting on his butt in a thoughtfull moment, - the bumper in his mouth looking like some kind of oversize moustache beard, thinking : "Should this be fun?" - The answer is "Yes".

[Hektor]

https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/is-roaring-kitty-the-internets-warren-buffett-b31d63bc

 

Is Roaring Kitty the Internet’s Warren Buffett?

 

"Perhaps Roaring Kitty is now part of a select cadre of elite active investors so highly regarded that whatever targets they choose tend to trade at higher valuations. This is sometimes known as the “Einhorn effect”: Whenever Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn bet for or against a stock, his views had a persistent impact on its price. The legendary Warren Buffett appears to have a similar influence. "

 

"Roaring Kitty has been posting a barrage of memes and clips from movies, including one featuring Marvel supervillain Thanos. With the amateur trading subculture as strong as ever, these cryptic messages may well play the role of the letters that Buffett sends annually to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, which are analyzed and parsed for every bit of investment wisdom. "

 

[DooDiligence]

4 minutes ago, Hektor said:

https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/is-roaring-kitty-the-internets-warren-buffett-b31d63bc

 

Is Roaring Kitty the Internet’s Warren Buffett?

 

"Perhaps Roaring Kitty is now part of a select cadre of elite active investors so highly regarded that whatever targets they choose tend to trade at higher valuations. This is sometimes known as the “Einhorn effect”: Whenever Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn bet for or against a stock, his views had a persistent impact on its price. The legendary Warren Buffett appears to have a similar influence. "

 

"Roaring Kitty has been posting a barrage of memes and clips from movies, including one featuring Marvel supervillain Thanos. With the amateur trading subculture as strong as ever, these cryptic messages may well play the role of the letters that Buffett sends annually to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, which are analyzed and parsed for every bit of investment wisdom. "

 

ng

 

I got lucky going long GMCR when Einhorn was short. Made a killing when KO invested (seemed like an idiotic move for them).

[MCR]

Interesting piece in the Washington Post today: "Want affordable housing? Take the chassis off manufactured houses." Didn't realize this limitation was in place...wonder what the impact would be for Clayton if this gets changed by Congress... https://wapo.st/3QYdbll

[charlieruane]

Vicki Hollub of OXY was one of three oil execs to host a fundraiser for the Trump super PAC "MAGA Inc.": 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/23/climate/trump-oil-democrats.html

[KPO]

This is kind of an interesting article:  https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/31/warren-buffett-worried-about-huge-losses-in-booming-insurance-market.html

 

To the extent Berkshire desires exposure to cyber coverage I think I’d prefer it be through minority holdings, like Chubb and/or AIG.

[gfp]

Howie did a video interview with yahoo -

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/warren-buffett-son-talks-800m-120037116.html

[Cigarbutt]

5 hours ago, KPO said:

This is kind of an interesting article:  https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/31/warren-buffett-worried-about-huge-losses-in-booming-insurance-market.html

To the extent Berkshire desires exposure to cyber coverage I think I’d prefer it be through minority holdings, like Chubb and/or AIG.

It's an interesting market but it's hard to put bounds (especially upper bounds, of the aggregating type) concerning future development.

The market has hardened in a very unusual way, attracting a lot of capital but the market has softened ++ (price and contract terms) so who knows (with accuracy)?

Early to tell and maybe not significant but (anecdotally) there have been people around me (personal and commercial) who had to deal with security breaches (privacy violations and ransomware) with varying levels of consequences and for those who follow these developments, some ransomware activity appears to be on the rise:

[longlake95]

those darn computers.

[aws]

Looks like over 3k volume too. Someone's algorithm made a $2b mistake? Better not be Citi again

[Intelligent_Investor]

Damn wish I could've bought at these prices lol

[gfp]

28 minutes ago, aws said:

Looks like over 3k volume too. Someone's algorithm made a $2b mistake? Better not be Citi again

 

There wasn't 3k of volume at the 185.10 price.  There wasn't really 3k of volume at all, since most 1 share volumes reported on A-shares are actually tiny fractional share purchases.  The stock is halted for the glitch and no shares will actually be transacted at 185.10

[aws]

6 hours ago, gfp said:

 

There wasn't 3k of volume at the 185.10 price.  There wasn't really 3k of volume at all, since most 1 share volumes reported on A-shares are actually tiny fractional share purchases.  The stock is halted for the glitch and no shares will actually be transacted at 185.10

 

I'm aware of that dynamic and I'm sure some trades will get busted, but it wouldn't be the first time large trade volumes went through at erroneous prices. On the flip side, the snap back to a real value is biting some not so savvy people who placed market orders during the halt. The top trade was 742k when fair value was more like 630k. I have no idea how many are full shares, but I've seen at least one screenshot of a market order fill for 648k a share by a guy who had nowhere near that amount in his account, but his broker allowed the trade. 

Edited June 3, 2024 by aws

[KPO]

https://www.oxy.com/news/news-releases/occidental-and-bhe-renewables-form-joint-venture-to-commercialize-terralithium-extraction-technology/
 

For those that haven’t made the trip to the Salton Sea, it’s a wild and interesting place that happens to have on the order of 100 years of potential lithium supply for North America. This is a somewhat hidden Berkshire asset. If all goes well and lithium continues to be the long term source of EV energy that it is today, this could move the needle for Berkshire. 

[adesigar]

https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-auto/eighth-circuit-decide-should-car-insurance-cover-stds
 

I guess GEICO may have to increase insurance rates even more.

[scorpioncapital]

This is rather insane. I hope it gets reversed by some clear headed judges. Are you aware of any other country that would have such a news item come up for a car insurance? In every country on Earth they'd laugh you out of the court-room, both the judges and the government.

 

[xboojum]

37 minutes ago, scorpioncapital said:

This is rather insane. I hope it gets reversed by some clear headed judges. Are you aware of any other country that would have such a news item come up for a car insurance? In every country on Earth they'd laugh you out of the court-room, both the judges and the government.

 

It got thrown out by the initial trial judge; this is an appeal of that initial ruling, so you're hoping it's not reversed. (IANAL but I presume that the fact that the district court judge didn't buy it is a good sign that GEICO's contract is not so sloppily written.)