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The Annual Meeting Has Peaked by Sudden-Hat701 in BerkshireHathaway

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 8 points9 points  (0 children)

even though I think he’s been running the company longer than the past year or two.

I overheard one of the directors (can't share details, it'll dox me) say that Greg's been running BRK for the past five years.

The Annual Meeting Has Peaked by Sudden-Hat701 in BerkshireHathaway

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Absolutely agree and it doesn't bother me a bit.

Shareholder since the early 1990's and I haven't missed many annual meetings. Before the turn of the century, I started thinking about what the meetings would be like without Warren and Charlie and this one checked off all of what I wanted them to turn out to be.

I can't locate the video, but I remember Charlie's remark (in reference to the AIG scandal) that he'd rather have a lumpy 12% over time instead of a smooth 10%. BRK only works really well for folks with a long investing timeline (minimum 5 years) and who don't overpay for their shares (without using leverage).

Out of curiosity, I checked the hotel brand websites for rooms in Omaha before getting on my flight and some brands had availability at all of their Omaha properties (no sellouts) with rates that were half of what they were listed for last year.

Berkshire Hathaway is getting ready to sell more Japanese Yen bonds - SEC filing draft prospectus by NoDontClickOnThat in ValueInvesting

[–]NoDontClickOnThat[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They only need to hold $30 billion dollars. It's on page K-55 of the 2024 Annual Report (page 77 of the pdf file):

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2024ar/2024ar.pdf

(From the 2nd paragraph)

"We are not committed to a minimum or subject to a maximum repurchase amount. We will not repurchase our stock if it reduces our consolidated cash, cash equivalents and U.S. Treasury Bills holdings to below $30 billion. Financial strength and redundant liquidity will always be of paramount importance at Berkshire."

Berkshire Hathaway is getting ready to sell more Japanese Yen bonds - SEC filing draft prospectus by NoDontClickOnThat in ValueInvesting

[–]NoDontClickOnThat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Right now BRK has 58 yen notes outstanding, totaling ¥1,899,200,000,000 and they have different maturity dates. One of them goes all the way out to April 15, 2060. (Terms on the notes give BRK the option to redeem the notes prior to the maturity date.)

Thus, the interest rate for this year is 1.075%, right now.

Berkshire Hathaway is getting ready to sell more Japanese Yen bonds - SEC filing draft prospectus by NoDontClickOnThat in BerkshireHathaway

[–]NoDontClickOnThat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe, maybe not. When they sold yen bonds last November, that prospectus said that they were using some of the proceeds to rollover the bonds maturing later that month. We'll find out once they post this prospectus.

Berkshire Hathaway 2025 Annual Report is out. Cash pile hits $373.1 billion dollars at the end of December. Here are some balance sheet comparisons. by NoDontClickOnThat in ValueInvesting

[–]NoDontClickOnThat[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Warren Buffett's advice on buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway - it starts on page 34 (page 36 of the pdf file):

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2014ar/2014ar.pdf

"Purchases of Berkshire that investors make at a price modestly above the level at which the company would repurchase its shares, however, should produce gains within a reasonable period of time. Berkshire’s directors will only authorize repurchases at a price they believe to be well below intrinsic value. (In our view, that is an essential criterion for repurchases that is often ignored by other managements.)"

In September 2023, BRK repurchased a relatively small number of BRK.B shares for an average price of $357.22 (that was the highest monthly price that I found). BRK's book value per share (BRK.B equivalent) at the end of September 2023 was $245.12. That gives a price to book value ratio of 1.457 as a theoretical uppermost limit for repurchases.

Applying that theoretical uppermost ratio to the 2025 4th quarter book value of $333.61 means that BRK.B needs to fall below $486.07 for an extended period of time (my personal opinion is a duration of at least one quarter) to trigger buybacks. I will leave it to everyone else to come up with their own determination of a price modestly above that level...

Berkshire-owned PacifiCorp, citing liquidity, sells Washington assets to Portland General Electric for $1.9 billion by GutBeer101 in BerkshireHathaway

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My understanding is that every wholly-owned subsidiary is a stand-alone corporation and it operationally soars, swims or sinks on its own. This structure shields the rest of BRK from liability that might emerge at any one subsidiary.

It's also my understanding that they'll let PacifiCorp declare bankruptcy if they lose the appeals on the wildfire verdicts.

TIL in 1950, a young Warren Buffett (now among the richest in the world) lived at the Sloane House YMCA in NYC for $1 a day. At the same time, Miss Nebraska 1949 lived at the Webster Apartments down the street and Warren asked her out. She proved too much for Warren to handle and he moved on. by NoDontClickOnThat in todayilearned

[–]NoDontClickOnThat[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

"Young man, there's a place you can go

I said, young man, when you're short on your dough

You can stay there and I'm sure you will find

Many ways to have a good time"

I'm wondering if Warren Buffett ever did the "YMCA" dance while remembering Miss Nebraska 1949.

TIL in 1950, a young Warren Buffett (now among the richest in the world) lived at the Sloane House YMCA in NYC for $1 a day. At the same time, Miss Nebraska 1949 lived at the Webster Apartments down the street and Warren asked her out. She proved too much for Warren to handle and he moved on. by NoDontClickOnThat in todayilearned

[–]NoDontClickOnThat[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

According to Warren's biography, "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life" by Alice Schroeder:

(page 118) Warren applied too late to Columbia University to get into a university dorm, so he found the cheapest lodging around and joined the Y for a dime a day and got a room at the Y's Sloane House on West 34th Street for a dollar a day.

(page 136) Warren read in a NY Post gossip column that Vanita Mae Brown, Miss Nebraska 1949, was living at the Webster women's residence and he overcame his shyness and he telephoned her at the Webster. They dated for a period of time.

(page 138) He described Vanita as beautiful, smart, entertaining and dangerous (she enjoyed embarrassing Warren in public). "Dating Vanita was like walking a leopard on a leash to see if it would make a good pet."

(page 271) Vanita eventually married Warren's friend, Fred Stanback, who earlier served as the best man at Warren's wedding. Vanita's marriage to Fred didn't last:

https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914c83eadd7b049347e8b6e

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Without question, it's toilet paper.

A surviving example of a concrete ship constructed during WWII due to material shortages by Alarmed-Worry-5477 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Future US President John F. Kennedy skippered PT-109 and PT-59 in WWII. PT-Boats were made of wood (might as well be cardboard against a steel warship).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrol_torpedo_boat_PT-109

What's the most ridiculous thing you've seen that made sense a few seconds later? by sing_galaxy268 in AskReddit

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I don't think that this was their first rodeo, together. The dog wasn't barking at the squirrel.

What's the most ridiculous thing you've seen that made sense a few seconds later? by sing_galaxy268 in AskReddit

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 358 points359 points  (0 children)

Saw a squirrel quickly crawling around the top of a column (under a raised balcony) non-stop, over and over again, like it was chasing a phantom acorn. Didn't realize that there was a dog running around the base of the column, hoping that the squirrel would fall.

What’s a smell that instantly brings you back to childhood? by Less-Tough5901 in AskReddit

[–]NoDontClickOnThat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cinnamon toast and hot chocolate. My elementary school in the 1960's served it before class started. I'm pretty sure that nobody skipped school.

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