BRK A and B price differences

[Granitepost]

Although BRK.A is supposed to be worth 30 times BRK.B shares, for the last couple of days the Bs have been significantly cheaper than the As.  For example, at the moment the As are 75,204 so you would expect the Bs to be 2,506 rather than the 2,340 for which they are trading.  This seems to be about a 7% discount for the As.  I can understand a difference existing for a short time period but wonder if this relationship has been common in the past or could be a function of the panic in the markets where the A holders may not be an anxious as the B holders.  Any comments?

 

Cheers, Jim

[el_chieh]

Yes, buy Bs and not As. 

 

If you have As and can do it tax efficiently, sell As to buy Bs.

 

In 1999 AR Buffett said he'd go for Bs whenever discount >2%.

[nodnub]

The difference has typically been less than +/-3%

 

The B's are leading the decline as they are much more liquid and B-share investors are more likely to be willing to sell at these prices (slightly more short term oriented than A shareholders)

[FlyingArrow]

The difference has typically been less than +/-3%

 

The B's are leading the decline as they are much more liquid and B-share investors are more likely to be willing to sell at these prices (slightly more short term oriented than A shareholders)

 

And I want to personally thank those willing B shareholders who sold me mine today  ;)

[GOODYRL]

I converted some got 5% more shares in B plus some cash.  Thanks Granitepost for bringing to my attention :)

[GOODYRL]

Shoulda coulda woulda (waited) the spread got even better at end of day.

[scorpioncapital]

The spread has been ongoing for over 10 years. I see no reason why it would ever close. For example, according to Google Finance,  A's returned 6.94% over the last 10 years, while B's returned -.75% over this period - a spread of almost 8%.

 

 

[el_chieh]

The usual spread is ~1%.

 

At various points the spread has been ~3%.

 

Spread has never been this wide (~6%).

 

The 10 year return basically reflects the discount.

 

BRK As are v cheap.

 

BRK Bs 6% cheaper.

 

The gap should eventually return to ~1%.

 

I've sold all my As and bought Bs.

 

[arbitragr]

 

 

Bought a bunch today at avg price of $2280. Seriously out of whack just after lunch, when fear of bank nationalization was high. Couldn't believe my eyes what was happening.

 

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t314/ripleyx/Finance/brkavsbrkb.jpg

[GOODYRL]

So did i make a mistake?

[ubuy2wron]

I also purchased B's today however I am aware that WB has stated that he will be converting a shares to b shares every year for the next 2o years and the b shares may be sold for the foundations funding purposes. This will result in an increase in the A-B spread all things being equal, it will also result in an increase in voting control of the A shares, I have not thought this through however at some point in time control of BRK will come into play I suspect it will reside with Bill Gates who has spent the last 15 years learning about value investing from the master his masterpiece compunding money machine should remain intact for another 30 plus years.