Berkshire News Briefs - 12/27/13

GEICO Passes Allstate to Become 2d Largest U.S. Auto Insurer (Insurance Journal)

Based on third quarter reports, GEICO Corp. has surpassed Allstate Corp. to become the nation’s second-largest private auto insurer. According to data compiled by SNL, GEICO logged $4.89 billion in direct premiums written during the third quarter of 2013, while Allstate recorded $4.65 billion in premiums. State Farm remained firmly in the number one position with $8.7 billion.

More GEICO news at the bottom of this post...

Berkshire grew E&S premiums by 27.6% in third quarter (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. grew its U.S. excess and surplus premiums by about 27.6% year over year in the third quarter, which was higher than the property/casualty insurance industry's overall 5.29% increase, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL Financial L.C. “Industry watchers have been keeping a close eye on Berkshire following the company's announcement in June that it was forming a new division devoted specifically to U.S. E&S business,” said SNL in its analysis. SNL noted that Berkshire ranked within the top 15 in the third quarter, “although its direct premiums written are still a long way from companies like American International Group Inc., Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and W. R. Berkley Corp.” Berkshire ranked 13th on SNL's list of third-quarter 2013 market share of U.S. E&S insurers, up from 15th spot in third-quarter 2012.

Fitch: E&S Market Will Feel Impact of Berkshire's Entrance in Coming Quarters (Property Casualty 360)

While Berkshire’s aggressive entrance into the excess and surplus lines space earlier this year through the hiring of top American International Group employees didn’t “significantly alter” the market through the third quarter of 2013, ratings agency Fitch says it expects pricing implications related to this expansion “to materialize in coming quarters.” [...] The report said the formation of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance in the second quarter of 2013 “adds tremendous capacity to an already overcapitalized market, which will likely limit rate hikes and lead to more intense competition in 2014.”

'Buffett's Alpha' Misses The Real Source Of Growth In The New Berkshire Hathaway (Seeking Alpha)

Like many other value investors and Buffett followers I paid passing attention to the headlines and summary articles on "Buffett's Alpha" by Andrea Frazzini, David Kabiller, and Lasse H. Pederson. The summaries were all roughly the same: Buffett achieved smashing success, trouncing the market, but he did so by a simple strategy of buying cheap, low-beta, high-quality stocks and levering his portfolio up by a 1.6 ratio. A secondary observation was that the public holdings of Berkshire Hathaway had outperformed its private holdings (companies owned outright). [...] When glancing at public articles on the "Buffett's Alpha" paper I had lazily let the public-versus-private-holdings assertion pass unexamined until a comment by X.L on my recent article "The Big Five: Which Would You Be Willing to Own If They Closed The Market for 20 Years" raised the question.

Warren Buffett's Biggest Winners (Fool)

It's been almost exactly one month since Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced its latest stock holdings -- and The Motley Fool decided to check in on how the portfolio of the Oracle of Omaha's company is doing. Buffett has had a solid run since the end of September, and based on the roughly $92 billion that Berkshire held, the company has seen the value of its holdings grow by a little more than $4.5 billion, a return of almost 5%. That narrowly trails the S&P 500's return of 5.5% over that same time period. Of course, Buffett's investing ability isn't characterized by 55 days of returns, but Berkshire Hathaway has had a number of remarkable performers since September.

Wind Power Rivals Coal With $1 Billion Order From Buffett (Bloomberg)

The decision by Warren Buffett’s utility company to order about $1 billion of wind turbines for projects in Iowa shows how a drop in equipment costs is making renewable energy more competitive with power from fossil fuels. Turbine prices have fallen 26 percent worldwide since the first half of 2009, bringing wind power within 5.5 percent of the cost of electricity from coal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., yesterday announced an order for 1,050 megawatts of Siemens AG wind turbines in the industry’s largest order to date for land-based gear.

Berkshire’s MidAmerican Names Caudill NV Energy President (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. named Paul Caudill president of NV Energy after completing its purchase of the Nevada utility whose chief executive officer will step down next year. Caudill, 59, had been president of MidAmerican Solar. He'll work with NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira, who plans to retire in June from the Las Vegas-based provider of electricity and natural gas, the companies said today in a statement. NV’s solar projects include facilities near Primm, Nevada and in North Las Vegas.

20-something Buffett protégé freezes paint firm pensions (NY Post)

It’s not just the temperatures that have dipped below freezing at Benjamin Moore headquarters. The 130-year-old paint brand, struggling under the ownership of billionaire Warren Buffett, told employees at its Montvale, NJ, offices last week it has frozen their pension plans, even as it continues to fire workers, as first reported on nypost.com. The lumps of holiday coal come courtesy of Buffett’s 29-year-old financial assistant, Tracy Britt Cool, whom he installed last year as chairman of Benjamin Moore after taking the rare step of firing a former CEO.

Johns Manville Adds Commercial and Residential Mineral Wool Insulation to Product Offering (Business Wire)

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company and leading building products manufacturer, has added commercial and residential mineral wool to its full spectrum of insulation products, allowing customers to meet an even broader range of project demands. JM mineral wool insulation offers a variety of performance benefits in both commercial and residential construction. With a high melting point in excess of 2000°F, mineral wool can help delay fire spread, create quieter buildings and homes, increase privacy between rooms and reduce heating and cooling costs by keeping structures warm in winter and cool in summer.

MiTek Announces SAPPHIRE™ Build, Software Suite for Production Home Builders (Business Wire / Vancouver Sun)

MiTek Industries, Inc. (MiTek), a Berkshire Hathaway company, and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, software, equipment and services for the building components industry announced today the introduction of SAPPHIRE Build, a suite of business and workflow management software tools for production home builders. MiTek’s recent acquisition, Kova Solutions, LLC, provides the functional core and framework for SAPPHIRE Build, which is now an end-to-end integrated solution. [...] The introduction of SAPPHIRE Build is the integration of two MiTek solutions that are already in the market: MiTek Blackpoint™ software and Kova. Now they are integrated into a single, re-branded platform.

Warren Buffett donates $10m to Rambam Hospital (Globes)

US billionaire Warren Buffet has donated $10 million to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The contribution was announced by his close friend Eitan Wertheimer at an event last weekend to celebrate 75 years since the hospital's establishment. Wertheimer has been a close friend of Buffett since the sale of the family's precision tool developer and manufacturer Iscar Ltd. to the American's company Berkshire Hathaway. In May 2006, Berkshire Hathaway bought 80% of Iscar for $4 billion, and in May this year it exercised an option to buy the remaining 20% for $2.05 billion.

Hot Doughboy: Pillsbury Mascot Crashes Geico Commercial (ABC News)

Move over, gecko. A new commercial for Geico stars not the insurer's famous lizard but the Pillsbury Doughboy. Huh? How can that pairing possibly make sense? [...] The TV spot, by the Martin Agency of Richmond, Va., is the most recent in Geico's "Happier Than ..." series of commercials, each of which asks "How happy are people who switch to Geico?" In this case, the answer is: "Happier than the Pillsbury Doughboy on his way to a baking convention."

The commercial is here on YouTube, with nearly 1.9 million views.

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/13/13

Rabbit Hunting With Warren Buffett (Fool)

In his 2010 annual letter to shareholders, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett used the metaphor of his company's cash as an "elephant gun" to be used in his hunt for big companies to purchase. Ever since then, the news media has fixated on Berkshire Hathaway's hunt to bag that elephant to fuel its future growth. After all, how can an enormous company the size of Berkshire Hathaway grow even larger without swallowing up increasingly larger subsidiaries? [...] While the world watches and waits for that elephant to come along, though, Berkshire Hathaway has been quietly growing another way: rabbit hunting. Rather than using the metaphorical elephant gun to bring down the biggest game of all, the subsidiaries Berkshire Hathaway already owns have been quietly hunting their own small targets. Taken individually, most of these moves barely made the news outside of a company press release. But looking at all of the little moves together, you can see from the pattern that Berkshire Hathaway is growing just fine without any elephants.

BNSF CEO Rose changes roles, renews Buffett succession talk (Reuters)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc's BNSF Railway Co moved Chief Executive Matthew Rose to an executive chairman role, renewing speculation that he may be in line to replace Warren Buffett at Berkshire's helm. As executive chairman, Rose, 54, will work on activities including organizational planning, market positioning and public policy at BNSF over the next decade, the company said on Wednesday. Carl Ice, 57, will replace Rose as chief executive at the nation's largest railroad, beginning January 1. Ice has been at the railroad for 34 years, and has been president of BNSF since November 2010.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Grows Again with 12 Affiliate Signees (MarketWatch / BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, today announced the signing of 12 more affiliates for the network. [...] These signings bring to 502 the number of offices that have transitioned to or signed with the brand since July, and include nearly 19,000 agents in 24 states. Many more signings are on the way, said Earl Lee, CEO of HSF Affiliates LLC.

Related:

Warren Buffett’s new franchise brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, grows to 51 firms (Inman)

Warren Buffett’s new real estate franchise brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, will convert 12 more Prudential Real Estate-affiliated brokerages, bringing the total number of firms committed to the 1-year-old network to 51. [...] The 12 new firms, which grow the new franchise network to 502 offices and 19,000 agents in 24 states, will transition to the new brand by the middle of 2014. [...] HomeServices of America created the new brand when it took a majority stake in the Prudential Real Estate and Real Living brands from Brookfield Asset Management in October 2012. It will eventually replace the Prudential Real Estate brand, which is slated to disappear in the 2020s as a condition of Prudential Financial Inc.’s sale of its real estate franchising business to Brookfield Asset Management in 2011. [...] So far, only Prudential-affiliated firms have committed to Buffett’s new brand.

Brokerages converted to the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand and having their press releases turn up in my BRK news search this week include Middle Tennessee, Nebraska, Atlanta, GA, Orlando, FL, Greenville, SC, and Wellesley, MA.

Buffett's Berkshire Buys More DaVita (NASDAQ)

Warren Buffett 's company, Berkshire Hathaway, bought 1,314,170 additional shares of DaVita HealthCare Partners this week. The transaction, reported Dec. 9, represents a 6.77% increase to the existing holding. After the buy, Berkshire's DaVita stake is sized at 36,461,294 shares, raising its ownership to about 17.14%. [...] The two companies have agreed that Berkshire will not acquire more than 25% of DaVita without DaVita's approval.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquires Hartford UK variable annuity business (Life Insurance and Pensions)

This story came up last summer, and the deal is just now finalizing.

Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway firm, has purchased Hartford Life International Limited (HLIL) in a transaction valued at approximately $285m. Property and casualty insurance provider Hartford originally signed an agreement with Columbia Insurance in June this year, to divest its UK variable annuity business, as part of its strategy to streamline its operations. HLIL's sole asset is its subsidiary, Hartford Life Limited (HLL), a Dublin-based company that sold variable annuities in the UK from 2005 to 2009. As of 30 November 2013, HLL had $1.7bn in assets under management.

Berkshire Estimates Were Cut For Bad Reasons. Expect A Good Q4 (Seeking Alpha)

After strongly outperforming the S&P 500 through July, Berkshire treaded water for a few months but then began to notably underperform the SP500 since Berkshire announced Q3 earnings on Nov 1. The culprit? Not only did Q3 earnings miss the consensus estimate, but, even worse, that surprise caused the few analysts who cover Berkshire to lower future earnings forecasts. We think that in their rush to not get fooled again, they overreacted.

Did Buffett Buy ExxonMobil Because It's More "Buffett" Than Berkshire? (Fool)

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett's most notable investment this past quarter, 8.8 million shares of ExxonMobil, actually started with a larger 31 million-share buy in the quarter ended June 30. Based on the Sept. 30 13F, this makes ExxonMobil Berkshire's seventh-largest stock holding, worth $3.75 billion. While that's significantly smaller than the company's holdings in Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola, IBM, and American Express -- each worth more than $10 billion -- ExxonMobil is perhaps the most "Buffett" of all the companies that Buffett has invested in over the years. Let's take a look at why.

Warren Buffett Places One Heck of Bet on Energy (Fool)

Warren Buffett made big headlines in the energy space when Berkshire Hathaway publicly disclosed that it had accumulated a $3.4 billion position in ExxonMobil. This alone is a pretty significant bet on the future of oil and gas. When you look at some of Buffett's other energy holdings, though, it points to a very specific investment strategy: Canadian oil sands. Let's take a look at Buffett's energy holdings and what makes all of them work.

Berkshire Hathaway Is Undervalued By 15% (Seeking Alpha)

Berkshire Hathaway is unlikely to repeat the 19.8% returns it enjoyed from 1964-2011 due to its size and because it has already bought up many of the most desirable investment opportunities in the marketplace. However, Berkshire should continue to generate solid growth and performance due to its mix of high quality businesses that it owns as well as its well-regarded portfolio of marketable securities. [...] Berkshire Hathaway's share price is undervalued by 15% relative to its fair intrinsic value and its business units continue to generate steady profit growth.

Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's 2013 Year in Review (Fool)

Berkshire Hathaway has had a relatively eventful 2013, with a major acquisition, a few significant stock purchases, and one question that still lingers.

Finally...

Warren Buffett held a Q&A session with MBA Students from 8 universities last month, and a professor from the University of Maryland Robert E. Smith Business School in attendance took copious, detailed notes:

Buffett talks about how he writes the annual letter to shareholders (2013's is already done except for the final numbers, watch for it to be published on February 28). He talks about the Goldman Sachs and GE warrant deals from 2008. He talks about how his political views were formed. Moats, negotiations, women's equality, assessing managers, influences, career advice.

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/2/13

Berkshire Said to Reduce Its Energy Future Bond Stake (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reduced its holdings of Energy Future Holdings Corp. debt by a third after the Texas power provider made an interest payment and staved off a bankruptcy filing, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. Berkshire sold about $615 million of its $1.8 billion in face value of Texas Competitive Electric Holdings Co.’s senior unsecured notes this month [...] The Omaha, Nebraska-based company had taken more than $1.9 billion in writedowns from 2010 through the third quarter of this year, “substantially all” of which was related to Texas Competitive bonds, according to regulatory filings on its website.

Berkshire’s PacifiCorp Looks to Sell Oregon Hydroelectric Dam (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s PacifiCorp utility is seeking to sell a hydroelectric dam that’s no longer profitable to operate. The dam is on the Deschutes River in Bend, Oregon, PacifiCorp said today in a statement. The company, owned by Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based firm, may seek to place the structure under local control.

Even Warren Buffett doesn't want old Berkshire HQ (CNBC)

The mayor of New Bedford, Mass., wants to save Berkshire Hathaway's old headquarters from demolition, but he's having trouble finding buyers. Even Warren Buffett himself isn't interested. The Wall Street Journal reports the owner of the 86-year-old "squat, dilapidated office building" at 129 Cove Street wants to build a parking lot in its place but has agreed to wait a few months while the city looks for a buyer for what once housed the Berkshire Hathaway textile company.

Why Warren Buffett Doesn't Mix Morals With Money (Fool)

Buffett and Charlie Munger once thought about buying a chewing-tobacco company. They traveled to Memphis, entertaining the idea along the way. They never took the deal. Buffett later said the following: "In the end, we decided we didn't want to own it. We would buy stock in a tobacco company, but we didn't want to own it." This is interesting. Buffett would own shares of a tobacco company, but he wouldn't own all of it. He wants some barrier between Berkshire Hathaway and the company, perhaps for liability reasons, and probably also for insurance on his reputation.

NetJets enhances safety features on Bombardier Signature Series long-range aircraft with Tempus IC medical device (Avionics Intelligence)

NetJets Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company and a provider of private aviation for nearly 50 years, is partnering with Remote Diagnostic Technologies to add a new safety feature to all super midsize and large cabin NetJets Signature Series aircraft by equipping them with the Tempus IC Medical Device. The Tempus IC lightweight, compact telemedicine device uses the plane’s onboard satellite communication capability to connect to a doctor on the ground in the event of a medical emergency. The device enables trained medical experts to begin helping the crew and passengers within minutes of a medical incident occurring on board, especially in remote areas or on long flights, such as flying over the ocean.

5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Warren Buffett (Fool)

1. Harvard turned him down
2. He learned the most from a guy you've likely never heard of
3. He's really good at what he does
4. His father was a four-time congressman
5. He doesn't consider himself the most important person at Berkshire

Berkshire News Briefs - 11/22/13

Berkshire Hathaway real estate brand wants to compete online with Trulio, Zillow (Des Moines Register)

For-sale signs bearing the name of Warren Buffett’s flagship company Berkshire Hathaway will start appearing Thursday in Des Moines area front yards. [...] But the biggest change for the resulting firm, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices First Realty, might be what appears online. BerkshireHathawayHS.com will host a national home listing database as well as market research for consumers. Ron Peltier, chairman and CEO of the parent company HomeServices of America, said he wants the company’s new website to compete with home listing aggregators Zillow.com and Trulia.com.

In other real estate news, the former Prudential real estate brokerages joining Berkshire Hathaway in the news this week include a large Florida-wide agency, Des Moines, IA, Irvine, CA, and Denver, CO.

Warren Buffett's Biggest Losers (Fool)

The latest update from Berkshire Hathaway about its stock holdings at the end of the third quarter was released last Thursday, and there were three companies that lost Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett a combined $1.4 billion of value from the second quarter to the third. [...] In the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway's 400 million shares of Coca-Cola were worth just north of $16 billion -- but at the end of the third quarter, that number had fallen down to $15.2 billion, for a total loss of $892 million, or about 5.5%. [...] The difficulties of IBM have been well documented, and the 3% fall in this tech giant over the quarter resulted in a $400 million loss to the $13 billion position Berkshire Hathaway held. [...] Procter & Gamble remains the fourth largest position in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, but its 2% dip in price meant that Berkshire saw an unrealized loss of around $75 million.

What Is Buffett's Plan With ExxonMobil? (Fool)

Warren Buffet's strategy is well known. He likes to buy companies with large moats, competitive advantages, and predictable cash flows that will be around for a long time. The ExxonMobil purchase fits very well with that strategy. As the largest non-government owned oil company, it has immense economies of scale, considerable expertise in complex projects, numerous government connections, a fortress-like balance sheet, and a low cost of capital.

Carpet for a World of Health and Abundance (Sacramento Bee / PR Newswire)

William McDonough and Patcraft, a division of Shaw (a Berkshire Hathaway Company and the world's largest carpet manufacturer), collaborated to design Butterfly Effect flooring to demonstrate how a product—carpet—can be part of a positive path toward a healthier world. [...] Two percent of proceeds will go directly to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital fund their life-saving treatments and groundbreaking research in pediatric cancer. "The Butterfly Effect describes the notion in chaos theory that something as small as a butterfly flapping its wings in China can yield something as significant as a hurricane off the coast of Africa. As designers, we like our work to be connected to bigger ideas," says William McDonough. "The Butterfly Effect collection demonstrates the power of inspiring design, the ripple effects of Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM products, and how we can help pediatric cancer patients globally via research."

How Kinder Morgan Is Like Berkshire Hathaway And Why Both Should Outperform (Seeking Alpha)

At first glance Berkshire Hathaway and Kinder Morgan appear to be very different [...] Although most people won't look far past these superficial differences, those who dig deeper can start to see how similar both companies are. Both Kinder Morgan, Inc. and Berkshire Hathaway share a number of traits which are generally associated with market outperformance.

Warren Buffett Watch: Thinking outside ‘asbestos tort box’ (Omaha World-Herald)

This is a regular feature in the Omaha World-Herald that wraps up a lot of smaller stories about Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett. Here are short excerpts from four unrelated items in the article:

Recent discussion about Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s asbestos risk insurance prompted a contact from Rachel Maines, a visiting professor at Cornell University’s School of Electrical & Computer Engineering. [...] But she disputes that narrative’s facts and says responsibility for asbestos-related claims often is wrongly assigned to property owners and others who are sued. [...]

Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett got a good review from the Las Vegas Review-Journal after his MidAmerican Energy division and other parties agreed to a settlement viewed as pro-consumer. [...]

“I’m glad you didn’t try and cash that check,” the nurse said. “This old man is from a nursing home. He sometimes dresses up and pretends he is Warren Buffett, but he is really not.” [...]

In a rare joint interview, Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger told Patricia Sellers for Fortune magazine and CNN that they aren’t the smartest guys around. [...]

Warren Buffett: How to teach your children about money (NBC News)

Most parents know how important it is to teach kids about money and managing it properly. There was a study many years ago questioning how to predict business success later in life. The answer to the study was the age you started your first business impacted how successful you were later in life. Teaching kids sound financial habits at an early age gives kids the opportunity to be successful when they are an adult.

Warren Buffett's Secret: He Was a Shoplifter (Fool)

Before Warren Buffett became the world's greatest investor at Berkshire Hathaway, he was a world-class shoplifter. He retold the story, which was published in The Snowball, an authorized biography of his life. Warren Buffett tells Alice Shroeder, the author, that he and a friend had a particular favor for stealing from Sears. [...] What's truly remarkable is that, before this story was ever told in his biography, it wasn't ever really public. Buffett could have taken this story to the grave. But he didn't. He told it, and he told it honestly in a book that he knew millions of people would read.

The Dairy Queen(R) System and Orange Julius(R) Encourage Fans to Name the "Today" Show Goldfish Julius (MarketWatch / BusinessWire)

The Dairy Queen system, part of Berkshire Hathaway , has the perfect name for the "Today" show's Orange Room goldfish mascot: Julius. The show welcomed its newest member and is now turning to viewers to help name it. [...] Vote for the name "Julius" by visiting [http://www.today.com/pets/help-name-orange-room-goldfish-2D11632485] International Dairy Queen, Inc. acquired the Orange Julius concept, famous for its frothy fruit-blended Julius Original drink, in 1987, but the highly popular brand has been around for more than 85 years.

Berkshire News Briefs - 11/15/13

The big news of the week is the quarterly release of the 13F, showing the changes to Berkshire Hathaway's stock portfolio for the quarter that ended on September 30, so let's start with that.

Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings (Dataroma)

I always link to this site every quarter... it gives a great rundown of all the current holdings and highlights the changes.

Warren Buffett Makes Major Moves (Fool)

The latest SEC filing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway listing the company's stock holdings at the end of the third quarter was released today, and the Oracle of Omaha has made some significant changes to his portfolio. [...]

1. Added a $3.5 billion position in ExxonMobil
2. Sold $500 million worth of ConocoPhillips
3. Unloaded 75% of the GlaxoSmithKline

Why Did Buffett Reduce ConocoPhillips Stake And Add Exxon Mobil? (Seeking Alpha)

Berkshire Hathaway's latest disclosure revealed the company sold 10.7 million shares of ConocoPhillips shares while buying 40 million shares of Exxon Mobil. At first blush, it is hard to understand Mr. Buffett's rationale. We'll look at several different reasons why Buffett may have made the move and try to figure out what he's thinking.

Berkshire Hathaway increases DaVita stake (NASDAQ)

This is notable because it happened just last week, after the reporting period for the 13F changes above.

Berkshire Hathaway, already a beneficial owner of shares of DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc., bought 3,700,294 shares of that company's common stock between Nov. 6 and Nov. 8. At prices ranging from $53.25 to $55.98 per share, Berkshire paid a total of $204,046,688 while increasing its stake in the company by 11.8%.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Adds Healthcare Risk Management (MarketWatch / BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance today announced that it is expanding its healthcare professional liability capabilities to provide customers with highly customized risk management support. The company will now reimburse qualified healthcare professional liability insurance policyholders for the costs of pre-approved risk management services of their choice.

Warren Buffett’s 9/11 payday (NY Post)

Mayor Bloomberg has recruited fellow billionaire Warren Buffett to take over a taxpayer fund set up to pay claims stemming from the toxic Ground Zero cleanup, The Post has learned. A surprise plan under review would give $270 million in federal funds managed by the World Trade Center Captive Insurance Co. — a nonprofit entity controlled by Bloomberg appointees — to Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, which would convert the cash into a $600 million commercial-insurance policy. Buffett’s company would absorb the risk of new 9/11 litigation and health claims, though it’s unclear how much profit he stands to make on the deal. The city would receive no dividends, an official said.

Should You Buy Berkshire Hathaway Today? The Behavioral Finance View (Forbes)

Oceans of e-ink have been spilled analyzing the pros and cons of Berkshire Hathaway. Should you put a dime into this particular jukebox? I doubt whether anything new remains to be said on the fundamental or technical side. Instead, as a psychologist, I want to walk you through what Hegel, Husserl and Heidegger (or Moe, Larry and Curly) might call the phenomenolgy of buying Berkshire Hathaway.

Hunting for Warren Buffett's Next Elephant (Fool)

Warren Buffett is on the hunt again and this time he has even more cash to spend. Indeed, Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile has swelled to more than $40 billion and an elephant-sized acquisition had recently got away from him. While it's impossible to know what Buffett will acquire next for sure, we can compile a list of possible candidates based on previous acquisitions.

Prudential --> Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

This week's "Former Prudential Office Joins Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices" stories came from Bucks County, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Lehigh Valley, PA, Boulder, CO, Seattle, WA, Des Moines, IA, Chicago, IL, Houston, TX, and all major cities in Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati all had one Prudential mega-franchise).

And now, here it is, your moment of zen...

Glenn Close & Warren Buffett Sing 'The Glory Of Love' (YouTube)

Berkshire News Briefs - 11/8/13

Berkshire Hathaway Releases Scathing Response To Scripps’ Allegations (ValueWalk)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. doesn’t usually respond to criticism, preferring to explain its decisions in the company’s famous annual shareholders letter, but it seems that Mark Greenblatt at Scripps News has hit a nerve. “Over a century ago, Mark Twain observed ‘Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.’ We are about to ignore Twain’s sage advice,” the company wrote in a press release.

Here is the Berkshire Hathaway press release.

MiTek Acquires Cubic Designs, Inc. (Business Wire)

MiTek Industries, a Berkshire Hathaway company, and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, equipment, software and services for the building components industry, announced today that it has acquired Cubic Designs, Inc. Cubic is the recognized leader in the design, prefabrication and installation of custom work platforms and structural mezzanine systems used in distribution, processing, manufacturing, aerospace, and other types of operating facilities.

BH Media CEO: No new newspaper deals in the works (Lynchburg News & Advance / AP)

The head of Warren Buffett’s newspaper subsidiary said Wednesday that the company is not working on any new newspaper deals despite its reported interest in possibly acquiring parts of Tribune Co. BH Media Group President and CEO Terry Kroeger said during the annual conference of Associated Press Media Editors in Indianapolis that he wishes the company had some new newspaper acquisitions in the works, but it does not.

Inside look at NetJets' $13M investment at PBIA (South Florida Business Journal Slideshow)

Berkshire Hathaway's private airline, NetJets, unveiled its $13 million facility at Palm Beach International Airport on Wednesday. NetJets partnered with Signature Flight Support Corp. to develop the 10,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, which is located on the northwest corner of the West Palm Beach airport. PBIA is one of the airline's most popular domestic destinations, with more than 10,000 NetJets flights in and out of the airport annually.

Revisiting Berkshire Hathaway’s Acquisition of BNSF (Rational Walk)

Four years have passed since Berkshire Hathaway announced that it would acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) in a cash and stock transaction. The acquisition was explicitly meant to be an “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States” according to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In November 2009, the United States was starting to emerge from the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression and purchasing a major railroad was a controversial move based on what appeared to be a relatively full valuation. Enough time has now passed to revisit the rationale behind the acquisition and to judge how the railroad has performed in the midst of a slow economic recovery.

1 More Reason Berkshire Hathaway's GEICO Is Destined To Be King (Fool Video)

The personal auto insurance market is one of the toughest spaces to compete in the broader insurance market. And with Berkshire Hathaway's GEICO division stealing the No. 2 spot from competitor Allstate in the past few weeks, it's become clear that the Gecko is doing something right. Though Allstate and Progressive have been promoting the new use-based insurance model, the new technology is still not standing up to GEICO's tried-and-true method.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Expands BOP Product to California (Insurance Journal)

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies (formerly known as GUARD Insurance Group) has begun offering its business owners policy (BOP) and umbrella coverage in California. The company already has a presence in the state offering workers’ compensation with a premium total of about $100 million and is looking to provide a complement to this coverage, while continuing its focus on small- to medium-sized accounts. [...] Berkshire Hathaway GUARD first began writing other lines in Pennsylvania five years ago and has since launched a full complement of products under the name of BizGUARD Plus in 11 states. [...] In October of 2012, GUARD Insurance Group was acquired by National Indemnity Co., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. This fall, GUARD unveiled a new logo and identity as Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies.

Buffett's Purchase Of Prudential Realty Is A Good Sign For Real Estate (Seeking Alpha)

On October 30, 2012, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) made the investment community sit up and take notice with a move into a significant area of our economy. This time, he did it with a bold move into the real estate market with the purchase of local Prudential agencies by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. We are already noticing the new real estate for sale signs here in Naples, Florida. [...] Going national by using an established brand like Prudential shows that he is serious in his intention to make large gains in this area. [...] The "Berkshire" name will give the Prudential real estate agents increased credibility.

More Real Estate News

Prudential Real Estate agencies switched their names to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Houston, Kansas City, Portland, and Allentown PA (which brought in Mario Andretti for a kick-off party). Many more brokerages have also joined Berkshire Hathaway in California, Michigan, Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado, with plans to switch names to the new brand in 2014. Like I said last week, there are so many of these little stories, I stopped linking to all of them and am now just summarizing.

Berkshire Hathaway 3rd Quarter 2013 Earnings

Berkshire Hathaway reported their 3rd quarter earnings for 2013 on Friday afternoon. The 3rd Quarter ended on September 30.

Berkshire Hathaway does not do quarterly conference calls.

Berkshire Profit Rises 29% on Gains at Railroad, Investments (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said third-quarter profit climbed 29 percent on investments and gains at non-insurance businesses including railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Net income rose to $5.05 billion, or $3,074 a share, from $3.92 billion, or $2,373, a year earlier, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said yesterday in a statement. Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, were $2,228 a share, missing the $2,403 average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Berkshire has benefited from an expanding U.S. economy and stands to make further gains as consumer demand picks up and the housing market recovers. The company’s subsidiaries haul freight, insure cars, generate electricity, make building supplies and sell products from running shoes to diamond rings.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/29/13

Ketchup changeup: McDonald's dropping Heinz after CEO change (Reuters)

McDonald's Corp on Friday said it plans to end its 40-year relationship with ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, since that company is now led by Bernardo Hees, the former chief executive of hamburger rival Burger King Worldwide Inc. "As a result of recent management changes at Heinz, we have decided to transition our business to other suppliers over time," McDonald's said in a statement.

Buffett's Berkshire cuts Tesco stake by $485 million (Chicago Tribune / Reuters)

I think the Tesco sale is related to Marmon's IMI purchase... Berkshire keeping UK money in the UK to avoid the tax issues of moving money to and from the US.

Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has slashed its stake in Britain's Tesco by 300 million pounds ($484.75 million), weeks after the world's No.3 retailer posted disappointing half-year results. [...] Berkshire, a Tesco shareholder since 2006, cut its holding to 3.98 percent from 4.98 percent on October 16, filings on the London Stock Exchange website showed. However it still remains one of its biggest investments outside the United States. Berkshire's Marmon Group had announced on the same day that it had agreed to buy two businesses from British engineering company IMI for 690 million pounds.

Buffett: Why I didn't buy the Washington Post (CNN / Fortune)

As the Graham family exits emotionally from the Washington Post newspaper, and new owner Jeff Bezos stays mum about his plans, some fresh details about who did not buy the paper have emerged. Participating in a Q&A last week at Washington's Metropolitan Club, Warren Buffett, 83, spoke of his long-term affection for the paper and said he had "briefly" considered buying it when it went on sale earlier this year. But he then decided the purchase wouldn't work.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company Earns No. 1 Spot in Industrial Customer Satisfaction Among U.S. Electric Utility Companies (Business Wire)

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for overall customer satisfaction among large commercial and industrial customers of electric utility holding companies, according to 2013 data released this week by TQS Research, Inc. The company’s ongoing emphasis on customer satisfaction and sharing of best practices resulted in all three of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company’s U.S. utilities – MidAmerican Energy Company, Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power – contributing to the top ranking. MidAmerican Energy Company, based in Des Moines, Iowa, earned a very satisfied rating of 95.4 percent from the large commercial and industrial customers included in the survey.

Jain feeds Buffett’s hunger (Insurance Insider)

This story is really "inside baseball" about the insurance industry, and very heavy on the metaphor, which you can see from the intro.

People are starting to worry about him. The changes in diet. The idiosyncratic decisions. The silence. He isn't quite the man he used to be, isn't quite himself. Everyone is talking about it: speculating about his motives, glossing his actions, promulgating theories, kvetching about its implications. Which is to say that Ajit Jain, the softly spoken, smiling carnivore par excellence of the reinsurance world has of late taken up omnivorous habits. Where Jain was previously notorious for holding aloof until he scented blood, then attacking ferociously and making off with hefty chunks of red meat in his mouth, the last two years have seen him extend his diet in surprisingly catholic ways.

Willis to Allocate Risks to Insurers Including Berkshire (Bloomberg)

Willis Group Holdings Plc, the third-largest insurance broker by market value, agreed to allocate as much as 25 percent of premiums from the London corporate specialist market to pre-selected insurers. Underwriters in the group include Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., People’s Insurance Company (Group) of China Ltd. and Hiscox Ltd., said Colleen McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the London-based broker. [...] Aon Plc, the second-largest broker, announced a similar deal with Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire in March to shoulder risks from the Lloyd’s of London market. Berkshire agreed to provide Willis’s clients additional coverage for oil drilling following BP Plc’s 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Johns Manville expands micro glass fibre nonwoven capacity in Germany (Innovation in Textiles)

I'm mostly including this link because I don't find opportunities to talk about Johns Manville very often.

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company and a leading manufacturer of premium-quality building, specialty and filtration products, has completed an expansion of its micro glass fibre nonwoven production for air filtration media in its plant in Wertheim, Germany. The company’s micro glass fibre nonwovens are used as top-performance media in HVAC filtration applications and also as aircraft insulation. The company also recently announced an additional investment of EUR 32 million in a state-of-the-art PET spunbond line for filtration products at its production site in Berlin.

Also, the nationwide rebranding of "Prudential Real Estate" into "Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate" continues on, with Austin and Kansas City the major markets making the switch in the past week. I gave up on posting all the press releases from all the real estate brokerages and all the small-town newspaper business section stories, but this story is still in progress.

The Buffetts on Charity, Succession, and TV (Bloomberg Video)

Berkshire Hathaway chairman/CEO Warren Buffett, board member Howard G. Buffett and Howard W. Buffett, executive director at Howard G. Buffett Foundation, talk with Betty Liu about their book “40 Chances,” their philanthropic endeavors, succession at Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett’s love of the TV show “Breaking Bad.” They speak on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.”

Warren Buffett shows off his ukulele skills (Today)

"Now, here it is, your moment of zen..."

Warren Buffett — business mogul, investor, philanthropist ... ukulele player? The 83-year-old financial legend stopped by TODAY with son Howard G. Buffett and grandson Howard W. Buffett to discuss their new book "40 Chances" but also showed off his lesser known talents in the Orange Room: singing and playing the ukulele. As if the billionaire doesn't have enough going for him. He said he learned to play in college for an age-old reason. "I play off and on, but I just wanted to impress a girl I was keen on," Buffett said. "It didn't work."

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/21/13

Berkshire Hathaway Subsidiary to Buy U.K. Beverage Business for $1.1 Billion (Fool)

Marmon, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, today announced it will acquire the beverage dispense and merchandising divisions of IMI plc, a U.K-based engineering firm, for $1.1 billion. After regulatory approval, it is expected the deal will be closed in the early part of next year. [...] The retail dispense business in total has approximately 3,100 employees that will transfer with the acquisition by Marmon. Last year it had revenues of approximately $675 million and operating profit of approximately $100 million. Marmon, which is an industrial subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, has approximately 160 manufacturing and servicing business that are independent from one another. It employs 17,000 people had revenues exceeding $7 billion last year.

IMI Sells Dispenser Business to Berkshire for $1.1 Billion (Bloomberg)

IMI’s decision in March to explore options for its soda-pop dispenser, used by Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and McDonald’s Corp., prompted Marmon to make an unsolicited approach, it said today in a statement. Shareholders of the Birmingham, England-based IMI will receive 620 million pounds ($991 million) of the proceeds, with an additional 70 million-pound pension contribution planned. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire will use IMI’s beverage dispensers and mixers, which are also benefiting from growing demand for chilled beers served on tap, to boost the retail and food operations of its Marmon business. IMI chief executive officer Martin Lamb, who is preparing to step down after 13 year in the role, is disposing of the business to fully focus on selling fluid technologies and control systems for chemical plants as well as the oil and gas industry.

Buffett Adds Stocks in Pension Handoff to Lieutenants (Bloomberg)

Billionaire Warren Buffett is betting that his deputy investment managers can find value hiding in a corner of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: its $10.4 billion in pension assets. Todd Combs, 42, and Ted Weschler, 52, have been building stock portfolios with funds they oversee for defined-benefit plans at Berkshire subsidiaries, including railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The strategy saves Buffett’s company fees it would pay to outside asset managers and could reduce the need for contributions to the pensions. [...] Reallocating pension assets is one way Buffett, 83, can assign more funds to Weschler and Combs without liquidating some of his own long-held investments. [...] The amount of funds the deputies oversee more than doubled to about $5 billion each, the billionaire wrote in March. Combs and Weschler were each hired in the past three years.

Two Brazilian Brothers to Pay Nearly $5 Million in Insider Trading Case (NY TImes)

The bet came on Feb. 13, just a day before Berkshire Hathaway and the investment firm 3G Capital announced a $23 billion takeover of Heinz. The trade went through a Swiss Goldman Sachs brokerage account owned by an entity based in the Cayman Islands. [...] The S.E.C., which acted quickly in February to freeze the assets in the Swiss account, has now amended its complaint to name two Brazilian brothers as the culprits. The brothers — Rodrigo and Michel Terpins — agreed to pay nearly $5 million to settle the charges. Michel Terpins, 36, set the chain of events in motion, according to the S.E.C. After receiving a confidential tip that the Heinz deal was looming, the agency said, he alerted his brother. Rodrigo Terpins, 40, then served as the trader. While vacationing at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., the S.E.C. said, he bought nearly $90,000 in options contracts in Heinz. News of the takeover deal sent Heinz’s shares, and the value of the options contracts, soaring. According to the S.E.C., the brothers’ positions rose nearly 2,000 percent and they reaped over $1.8 million.

MiTek Acquires Kova Solutions, LLC (Business Wire)

MiTek Industries, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company , and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, software, equipment and services for the building components industry announced today that it has acquired Kova Solutions, LLC. Kova offers business process and operational management software for residential production builders that integrates and controls the entire business operations with one complete end-to-end system. [...] “The addition of Kova expands MiTek’s software offering very effectively into the builder side of the residential construction market. Kova is a complement to our current SAPPHIRE software offering and a key addition to the MiTek family,” stated Tom Manenti, Chairman and CEO of MiTek.

Benjamin Moore names veteran retailer as CEO (North Jersey News)

Benjamin Moore, the Montvale-based paint maker, has hired retail veteran Michael Searles to be its third chief executive officer in two years, the company said Monday. Searles, 64, who has spent 40 years leading retail companies such as Kids "R" Us, Wilson's Leather and Factory 2-U Stores Inc., replaces Robert S. Merritt, whose departure from the company was announced Sept. 27.

Finishing touch: Benjamin Moore's Newark paint plant reopens following Hurricane Sandy (NJ News)

It has been nearly a year since Hurricane Sandy sent 6 feet of water rushing into the Newark plant from the banks of the Passaic River, damaging or destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment and shuttering the facility. As for the 130-year-old paint maker, recent events have dulled the shine from its premium brand paint. Benjamin Moore, which has less than 10 percent market share, has cut its workforce by 15 percent in recent years, and this month hired its third chief executive in two years. The news was brighter last week, when the company’s latest CEO Michael Searles joined with Britt to celebrate the Newark manufacturing plant’s official reopening. [...] The building’s high-tech paint-filling lines recently returned to service as have the plant’s 55 employees, who average a quarter century on the job.

Buffett GE Profit Trails Wall Street Bets as Warrants Expire (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s $3 billion bet on General Electric Co. during the 2008 financial crisis is proving less profitable than similar wagers by Chairman Warren Buffett on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Berkshire is poised to get about $260 million in GE shares through warrants Buffett received as part of a capital injection into Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE.

Why Buffett's $10 Billion Haul Won't Be the Last (Fool)

Warren Buffett's investing genius pays off once again. Berkshire Hathaway has now racked up a whopping $10 billion profit on investments made during the financial crisis. That's no small sum, although against the backdrop of a company worth more than $280 billion, it isn't a game-changing sum, either. But focusing on the total return really misses the point: Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is poised to do this time and time again.

Buffett’s Back Bench (WSJ)

This is a slideshow of 10 of the top executives from Berkshire Hathaway's many subsidiaries.

At 83 years old, Warren Buffett has not publicly named his successor. Some analysts and investors are also concerned about succession and retention at Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries after Mr. Buffett is no longer in charge. Here are some of Mr. Buffett’s lieutenants.

'Cool' enough to be Warren Buffett's successor? (Upstart Business Journal)

[...] if Tracy Britt Cool is the mysterious new chief executive officer, how might she overcome scrutiny this week over executive turmoil at paint maker Benjamin Moore & Co., one of four Berkshire Hathaway portfolio companies that she’s appointed by Buffett to oversee? [...] In recent years, she’s been given major responsibilities, like chairing the boards of New Jersey-based Benjamin Moore, Omaha’s Oriental Trading Co., the Denver insulation maker Johns Manville and Atlanta custom framer Larson-Juhl. In 2012, Fortune Magazine named her to its 40 Under 40 list, and earlier this year, she was a Forbes 30 Under 30 winner in the finance category.

Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate

Finally, many of the Prudential Real Estate agencies that Berkshire Hathaway's HomeServices bought over the past year officially changed their names to "Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate" recently, but I've gotten tired of posting all those little, local real estate business stories. Just keep in mind that the re-branding is in full swing.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/10/13

Scripps News investigates lawsuits involving Berkshire Hathaway (Scripps)

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha, Neb., has become one of the most powerful forces in asbestos and pollution litigation in the world. Insurers such as American Insurance Group, CNA Financial Corp. and Lloyd's of London have paid Berkshire to assume their risk for tens of billions of dollars in future asbestos and pollution claims. That money, known as "float," has proven to be a great source of investment income for Berkshire. But instead of paying people like Charles Lute, Berkshire subsidiaries are accused in lawsuits across the country of delaying or denying payments. Rather than paying victims, the suits claim, Berkshire is holding onto the cash, the float, to keep its money invested. "They wanted to hit the projected numbers in the books of business so they could maximize their return on investment," said one former claims executive under oath.

Here's the full Scripps report, including Berkshire's response.

Ford, Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary settle insurance dispute (Cleveland News 5)

(There's a 1:30 video version of the story here too, if you want a summary.)

The Ford Motor Co. announced Monday it settled a lawsuit with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary National Indemnity Co. for $22.1 million -- $2 million more than the automaker sued for in the dispute related to unpaid claims from rollover deaths. [...] “We filed the complaint because we were experiencing no pay and slow pay,” Oostdyk said, claiming National Indemnity intentionally delayed paying Ford’s claims as part of a larger pattern of wrongful conduct. [...] In this instance, Oostdyk said, Ford wanted to send a message, and refused in negotiations to settle the claim until National Indemnity agreed to let it announce the amount of the settlement. New York asbestos attorney Joe Belluck said the scrutiny of Berkshire’s business practices leading up to the publication of the Scripps investigation “likely played a part” in the Ford settlement before a public trial.

Moving on to better news...

Buffett Makes Sweet Profit Off Mars Investment (Wall St. Cheat Sheet)

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett has logged a lot of wins in the wake of the late-2000s crisis. During the crisis itself, the firm served as a white knight investor to major companies with a need for a huge amount of cash, and fast. [...] One of the companies that Berkshire lent money to was Mars Inc., which in 2008 needed to finance the $23 billion purchase of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. Buffett loaned Mars $4.4 billion and purchased a minority interest in Wrigley for $2.1 billion at a discount to the buyout price. [...] The Wall Street Journal reports that Berkshire is set to bank a profit of at least $680 million from the deal. Berkshire sold the notes back to Mars at about 115 percent of face value plus interest.

Buffett's $2.15 Billion Payday (Fool)

On Tuesday, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was set to become the sixth-largest external investor in Goldman Sachs by grabbing a stake in the banking giant worth around $2.15 billion. Oh, and did I mention Buffett scored the position for free? You read that correctly. That's right. For his mammoth stake in Goldman Sachs, Buffett paid absolutely nothing.

Warren Buffett protégé in trouble at Benjamin Moore (NY Post)

Tracy Britt, a handpicked favorite of Buffett who has an office down the hall to his at Berkshire’s Omaha headquarters, was tapped last year to tackle Benjamin Moore’s sliding market share and serves as the company’s chairman. Late last month, sources said, Britt led a Friday afternoon conference call with Benjamin Moore employees, surprising them with the news that CEO Bob Merritt had abruptly left the company after just 14 months on the job. [...] The bombshell exit of Merritt, a former restaurant exec tapped last year to reverse a tailspin at Benjamin Moore, is a rare embarrassment for Buffett, who had fired Merritt’s predecessor, Denis Abrams, just 15 months earlier. The reason for 61-year-old Merritt’s departure couldn’t be confirmed, but some insiders say he appears to have clashed with Britt.

Berkshire Hathaway unit TTI buys Lod-based Ray-Q (Globes)

On Friday, TTI, Inc. an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, announced the acquisition of Lod-based Ray-Q Interconnect. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Ray-Q was founded in 1969 as a Raychem subsidiary based in Israel with offices in Turkey and India. It provides high quality electrical interconnect solutions to military, aerospace and other high-reliability product industries. TTI is a specialty distributor of passive, interconnect, electromechanical and discrete semiconductor components. [...] Ray-Q employs approximately 70 associates and counts among their customers virtually every major defense contractor.

Warren Buffett's pick for Borsheims CEO took six-year break on rise to the top (Omaha World-Herald)

In fall 2004, Susan Jacques, president and chief executive of Borsheims Fine Jewelry, ran into Karen Goracke at a soccer game. Goracke had been a watch buyer at Borsheims until leaving in 1998 to tend to her growing family. “I said, 'Why don't you come back and work part time?' ” Jacques recalled. [...] Now Goracke has been chosen by Warren Buffett to be the Berkshire Hathaway-owned retailer's president and chief executive starting Dec. 31. [...] Jacques is leaving Borsheims after 31 years, including 20 years as president and CEO, to head the Gemological Institute of America, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based nonprofit organization that offers gem and jewelry education and oversees industry standards.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/3/13

Buffett to Get $2 Billion Goldman Sachs Stake With Warrants (Bloomberg Business Week)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will get more than $2 billion in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. stock through warrants acquired during the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. Berkshire will receive about 13.1 million shares in Goldman Sachs, according to an agreement that uses the average closing price on the 10 trading days through today to calculate Buffett’s stake. [...] Goldman Sachs turned to Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire in 2008 to bolster capital and shore up market confidence when shares plunged following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Buffett, Berkshire’s chairman and chief executive officer, invested $5 billion for a preferred holding and got warrants to buy $5 billion of stock for $115 a share.

NV Energy approves sale to Buffet's MidAmerican Energy (Reno Gazette Journal)

The deal was announced over the summer, and now it's official.

Shareholders of NV Energy Inc. have approved selling the Nevada utility to Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Energy utility for $5.6 billion. NV Energy announced the shareholder vote on Wednesday, but the deal isn’t expected to close until sometime in the first quarter of next year because it still needs regulatory approval. The NV Energy deal will be one of MidAmerican’s biggest, and it will be a sizeable addition to Warren Buffett’s Omaha-based Berkshire conglomerate.

A stronger network, with more capacity (Railway Age)

This is a long article about BNSF's capital investments, if you're a fan of the railroad business.

BNSF's 2013 capex program is a whopping $4.3 billion, the industry's biggest, about a 16% increase from 2012's $3.6 billion. This year's program was initially set at $4.1 billion, but was increased by $200 million "due to more expansion-related spending," Rose said in the railroad's Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2013. "We will spend $2.3 billion in capital in 2013 to maintain a strong core network and related assets. In addition, we will continue investing in our locomotive and railcar fleet and in projects that expand and improve the efficiency of our infrastructure, and continue installing Positive Train Control in response to a federal mandate." The program includes about $200 million for PTC and $800 million for terminal, line, and intermodal expansion and efficiency projects.

The Consequences of Poaching: Berkshire Edition (Daily Finance)

With Berkshire's entrance into the commercial property and casualty insurance market, it's stepped on some pretty big toes: AIG's. Trying to boost its measly 1.6% market share of the U.S. excess and surplus liability market, estimated to be around $25 billion annually, Berkshire's poaching may have cramped its other operations. After 20 AIG employees left the company for Berkshire's new division, the former decided to halt any future ties with the latter's reinsurance business. [...] Based on AIG's 2012 annual report, Berkshire was its top reinsurer with $2.19 billion in coverage, including a $1.6 billion policy from 2011 on AIG's outstanding asbestos claims. Berkshire's policies represented 8.5% of AIG's total reinsurance of $25.8 billion. In terms of Berkshire's total 2012 underwriting revenue from its reinsurance businesses, the $2.19 billion would equate to 14%.

Berkshire’s Benjamin Moore Seeks Third Chief in Two Years (Bloomberg)

Benjamin Moore, the paint maker owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said Chief Executive Officer Robert Merritt left the company. Benjamin Moore, which hired Merritt last year, is searching for a new leader and expects to name a replacement “in the coming week,” the Montvale, New Jersey-based company said yesterday in a statement on its website.

But on the plus side, in Benjamin Moore news...

Benjamin Moore Unveils 'Breath Of Fresh Air' As Its 2014 Color Of The Year (Sacramento Bee)

Benjamin Moore, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway and one of North America's most respected paint and coatings manufacturers, unveiled today its highly anticipated Color of the Year for 2014 to be "Breath of Fresh Air" (color number 806) as part of its Color Trends 2014 palette. Announced by newly appointed Benjamin Moore Creative Director Ellen O'Neill at the opening of the company's New York City showroom during Fall Market 2013 for architects and designers, Breath of Fresh Air is a gorgeous, ethereal blue serving as a "new neutral" that is livable and functional.

Buffett’s Alpha Paper Illustrates Buffett’s Achievements (Value Walk)

The paper finds that studying data of all listed US stocks from 1926 to 2011, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has the highest Sharpe ratio of all. Moreover, Buffett also has the highest Sharpe ratio of all US mutual funds that have been around for more than 30 years. [...] The paper estimates that Buffett’s leverage ratio has averaged 1.6-to-1 during the past 30 years, boosting risk and excess return in that proportion. Sustaining a leverage ratio of 1.6:1 over several decades and through several significant periods of market turbulence has boosted Buffett’s returns when many other market participants have been forced into fire sales and write-downs.

Berkshire Hathaway launches business crisis event cost coverage insurance (Insurance Business Review)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance has unveiled a new Business Crisis Event Cost Coverage policy, to cover costs incurred to manage a business crisis, including the fees of a crisis management consulting firm. The new policy offers up to $100,000 to hire a crisis management consulting firm to advise the policyholder in managing adverse media coverage and public perceptions, following a crisis. The events include a serious accident or explosion, an act of violence, or a contamination incident. Moreover, the coverage also provides expenses required extending immediate support to victims and their family members, including funeral expenses, psychological counseling, travel, and temporary living costs.

Nebraska Furniture Mart president recalls Kansas City store as lesson in patience (Omaha World Herald)

The Nebraska Furniture Mart's new store in Kansas City, Kan., was a disaster for nearly two years. It was overwhelmed with customers. Deliveries lagged purchases by 30 days or more. Problems began multiplying almost as soon as the store opened in 2003 and didn't let up. [...] As time went by, the Omaha retailer resolved its Kansas City store's problems and the company's managers learned from their mistakes, Blumkin said. The idea of expanding into another market gradually became a possibility, and Buffett's backing did not waver. Today, the Mart is halfway to opening its third and most ambitious mega-store, a $1.5 billion, 433-acre development in suburban Dallas that's due to open in 2015.

Berkshire Hathaway's manufactured home unit offers man cave inspired by Duck Dynasty star (The Republic)

Clayton Homes is offering a new house inspired by one of the stars of the Duck Dynasty reality show. Berkshire Hathaway's home builder says the limited edition design with camouflage wall panels, wood grain linoleum flooring and a built-in gun closet would make an ideal man cave. Clayton Homes says Si Robertson from the hit A&E show is endorsing the 1,280-square-foot, three-bedroom home as a good value. The company posted a series of videos of Robertson chatting with Clayton's CEO online at http://www.claytonhomes.com .

View the Si Pad here.

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/25/13

Berkshire Hathaway Enters Detroit Bankruptcy Case (Bond Buyer)

Warren Buffett's bond insurance firm made its first appearance in the Detroit bankruptcy case with a brief court paper filed Saturday. [...] Attorneys for Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp. on Saturday filed a court notice of appearance and request for service. [...] BHAC has about $400 million in exposure to Detroit's debt, mostly in sewer revenue bonds. All the BHAC insurance is a wrap on top of an original guarantee from Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. In addition to $384 million of sewer debt, the insurer also wraps a piece of the city's defaulted pension certificates, though the amount is uncertain.

Colorado Properties joins Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (Vail Daily)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, announced on Monday that Colorado Properties is the network’s first resort-brokerage signee. Colorado Properties will begin operating as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Colorado Properties in October. [...] Colorado Properties, a full-service brokerage founded in 1971, operates six offices with 85 sales professionals and one of the area’s largest vacation rental companies. The company ranks among Prudential Real Estate’s Top 50 companies nationwide and is a top firm in the Vail Valley.

Prudential California Realty Becomes Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (San Diego Business Journal)

Prudential California Realty became the first company to operate as a member of the new Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network, and was renamed Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, the company said. [...] Berkshire Hathaway HomeSevices California Properties has about 3,200 sales associates in 62 offices in Southern California and the Central Coast. It is one of the top five brokerages in the nation, the company said. Last year its agents closed nearly $11 billion in sales and more than 14,000 transactions.

Air Force Contracts Worth $97 Million Awarded Monday (Fool)

$19.9 million: going to Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary FlightSafety Services Corp to exercise a seventh option year on a contract to support Aircrew Training Systems for the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 aerial refueling tanker. FlightSafety will be both supplying and supporting all KC-10 training devices used in the Air Force's Operation and Training System Support Center through Sept. 30, 2014.

Rail Traffic Reaches Record Level (Seeking Alpha)

Total N. American rail traffic last week leaped to the highest levels in the 5 years I began tracking the series here. At 733k carloads it passed the previous highs despite both oil/chemical shipments and coal shipments falling slightly. Strength was seen in intermodal, auto, metals and stone products. The metal and stone product categories sit at or just below multi year record levels. [...] As for the carriers, Burlington Northern [merged with Berkshire Hathaway and Canadian National Railway Company saw their traffic also reach the highest level since I began tracking the series.

Buffett’s 9% Heinz Dividend Means 3G Cutting Jobs, Mini-Fridges (Bloomberg)

Since taking over at the Pittsburgh-based ketchup maker, Hees eliminated hundreds of jobs, grounded corporate jets and pulled the plug on mini-fridges at the office. Savings will help pay down $12.6 billion in borrowing supporting the deal. [...] The management turnover contrasts with Berkshire’s normal approach. When Buffett buys a company, he typically leaves senior employees in place and commits to holding the business forever. The practice makes Berkshire a buyer of choice for many sellers, he’s said.

Warren Buffett Offering Options For MN’s Famous Dairy Queen Manager (WCCO 4 Minnesota)

Joey Prusak saw a woman steal $20 from a blind customer at the Dairy Queen where he works. So he gave the guy his own cash. [...] “Warren Buffet called me this morning and we talked for about 10 minutes,” Prusak said. One of the world’s richest people was calling over a $20 bill. “I go, ‘What I would like to know is why you’re calling here?’ He goes ‘I just wanted to call and thank you for all that you did. It means a lot to me,’” Prusak said. Buffet’s company owns Dairy Queen, and Buffett said he’s planning future talks with Prusak.

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/15/13

AIG Said to Opt Against Buffett Reinsurance Amid Clash (Bloomberg)

American International Group Inc. (AIG) has decided against signing new reinsurance contracts with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. after Warren Buffett’s company started a commercial insurer competing against AIG, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. [...] Buffett said in May he was planning to add sales of commercial insurance after hiring executives from AIG including Peter Eastwood, who ran the company’s property-casualty operation in the Americas. The move challenges New York-based AIG in one of its main markets and expands Berkshire beyond its strengths in U.S. personal auto coverage and reinsurance.

Berkshire ‘A’ Shares, Soon Available In Pennies (WSJ)

Starting Sept. 16, the New York Stock Exchange plans to begin trading and quoting Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in pennies, according to a Thursday notice from the exchange. That means that the stock’s mammoth price – $168,180 on Thursday afternoon – will move in one-cent increments, rather than the current ten cents.

Improved Underwriting Results Boost RAA Companies' 1H Net Income (Property Casualty 360)

A group of 18 reinsurers belonging to the Reinsurance Association of America reported a combined 2013 first-half net income of just under $4.8 billion, up from $3.6 billion for the same companies a year ago, as improved underwriting income more than offset a slight drop in net premiums written. Similar to 2012’s first half, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity Co. accounted for over half of the group’s net income in the first six months of this year. National Indemnity reported just under $3 billion in first-half net income, far outpacing Transatlantic Reinsurance, which placed second among the group with $364.4 million in net income.

U.S. judge approves $72 mln fraud pact with Berkshire's Gen Re (Reuters)

A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a $72 million settlement by Berkshire Hathaway Inc's General Re Corp to resolve claims that it engaged in a sham deal that helped fraudulently inflate American International Group Inc's loss reserves. The settlement's approval brings to an end nine years of shareholder litigation revolving around AIG accounting practices dating to 1999.

Shaw Industries opens carpet tile plant in China (Fibre 2 Fashion)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) has announced its grand opening of a 210,000-square-foot carpet tile plant in Nantong, China – a port city 65 miles north of Shanghai. This facility offers customers in Asia quicker access to a wider range of completely recyclable, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified products, which are PVC-free and bitumen-free. [...] Expected to employ approximately 250 at full capacity, over 100 Shaw associates are onboard at this time. [...] Products manufactured in China will be sold for installation in the growing Asia market and there are no plans to export them back to the U.S.

SidePlate’s Active Projects More Than Double in 36 Months (Herald Online)

SidePlate®, a Berkshire Hathaway company that designs innovative steel building connections, today announced that it has doubled its employee base in the last 36 months to accommodate rising demand for its consulting and project-management services. As another indicator of the Company’s dramatic growth, SidePlate’s active projects have more than doubled since July 2010. [...] In 2009, Berkshire Hathaway’s MiTek® acquired SidePlate because of the Company’s sterling reputation, its innovative consulting services and technology, and its potential for the very growth that SidePlate is experiencing today.

Truss and Wall-Panel Component Manufacturers Stand Ready to Respond to Framing Labor Shortage (Herald Online)

“Housing starts are showing sustained growth, and they are predicted to spike to a run rate of 1.3 million by the end of 2014, and 1.5 million in 2015,” said MiTek’s Gregg Renner. “That’s good news, but it also indicates that the framing labor shortage won’t ease, and builders need a different approach to framing houses. That’s what MiTek’s component manufacturers offer.”

Berkshire’s Richline Makes Jewelry Deal With American Greetings (Bloomberg)

Richline Group Inc., owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., reached a deal to make and distribute jewelry featuring the artwork from cards produced by American Greetings Corp. [...] Richline also has relationships with the Marie Claire brand and the National Football League.

Borsheims to open second location at Nebraska Crossing Outlets (Omaha World-Herald)

For more than a half-century, Borsheims, Omaha's iconic jeweler, has limited itself to a single store. But this fall the Berkshire Hathaway-owned retailer will break tradition and open a second location — an outlet store at Nebraska Crossing Outlets in Gretna. The outlet store, opening Nov. 15 under the banner Borsheims Boutique, will occupy a 5,500-square-foot space next to the Coach factory store.

BNSF to spend $110 million on projects in Nebraska (Omaha World-Herald)

BNSF Railway Co. on Thursday announced plans to invest about $110 million this year in maintenance and rail capacity expansion projects in Nebraska. [...] BNSF also plans to invest $35 million this year in Iowa, which is part of the railroad’s total 2013 capital investment of $4.3 billion, a record for the company. [...] Omaha-based Union Pacific’s 2013 capital investment numbers aren’t yet available, but last year the company spent about $303 million in Nebraska and $3.7 billion total on its network.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signs Nine More Affiliates (Fort Mill Times)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, today announced the signing of nine more brokerage companies for the network. The companies include: Prudential Anderson Properties, Houston, TX; Prudential California Realty, Cerritos, CA; Prudential Canyon Lake Realty, Canyon Lake, CA; Prudential Gallo, REALTORS®, Rehoboth Beach, DE; Prudential Serls Prime Properties, Lagrangeville, NY; Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties, Savannah, GA; Prudential Texas Realty, Austin, TX; Prudential Tropical Realty, Tampa Bay, FL; and Prudential Woodmont Realty, Nashville, TN. The brokerages will begin operating under the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices flag as early as the fourth quarter of 2013. They are the latest in a series of brokerage signees announced by the new real estate network, whose total members now represent more than $1 billion in annual gross commission income.

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/3/13

It's an all-subsidiary news edition!

Top CEO - Strategic Management - Randy Watson of Justin Boots (Fort Worth Business Press)

By the time Watson realized that he “wasn’t good enough” for professional baseball, his part-time job hadbecome his new passion – one that he pursued to the executive boardroom of Fort Worth-based Justin Brands Inc., a recognized leader in Western footwear. Watson said the competitive and team spirit he learned playing football and baseball helped him succeed in the business world. It also led Ernst & Young to select the Justin CEO as its 2013 Southwest-north Entrepreneur of the Year in manufacturing and distribution. [...] Buffett reiterated his description of Watson as “the prototype Berkshire Hathaway manager” when he promoted him to CEO and board chairman of Justin Brands in 2011.

Forest River and Thor in a Mid-Year ‘Dead Heat’ (RV Business)

For the first time in memory, the industry’s two RV-building volume leaders, Thor Industries Inc. and Forest River Inc., are in a dead heat for retail market share in both towable and motorized RVs [...] But the real news here is to what extent Forest River is pressing its case in both towable and motorized RVs, even while both companies continue to post impressive growth during the current economic recovery. Thor, for its part, recently posted its first $2 billion quarter, and revenues for Forest River, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary, were running at least 22% ahead of last year through June, Forest River President and CEO Pete Liegl confirms.

New planes, reduced competition help NetJets’ earnings (Columbus Dispatch)

Business at Columbus-based NetJets continues to strengthen, according to the latest report of parent company Berkshire Hathaway. The second-quarter earnings news from the company led by billionaire Warren Buffett shows that, in the first six months of this year, NetJets “experienced increased sales of fractional aircraft shares and its earnings increased primarily due to improved flight-operations margins, fractional-sales margins and reduced net financing costs.”Observers say the new planes being added to its fleet and diminished competition in its industry have helped.

Shaw Industries to build plant, add 500 employees (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Shaw Industries is vacuuming up talent in North Georgia for a new plant that will churn out carpet tile across the U.S., the company announced today. The Dalton, Ga.-based business, which is owned by Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, will spend $85 million and create 500 new jobs at a new plant in Adairsville designed to meet growing demand for Shaw's soft wares. It will be the seventh facility for Shaw in Bartow County, where it is already the biggest employer. "I think our business has turned," said Vance Bell, CEO of Shaw. "Carpet tile today is well over 50 percent of our commercial carpet mix and continues to grow, and it's just received a very good audience in the commercial marketplace."

XTRA adds free tracking service for leased trailers (Fleet Owner)

Basic trailer tracking service at no charge is now being offered to fleets on new long-term leased trailers from XTRA Lease, the company said. XTRA Lease noted its offered basic trailer tracking on dry van rentals for free but is now upping the ante to include such basic tracking service at no extra cost on all newly leased dry vans and late model reefers, model-year 2010 and newer. The services will enable fleets to view current and historical trailer locations, “drill down” into dormancy and usage data utilization info to better understand how trailers are being used, as well as provide e-mail subscription reports offering the latest location and dormancy information on those leased units.

Berkshire Hathaway’s FlightSafety adds Cessna simulator in San Antonio (San Antonio Business Journal)

New York-based FlightSafety International has added new Cessna Aircraft Co. training simulators in San Antonio and two other U.S. locations. FlightSafety — a division of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — now offers simulator training for the Citation CJ2+ aircraft at its Alamo City learning center. It is the only dedicated CJ2+ simulator worldwide, company officials say.

Buffett's See's Candies has sour day: Chocolates recalled (CNBC)

San Francisco-based See's Candies is recalling all its Dark Chocolate Blueberries because the product contains undeclared milk, the company said in a press release that was posted on the Food and Drug Administration website. The recall was initiated after a customer reported having an allergic reaction to the product, the statement said.

Dairy Queen Sets World Record With Fruit Sculpture (CBS 4 Minnesota)

Dairy Queen now owns the world record for the largest fruit sculpture ever after hiring an artist to build a 10-foot-tall tree. The restaurant chain sponsored the fruit sculpture in Calgary, Alberta, Canada earlier this month as part of a promotional event for its Orange Julius smoothies. Sculptor Shawn Feeney used 1,200 pieces of pineapples, oranges, strawberries, peaches and mangos to build the tree.