TV show “60 Minutes” had a profile of Howard Buffett following Buffett’s appointment of him as his preferred choice for non-Executive Chairman after Buffett somehow relinquishes that role. As a guardian of Berkshire’s unique culture, he is as good as it gets. We collect a few links and videos about Howard Buffett.
Much noise has been generated by MidAmerican’s purchase of First Solar’s $2 billion Topaz solar energy project. Yes, MidAmerican is Berkshire’s utility/ energy subsidiary and this sizable acquisition has certainly been cleared by Warren Buffett. That does not mean that “Buffett is buying/ betting on solar” as a category. It is Berkshire taking advantage of an opportunity.
Landmark announcement today: the Berkshire board of directors has approved an “authorization” for a share repurchase program. Berkshire being what it is, it’s a bit different from the usual buyback: there’s no maximum amount, no set period of time and nor is there the obligation to buy any stock at all. There are only two rules: if share purchases do occur, Berkshire will not pay above 110% of book value per share and it must maintain a cash balance superior to US$ 20 billion. As Buffett likes it, there’s no “mandate” other than “intelligent investing”.
First a quick interview (yes, that’s right) with Stephen Hawking. Off-topic for sure, but still inspiring. His sense of humor is impressive. Now for the meat of this post, a one-hour video (also embedded below) with Buffett and Ajit Jain, who emerged from the Dave Sokol affair as a very likely “candidate” for Buffett’s succession [...]
We provide links to the best stories we’ve found on the web about the 2011 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. When reading the stories or watching the videos, always remember to keep an open eye to the writer’s biases, experiences, leanings and incentives – as well as to your own, of course. Also keep in mind the relevant subjects discussed in the meeting that just weren’t given enough media because of the Sokol affair, such as the insurance cycle.
UPDATE: The Berkshire Hathaway annual was live when we published the post below, and the Wall Street Journal really was the best source for live coverage during the day. In fact, not only because of the content, but also because of the mobile/smartphone-friendly page. We hope this source was useful for our readers, and expect to post here links to the best post-meeting coverage and analysis.
The Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting is still under way and so far the best source for live-blogging coverage is the Wall Street Journal. Enjoy!
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/04/30/live-blog-the-berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting/
The Audit Committee of Berkshire Hathaway has just concluded its report regarding Dave Sokol’s trading in Lubrizol shares. They found that “Mr. Sokol’s conversations with Mr. Buffett and others at Berkshire Hathaway were ‘intended to deceive’ and ‘its effect was to mislead.’ ” Now that the “hype” is unprecedented in terms of a Berkshire “conflict”, and that the noise levels are bound to get even higher, it’s important to try and separate what’s relevant.
The WSJ published a story about the possible tactics that Buffett used in the Lubrizol acquisition. This part sounded like music to our ears: “(…) Buffett undoubtedly told Lubrizol that he would refuse to participate in an auction. And here is where you see Buffett’s cleverness at work. He puts his targets in a dilemma that really only has one answer: take the price that looks very good or let Buffett walk away. Buffett’s real genius is a mix of these tactics and his ability to identify undervalued companies combined with the courage to act quickly on his analysis. That mix has been a recipe for big profits for Berkshire.”
Berkshire’s new acquisition looks like a logical extension of his Burlington Northern acquisition, in the “picks-and-shovels” realm of the Logistics sector. Bonus: our most loyal reader sent us the transcript of Buffett’s June 2010 testimony at a hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. You can always send us suggestions, links and texts at editor@buysiders.com.
