oldye Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Calling Buffett greedy in the interview and now insinuating that he'd act in any way that he thought wasn't solely in the best interest of his shareholders is very low. I don't know much about Schroeder; she must be awful desperate for money to go negative like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twacowfca Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Mikenhe, it's good to hear that your grandmother was successfully treated apparantly in UK. Sadly, I have personal knowledge of death from kidney failure of a neighbor who was refused dialysis after he returned home to England after his retirement in the US. Please see my complete account of this in the healthcare thread in the General discussion section, and let's continue further discussion there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twacowfca Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Oldye, I thought Alice's interview was great. It's easy to focus on the sound bite when she says Warren is greedy. However she wasn't antagonistic when she said this. She was searching for the right word and chose to call aspade a spade and not a garden tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShahKhezri Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 It's easy to see why their relationship is what it is. If you listen to her interview you can connect the dots. He allower her to become a part of his "inner circle," and she must have said/wrote a thing or two that turned him off. I don't blame him at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbitragr Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Oldye, I thought Alice's interview was great. It's easy to focus on the sound bite when she says Warren is greedy. However she wasn't antagonistic when she said this. She was searching for the right word and chose to call aspade a spade and not a garden tool. twa ... apparently which interview of Alice's are you referring to? I never knew their relationship soured. Must be awkward. I personally would never hand over the job of writing my life story to someone else. He should have done it himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodstove Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 A couple of other aspects of the Burlington purchase... 1) Buffett can now say "sorry, can't afford it" when some worthy cause comes calling. The GS and GE preferreds encourage copycats. He may not want to backstop CIT, for instance. Or might want to do it as new-venture - but that did not work out well with municipal debt guarantees, did it? After the initial relief, mostly anger at Berkshire charging enough to make it worthwhile. 2) Making BRK.B available in $55-90 range will help divert charge of elitism. Risk reduction. Finally, I'm seeing this move as partly capitulation. That's ok. Berkshire is not bigger than the economy; it is a slice. And transportation is a biggie. With auto manufacturer, now railroad, and already an airline ...not too bad. My projection re stock price ... near term selldown to $55-ish perhaps, but $90-ish within 12 months. Or maybe takes longer. Still, 5 years out, BRK.B should get significant multiple, and somehow indexes that claim to represent economy will have to find a way to include it, BRK.As or not. Good for funding the charitable foundation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myth465 Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I would have let Roger Lowenstiewn right it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basl1 Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 CN did attempt to purchase BN in 1990. Gatz bought a large amount of CN shares a few years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookie71 Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 I wonder if by splitting the B's, it will make it easier for the Gates Foundation to dispose of the required number of shares each year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twacowfca Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Arbitragr, I believe the url is given under Alice Schroeder interview in this section :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twacowfca Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 The Schroeder interview merely continues to follow the instructions Warren gave her when he gave her the book assignment : tell it like it is; don't paint a flattering portrait. Nevertheless, acquisitive would have been a better word than greedy IMHO. The interview provides a key insight into what makes Warren run and helps explain paradoxical transformations in his life e.g. his idolizing his father who was a founding member of the John Birch Society yet now having a circle of friends, many of whom are antithetical to those views. Schroeder's key insight also opened my eyes into how a shoplifting teenager became transformed into someone who has been perhaps the best steward ever of other people's money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbitragr Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 I don't think that was an interview ... the bloomberg link. It was just an article that she wrote. She has done numerous interviews where she mentions her 'strained' relationship with Warren. Nonetheless, nowhere in the article did she mention Warren was greedy ... she just said there were other motives. The other motives related to succession planning, US dollar, trade deficit, his legacy etc ... [edit: okay found it now, I get where you're coming from. Thanks.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalab Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 See my other post from the yahoo board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txlaw Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Interesting take on BNI from Simon Johnson of the Baseline Scenario. See http://baselinescenario.com/2009/11/07/warren-buffett-and-the-g20/ . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldye Posted November 8, 2009 Share Posted November 8, 2009 He's not betting against the dollar he just understands that there will be more trade in the future if people want to live better. econ 101 stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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