BRK 2013 Third Quarter Report

[John Hjorth]

It's available now at : http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/qtrly/links3rdqtr13.html .

[Guest longinvestor]

So little fuss with BRK's quarterly reports; The cash pouring in is made out to be a big problem in the media, surely Omaha is going to have lots of pain and suffering from it, ha! Funny how so few have that problem.

[Charlie]

The business momentum is very strong.  :)

 

At P/B of 1,365 it´s not expensive. Just 14 % about buyback level. The railroad is fantastic.

 

 

Cheers!

[Guest longinvestor]

The business momentum is very strong.  :)

 

At P/B of 1,365 it´s not expensive. Just 14 % about buyback level. The railroad is fantastic.

 

 

Cheers!

 

+1

 

Another big one like BNSF would be great, but it will be interesting to see how much the subs "tucked in" during 2013 as well. I think $3-4 B went to this in 2012. It there is an increasing trend here, that would be a significant part of Warren's transition. Away from the headlines, I love it! I'm also looking for news of further big solar and wind investments. Is there another utility acquisition in the works?

 

BRK is the gift that keeps on giving.

 

 

[Charlie]

"BRK is the gift that keeps on giving."

 

Some hours ago I thought about the same quote.  :)

 

[John Hjorth]

BRK is a darn good cluster of companies.

[thefatbaboon]

I enjoy looking at comparisons in the market for BRK's companies: railroads, utilities, auto insurance, re, - it's fun to think what their market caps would be if separately listed.  Then there's about $200bn of cash, fi and stocks (partly funded by a float that for 20 years has scarcely ever had an underwriting loss).  It's incredible what lies underneath the umbrella.

 

Also, really pleased with Weschler.  Liberty, DTV, DVA  - these investments over the last few years make a lot of sense.  It's not just that they've done well, but they demonstrate clearly an investment philosophy that I understand.  Not sure what the right words for it is: tautness or tightness perhaps.  Where the string that links shareholder value to the underlying economy is kept taut!  Competitive advantage > tax efficiency > capital return.

I can't see Combs' recent work as clearly, because of the smaller size and more frequent trades, but getting long V and MA during 2008/9 is certainly a good sign.

 

Can't describe how excited I am to see BRK develop!  I'm sure it won't be all smooth sailing, but I'll be very surprised if BRK doesn't become the largest US company at some point in the next 10 -20 years.

 

 

 

 

 

   

[Guest longinvestor]

Also, really pleased with Weschler.  Liberty, DTV, DVA  - these investments over the last few years make a lot of sense.  It's not just that they've done well, but they demonstrate clearly an investment philosophy that I understand.  Not sure what the right words for it is: tautness or tightness perhaps.  Where the string that links shareholder value to the underlying economy is kept taut!  Competitive advantage > tax efficiency > capital return.

I can't see Combs' recent work as clearly, because of the smaller size and more frequent trades, but getting long V and MA during 2008/9 is certainly a good sign.

 

Can't describe how excited I am to see BRK develop!  I'm sure it won't be all smooth sailing, but I'll be very surprised if BRK doesn't become the largest US company at some point in the next 10 -20 years.

 

Re; Combs, Weschler, it is too early to judge. But I do hope they are learning from Warren/Charlie. Also would be interesting to know if they follow the same method that Warren/Charlie followed with ideas, successively filtering them down to a trickle? Is there a large "too hard" pile on their desks?

 

Re: BRK becoming the largest US co., Warren showed the market cap at $270B at Omaha this year and openly stated that the next CEO will be heading a BRK with 2x market cap. Whether that puts them at #1 depends on what Apple or Microsoft do in the mean time. What is it going to be, underwear or iPads?  ;D

[Charlie]

"Re: BRK becoming the largest US co., Warren showed the market cap at $270B at Omaha this year and openly stated that the next CEO will be heading a BRK with 2x market cap."

 

 

Munger: “The first $200 billion [in market capitalization] was hard. The second $200b

with the current momentum will be relatively easy." 

 

Buffett: "The businesses are in place to take it to $400 billion."  :)

 

[Pause for a moment and reflect on what this means – Munger and Buffett are calmly

confident that Berkshire will eventually be twice as big as it is now.]

 

 

http://www.sancaptrustco.com/documents/WkendwWarrenandCharlie.pdf