Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[Munger_Disciple]

29 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

Thanks for the elaboration, @Munger_Disciple,

 

In the 2024Q2 Berkshire 10-Q, we have Berkshire minority interests as per June 30^th 2024 of USD 6,274 M. At that date, there must be more than BHE.

 

Off my head I can't come with what the rest by now must be related to.

 

Many BRK subs have minority interests. For example, the Blumkin family members who still run NFM (Nebraska Furniture Mart) are minority owners in NFM. 

Edited October 1 by Munger_Disciple

[KPO]

2 hours ago, Munger_Disciple said:

Wow! After reading the filing, BRK paid $650 per BHE share, a very big mark-down from $1,174 per share they paid for Abel's shares in 2022. That's a 45% mark-down!!

 

This may very well mean that BHE may be pulling back on utility investments significantly. 

Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with regulated utilities. What I’m getting at is BHE should be run for cash or divested if they have frequent unpleasant surprises from wildfires and/or other liabilities ambulance chasing attorneys can make stick. 

[Hektor]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pilot-debt-rating-moody-brings-165850784.html

 

Pilot’s new debt rating from Moody’s brings it up to investment-grade

 

 

[DooDiligence]

4 hours ago, Munger_Disciple said:

 

Berkshire now owns 100% of BHE; there are no other minority shareholders. 

 

https://rationalwalk.com/berkshire-hathaway-acquires-bhe-minority-interests/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

[gfp]

Interesting news!  I'm in Japan so just seeing this now as I wake up.  I think Abel was paid a premium price for his shares in order to take cash instead of the BRK.A stock he could have exchanged for under his shareholders agreement - so I think the story isn't really that BHE declined in value by 45% on the wildfire liabilities.  RationalWalk makes a good point that there was a deal with Scott family interests at around $50 billion in 2020.  

 

Berkshire didn't use any of its own cash to do this deal!  BYD sales proceeds, cash on hand at BHE and a debt swap covered most of the deal in the form of a repurchase at the BHE level.  The remaining minority shares (which benefitted form the repurchase and became more potent) were a straight tax-deferred equity swap.

 

 

[John Hjorth]

@Luke posted this in the LVMH topic earlier today :

 

 

Containing :

 

Quote

... Look at Buffett, Munger etc, they dont even want to wear fancy stuff because it just harms them and their peace of mind. 

 

I have always been thinking about what watch Mr. Buffett is wearing. Does anyone here on CoBF know it, or have a guess? And yes, plus his wedding ring, that's it.

Edited October 4 by John Hjorth
Spelling

[Luke]

8 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

@Luke posted this in the LVMH topic earlier today :

 

 

Containing :

 

 

I have always been thinking about what watch Mr. Buffett is wearing. Does anyone here on CoBF know it, or have a guess? And yes, plus his wedding ring, that's it.

He occasionally wears a gold Rolex, but that's it. He couldnt care less about LV clothes, Gucci etc. If you are really wealthy than you shouldnt wear that stuff because it attracts attention you dont want!   

[UK]

12 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

@Luke posted this in the LVMH topic earlier today :

 

 

Containing :

 

 

I have always been thinking about what watch Mr. Buffett is wearing. Does anyone here on CoBF know it, or have a guess? And yes, plus his wedding ring, that's it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/27/warren-buffett-only-wears-suits-made-by-a-chinese-entrepreneur.html

 

Not about watch but funny:)

 

Edited October 4 by UK

[John Hjorth]

Thanks, @UK!

 

I had forgotten that nice story.

 

Found it : Bob's Watches : Which Rolex Watch Does Warren Buffett Wear? He has certainly deserved it. Silent luxury, as @Luke called it.

[DooDiligence]

36 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

Thanks, @UK!

 

I had forgotten that nice story.

 

Found it : Bob's Watches : Which Rolex Watch Does Warren Buffett Wear? He has certainly deserved it. Silent luxury, as @Luke called it.

 

I thought he'd wear something a bit less pedestrian.

Edited October 4 by DooDiligence

[John Hjorth]

16 minutes ago, DooDiligence said:

 

I thought he'd wear something a bit less pedestrian.

 

I tried to look up a price tag for such Rolex models, looks like USD 15,000 - 25,000, depending on model. Not exactly just change for everyone. But change for him.

[DooDiligence]

35 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

I tried to look up a price tag for such Rolex models, looks like USD 15,000 - 25,000, depending on model. Not exactly just change for everyone. But change for him.

 

I thought this would be more in alignment with him.

 

https://www.alange-soehne.com/us-en/timepieces/saxonia/lange-31

[Hektor]

https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/can-a-precision-scheduling-expert-fix-berkshire-hathaways-railroad-f33811e4

 

Can a ‘Precision Scheduling’ Expert Fix Berkshire Hathaway’s Railroad?

Warren Buffett’s designated successor is taking a hands-on approach with BNSF Railway, one of Berkshire’s biggest companies.

[John Hjorth]

8 hours ago, DooDiligence said:

 

I thought this would be more in alignment with him.

 

https://www.alange-soehne.com/us-en/timepieces/saxonia/lange-31

 

Awesome watch, Jeff [ @DooDiligence ]!,

 

The more I think about it, I'm likely to come to the conclusion that this Rolex of his may not even be  be his own buying decision.

 

Perhaps one of his wifes decided to 'dress him up 'suitable'' [at one of his birthdays or whatever] more in accordance with the man he really is, pulling the payment for the watch on a mirror card of his personal Amex card, so he ended up paying for it himself!

 

- Women / wifes / men / husbands / better halfs / significant others / mistresses / lovers [<-?] can some times be so bold and ballsy risk takers so that one gets scared just thinking about it! 

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

I once was as a youngster on an audit of a quite complex private holding company, and in the process I ended up in an open office to ask the CFO why there were entries in the general ledger of utilities costs related to an appartment at a certain adress in Copenhagen, which appartment I coulden't see nor find in the balance sheet / books for the holding company. Furthermore, no rental income from it booked anywhere.

 

So I had to call the boss at end of normal working hours to tell him that I had f**ked up dearly during the day, at least unintentionally.

 

Answer from boss : No problem, John, - let it go. He [the controlling shareholder] called me two or three weeks ago, where we talked about nothing and everything. He actually complained to me, he had not been getting any sex lately with his wife [and he felt that he coulden't really take the freedom to go to Copenhagen anytime soon, so he was dearly frustrated!]

 

[- so what do you do when you're in deep shit and are frustrated about it and don't know what to to ? - You call your CPA for guidance and advice, naturally! ] ,

 

Because he had been to a meeting with a reinsurance company in Copenhagen during a day some time ago, and when he dressed off that evening to go to bed at home, his wife just asked him : 'This morning, when you dressed for going to work, you had an undershirt under your shirt. Where is that  now?' <wifey pulling for checkmate in one move>. 

Edited October 4 by John Hjorth

[UK]

17 hours ago, Hektor said:

https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/can-a-precision-scheduling-expert-fix-berkshire-hathaways-railroad-f33811e4

 

Can a ‘Precision Scheduling’ Expert Fix Berkshire Hathaway’s Railroad?

Warren Buffett’s designated successor is taking a hands-on approach with BNSF Railway, one of Berkshire’s biggest companies.

 

Would love to know what dealraker thinks about this...

 

Edited October 5 by UK

[dealraker]

10 hours ago, UK said:

 

Would love to know what dealraker thinks about this...

 

Basically UK I observed and participated with virtually all the rail Co's changes for over 40 years and one since 1976.  Improved operations and vastly better financial performance has intermittently surged within all rails for years - even decades - before HH.  My view is that if profitability is pushed too hard and too fast there is near equal repercussions that take years process through... its happening now.

 

So over a the next few years in my view is that UNP's supposed efficiency gains over BNSF will prove nothing but a short term breakaway easily caught up with.   Railroads that cut investments and too many workers to pump quarterly numbers via buybacks like UNP are like spun-out solo cyclists being bore down on by the pellaton.  Thus the last mile of much of the HH model in my view is or was just dysfunctional whitewash, needless one step forward two steps back, quick profits for selling shareholders at the expense of loyal ones.

 

It is the exact same thing in the insurance brokerage business and that's why all of them model overall growth over simply obsession with operating margin. 

Edited October 5 by dealraker

[ValueMaven]

What I dont like about this article is the miscommunication ... specifically this: 

 

The railroad hired industry veteran Ed Harris, a proponent of precision scheduling, an operating model that is prized by investors and that executives at BNSF have resisted. Harris has told people that Abel recruited him as a consultant for BNSF, according to people familiar with the matter.

A BNSF spokesman said Chief Executive Kathryn Farmer has known Harris for years and the company has a history of seeking outside perspectives to ensure it is delivering the best service possible. The spokesman disputed that Abel initiated the hiring of Harris. Abel didn’t respond to a request for comment; Harris declined to comment.

[Munger_Disciple]

13 minutes ago, ValueMaven said:

What I dont like about this article is the miscommunication ... specifically this: 

 

That's a good point. Yes something is off at BNSF. It does look like Abel has his hands full fixing it. 

[UK]

5 hours ago, dealraker said:

Basically UK I observed and participated with virtually all the rail Co's changes for over 40 years and one since 1976.  Improved operations and vastly better financial performance has intermittently surged within all rails for years - even decades - before HH.  My view is that if profitability is pushed too hard and too fast there is near equal repercussions that take years process through... its happening now.

 

So over a the next few years in my view is that UNP's supposed efficiency gains over BNSF will prove nothing but a short term breakaway easily caught up with.   Railroads that cut investments and too many workers to pump quarterly numbers via buybacks like UNP are like spun-out solo cyclists being bore down on by the pellaton.  Thus the last mile of much of the HH model in my view is or was just dysfunctional whitewash, needless one step forward two steps back, quick profits for selling shareholders at the expense of loyal ones.

 

It is the exact same thing in the insurance brokerage business and that's why all of them model overall growth over simply obsession with operating margin. 

 

Thanks dealraker. From my part generally (and sure, not all cases or experts are the same) it is quite terryfying or quite bad sign, when managment or owners start hiring consultants or experts to advice how to run a company...as a former consultant myself, I have no advice for such managment and only one for owners: just change the managment:))

 

Edited October 6 by UK

[schin]

13 minutes ago, UK said:

 

Thanks dealraker. From my part generally (and sure, not all cases or experts are the same) it is quite terryfying or quite bad sign, when managment or owners start hiring consultants or experts to advice how to run a company...as a former consultant myself, I have no advice for such managment and only one for owners: just change the managment:))

 

@dealraker @UK

I thought Hunter Harrison and his concepts on precision railroading have been used by all in the industry. It should have been table stakes now.  It amazes me that BNSF can be so mismanaged now. The point of the BNSF acquisition was they would have cheap, ample capital from BRK.A -- so, they can keep up and possibly, over invest to dominate.

 

Was Matthew Rose then, CEO ... so, good...that it blew up after his retirement? I don't understand how BNSF, GEICO can be so dry-rotted in their current state.

 

[UK]

28 minutes ago, schin said:

@dealraker @UK

I thought Hunter Harrison and his concepts on precision railroading have been used by all in the industry. It should have been table stakes now.  It amazes me that BNSF can be so mismanaged now. The point of the BNSF acquisition was they would have cheap, ample capital from BRK.A -- so, they can keep up and possibly, over invest to dominate.

 

Was Matthew Rose then, CEO ... so, good...that it blew up after his retirement? I don't understand how BNSF, GEICO can be so dry-rotted in their current state.

 

 

I think this is not a big tragedy in terms of the whole BRK universe and is fixable in both cases. Perhaps it is not very unusall for a very large organization to have such periods (not the best managers) for a while and it takes quite some time (perhaps 2-3 years at least) to notice any changes for the better. 

 

Edited October 6 by UK

[Whensthepaintdry?]

I like to take the optimistic view. There is room for improvement and no limit of capital to make those improvements. I think under Greg these improvements will come way faster than they would have under Buffett. How much more can UNP flex their margins when compared to BNSF? 

[DooDiligence]

Redditors not super happy with Todd. Departures began around about the same time they started running off low risk policyholders (just correlational ). It's been asked here before if Omaha has any operational warts and apparently they do (not just at GEICO). Where does the rot stop at GEICO? Has it already stopped?

 

===

 

 

 

Here's a 14 minute podcast generated by Google Notebook (HT to @nsx5200 ) from Berkshire's latest 10Q. In the first minutes they talk about GEICO. They repeatedly pronounce it wrong. They get into BNSF quickly. Again, you can speed up the playback.

 

https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/5f88e914-c65a-4e1f-a333-b05cd366b0fb/audio

 

I wonder if they could change the tone of the narrators? They sound quite rosy, even when discussing wildfires. Maybe if you run a crappy company through Google Notebook and create a podcast it would have a more demeaning tone.

 

FWIW, I don't think you get warts from holding BRK.

Edited October 7 by DooDiligence

[DooDiligence]

As reported by NotebookLM. You probably burn down a few acres of rain forest to get these reports.

 

===

 

Berkshire Hathaway's business segments had mixed performance during the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

• Insurance – Underwriting: Increased $2.7 billion in the first six months of 2024 compared to 2023, benefiting from improved operating results at GEICO and no significant catastrophe events in 2024, in contrast to approximately $450 million in after-tax catastrophe losses in 2023.
• Insurance – Investment income: Increased $1.6 Billion in the first six months of 2024, driven by higher interest income from short-term investments in U.S. Treasury Bills.
• BNSF: Decreased 5.6% due to litigation-related charges, although partially offset by improved employee productivity and lower costs.
• BHE: Increased $171 million due to higher earnings from U.S. utilities and natural gas pipelines, partially offset by lower earnings in real estate brokerage. Litigation-related costs negatively impacted earnings.
• Pilot: Decreased 34.5%, with gross margins down 4.1% and operating expenses up 2.7%. Lower interest expenses partially offset these declines.
• Manufacturing: Increased 5.8% driven by industrial product earnings, partially offset by declines in building products.
• Service and Retailing: Decreased 19.9% due to lower earnings at TTI (down 50% for the six months ended June 30, 2024) and aviation services.
• Non-controlled businesses: Decreased $478 million, primarily due to lower earnings from Kraft Heinz and Occidental, coupled with the inclusion of Pilot's earnings in January 2023.

Overall, Berkshire Hathaway's net earnings attributable to shareholders for the first six months of 2024 were $43.05 billion, compared to $71.416 billion in the first six months of 2023. This decrease was largely driven by lower investment gains in 2024 compared to 2023.

[Eldad]

“Though BNSF carries more freight and spends more on capital expenditures than any of the five other  major NA railroads, it’s profit margins have slipped relative to all five since our purchase. I believe that our vast service territory is second to none and that therefore our margin comparisons can and should improve.”  WB 2023 letter

 

So not only are they behind UNP (28%) they are even behind Norfolk at 22%. Ouch. The Canadians run at close to 30%. Glad they are making a change. PSR obviously works. If the whole industry has eaten your lunch for 10+ years, maybe you are not the lone genius but in fact the sucker.