WEB:The Oracle of Omaha- Warren Buffett
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» KLR - Bubblehead Buffet Clowning Around
In response to message posted by Rande:Berkshire Hathaway doubles profit
The Sage of Omaha recovers
By Steve Gelsi, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:03 PM ET Mar 10, 2001
OMAHA, Neb. (CBS.MW) -- Warren Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway saw its profit grow 114 percent in 2000 during a time of withering tech shares and surging old economy stocks, the firm reported on Saturday.
The investment company (BRK.A: news, msgs, alerts) , which also owns Geico insurance and General Re, grew its book value 6.5 percent vs. a 9.1 percent drop in the S&P 500 ($SPX: news, msgs, alerts) last year.
Berkshire rang up net profit of $3.3 billion, up from $1.6 billion in the year-ago period. That amounts to $2,185 per share, up from $1,025 per share in 1999. Revenue came in at $34 billion, up from $24 billion in the year-ago period.
"Overall, we had a decent year," Warren Buffett said in a shareholder letter that displayed his usual homespun humor about his aversion to tech and Internet firms.
"I will tell you now that we have embraced the 21st century by entering such cutting-edge industries as brick, carpet, insulation and paint," he said. "Try to control your excitement."
Investment gains more than made up for underwriting losses in its main insurance businesses.
Buffett bounced back from last year, which he called the worst ever for the firm.
Berkshire's stock closed at $71,100 per share.
Steve Gelsi is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com.
-- posted by KLR
» Kirk - Buffett takes a stake in Gap
http://www2.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/st...Buffett takes a stake in Gap
By The Associated Press
Last Update: 6:23 PM ET Apr 2, 2001
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett jokes that he can make a tailored suit look bad, but he apparently likes the looks of trendy clothing company Gap Inc.
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission released Monday showed Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has spent $204 million on 8 million shares of the San Francisco-based clothing retailer (GPS: news, msgs, alerts) .
Gap also markets clothes under the Banana Republic and Old Navy brand names.
The filing was made public after the SEC refused to allow Buffett to use a procedure he routinely employed in the past to delay disclosure of Berkshire holdings.
Two other Berkshire investments also were made public in the new filing. Berkshire invested $3.45 billion in the year ended Dec. 31 in San Francisco-based bank giant Wells Fargo (WFC: news, msgs, alerts) and $181 million in electricity company GPU Inc. (GPU: news, msgs, alerts) of Morristown, N.J.
Marc Hamburg, a vice president at Berkshire, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment on the filings.
Buffett's 4.9 million shares in GPU equals about 4 percent of that company, GPU spokesman Ned Raynolds said.
"He's a smart investor and we're glad he sees value in GPU stock," Raynolds said.
GPU plans to merge with Ohio-based First Energy.
Buffett also has invested heavily in MidAmerican Energy of Des Moines, Iowa.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA: news, msgs, alerts) owns or has holdings in such varied companies as Coca-Cola, The Washington Post, See's Candies, and car insurer GEICO.
Shares of Gap, Inc. added 70 cents Monday to close at $24.42. Wells Fargo shares gained 22 cents to $49.69 and GPU stock slipped 29 cents to end at $32.20
Shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell $1,460, or 2.23 percent, to $63,990.
Copyright 2001, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
-- posted by Kirk
» Kirk - Berkshire discloses holdings in GPU
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/010402/n02333263...Berkshire Hathaway discloses holdings in Gap, GPU
NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.(NYSE:BRKa - news) disclosed holdings in clothes retailer Gap Inc.(NYSE:GPS - news) and utility holding company GPU Inc.(NYSE:GPU - news) on Monday in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Berkshire held 8 million shares in Gap at Feb. 14, the document shows, representing a 0.9 percent share of the San Francisco-based company, worth about $204 million in February. Gap shares rose 3 percent to $24.42 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Berkshire also owns 4.9 million shares in Pennsylvania-based utility holding company GPU, a 4 percent stake worth about $181 million in February, the same filing said. GPU shares fell 0.89 percent to $32.20, also on the
NYSE.
Berkshire has been providing details on some of its smaller holdings this year after it lost a recent struggle with the SEC to keep certain investments private.
Berkshire, which is primarily an insurance and reinsurance company but also acts as a vehicle for Warren Buffett's investments, held about $38 billion worth of stocks at the end of last year, according to the firm's annual report last month.
Berkshire's major stock holdings include 11 percent of charge card giant American Express Co.(NYSE:AXP - news), 8 percent of soft-drink maker Coca-Cola Co.(NYSE:KO - news), 9 percent of consumer goods firm Gillette Co.(NYSE:G - news) and 18 percent of newspaper publisher The Washington Post Co.(NYSE:WPO - news)
-- posted by Kirk
» Roger_Babson - Re: Re: Re: Released 3/10/01
In response to message posted by Rande:Rande, Buffet and Harry Dent in the same context?! PLEASE!!! I have the greatest respect for Buffet, primarily because of his longevity in the business, experience, and skill.
That BRK.A is likely to match the NYSE decline in the bear market decline ahead does not take away from my admiration for Buffet. Were Buffet in a partnership as he was in the late 1960s and could find "no bargains", as he then put it, he could liquidate the partnership (and its statutory limitations) and seek out "corporate assets" (as opposed to whole companies) that were undervalued to purchase, as he did with Berkshire at that point in history.
One must keep in mind, too, that the vast majority of Berkshire's holdings today were acquired in the 1970s, during the most undervalued (as distinct from "underpriced") market since the 1930s in real and nominal terms.
Buffet has gotten literally a lifetime's worth of gains from his original investments, thus at his age he is surely seeking less to grow the equity of the company and instead position the company to be liquid for the next generation of leadership of Berkshire, should that be the firm's course.
Dent is a circus barker, and is nothing more than a bubble phenomenon.
-- posted by Roger_Babson
» Roger_Babson - Re: Buffett takes a stake in Gap
In response to message posted by Kirk:Is this a straight underpriced asset play by Buffet?
-- posted by Roger_Babson
» Kirk - On Speculation and Valuation
extracted from Berkshire 2000 Annual reportNow, speculation -- in which the focus is not on what an asset will produce but rather on what the next fellow will pay for it -- is neither illegal, immoral nor un-American. But it is not a game in which Charlie and I wish to play. We bring nothing to the party, so why should we expect to take anything home?
The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. After a heady experience of that kind, normally sensible people drift into behavior akin to that of Cinderella at the ball. They know that overstaying the festivities -- that is, continuing to speculate in companies that have gigantic valuations relative to the cash they are likely to generate in the future -- will eventually bring on pumpkins and mice. But they nevertheless hate to miss a single minute of what is one helluva party. Therefore, the giddy participants all plan to leave just seconds before midnight. There’s a problem, though: They are dancing in a room in which the clocks have no hands.
If you like what you read the link below has the completely letter and is more interesting..
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2000ar/...
(or the owner's manual which is just as interesting)
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2000ar/...
-- posted by Kirk
» KLR - Buffett calls for Calif. energy czar
Some interesting pearls from Warren covering everything from CA power problems to buy n' hold. I like the part where he says he doesn't much care what the economy is doing.Buffett calls for Calif. energy czar
Hedges economic forecasts, says he's in the game to stay
By Jon Friedman, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:54 PM ET April 29, 2001
OMAHA, Neb. (CBS.MW) - Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Sunday called for the appointment of an energy "czar" to fix California's energy problems.
Buffett, who has an estimated net worth of $35 billion, has said he is considering making sizeable investments in energy companies. While he didn't refer to his possible investment plans, he told a gathering of reporters in Omaha that someone needs to take charge of the problem on the West Coast.
"I think you could solve it in a major way" by appointing a central figure to take command, said Buffett. He also said that this person could settle the difficulties caused by "squabbling constituents."
Speaking in a relaxed manner before a mass of television cameras in a Marriott Hotel, Buffett stressed that the energy czar "should have an incentive" to avoid a duplication of the disaster that has occurred already. He also called it a "flub in capitalism that's pretty extraordinary."
Smiling, to take the sting out of his words, Buffett noted that the California energy crisis could be likened to virginity: it "can be preserved but not restored."
Buffett's partner at Berkshire, Charles Munger, who lives in California, was even more emphatic. He said California's energy woes represent "everybody's idiot example of how not to run a system."
The press conference culminated a whirlwind weekend for the 70-year-old Buffett. He presided over a 5-1/2-hour question-and-answer session with his shareholders on Saturday and also made numerous personal appearances in Omaha. An estimated 12,000 to 17,000 people attended the annual meeting. See full story.
Staying in the game ... regardless
Speaking about the role the economy plays in his business and investment decisions, Buffett was clear: "Charlie and I don't think about it." Buffett stressed that regardless of whether the economy looks good or bad at the moment, "We're in the game."
While pointing out he does not closely follow economic forecasts, Buffett noted that the slowdown "has continued to this day ... much of the economy has hit a wall in a major way."
Noting that he does not like to make predictions, Buffett shrugged and said that the economic slowdown "can last a couple of months, or a couple of years. I don't know."
The conference is so widely attended every year because it gives the public a rare glimpse into the thinking of one of the world's wealthiest men. Shareholders and reporters alike came from as far away as Australia and Japan and most were noticeably impressed by the sight of Buffett.
Asked by a reporter to discuss his philosophy of selling a business or an investment, Buffett said strongly that he tries not to sell at all.
He said he would resort to selling when there is a "lack of comfort" about either a management, an accounting plan, or a company's diminished competitive advantage.
"We don't like to sell things," Buffett said.
Shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA: news, msgs, alerts) gained $1,005. on Friday to end at $67,005.
-- posted by KLR
» DennisL - Re: Buffett on Diversification
In response to message posted by Kirk:Is Buffett saying here that diversification is for ignorant dummies? If so, I am greatly offended by that remark. It seems to fly in the face a generally accepted and sound investing principle.
My investments are very well diversified and I don't consider myself to be an ignorant dummy at all.
-- posted by DennisL
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