WB

Links

Portfolio watch:

• 4Q23.
• 4Q23. 

Best overview of BRK to date: Barron's: BRK and Warren Buffett. 2024 annual meeting. First meeting without Charlie Munger.

For some 30,000 Berkshire shareholders expected to attend the meeting, the future will be the focus as Buffett fields questions for more than five hours in what could be his only public appearance of the year. Joining Buffett, 93, on the dais will be Vice Chairman Greg Abel, 61, likely tasked with the role of Buffett’s successor as CEO, and Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, 72, who runs the company’s insurance operations. Together they will answer questions small and large: Can the stock beat the S&P 500 index SPX 1.02% ? Why have share repurchases declined since 2021? Can the company’s new management prove anywhere as capable as Buffett? Should Berkshire break up?

A timeline: link here. 1936 - 2013.

Updates

October 22, 2024: Warren Buffett continues to sell off BofA.

August 30, 2024: 94th birthday; his company just joined the $1-trillion club!

August 4, 2024: 2Q24 earnings; commentary.

June 18, 2024: announced that BRK bought more OXY shares during the past nine days and has warrants to buy even more. One gets the feeling is "manipulating" more than investing. Buys for nine days straight to get the market excited about OXY and still has a sizeable number of warrents to execute at his leisure. Whoo-hoo!

May 15, 2024: 13F released. Chubb. Link here. 26 million shares; value as of March, 2024: $6.7 billion. Ninth in BRK's equity portfolio by value. From SeekingAlpha:

May 3, 2024: Apple is Buffett's biggest risk.

April 28, 2024: recent 13Fs --

• February 25, The Letter.
• 13F, 1Q24, part 1.
• 13F, 1Q24, part 2.
  
• March 19, 2024, part 1.
• March 19, 2024, part 2.

April 4, 2024: closing the loop on Warren Buffett and Paramount.

March 7, 2023: Warren Buffett buys more OXY.

March 5, 2023: Warren Buffett and CVX. 

March 5, 2023: fun with numbers.

March 4, 2023: UNP vs BNSF.

March 4, 2023: a buffet of links.

March 2, 2023: Berkshire Hathaway's cash horde.

February 28, 2023: annual letter a disappointment.

February 27, 2023: New England Asset Management.

February 25, 2023: 2022 results.

February 15, 2023: Apple and Buffett.

February 14, 2023: oil and Buffett.

February 14, 2023: TSM and Buffett (later sold it). Includes his equity portfolio. 

January 13, 2023: Buffett is full of crap.

January 8, 2023: buybacks.

August 15, 2022: 2Q22, update here.

May 2, 2022: 1Q22 update here.

May 1, 2022: Buffett -- CVX.

March 17, 2022: Buffett taking huge position in oil, notably CVX and OXY. 

March 13, 2022: Buffett is "in the money." An OXY update.

January 22, 2022: I remember a year ago, all the grief Warren Buffett received because he was not buying technology .... or cryptocurrency.

March 11, 2021: idle thoughts.

March 1, 2021: Scorecard. I was right the first time. One of the worst graphics ever for those still arguing that BRK is a great investment.

• BRK has been "awful" for the past ten years, if not longer;
• AAPL saved "Berkshire Hathaway"

February 28, 2021: I was wrong.

February 27, 2021: impressed. Not impressed. 

February 17, 2021: more on Buffett initiating a position in Chevron.

August 16, 2016: Buffett, BNSF, apple, the iCloud, and all that jazz.

Original Post
February 17, 2021

Warren Buffett: there are only a few things that fascinate me right now, e.g. Apple, semiconductors, Amazon. The list changes from time to time, but a pretty comprehensive list is over at the "Investors" page, tabbed at the top of the blog.

I'll have to add Warren Buffett to that list. That was a huge oversight. I don't have time or the interest to read his SEC filings so I am at the mercy of the media reports. Some thoughts:

• timing?
•  his "13F filings" are purposely delayed (this may be true for only a select few of his holdings; I believe the SEC approves this on a case-by-case basis);
• so by the time we see them, things have changed
  
• we don't know exactly when he bought something; and we certainly don't know when he started looking;
• he could have been following CVX and/or VZ for years before finally "pulling the trigger"
• what was he thinking?
• why did he choose VZ and not T-Mobile or ATT?
• why did he choose CVX from among the seven major international integrated oils? That will be an interesting question to explore.
• value vs growth?
• wow, this is a story in itself; I think if one were to ask, most would consider Buffett a value investor; not a growth investor and not a trader;
  
• did anyone note that both VZ and CVX pay hefty dividends? almost 5% for VZ; and, almost 6% for CVX (and perhaps more, depending when he actually bought them)
• back in October, CVX was trading at $66; today, it is trading above $90; the dividend has remained the same; you can do the math ($5.16 / $66 = 7.8%)
• VZ has been in a very narrow trading range for the past six months
• why would he "sell" AAPL? 
• I think he would have trimmed his holdings regardless, but had AAPL paid a few special dividends along the way or raised its quarterly dividend, Buffett might have stuck around; but indications are Tim Cook as other ideas;
• expensive foray into EVs; Buffett likes wide moats; it is obvious there are no moats at all when it comes to EVs;
  
• connecting the dots:
• did you all know that Verizon owns Yahoo!Finance? Actually, Verizon owns all of Yahoo!
• is Google under scrutiny around the world? Does Apple have an interesting relationship with Google? Is there a special relationship between Warren Buffett and Tim Cook? This is not rocket science; one can connect the dots; I'm not suggesting anything will happen, just suggesting things that could happen.
• gold?
• what was that all about?