Fascinating Turn Of Events -- May 14, 2022

"3 Buffett Stocks to Avoid Like the Plague in 2021" -- The Motley Fool, January 4, 2021.  

When it comes to investing, Warren Buffett's name is practically synonymous with wealth and success. According to figures in the most recent annual shareholder letter from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 0.73%)(BRK.B 0.75%), the conglomerate Buffett has run for five decades has returned an average of 20.3% for shareholders since the beginning of 1965. That's an aggregate return of over 2,700,000% in 55 years, which absolutely trounces the broader market.

The interesting thing about Buffett is that he's not doing anything any retail investors couldn't themselves do. Finding companies with sustainable competitive advantages and holding onto them for long periods of time requires nothing more than conviction and patience.

But the Oracle of Omaha and his investment team aren't perfect. Of the roughly four dozen securities currently in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, three should be cordoned off with yellow tape and avoided like the plague in 2021."

Is It Too Late to Buy Snowflake Stock?" -- nasdaq.com -- The Motley Fool, February 10, 2022.

Cloud-based data platform Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) went public in late 2020 amid a ton of hype, including its rapid growth and backing from Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway bought $250 million in shares at the IPO price. The stock went to sky-high valuations in its early trading days.

Now, more than a year later, Snowflake continues to execute at a high level, and its shares continue trading at a premium to most stocks on the market. Warren Buffett himself once said that wonderful companies at fair prices are far superior investments to fair companies at wonderful prices.

So where does Snowflake fall on this spectrum, and is it too late for investors to own the stock and still generate strong investment returns? Here's the information that could help answer these questions.

May 13, 2022:

My hunch: Buffett is very unhappy with his two lieutenants. The money hardly matters. It's the embarrassment of knowing he signed off on this investment.