Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[Parsad]

On 11/23/2022 at 5:23 PM, drzola said:

How can any Homo Sapien condone the death of another Sapien,  it is inconceivable to me here.

 

There was a child serial killer here in Vancouver when I was like 9 years old named Clifford Olson...you would definitely have heard of him drzola.  Killed 11 children, and would only say where the bodies were when he was paid a cash award.  He was the worst fiend imaginable. 

 

I would not only have no qualms seeing him receive the death penalty, I would have gladly pushed the injection button.  Instead he lived out his life in prison taunting the victim's parents and the police.  Cheers! 

[Parsad]

On 11/24/2022 at 3:36 AM, JGBRK said:

With all due respect Sanjeev, I'm not certain I would want Bernie working on my tax return.  Maybe making license plates or making small rocks out of big rocks.

 

Anything so that they aren't sitting in prison doing nothing.  I don't want to see prisoners working in a quarry like the old days, but the lesser offenders (drug possession, white collar, DUI, etc) should be doing some work, as well as any rehabilitation programs recommended.  Cheers!

[Guest]

On 11/19/2022 at 11:08 PM, gfp said:

https://berkshirehathawaytx.com
 

killer name for your crypto biz bro

 

https://berkshirehathaway.com/news/nov1822.pdf

 

Is this even legal?

[ValueMaven]

37 minutes ago, stahleyp said:

 

Is this even legal?

 

No - it is likely an African or Chinese scam-site.  The website needs to be shutdown ASAP.  

[SharperDingaan]

21 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Anything so that they aren't sitting in prison doing nothing.  I don't want to see prisoners working in a quarry like the old days, but the lesser offenders (drug possession, white collar, DUI, etc) should be doing some work, as well as any rehabilitation programs recommended.  Cheers!

 

All that talent .... going to such great waste!

Far better to use them as tame thieves working for the gov, and set them to work catching other thieves as bounty hunters. Quickest way back to your former riches is to catch the bastards who put you there, and get paid millions to do it! Much better than breaking rocks 

 

SD

[Spekulatius]

People complain about working in salt mines, but I think sulfur mines are the real thing:

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Spekulatius

[UK]

On 11/26/2022 at 6:10 PM, SharperDingaan said:

 

All that talent .... going to such great waste!

Far better to use them as tame thieves working for the gov, and set them to work catching other thieves as bounty hunters. Quickest way back to your former riches is to catch the bastards who put you there, and get paid millions to do it! Much better than breaking rocks 

 

SD

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/05/carrying-these-in-your-wallet-is-a-big-mistake-warns-fraud-expert-ex-con-artist-frank-abagnale.html

[Parsad]

16 hours ago, UK said:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/05/carrying-these-in-your-wallet-is-a-big-mistake-warns-fraud-expert-ex-con-artist-frank-abagnale.html

 

I've met Frank Abagnale at a conference he was speaking at.  Shortly after the movie "Catch Me If You Can" came out about his life.  Cheers!

[ValueMaven]

Greg Warren of Morningstar put own an awesome analysis of Berkshire a few days ago!!  $370 price target.  Well worth the read if you can get access.  

[nwoodman]

5 hours ago, ValueMaven said:

Greg Warren of Morningstar put own an awesome analysis of Berkshire a few days ago!!  $370 price target.  Well worth the read if you can get access.  

Thanks for the heads up.  A couple of points grabbed my attention

 

 

‘We continue to believe Berkshire is best positioned to get the most value out of Alleghany—something we don't feel the market fully appreciates”

 

Allegheny is mentioned a couple of times and reflects the thesis that it’s investments under Berkshire will be redeployed at higher rates of return

 

 

“We view Berkshire's decentralized business model, broad business diversification, high cash-generation capabilities, and unmatched balance sheet strength as true differentiators for the firm. While these advantages have been overshadowed during much of the past decade by the company's ever expanding cash balances—which have earned next to nothing in near-zero short-term interest rate environments—we believe the company has finally hit a nexus where it is focused on reducing its cash hoard through a mixture of stock investments and share repurchases. Over the past 12 calendar quarters, the company has repurchased $41 billion worth of its common stock, equivalent to $3.4 billion per quarter on average, which has eliminated close to 10% of the company's total shares outstanding. The company has also pursued higher dividend yielding securities when purchasing equity securities the past several quarters.”

 

I have been thinking that this is shaping up to be quite the decade for Berkshire thanks to Buffett’s incredible patience. 

 

“We've increased our fair value estimate for Berkshire Hathaway to $370 per Class B share (from $357) after updating our forecasts for the company's operating businesses and insurance investment portfolio. Our new fair value estimate is equivalent to 1.69, 1.45, and 1.33 times our estimates for Berkshire's book value per share at the end of 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively. For some perspective, during the past five (10) years, the shares have traded at an average of 1.40 (1.39) times trailing calendar quarter-end book value per share. We use a 9.0% cost of equity in our valuation and assume that Berkshire pays a minimum of 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on adjusted financial statement income for taxable years beginning in 2023.”

 

1.69 x’s book is pretty optimistic IMHO,  but is perhaps reflective of the shares repurchased to date.

brk.b - berkshire hathaway analysis & rating - nyse morningstar.pdf

[ValueMaven]

He is a thoughtful analyst - and I always enjoy his commentary and valuation work.  He values Berkshire the way it should be valued IMHO.

[james22]

Thanks, nwoodman.

 

Once there is a shift in top management, we would expect Berkshire to be more open to initiating a dividend...

 

Grr.

[Ulti]

On 11/21/2022 at 8:47 AM, gfp said:

 

Berkshire reported higher stakes in the 5 Japanese equities and is issuing Yen bonds again 

 

h

 

http://brklninvestor.com/blog.php
 

old Brooklyn investor comments on Japanese equities 

[MCR]

Saw this today on Twitter: https://buffettbot.com/

My first query...not bad.

[aws]

I'm not sure about this one...

 

[longterminvestor]

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 19, 2022 Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) – Thomas S. Murphy, Jr. has been elected to the Board of Directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Mr. Murphy co-founded Crestview Partners in 2004. Crestview is a private equity firm based in New York City. Prior to starting Crestview, Mr. Murphy was a Partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Additionally, Mr. Murphy serves on the boards of New York University, NYU – Langone Health and The Inner-City Scholarship Fund. About Berkshire Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, retailing and services. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B. — END — Contact Marc D. Hamburg 402-346-1400

[gfp]

Oh good - I was wondering what was taking so long.  They were in need of a new "independent" director ASAP since they were technically out of compliance with NYSE listing requirements.  I had thought maybe Gates would be offered a return but I guess not.  Tom Murphy Jr. is a good pick.  Warren has known him most of his life I imagine.

[UK]

https://www.barrons.com/articles/berkshire-hathaway-warren-buffett-board-member-51671476915

 

Earlier this year, investment research firm MSCI criticized Berkshire’s board composition. “Berkshire Hathaway continues to lag peers in corporate governance. The concerns include board entrenchment (over 42% board members are over 70 years old and 57% have served on the board for over 15 years), lack of board independence and diversity (57% not independent of management and less than 30% women on the board), combined CEO-chairman functions, and high voting power of the controlling shareholder.” Some of the qualities that MSCI criticized, such as “entrenchment,” are viewed favorably by many Berkshire shareholders who like that the board has considerable knowledge of the company and that Buffett wields enormous power. Buffett has suggested that if the board decided to rein him in, he would no longer want to be CEO. Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have scoffed at the independence issue, saying board members care deeply about the company whether they are characterized as independent or not. Buffett has criticized corporate directors outside Berkshire who are deemed independent, but garner much of their income from director fees, compromising their willingness to buck management. Buffett noted there were big investors who withheld support for him about 15 years ago when he was on the board of Coca Cola , in which Berkshire held a big stake now worth about $25 billion. At Berkshire’s annual meeting in late April, Buffett said of the Coke episode that the opponents said he wasn’t independent because Dairy Queen, which is owned by Berkshire, “bought some Coca-Cola … I mean, do they think I can add things and if we’ve got billions and billions and billions of dollars (invested) that I’m going to be compromised, but it’s just nutty.” Added Munger: “Well, they don’t want them just independent. Now they want 1 horse, 1 rabbit, 1 cow, 1 whatever.”

[crs223]

pretty simple really.  if “investment research firm MSCI” is unhappy with the board, they should start buying shares and elect a better board.  I recommend the “A” shares for this purpose.

[rkbabang]

10 hours ago, UK said:

Earlier this year, investment research firm MSCI criticized Berkshire’s board composition. “Berkshire Hathaway continues to lag peers in corporate governance. The concerns include board entrenchment (over 42% board members are over 70 years old and 57% have served on the board for over 15 years), lack of board independence and diversity (57% not independent of management and less than 30% women on the board), combined CEO-chairman functions, and high voting power of the controlling shareholder.”

 

I've never understood how a person's skin color or private parts can contribute to "cooperate governance" or shareholder returns.  And isn't having long term board members who have deep understanding of the company a good thing, not a negative?   The whole thing seems like politically correct posturing to me.

 

[RadMan24]

12 hours ago, rkbabang said:

 

I've never understood how a person's skin color or private parts can contribute to "cooperate governance" or shareholder returns.  And isn't having long term board members who have deep understanding of the company a good thing, not a negative?   The whole thing seems like politically correct posturing to me.

 

The best part is, somehow the directors independence is comprimised, yet get no director fee compensation.

[UK]

https://www.barrons.com/articles/warren-buffett-investment-aides-stock-market-performance-51671746676

[ValueMaven]

Terrible article - wow ... for example with SNOW and NU - BRK got in at pre-IPO prices.  

[Dinar]

 

[gfp]

Thanks Dinar.  This video is from March 2022 for context.