Berkshire News Briefs - 7/12/14

Why Buffett is betting on energy stocks again (CNBC)

"[Energy] was never in Warren's wheelhouse,'' Morningstar analyst Warren said. "There's probably some influence from Todd and Ted in there, some more confidence with the energy names now that he has more eyes to watch over them. Given his issue with COP in the past, he has got to be leaning more on Todd and Ted," he added. Buffett has long sought investments in industries that he considers cornerstones of the modern economy and bets on the U.S. economy, in particular. [...] Berkshire Hathaway Energy is owner of everything from utilities to gas pipelines to the $15 billion worth of solar and wind investments, which Cunningham said is the parent Berkshire's biggest commitment to any industry other than insurance.

Flight Delayed or Canceled? You Could Be Paid Up to $1,000 (NBC News)

“There are 660 million air travel segments a year that could have a problem,” said John Noel, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection president. “That’s our market potential.” AirCare is designed to fill a gap left by the $2.5 billion traditional travel insurance market, which most commonly offers to cover losses from trip cancellation and delay, lost baggage and medical emergencies.

Airport hosts national commercial production for Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (Sun Prairie Star)

Dane County Regional Airport (DCRA) announced today that the airport facility is featured in a national Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) commercial with the launch of their new travel insurance product line. [...] The commercial follows “Peter” during his airport experience, and demonstrates many of the AirCare product benefits such as: paying travelers when they encounter travel problems like: tarmac delays and lost baggage, missed connections, baggage delays, and flight delays.

AltaLink CEO reveals past bids by Atco, possible motive for ads (Globe and Mail)

The local political soap opera surrounding Berkshire Hathaway Energy's impending purchase of Alberta power transmission company AltaLink continues...

Atco Ltd. made several attempts to acquire AltaLink LP in the years before Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s $3.2-billion winning bid, the chief executive officer of Alberta’s largest transmission provider revealed in an interview Monday. [...] In an interview on Monday, AltaLink chief executive Scott Thon said Atco had made several attempts in the past decade to buy his company – which transmits electricity to 85 per cent of Albertans. He suggested that Atco’s push to stir debate about the sale – and the consequences of foreign ownership of critical infrastructure – isn’t as altruistic at Atco chairwoman and chief executive Nancy Southern has made out. Mr. Thon said Atco has had a long-standing commercial interest in AltaLink. [...] If Atco had at any point acquired AltaLink, “they would have virtual 100-per-cent control of transmission in Alberta,” he said. “There would be less competition if Atco had acquired AltaLink, and I think competition is good for consumers.” [...] Mr. Thon said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the anonymous ads from Atco, which he said were designed “to incite the public to do something that really is based on misinformation.”

Major 3-year deal sealed by Berkshire with PDvsa (IPS Group)

Berkshire Hathaway has taken a 40 percent share of top-10 energy account PDvsa on a three-year basis, The Insurance Insider reveals, giving credence to insurers' fears that it will begin writing energy business direct. In an article by the Insurance Insider, they state, “Sources said that at the main 1 July renewal for the Venezuelan state-owned energy company the London order was halved as Berkshire and an unidentified Mexican insurer took half of the programme across both upstream and downstream risks." [...] The PDvsa story has intrigued the energy market for over a year now and the Berkshire deal is the latest twist. The Insurance Insider concludes, “During this period, PDvsa has made a number of abortive attempts to place its programme, switched brokers numerous times and chosen, after some toing and froing, not to submit a claim for a $300mn loss on a refinery.”

BNSF train derails near Worden; 13 cars off tracks (Helena Independent Record)

A BNSF Railway spokesman says the company is investigating the cause of a coal train derailment in which 13 cars came off the tracks in southeastern Montana. BNSF spokesman Matt Jones said the loaded train originated at the Decker Mine in Bighorn County. It was en route to Superior, Wisconsin, when the cars derailed about 35 miles east of Billings at about 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

Ruling is victory for solar energy (Des Moines Register)

A split Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that Eagle Point Solar would not violate Iowa law by selling electricity to the city of Dubuque that the company generates through a solar panel installation on the roof of a city building. Industry leaders praise such arrangements, called power purchase agreements, as a key to developing more solar energy. [...] Iowa's main public utility companies, Alliant Energy and MidAmerican Energy, have fought power purchase agreements, arguing that state regulations give them exclusive rights to sell energy in defined territories.

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/5/14

Boeing Reviews Derailment That Dumped Fuselages in River (Bloomberg)

Boeing Co. has sent technicians to the site of a train derailment that dumped six 737 fuselages and other aircraft components into a Montana river as they were being transported to a Washington state assembly plant. The accident occurred Thursday in western Montana near Rivulet, said Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, in an e-mailed statement. The BNSF train carrying six 737 fuselages and assemblies for 777 and 747 commercial planes was on its way to Renton, Washington, from Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc. in Wichita, Kansas, he said.

Another story with a picture of the scene.

New CEO named at NV Energy (Reno Gazette-Journal)

NV Energy today named Paul Caudill as president/CEO, replacing Michael Yackira, who has retired after seven years as head of the Las Vegas-based utility. Caudill has served as president of NV Energy since the company, formerly known as Sierra Pacific Resources, was acquired by privately held Berkshire Hathaway Energy in December 2013 for $10 billion. Caudill rose through the ranks at Berkshire Hathaway Energy's MidAmerican Solar, a division of MidAmerican Renewables LLC, most recently as president.

Fruit of the Loom updates plan for Summerville warehouse expansion (Charleston Post and Courier)

Apparel giant Fruit of the Loom plans to add 49 jobs over the next 18 months as part of a major expansion of its Summerville distribution center. The company said in a statement that it will build a 402,000-square-foot addition to its 350,000-square-foot warehouse, more than doubling the size of the building. The new jobs would increase the existing payroll of 171 full-time workers by 28 percent. [...] Fruit of the Loom said the expansion of its Palmetto Distribution Center is being driven by growth in its electronic-commerce and intimates businesses. [...] The maker of underwear, T-shirts, socks and other apparel items is owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Buffett’s Berkshire Sets Final Terms for TV-Station Deal (WSJ)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.added a television station to its media holdings with the acquisition of Miami-based WPLG-TV from Graham Holdings Co. The roughly $1.1 billion share-swap deal, which was announced in March, closed Tuesday after securing approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Although the outlines of the transaction were laid out in previous regulatory filings, the exact number of shares exchanging hands was established only at the deal’s closing. In addition to WPLG, an ABC affiliate, Berkshire got back 2,107 of its own Class A shares, 1,278 of its own Class B shares and about $328 million in cash from Graham Holdings. In exchange, Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire handed over 1.62 million common shares of Graham Holdings. The Berkshire shares are valued at about $400 million based on their Monday closing price. The TV station is valued at $364 million.

Warren Buffet: The Future Is Bright for This Incredible Business (Fool)

"We passed Allstate this year. It has one of the great company histories in America. Started by a farmer with no insurance experience. He built this incredible business based on a better business model, this was 1920, and then Geico came up with an even better model. [...] Tony Nicely has done a job that belongs in the hall of fame in terms of achieving that objective. In the 15 years prior to Tony taking over, market share had hovered around 2%. Since then, it's gone to 10%-plus and it'll keep going. State Farm has a net worth of probably $60 billion to $70 billion, and a strong presence in homeowners, a strong agency force, and a lot of satisfied customers."

How Warren Buffett Made More Than $3.5 Billion in Three Months (Fool)

With the calendar officially closed on the first second quarter of 2014, the Motley Fool takes a look at a few of the stocks which allowed Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway to earn $3.7 billion in April, May, and June. On a raw dollar basis -- and a very strong return basis -- the biggest winner in the $106 billion Berkshire Hathaway portfolio was none other than the stock Buffett said he'd never sell a share of, Coca-Cola. Through the second three months of the year Coca-Cola saw its stock price jump by nearly 10%, which netted Buffett a staggering $1.5 billion.

Insurers Suffer Like It’s 1965 With Low Portfolio Yields (Bloomberg)

The industry averaged annualized yields of just 3.1 percent on investments in the first quarter this year, the lowest since 1965 [...] Buffett, too, has said that current yields make fixed-income securities among the riskiest investments and instead steered his company’s funds into stocks and toward takeovers. In 2013, he called bonds on insurer balance sheets “wasting assets.” Berkshire’s insurance units include Geico, a seller of car coverage, National Indemnity and General Re. Premiums from those businesses helped fuel the company’s expansion, giving Buffett funds for stock picks and acquisitions.

Warren Buffett's 'editor' retires after 60 years (CNBC)

After a remarkable 60 years at Fortune, writer and reporter Carol Loomis is ready to retire from her day job at the age of 85. [...] Loomis is a long-time friend of Warren Buffett and has helped edit his annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. [...] Loomis has broken some of Buffett's biggest stories, including his 2006 decision to give away almost all of his money to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In late 2012, Buffett made several media appearances with Loomis, including one of CNBC, to help promote her book, Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012. It's a collection of Fortune's articles about Buffett.