Berkshire News Briefs - 5/17/17

Berkshire’s Earnings Hit Speed Bump on Insurance Businesses

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. hit a speed bump in the first quarter as insurance units posted an underwriting loss, overshadowing gains at the company’s railroad and energy business. [...]

First-quarter operating profit slipped 4.8 percent to $3.56 billion, the company said Friday in a statement. [...]

Berkshire’s war chest totaled $96.5 billion at the end of the first quarter, a record. [...]

Book value, a measure of assets minus liabilities that’s closely tracked by investors, rose 3.5 percent in the first quarter to $178,073 per share. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway press release on 1Q17 Earnings

Berkshire Cuts 21st Century Fox Stake, Adjusts Airline Bets

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent the first quarter fine-tuning its investments in airlines and technology companies, and retreating from 21st Century Fox Inc.

In a filing Monday detailing its stock portfolio at the end of the quarter, Berkshire no longer listed Fox. Holdings in American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. increased, while a stake in Delta Air Lines Inc. was reduced. Buffett previously disclosed that he boosted a bet on Apple Inc. in the first quarter as he pulled back from International Business Machines Corp. [...]

The new 13F filing is here. Berkshire Hathaway's updated stock holdings in an easy to read format from Dataroma is here.

5 Key Takeaways From Today's Berkshire Hathaway Meeting

So, what would prompt Berkshire to start putting its cash to work? Essentially, Buffett said that Berkshire wants to acquire businesses that will have a competitive advantage over the next five to 10 years, whose management teams are strong, and that are offered at a fair price. [...]

Buffett also said that if there's a persistent shortage of attractive investment opportunities, Berkshire may eventually choose to increase its buyback criteria of 120% of book value or less, but he is still optimistic about finding ways to deploy Berkshire's capital. [...]

Here's the best wit and wisdom from Warren Buffett at this year's Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting

Buffett and long-time business partner Charlie Munger spoke for hours at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting Saturday in Omaha.

The pair frequently elicited laughter from the crowd of 40,000 by answering questions from shareholders and journalists with their usual folksy sense of humor and wisdom. [...]

A Comparison of Berkshire Hathaway Class A and Class B Shares

[...] From these tables, institutions and mutual fund holders own only 27% of the A shares, but 64% of the B shares. That can be explained by insiders and 5% owners holding 41% of the A shares and less than 1% of the B shares. According to Berkshire’s Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders May 6, 2017, Warren Buffett beneficially owned 38.3% of the A shares as of March 8, 2017. The insiders primarily accumulated their shares in the 1960’s and 1970’s when Berkshire traded at less than $100 per share.

It should be noted, however, that these tables imply that individuals (other than insiders) hold about 31% of the A shares and 35% of the B shares. [...]

Clayton Homes unveils new tiny home series

Clayton, a Berkshire Hathaway company and a builder of manufactured, modular and site-built homes, introduced its new tiny homes collection Saturday at the Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. [...]

The homes are just 464 square feet and offer 270 degrees of window views. They have vaulted ceilings to give the homes a larger feel, and the master bedroom fits a queen-size bed and a full-height closet. [...]

Even in Texas, sometimes the billionaires lose

A bill that would carve out a loophole for Buffett’s chain of auto-dealerships in Texas — put on the fast track last month right after the billionaire’s meetings with Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — ran into a wall of opposition from prominent Tea Party activists. They burned up the phone lines at the Capitol and publicly criticized what they saw as special treatment for the wealthy and connected.

Not long after those activists spoke out against the carve-out legislation in an open letter to the billionaire, Patrick pulled the “Buffett Bill” off the Texas Senate agenda, effectively killing it for now [...]

John Oliver eviscerates one of Warren Buffett's favorite companies

One of Warren Buffett's favorite stocks has just been attacked by HBO comedian John Oliver.

DaVita operates dialysis centers, and Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns a nearly 20% stake in the company. It was the subject of a scathing 24-minute long segment on Sunday's "Last Week Tonight."

Oliver accuses DaVita of pushing patients to continue receiving long and expensive dialysis treatments instead of having kidney transplants, which could eliminate the need for dialysis.

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/5/17

The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting is this Saturday in Omaha. Once again this year, Yahoo Finance will live stream the meeting. It all starts Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 10am EST (9am for the people in Omaha).

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Berkshire Buys $250M In Sirius Tracking Stock

[...] in the last two weeks, subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway have bought more than a quarter billion dollars in shares of Liberty Media (LSXMA, LSXMK) that track Sirius XM Holdings (SIRI).

On April 19, Berkshire disclosed that it was a 10% holder of Liberty SiriusXM : 10.7 million series A shares and 23.4 million series C shares.

Since then, Berkshire has only hauled in more shares. From April 20 through 24, its subsidiaries have bought 2,470,117 more series A shares for $98.7 million and 3,875,011 more series C shares for $155 million. [...]

Liberty Media's CEO thanked Ted Weschler by name in a tweet about the purchase.

Warren Buffett has sold IBM shares, and 'revalued' tech icon downward, cites 'big strong competitors'

Buffett, who owned about 81 million shares of IBM at the end of 2016, sold off about a third of that stake in the first and second quarters of 2017, he told CNBC.

"I don't value IBM the same way that I did 6 years ago when I started buying... I've revalued it somewhat downward," Buffett told CNBC. "When it got above $180 we actually sold a reasonable amount of stock."

Buffett said IBM hadn't performed the way he had expected -- or the way IBM's management had expected -- when he first started buying the shares six years ago. [...]

Berkshire's Duracell sues over gray market battery imports

Duracell, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing a Missouri wholesaler of illegally selling gray market versions of its copper-top alkaline batteries.

According to a complaint filed in federal court in Chicago, JRS Ventures Inc is importing and selling batteries made in China that were intended for sale only to Duracell's original equipment manufacturers, to be packaged with products such as appliances and remote controls.

Duracell, which long used the tagline "no regular battery looks like it or lasts like it," said JRS's batteries do look like its own but come in packaging that does not mention Duracell's 10-year guarantee or how to obtain customer service. [...]

Why Warren Buffett's candy company canceled its East Coast expansion

[...] And yet, See’s isn’t super well-known outside of the West Coast. Its dual headquarters are in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the lion’s share of its 250 stores are in California.

Back in 2012, See’s mapped out a plan to change that. CEO Brad Kinstler, a former insurance CEO tapped by Buffett to run See’s in 2005 (and still there today), formed an ambitious expansion plan. The aim was to open new See’s stores in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.

That didn’t happen; there still aren’t See’s stores in any of those places. The expansion of See’s to the East Coast fizzled. The reason? The broader demise of brick-and-mortar retail.

“Our hope was to develop more markets to the East,” Kinstler now tells Yahoo Finance. “But the brick-and-mortar and the indoor mall environment has changed the view we have on the potential to add new trade areas. Foot traffic in these more traditional settings is an impediment to new trade area success.” [...]

See’s did open its first ever New York store in January of this year, in Manhattan’s West Village. But it is a licensee shop, not owned or operated by See’s. [...]

Clayton builds $14M training lodge, donates old structures for safehouses

Clayton, a Berkshire Hathaway home building company, is constructing a $14 million training lodge at its corporate headquarters in Maryville.

The three-story, log cabin-style lodge will replace the old lodge currently on the company's campus. [...]

Clayton is working with a Dayton nonprofit called Blazing Hope Ranch to re-purpose some of its old structures. The organization aids survivors of human trafficking and will use some of the old buildings on the lodge site to house survivors. [...]

20 surprising products Berkshire offers, including sump pumps, truck brakes, explosion-proof enclosures

Looks like the Omaha World Herald hasn't learned how to properly turn articles like this into a 20 page slideshow to maximize ad revenue and social media sharing. Here's the first 5 on the list. #14 will make you squeal!

1. Keep it dry: Automatic sump pumps from Wayne Water Systems

2. Lift it: Truck-mounted telescoping cranes from Stahl

3. Warm it: Heating & AC ductwork from Snappy Co.

4. Brighten it: LED lighting from TTI Inc.

5. Wire it: 90-degree conduit pull elbow from Halex

[...]

Berkshire Misc. Briefs - 1/5/17

There was a lot of news last month, and I fell behind on posting, so there are three posts this time. This is part 3, with miscellaneous news that didn't fit in the other two categories. That doesn't mean these are any less interesting, though!

(Part 1 - General Business | Part 2 - Subsidiaries)

HBO Sets Warren Buffett Documentary Premiere Date

HBO announced the premiere date for upcoming documentary “Becoming Warren Buffett” on Wednesday. The personal profile will premiere on Jan. 30 at 10 p.m./9c and will tell the true story of how an ambitious, numbers-obsessed boy from Nebraska became one of the richest men in the world.

Told primarily in Buffett’s own words, the film features never-before-released home videos, family photographs, archival footage and interviews with family and friends. [...]

Watch the trailer on YouTube.

Why Yahoo Shared an Investor Meeting in Omaha With the World

In April 2016, for the first time Yahoo Finance livestreamed the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting; a profitable venture for the industry-leading site (Yahoo Finance in November recorded 63 million monthly unique visitors, per comScore). This livestream was Yahoo Finance's longest, most complex endeavor to date, given it hosted the event on its platform. [...]

It all started with an email from Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. "It said, 'Call me,'" recalled Yahoo Finance editor Andy Serwer. "So, I called him up. And he said 'I've got this idea. What do you think about livestreaming my annual meeting?' And I said 'yes' as quickly as I could!" [...]

The first-of-its-kind meeting was Buffett's idea. "I asked him later why he came to us," said Serwer. "He said there were several reasons: you successfully executed an NFL game. (The Buffalo Bills-Jacksonville Jaguars matchup in October 2015 netted 15.2 million viewers.) You have the technology to do it. You have the global platform. And, then he also said, 'I have this relationship with you and I know that I can just call you up anytime and get through to you.'"

Berkshire Hathaway to bet on earthquake insurance in Japan

An insurance company under Berkshire Hathaway of the U.S. is considering making a foray into Japan, betting on the potential of the country's earthquake insurance market.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance plans to operate as a reinsurer, purchasing earthquake insurance contracts from casualty insurers in Japan, according to Marc Breuil, a BHSI executive in charge of Asia. [...]

After BHSI starts selling earthquake reinsurance in Japan, earthquake policies may become widespread in the country. Currently, about 10% of Japanese companies are insured against temblors. This is stunted compared to the rate in other earthquake-prone countries.

One major reason for the low percentage is the relatively high premiums for earthquake insurance when compared to fire insurance. Another reason is that insurers have refrained from actively selling earthquake policies to companies, citing unstable prices in the reinsurance market.

Buffett's Berkshire Is Urged to Sell Fossil Fuel Stocks

A Nebraska nonprofit has said it will propose that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sell its investments in oil refiner Phillips 66 and other companies involved in fossil fuels over 12 years.

The Nebraska Peace Foundation, which focuses on anti-war, civil rights and environmental issues, said it submitted a formal proposal for Berkshire shareholders to consider at the Omaha-based conglomerate's annual meeting next May 6.

Buffett’s Son Steps Down From Coke Board to Focus on Charity

Howard Buffett, the son of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett, is stepping down from the board of Coca-Cola Co. to spend more time working at his foundation. [...] He runs the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which supports sustainable agriculture and conflict resolution programs. He also has operated a 1,500-acre (600-hectare) farm in Illinois and has written books on topics such as world hunger and conservation.

Warren Buffett makes appearance at Dolphins-Cardinals game

The Miami Dolphins have a special guest for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Business tycoon Warren Buffett roamed the Dolphins’ sideline pregame to talk to members of the organization and show his support.

Buffett, who is one of the richest people in the world, has attended Dolphins games in the past. He was at last year’s home opener and is friends with four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/12/16

Mars Cashes Out Warren Buffett to Take Control of Wrigley

Mars Inc. has finally taken full control of Wrigley, formally putting M&Ms and Altoids mints in the same division — and cashing out its partner, Warren E. Buffett, in the process. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway helped Mars buy Wrigley for about $23 billion in 2008. It was a classic deal for the billionaire, who has traditionally favored acquisitions involving well-known names and strongly performing businesses.

But there was a lucrative element in the way Mr. Buffett participated in the transaction. As part of the arrangement, Berkshire received preferred shares worth about $2.1 billion, which paid a 5 percent annual dividend, and $4.4 billion worth of bonds that carried a hefty 11.45 percent interest rate. [...]

Berkshire Is Bigger Than Buffett

We think two big concerns--a belief that Berkshire Hathaway's size will prevent it from growing at a decent clip in the future and that the company's shares will get pummeled once Buffett no longer runs the show--have kept some investors on the sidelines. Although we believe that the wide-moat firm is unlikely to consistently grow its book value per share at a double-digit rate, something that happened nine times during 2001-15 and 40 times during 1965-2015, we think that Berkshire can grow its book value per share at a high-single- to double-digit rate going forward, much as we've seen since the start of the new millennium. This type of growth should leave returns solidly and consistently above the firm's cost of capital [...]

Cash is piling up faster than Warren Buffett can invest it

Warren Buffett has the kind of money problem most people would envy: a growing mountain of cash.

Nearly $73 billion piled up at Berkshire Hathaway by mid-summer, more than Buffett’s conglomerate has ever held before.

And the total continues growing every day Buffett doesn’t make a major investment because Berkshire’s 90-odd businesses generate roughly $1.5 billion in cash every month. [...]

Yahoo Finance to Host Exclusive Live Stream of Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting for Second Year

Yahoo! Inc. today announced that it will host the exclusive live stream of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting on Saturday May 6, 2017, for the second year in a row. Approximately 40,000 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders from around the world attend the highly anticipated annual event. In 2016, Yahoo Finance opened the meeting to the general public via live stream, for the first time ever, with more than 1 million viewers tuning in. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Eyes Growth Despite Cat Loss Concerns

Berkshire Hathaway’s non-insurance businesses like utilities and & energy, and manufacturing, service & retail, have been reporting favorable results. In fact, total revenue from manufacturing, service and retail has improved substantially over the past several quarters. The strong results across most of the units can be attributed to better economic conditions and higher consumer demand.

Also, the company’s book value has been improving consistently. The insurer’s already robust book value growth is expected to be boosted further with the turn of the economy, increased gains from the value of the derivatives positions, and continued positive contribution from earnings growth in insurance operations. [...]

Atlas Bolt & Screw President Ridenour to retire

Randy Ridenour, President of Atlas Bolt & Screw Company LLC, has decided to retire at the end of 2016 after 32 years with the company. [...]

Atlas Bolt & Screw Company, a Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway company, offers a wide range of construction fasteners that reduce installation costs and extend the lives of metal buildings worldwide. [...]

Shaw Contract eyes smaller town, to raise investment limit

Shaw Contract, a business unit of Shaw Industries Group Inc which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, is looking to penetrate into the small towns and also raise investment limit in the country. The Bengaluru [India]-based Shaw Contract India has been in operations for over two decades and is the second-largest supplier of commercial carpet tiles in the country with a market share of around 22 percent, the company claimed. [...]

Berkshire can't resist India any more, to return with reinsurance business

Warren Buffett, who had exited India three years back citing regulatory suffocation, can’t resist India any more. Berkshire Hathaway is in fact returning to India with a plan to set up a reinsurance branch which would be much bigger than what it was when it was into insurance broking. [...]

Currently, Berkshire is present in India as a services company and is a leader of reinsurance treaty — purchased by insurers from one or more other companies — of large insurance companies including Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

The company provides support services such as data collection, market research and training to insurance companies. As a leader of the treaty, it reinsures vast portions of the risk underwritten by these companies. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company Expands to Macau, Makes Local Office Appointments

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company (BHSI) today announced that it has received a license to provide insurance and reinsurance in Macau and filled key positions in its newly established Macau office. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway 2016 Annual Meeting Wrap-Up

Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, April 30, in Omaha. A first this year, the business meeting was live-streamed by Yahoo Finance. You can view the full video on Yahoo through May 30.

Were you among the 1.8 million people who watched it already?

Berkshire Hathaway meeting viewed live 1.8 million times (Tulsa World)

The first online broadcast of Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting was viewed 1.8 million times. [...]

In addition to the online audience, Buffett says roughly 40,000 people attended the event in Omaha.

Yahoo Finance says there were 1.1 million unique viewers of the broadcast worldwide. The meeting broadcast was offered in English and Mandarin.

Or, if you don't have 8 hours to sit and watch the entire Warren and Charlie show, Yahoo put together a summary (with shorter videos) of the more interesting parts:

13 key moments from Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting (Yahoo)

BizNews transcribed many important moments in the proceedings.

ValueWalk recaps the Q&A portion of the meeting here:

Berkshire Hathaway 2016 Annual Meeting Recap (ValueWalk)

Motley Fool Coverage:

3 Takeaways from Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Meeting (Fool)

No time even for that? Only the highlight quotes:

Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting: The highlights (CNBC)

ABC News covers the event itself:

Berkshire Hathaway Event Celebrates What Makes Firm Unique (ABC News)

Berkshire Hathaway's idiosyncrasies were on display this weekend, as tens of thousands of people filled an arena to listen to Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger talk business for several hours Saturday at the conglomerate's annual meeting.

No other company can match the crowds who attend Berkshire's meeting, the 51-year-tenure of its top two executives or its eclectic mix of businesses. Though attendance was down from last year's 50th anniversary meeting when more than 40,000 attended, it still dwarfs any other corporate meeting. [...]

Gawker sent a reporter to cover the Annual Meeting (and Buffett himself) from their own unique and irreverant perspective:

Warren Buffett Is the Best Argument for Capitalism. Is It Good Enough? (Gawker)

Normal companies might treat shareholders who had traveled across the country to a few free gifts. T-shirts. Water bottles. That sort of thing. At Berkshire Hathaway it is the opposite: its fans are given only the right to spend more money. This is in keeping with Warren Buffett’s reputation as a world-class miser, so they can’t really get mad about it. Thousands upon thousands of these wide-eyed true believers crowded into Omaha’s convention center last Friday not to receive, but to give more money to Berkshire at its big shopping day. Inside the huge space, dozens of Berkshire-owned companies had set up display areas, and most of them were offering crap for sale. It was like the world’s most random Costco, lacking all order or theme. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/25/16

Watch the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting live stream on Yahoo on Saturday, April 30, at 10am Eastern.

Warren Buffett:: 'There’s a little bit of PT Barnum in me' (Yahoo)

Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting gets underway on April 30, and those heading to the big event can expect anything other than a boring analyst convention.

A newspaper-tossing challenge, a 5K fun run and walk, a cookout, and a steak dinner are just some of the events scheduled for Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. “There’s a little bit of P.T. Barnum in me,” billionaire investor Warren Buffett told Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Andy Serwer. [...]

Meet Precision Castparts' Worried Neighbors (OPB)

State environmental regulators still haven’t identified where the arsenic is coming from, but they do know the source of the nickel: it’s a large metal foundry owned by Precision Castparts, Oregon’s second-largest company and, according to at least one study, one of the country’s top air polluters.

The foundry, which the company calls the PCC Structurals Large Parts Campus, also emits chromium and cadmium. [...]

MidAmerican's $3.6 billion wind investment is 'giant step' toward company's 100 percent renewable energy goal (Omaha World Herald)

Iowa will be further ahead of other states in renewable energy when MidAmerican Energy installs $3.6 billion more in tax-supported wind turbines over the next 2½ years. [...]

By 2020, he said, MidAmerican’s turbines will generate 85 percent of the electricity used by its customers, up from 58 percent when current projects are completed, and 40 percent of electricity used by all Iowans, up from 31 percent today. [...]

3 Wall Street pros reveal why it's so hard to cover Berkshire Hathaway (Yahoo)

“The key risk is — in my view — the fact that relatively few of its investors have a good understanding of what Berkshire actually does...the reporting is very sparse, and while it's probably ludicrous to question Warren Buffett's investing acumen, I think investors are much more likely to assume the best when there are questions of, say, earnings quality. To me, that widespread positive sentiment implies a greater risk that surprises (perhaps following the inevitable senior management succession) will be negative rather than positive, because the positives have already been assumed.” [...]

Warren Buffett’s Risky Final Bet (Harvard Business Review)

For many years, investors have speculated on what will happen to Berkshire when Buffett dies – but they tend to focus on who will succeed him as CEO, and what will happen to the stock price. Buffett insists the company has a solid succession plan in place; at last year’s annual shareholder meeting, he announced that after his death, his son, Howard Buffett, will become the unpaid non-Executive Chair of the Board to ensure the continuation of Berkshire’s unique culture.

Will Howard Buffett be able to fulfill the role of the values champion who defends his father’s legacy in the face of challenges to Berkshire’s strategy and values? We suspect not – not because of any shortcomings, but because he will not have the shares to back him up.

Here the experience of Hewlett-Packard (HP) offers a cautionary tale. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway's Big Profit Center Prepares for Shrinkage (Fool)

A shift in the top ranks at Berkshire Hathaway is a hint that its reinsurance businesses, historically one of its stars, is slated to shrink. The company recently announced the retirement of Tad Montross, who has led Berkshire's General Re subsidiary since 2008 after sharing the role for seven years prior. Montross's position will be filled with an unnamed executive, who will report to Ajit Jain, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance. [...]

Berkshire 101: A quick guide to Warren Buffett's $360 billion empire (Yahoo)

Berkshire Hathaway was a struggling textile company when Warren Buffett first invested in it in 1962.

Today, it's a $360 billion behemoth. In Warren Buffett’s own words, it's a “sprawling conglomerate, constantly trying to sprawl further." [...]

Here's a brief introduction to Berkshire Hathaway. [...]

How Warren Buffett’s Son Would Feed the World (The Atlantic)

Without a doubt, the most ambitious of the Buffett philanthropists is the middle child, Howard, 61, a commercial farmer who lives in Decatur, Illinois. His goal is to end world hunger. [...]

Instead of a green revolution for Africa, Buffett favors what he calls a “brown revolution,” or, to quote the distinguished agricultural ecologist Sir Gordon Conway, a “doubly green revolution”—a focus on environmentally sustainable agriculture that minimizes erosion, preserves and regenerates soil, and makes the land more resilient, while also increasing yields. In contrast to the green revolution, the brown revolution is a tortoise-like approach: Its impact is gradual. Over the past decade, patiently, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to identify and promote practical, low-cost methods of conservation farming—cover crops, no-till farming, locally bred seed varieties—that improve African soil quality and crop yields without chemical fertilizers and costly imported seeds. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 2/19/16

The quarterly 10-K statement, detailing Berkshire Hathaway's investment portfolio holdings, came out this week. An easy-to-read summary of the holdings is available, as always, at Dataroma.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Discloses Stake in Kinder Morgan (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. added an investment in Kinder Morgan Inc. during the fourth quarter, snapping up shares of the pipeline operator as its market value plunged.

Berkshire held 26.5 million shares of the company as of Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday disclosing U.S. stock holdings. The stake was valued at $395.9 million at the end of 2015. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Buys Kinder Morgan, Sells Chicago Bridge, Reduces AT&T (Nasdaq)

In the third quarter 2015, Buffett held on to most of what he had, buying no new stocks and only increasing some of his existing holdings. Since the start of the 2016, his company of choice has been oil refiner Phillips 66, in which he increased his stake to 14.2%. He did not purchase its shares during the fourth quarter, however. [...]

In the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hathaway bought Kinder Morgan, increased Deere & Co., exited Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. and reduced AT&T. [...]

Yahoo to Live-Stream Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Meeting (Variety)

Yahoo has thrown in the towel on entertainment video content, but it’s still banking on big video events to try to grab eyeballs and boost its business.

The Internet company announced an agreement to host the first live-streaming coverage of billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting on April 30 in Omaha, Neb. The conglomerate’s event has previously been unavailable to the general public, and Yahoo is treating it as if it were the Super Bowl of modern capitalist culture. [...]

In addition, Yahoo Finance has exclusive rights to offer a VOD replay of the Berkshire Hathaway meeting for 30 days after the event. Yahoo will sell video and display advertising, as well as sponsorship opportunities, for the live stream.

Yahoo will deliver the Berkshire Hathaway meeting in up to 1080p HD format at 60 frames per second, equivalent to Blu-ray disc quality.

Berkshire Hathaway makes $642 million in deal (Omaha World-Herald)

Berkshire Hathaway made nearly $642 million when Symetra Financial was acquired by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Warren Buffett’s company said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that it sold all 20 million of its Symetra shares as part of the deal.

See’s Candies blames ‘kosher’ candy error on printing mix-up (Omaha World-Herald)

See’s Candies said a printing error resulted in it selling some Valentine’s Day chocolates as kosher when they weren’t, a problem brought to light by a federal lawsuit filed in California alleging “fraudulent inducement.”

See’s, a part of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha since 1972, said that after learning of the lawsuit, it found that shelf cards for some of its candy were mistakenly printed with the symbol of Kosher Supervision of America (KSA), which designates food as kosher.

The company offered refunds and said it apologizes to customers who purchased the boxes. [...]

This indie retailer is thriving thanks to Warren Buffett (Crain's Chicago Business)

In metro Chicago, the J.C. Licht chain, which sells [Benjamin] Moore paint in 31 locations from the West Loop to Northbrook and Hinsdale, is under aggressive new ownership and plans to expand to 50 stores in the next five years.

Elliot Greenberg, a former vice president of sales at Ring's End, a Darien, Conn.-based home improvement chain with about $38 million in paint sales, purchased the Licht stores from Benjamin Moore corporate ownership last year. This week, Greenberg will unveil a 38,000-square-foot paint mixing and distribution facility in Addison. [...]

Today, the Moore brand is on its third CEO since 2012: Mike Searles, a former CEO of Wilson's Leather. Under Searles, Buffett reissued his promise to dealers, and the company decided to sell its corporate stores back to experienced independents. Company executives reached out to Greenberg, who paid an unspecified sum for the Licht chain last year.

Lemonade: World’s First Peer-to-Peer Insurance Platform Receives Backing from Lloyds & Berkshire Hathaway (Crowdfund Insider)

Lemonade, a peer to peer insurance platform that seeks to address the profound shortcomings of the multi-trillion dollar insurance industry now has some prominent names backing the young company. Announced today, Lemonade has now received the support of “top tier” global reinsurance partners including Berkshire Hathaway National Indemnity and Lloyd’s of London. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 2/9/16

As Berkshire Hathaway meeting set to be streamed online, will fewer make Omaha pilgrimage? (Omaha World-Herald)

Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, which draws nearly 40,000 people to Omaha each year in a pilgrimage to see investor Warren Buffett, will be streamed over the Internet this year for the first time, the company’s chief financial officer told The World-Herald.

That could have implications for the city’s tourism industry: People from around the globe descend on Omaha each year, filling hotels and restaurants. They also shop at Berkshire-owned stores, which offer discounts to shareholders during the annual meeting weekend. Will it keep people away from fair Omaha, which once a year is dubbed Woodstock for Capitalists?

Meeting Ted Weschler (Yaniv's Blog)

Many value investors, at some point of their careers, get to “see the light” and move away from investing in what’s called “cigar butt investing” (bad business at a great price) to investing in companies that trade at richer valuations but have great underlying businesses (great businesses at a reasonable price). The fortunate few, manage through this transition without a negative impact on performance. I asked Ted about this transition process and how he sees the two approaches. He said that when you try to map the risks that inherent to a “cigar butt” investing you end up with a much longer list than when you carry out the same exercise with a high quality business. Of course, many investors manage to achieve great performance over time with the bad-business-at-a-great-price approach so that is not to say that there is anything wrong with this approach–these are just two different styles. [...]

Berkshire purchases Castparts for $37B (Lincoln JournalStar)

Berkshire Hathaway completed its $37.2 billion acquisition of Precision Castparts on Friday.

Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of the manufacturer of components for aircraft, power plants and other industries reportedly is its biggest deal ever.

Warren Buffett agreed to purchase Precision Castparts in August.

Berkshire Hathaway names new board of directors for Precision Castparts (Omaha World-Herald)

In a securities filing Thursday, Berkshire said the directors are Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire; Todd Combs, a Berkshire investment officer; Marc Hamburg, chief financial officer of Berkshire; and three Precision Castparts executives: CEO Mark Donegan, corporate counsel Ruth Beyer and Shawn Hagel, chief financial officer.

Donegan and Hagel were directors before Berkshire’s $32 billion purchase of Precision Castparts [...]

Musk vs. Buffett: The Billionaire Battle to Own the Sun (Bloomberg)

Buffett got into utilities in 1999. While many investors chased the latest Silicon Valley IPO, he bought a nice electric company in Des Moines. Building power plants and maintaining the grid offered almost endless opportunities to reinvest cash, which he had a lot of. And, as a monopoly providing an essential service, the local power company wasn’t going away anytime soon. Owning utilities isn’t “a way to get rich,” he later said. “It’s a way to stay rich.”

By 2013 the energy unit at Berkshire had expanded to include power companies serving parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. It had also invested billions of dollars in wind farms in Iowa and giant solar arrays in California and Arizona. Two months after SolarCity got its love money from Nevada, Buffett offered $5.6 billion to buy NV Energy. Soon after Berkshire completed the purchase, NV Energy accounted for about a fifth of the company’s energy revenue. [...]

Buffett's BNSF to Cut Spending $1.5 Billion as Cargo Slumps (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., plans to reduce capital expenditures for the first time in six years as railroads seek to rein in costs amid a freight slump.

The rail carrier said Tuesday that it will spend $4.3 billion, down 26 percent from a record $5.8 billion in 2015, on locomotives, rail cars, track and maintenance. BNSF had increased investment since 2010, which marked a six-year low of $2.7 billion. [...]

Warren Buffett ups stake in Phillips 66 — again (Houston Business Journal)

Warren Buffett’s Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has further increased its stake in Houston-based Phillips 66.

During the first three days of February, the company bought about 1.7 million Phillips 66 shares for nearly $132 million, according to CNBC. That means that over the past 30 days alone, the company has bought 12.5 million shares for $964 million.

The company now owns 73.98 million shares — or nearly 14 percent of Phillips 66 — worth about $5.9 billion, the Associated Press reports. [...]

What Happens After Warren Buffett Leaves Berkshire Hathaway? (Fool)

Warren Buffett has made it clear that the board of directors already knows who Berkshire's next CEO will be. And while the identity of that person remains a secret, we do have a couple of clues:

Berkshire's directors believe that future CEOs should come from internal candidates.

The new CEO will be relatively young -- Buffett wants the next CEO to stay on the job for decades and says that the company will operate best if its CEOs stay for 10 years or more. [...]

Warren Buffett will be advisor for 'Celebrity Apprentice' (CNBC)

Warren Buffett continues to raise his public profile with an upcoming appearance on the new season of NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice."

In a news release, the network says that Buffett, "one of the most successful businessmen in the world," will be an advisor on the program, along with former Microsoft chief and Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, model and businesswoman Tyra Banks, actress and entrepreneur Jessica Alba, and entertainment attorney Patrick Knapp Schwarzenegger. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway 2015 Annual Meeting Notes

Best of 2015 Berkshire Shareholder Meeting (YouTube / WSJ Video)

Highlights of the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The devoted came out in full force to celebrate Warren Buffett’s 50th year running the company, meet other investors and shop.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Meeting Notes (New York Times)

The New York Times' extensive notes on the event, in a live-blog format.

Much of the questioning this year was standard, with a primary topic being how Berkshire would fare once Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger departed. Those inquiries ranged from how Berkshire would maintain its culture to what sort of qualities the company’s next chief executive and next chief investment officer (or officers) would need.

Sharp questions about various news topics arose, from Clayton Homes to 3G Capital.

Mr. Buffett also addressed smaller-scale topics like the reinsurance business, one of Berkshire’s powerhouse divisions that has become a trendy investment but that the billionaire says he believes will decline in coming years.

Recap: The 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (WSJ Moneybeat)

The Wall Street Journal's notes and live blog of the meeting.

Mr. Buffett played host to roughly 40,000 people at the company’s annual meeting Saturday, an event that swells the population of Mr. Buffett’s hometown by nearly 10% each year. Over the hours and hours of question-and-answer that are the hallmark of the meeting, Mr. Buffett and his vice chairman, Charlie Munger, fielded questions about investing and markets, Berkshire’s relationship with 3G Capital and its investments in International Business Machines Corp. and Coca-Cola Co.

MoneyBeat live-blogged the all-day event from Mr. Buffett’s first sip of cherry Coke to his last bite of See’s candy.

5 Critical Takeaways From Berkshire Hathaway's 50th Anniversary Meeting (Fool)

In its 50th year, Berkshire is still a success story that defies traditional classification, both for the scale of shareholder wealth accrual and its seemingly impossible string of consecutive wins. From its relatively humble roots as an investment partnership -- itself an incredibly difficult business -- to its radical several-decade transformation into an investment, insurance, and industrial conglomerate, Berkshire has continuously defied classification. Where many businesses hardly withstand the test of a decade or two, Berkshire has dominated across a decades-long horizon. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Shopping Frenzy (WOWT Video)

A sea of shareholders eagerly waited outside Omaha's CenturyLink Center today for a chance to spend some of their Berkshire Hathaway profits during the first day of an exclusive shopping experience.

Once inside, they took advantage of special shareholder deals on everything from running shoes to candy, all trucked in and sold by Warren Buffet's famous roster of profitable businesses.

Wells Fargo’s Stagecoach Rolls Into Omaha for Berkshire Meeting (WSJ Moneybeat)

Wells Fargo & Co. rarely misses a chance to wheel out one of its iconic stagecoaches. Little surprise, then, that the bank will be rolling two into Omaha, Neb., this weekend for one of the biggest finance events of the year.

Before the doors to the CenturyLink auditorium open at 7 a.m. on May 2 for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, shareholders of Warren Buffett’s company waiting in line will get to see two longhorn steers and the Wells Fargo stagecoach marching down Omaha’s 10th street to mark 50 years of Berkshire under Mr. Buffett.

NetJets pilots union takes case to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (Financial News)

More than 400 pilots and family members took the fight to preserve their livelihoods and security to the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting by staging an informational picket on Saturday. [...]

The pilots, whose professional interests are represented by the NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP), were joined by NetJets flight attendants and Flight Options pilots represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

City removes sign apparently criticizing Berkshire (Omaha World Herald)

City officials are uncertain who installed a sign reading “BRK profits from pollution” on the pedestrian overpass between Elmwood Park and Memorial Park in Omaha on Wednesday. [...]

A city crew removed the sign because it was not authorized, said Mike Gaughen, who handles such permits for the public works department.

He said the city doesn’t allow advertising or messages about controversial issues on public property such as the overpass, “certainly not criticizing a major corporation like that.”

Berkshire Annual Meeting Briefs - 4/30/15

Today's post is all Annual Meeting news!

Why Buffett’s Capitalist Woodstock Won’t Endure Like Garcia Jams (Bloomberg)

Tens of thousands of people will gather at an Omaha, Nebraska, arena Saturday to listen to the billionaire and his sidekick, Charles Munger, entertain the crowd with their thoughts about business. As in years past, recording will be strictly off limits.

The prohibition makes the session a must-attend event for investors and financial journalists, who pay jacked-up airfares and hotel rates to be there when two of the business world’s rock stars open their mouths. It also highlights the leeway corporations have in organizing their annual meetings with shareholders.

“There is no legal obligation to make a transcript available, or to allow recording of an event that is otherwise public,” said Joseph Grundfest, a professor at Stanford Law School and a former member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. [...]

Warren Buffett watch: Oracle to be less visible at shareholder festivities (Omaha World-Herald)

Warren Buffett will be somewhat less visible at next weekend’s festivities for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders, which seems to continue a trend that he and longtime partner Charlie Munger have followed in recent years.

15 Things to Expect at Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Meeting This Weekend (Fool)

There are certain things that Buffett-watchers can expect every year from the meeting, but every year's meeting is a bit different. And this year promises to be particularly memorable, as it marks the 50-year anniversary of Buffett and Munger at the helm of Berkshire.

So what exactly should we expect from this year's edition of the Woodstock for Capitalists? Let's see...

11 quirky events Warren Buffett's 'ringmaster' is planning for Berkshire's blowout this weekend (Business Insider)

Carrie Sova spends the better part of nine months a year planning the annual meeting, reported the Wall Street Journal's Anupreeta Das – from hiring an outside design firm to organize the 40 companies at the exhibition to that time she had to figure out how to park a real Burlington Northern train outside the downtown Omaha hall.

Whatever Buffett’s whims may be, Sova is the one to carry them out: “The big picture—any of the really good concepts . . . stemmed from Warren, and the little details of making all of it come together were worked out by our staff,” Sova, 30, who was Buffett's second assistant before becoming his "ringmaster," told the Journal.

Finally, in case you're going to the annual meeting and want to bring me back something as a gift...

Business Wire Raises Money for Children's Charity at the 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting (BusinessWire)

At this year’s Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on May 2, Business Wire will once again be raising money for charity selling commemorative gold-colored themed tumblers that benefit a local youth organization.

“What a great opportunity to raise awareness while generating much-needed funds to support advocates for children within the court system. Every dollar that Business Wire raises ultimately helps transform a child’s future,” said Kimberly Thomas, Executive Director of CASA for Douglas County.

A popular show tradition, Business Wire's fundraiser mementos provide Berkshire Hathaway shareholders with creative, limited edition keepsakes that mark the theme of the year’s gathering.

For 2015, Business Wire features a Berkshire Hathaway 50th anniversary coffee tumbler, available for $10 each.

50-Carat Rare Diamond On Display For Berkshire Hathaway's 50th (WOWT)

It may be called the Golden Jubilee, but Borsheim's is celebrating 50 years of Berkshire Hathaway with diamonds!

A 50-carat fancy yellow diamond ring, a set of Exceptional Diamonds from Forevermark, and a limited collection of loose diamonds with Warren Buffett’s signature engraved on the culet will all be available for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders to see and purchase at Borsheim's during Berkshire Hathaway shareholders weekend.

The diamonds are incredibly rare. The 50-carat cushion cut diamond ring is a natural fancy yellow color and retails for $2.3 million. A Berkshire Hathaway shareholder can take it home for just over $1.7 million.

(And don't forget the Brooks Buffett-themed running shoe that I posted last month. I'm a size 10.)

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/21/15

British regulator challenges US over Berkshire scrutiny (Financial Times)

British regulators have challenged their US peers over their apparent reluctance to subject Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to tougher scrutiny as part of a worldwide push to make the financial system safer.

The Bank of England has written to the US Treasury asking why Berkshire’s reinsurance operation — among the world’s most powerful — was left off a provisional list of “too big to fail” institutions drawn up by the Financial Stability Board.

Kraft looked around before accepting Heinz offer (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Kraft Foods Group chairman and CEO John Cahill spent St. Patrick’s Day in Munich talking with two of the founding partners of 3G Capital about what a combined Kraft/​Heinz company might look like and how it could succeed.

That detail, among others, is disclosed in a recent regulatory filing describing negotiations that culminated March 25 with an announcement that two of the more historic names in the American food pantry would merge to form the new Kraft Heinz Co. as early as the second half of 2015.

The tale is of a determined suitor, Pittsburgh-based H.J. Heinz Co., pressing its case, even as the Northfield, Ill.-based company that had caught its eye moved quickly to assess its options while at the same time angling for a better offer.

Berkshire Hathaway buys group of small Oklahoma newspapers (WRAL)

Warren Buffett's company is adding a group of small Oklahoma newspapers near Tulsa to its growing group of more than two dozen small and medium-sized newspapers.

Berkshire Hathaway Media Group said Monday that it had acquired six weekly newspapers and the daily Tulsa Business and Legal News from Community Publishers Inc.

Berkshire Hathaway Still Looks Undervalued (Fool)

Every year, I value Berkshire Hathaway using the "two-column" approach (if you're not familiar with this approach, don't worry, I'll explain it). About a year ago, I found it to be at least 20% undervalued at $116 per B-share. Fast-forward to 2015, and the B-shares have advanced 22% to $142. So I figured it was time to sharpen up my pencil and reestimate the value.

My conclusion: The stock is just as undervalued, even at today's higher prices.

Bigger Than Buffett: 6 Advisors Who Matter More to Berkshire Hathaway's Future (Fool)

If you're picking from this list, it almost doesn't matter who the next CEO is. [...] One of the great and often overlooked byproducts of the way Berkshire operates is that it attracts and retains "world-leading" business leaders like the people discussed here. That's partly by design, as Buffett looks for great managers who will stay around when he acquires a company. But it's also a product of the culture itself, which draws executives who want to be part of something great while being given the autonomy to do great things.

Why Warren Buffett Is Destined for a Small Role in American History Books (Fool)

How will historians write about Warren Buffett 100 years from now? Will they treat him like the magnificent Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt? Or will the 84-year-old multibillionaire play a more muted role in history books, akin to the venerated Gilded Age stock operator Henry Clews? [...]

But unlike the great business moguls of America's past, Buffett didn't invent a product or process that will live on in perpetuity. Vanderbilt gave us steamship lines, the New York Central Railroad, and New York City's Grand Central Station. Carnegie industrialized steel, paving the way for skyscrapers and the Golden Gate Bridge. Ford popularized mass production and democratized the automobile. Even J. P. Morgan, while playing a similar role to Buffett's, put America's financial sector on the map by supplanting the Rothschilds and Baring brothers at the summit of global finance.

Up to 44,000 expected for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders weekend (Omaha World-Herald)

Between 42,000 and 44,000 shareholders are expected to celebrate Warren Buffett’s 50 years of managing Berkshire Hathaway Inc. when the company holds its annual meeting in Omaha on May 2. That’s 3,000 to 5,000 more than last year’s record of 39,000 attendees, Buffett’s office said Wednesday.

The estimate is based on an increase in the number of shareholder requests for meeting credentials this year. [...] Not all credentials are used at the meeting, but the requests are a gauge of expected attendance.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection Honored For Best Travel Mobile App and Site in The 19th Annual Webby Awards (MarketWatch / BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, part of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, announced today that it has been honored for Best Mobile Travel App in the 19th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, made history last year with the introduction of AirCare™, the first-ever low-cost, fixed-benefit flight-protection coverage. The innovative product covers travelers from everyday mishaps such as missed connections, flight delays and lost/delayed baggage. The engine behind AirCare™ is a user-friendly mobile app that allows for ease of purchase and for simple and fast claims processing. Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection is the only travel insurance provider to offer such an app.

National Indemnity moving to new space (Omaha World-Herald)

National Indemnity Co., Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Omaha-based property insurance operation, is moving out of its home office at 3024 Harney St., its location since the building opened in 1950. The company also is leaving other space it occupies nearby.

Over the past year, affiliates of National Indemnity have moved to the Omaha World-Herald Building at 1314 Douglas St., occupying four floors with a total of 108,000 square feet of office space.

By the end of 2016, National Indemnity may move the rest of its operations to the 16-story World-Herald Building, occupying as many as nine floors in all. Those arrangements aren’t final, but the result would be an inter-company lease: The World-Herald Building also is owned by Berkshire.

If it seems like there are an unusual number of Motley Fool stories in here this week, it's because they're ramping up their annual coverage for the annual meeting. Check out and bookmark the Fool's Berkshire Hathaway 2015 coverage page.

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/23/15

Lower oil prices affect Berkshire Hathaway (Salt Lake Tribune)

Berkshire is one of the biggest shareholders in Wal-Mart Stores and holds a stake in Costco Wholesale, both of which are trading near all-time highs. Lower gasoline prices could boost consumer spending this year, benefiting retailers. [...] Both jet-fuel and diesel prices have been falling, potentially reducing costs for Berkshire's luxury aviation unit, NetJets, and its trucking company, McLane. [...] Surging U.S. oil production has been a boon to Berkshire's largest subsidiary, BNSF Railway Co. The company has seen an increase in oil carloads from North Dakota's Bakken region and spent heavily to accommodate them. Some of that demand could go away if oil prices stay low for a prolonged period.

Warren Buffett's investing successors blew it in 2014 (Fortune)

Todd Combs and Ted Weschler both appear to have failed to beat the market in 2014. Combs missed the mark by the most. His portfolio appears to have fallen slightly, down 0.3%, in 2014. [...] Weschler did better. His picks rose 6.7%. Still, that wasn’t enough to best the S&P 500, which was up by just over 11%, before dividends, in 2014. (Fortune calculated the returns of Combs and Weschler before dividends as well.) It was the first year both Combs and Weschler lagged the market index since they joined Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Warren Buffett's Secret Stocks (Fool)

The critical distinction is that Berkshire Hathaway files what is known as a "13F Combination Report." In it is stated in plain sight that (emphasis added) "a portion of the holdings for this reporting manager are reported in this report and a portion are reported by other reporting manager(s)." In other words, what we see in the Berkshire Hathaway 13F filing are the stocks Berkshire Hathaway, owns. But another company, General Re New England Asset Management -- which is owned by Berkshire -- also files a 13F that further discloses what is included in Berkshire's stock portfolio. So what happens when we combine the holdings in the 13F's filed by Berkshire Hathaway and General Re New England Asset Management relative to what is shown in the annual report?

Brooks Breaks Tape on Momentous Year and Kicks Off 2015 with Clear Focus on Being No. 1 Choice for Runners Worldwide (BusinessWire)

For Brooks Running Company, 2014 was a year of milestones: among other noteworthy mileposts, Brooks reached half a billion dollars in annual sales, moved into a new state-of-the-art global headquarters and celebrated its 100-year anniversary. To cap it off, Brooks posted a 15 percent increase in revenue growth year-over-year driven by a 13 percent increase in U.S. footwear sales and a 32 percent increase in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) sales on a local currency basis. Additionally, Brooks Canada clocked in more than 37 percent year-over-year revenue growth since formed as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2014.

Texas-sized Furniture Mart store can fit 3 Walmart Supercenters inside (Omaha World Herald)

Ed Lipsett, store director of the massive Nebraska Furniture Mart under construction in this Dallas suburb, takes great pride in the breadth of the new store. At 560,000 square feet, it’s big enough to fit three Walmart Supercenters inside. [...] Lipsett and other marketing executives with the Omaha-based store — owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — recently allowed reporters to take a peek inside. The two-story, $400 million store, with its attached warehouse, is about 40 percent completed and has taken two years to build. Store officials declined to reveal a precise opening date. [...] The store will anchor a $1.5 billion, 433-acre development project being built by Berkshire Hathaway. Several restaurants and hotels are also planned.

BNSF Railway Re-evaluates Plan for Safer Cars Amid Client Talks (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is reconsidering a plan to buy 5,000 oil-tank cars built to new safety standards after some customers voiced concern about the initiative. “At first everybody applauded us for doing it,” BNSF Chairman Matt Rose said today during a panel discussion in Washington on oil-by-rail safety, without specifying which concerns were raised. “We’re going to go back and talk to our customers and see what they want us to do.” [...] Rose said the company also decided to delay its purchase until regulators establish a standard. While thicker walls are warranted, speed restrictions would hurt other businesses that rely on trains to haul their products, he said.

Ajit Jain's Value To Berkshire Hathaway (Seeking Alpha)

In 1998, BH Reinsurance had a float of $4.3BN and by 2013, the float had increased to $37BN based on Ajit Jain's risk management capability and a staff of less than 50 people. Moreover, the share of BH Reinsurance as a percentage of total Berkshire's total float increased from 19% in 1998 to 48%. The other contributors to Berkshire's float include General Re, GEICO & "Other Primary".

Berkshire Hathaway Corporation and Leucadia National Corporation Appoint Justin Wheeler CEO of Berkadia (BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway Corporation and Leucadia National Corporation today announced the appointment of Justin Wheeler, currently Leucadia’s Chief Operating Officer, as Chief Executive Officer of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC. Since April 2014, Mr. Wheeler has been Berkadia’s acting CEO and, upon becoming Berkadia’s permanent CEO, Mr. Wheeler will be stepping down from his position as Leucadia’s COO. Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia, is an industry leading commercial real estate company providing comprehensive capital solutions and investment sales advisory and research services for multifamily and commercial properties.

Warren Buffett Watch: Berkshire meeting to offer anniversary book, more time for sales (Omaha World Herald)

Good news for shareholders who shop at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s annual meeting. For the first time, the exhibition hall at the CenturyLink Center Omaha will be open for business on the Friday afternoon before the meeting, as well as during the Saturday meeting on May 2. And this year the hottest item might be a special bargain, Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett told me: A commemorative book to mark the 50th anniversary of the day he bought the New England textile company known as Berkshire Hathaway.

7 Things You Need to Know About Berkshire Hathaway (Fool)

Millions of words have been written about Berkshire Hathaway, and most of them have been devoted to CEO Warren Buffett. This is understandable, since Berkshire is truly a product of Buffett's guiding hands over the past half-century, turning the small regional textile maker into one of the great investing stories in modern history. Berkshire is an amazing collection of companies and stocks that Buffett has acquired over the years, but there's a lot to know about this mega conglomerate. Let's consider seven things you need to know about Berkshire Hathaway. Whether you're a shareholder, considering investing, or just interested in this great company, you might be surprised by some of the things on this list.

12 of the Best Things Charlie Munger Has Ever Said (Fool)

In financial media, you see quotes from Warren Buffett everywhere, as he's well known as one of the best stock-pickers around. The words of his longtime business partner Charlie Munger, however, don't make many headlines -- and that's a shame. [...] "If you buy something because it's undervalued, then you have to think about selling it when it approaches your calculation of its intrinsic value. That's hard. But if you buy a few great companies, then you can sit on your ass. That's a good thing."

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/13/14

Greg Abel: The Next Oracle of Omaha? (Bloomberg)

For years, Abel worked in the shadow of his business partner, David Sokol, who was widely thought to be in the race until he resigned in 2011 amid a stock trading scandal. Abel is not in the shadows now. He led Berkshire’s second-biggest acquisition last year, paying $5.6 billion for Nevada’s largest electric utility, NV Energy. And he was named to the board of ketchup maker H.J. Heinz, which Berkshire took private with partners in a $23.3 billion deal in 2013.

NRG Energy Inc. and MidAmerican Energy Announce Completion of World's Largest Solar Farm (Fool)

Clocking in at 290 MW, the NRG Energy, and MidAmerican Energy Agua Caliente joint venture is a new record -- the largest fully operational solar photovoltaic facility in the world. [...] The Arizona solar facility spans 2,400 acres between Yuma and Phoenix, and is capable of powering 230,000 homes at peak capacity. As is most often the case with utility-scale solar projects, all electricity has already been sold to PG&E under a 25-year power-purchase agreement.

Berkshire to Buy SNC’s AltaLink in Buffett Energy Wager (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy unit agreed to buy SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.’s AltaLink for about $C3.2 billion ($2.9 billion) in cash to expand in electricity transmission in western Canada. The deal adds 280 substations and about 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) of transmission lines, according to a statement yesterday from the power unit at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire. [...] Founded in 2002, AltaLink owns more than half the transmission grid in the Canadian province of Alberta and serves 85 percent of its population. Net income for the unit was C$161.6 million on revenue of C$534 million last year, according to a regulatory filing. AltaLink said in a separate statement that it will operate under its current name within the Berkshire business and continue to be based in Calgary.

1 Warren Buffet Business Just Revealed How Utilities Can Unlock the Power of SolarCity (Fool)

Even on a good day when utility executives are in a chipper mood, they will probably still describe SolarCity as a "nuisance". The company is the most visible representation of the distributed solar movement, and for many utilities it is a disruption of the business model they have become accustomed to over many years. Several utilities have taken up opposition to distributed solar, but one of Warren Buffets recent acquisitions, NV Energy, is welcoming SolarCity in to Nevada with open arms -- but not for the reason you may think. Let's take a look at what this Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary is doing to go against the grain and explore why this may be happening.

10 Great Buffett Quotes From Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Annual Meeting (Fool)

Habits are such a powerful force in everyone's life, including good financial habits. Digging yourself out of the holes that financial illiteracy can cause can take a lifetime. ... A big problem is adult financial literacy. It's harder to be smarter unless the schools intercede. A lot can be done on TV and the Internet, but it is really important to have good financial habits, and anything the school system can do will help.

It's Time to Break Up Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway: The Parts Are Worth More Than the Whole (Fool)

If Warren Buffett announced a program of spinning off and distributing most of his operating companies to shareholders, Berkshire stock would soar in value. As Buffett has noted, the fair value of Berkshire is much higher than it's book value. Spinning off the conglomerate's many subsidiaries would bring this value into the light of day.

1 Overlooked Secret to Warren Buffett's Phenomenal Success (Fool)

What's interesting when you study Buffett's portfolio is while he may not like paying dividends, he sure likes receiving them. Buffett's eight largest holdings all together pay Berkshire more than $1.8 Billion in dividends. [...] Scale matters in total returns, IBM's share price has not done all that much in the short time Berkshire has owned its stake, but I think $258 million (and growing) yearly dividend income gives at least some comfort back in Omaha. Berkshire earns over $1 Billion each year from Wells Fargo and Coca Cola alone. That is almost $3m each day. Dividends add life to your portfolio.

Heinz Factory Severance Cost Rises to $93 Million (Bloomberg)

HJ Heinz Co., the ketchup maker taken private by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and 3G Capital, projected severance cost from factory closures will climb to $93 million as the company shutters two European plants. The new figure was disclosed in a first-quarter regulatory filing today and compares with the $63 million sum listed in the annual report for 2013. Heinz said in February that it was planning shutdowns in Seesen, Germany, and Turnhout, Belgium, after last year announcing closures in Florence, South Carolina; Pocatello, Idaho; and Leamington, Ontario.

EcoWater Systems expands green product portfolio (Water Technology)

EcoWater Systems®, a Marmon Water/Berkshire Hathaway Company, has announced the expansion of its commercial business product line through the acquisition of the Controlled Hydrodynamic Cavitation (CHC) technology and operations from VRTX Technologies of Schertz, Texas, according to a press release. CHC is a proven environmentally-friendly water treatment technology used in HVAC, process cooling and refrigeration systems to effectively control scale, biological growth and corrosion without the use of chemicals, the release reported. Adding CHC technology to a cooling tower saves energy, reduces water consumption and maintenance costs and minimizes or eliminates sewer discharge volume, noted the release.

Dairy Queen CEO: 'People Need To Be Paid A Fair Wage' (HuffPost)

“People need to be paid a fair wage,” Dairy Queen CEO John Gainor told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. [...] And in a clue to his own thinking about the controversy, Gainor told CNN that low wages made it hard to keep good employees. “It takes a lot of time to train people,” he said, speaking at a convention for Dairy Queen parent company Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate owned by Warren Buffett. “You want to make sure you’re paying a very good wage, otherwise you have a lot of turnover.”

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/29/14

Also coming up, a second post of Berkshire Subsidiary Briefs with all the subsidiary news that would have made this post even longer!

Nuggets of Corporate Governance Wisdom From Charlie Munger (WSJ)

In the continuing Age of Activism, corporate advisers and theorists spend much time talking about corporate governance best-practices. They’d all be out of a job if Charlie Munger had his way. That’s the premise of a recent paper from the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. The paper highlights several nuggets of corporate-governance wisdom from the famed right-hand man of Warren Buffett. Something like a folksy book of quips, advice and motivational coffee mugs, it boils down to simplicity and trust.

Buffett Can’t Find Bear for Berkshire Annual Meeting (WSJ)

It’s hard to find someone who wants to go on record betting against Warren Buffett. Despite a very public cattle call for people who are short on his Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRKB +0.62%, Mr. Buffett was unable to find a bearish analyst or investor to invite to his company’s annual meeting on May 3. Instead, Berkshire has invited Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren to be the third questioner on a panel of analysts, along with Jay Gelb of BarclaysBARC.LN +0.50% and Jonathan Brandt of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb.

7 Things We Can Learn From Warren Buffett’s Biggest Money Mistakes (Fool)

The Motley Fool is counting down the days until the annual meeting with a story a day. This entry for day 7 of the countdown was the best of the lot so far:

As chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett has an excellent investing record. But his record isn't without imperfection. Mistakes happen, even when you're the best at what you do. Fortunately, these mistakes, and Buffett's commentary about his investment decisions, provide us with valuable study materials in the school of investing. Here are seven of Buffett's biggest blunders, and the lessons that we can learn from his mistakes: [...]

Warren Buffett: Stocks aren't 'too frothy' now (CNBC)

A summary of some of the important points from Buffett's interview on CNBC last week, including his abstention from voting on Coca Cola's compensation plan, whether or not we're in a new tech bubble, and how he feels about IBM these days.

Warren Buffett rejected the suggestion the U.S. stock market is "too frothy" right now as the major indexes re-approach their all-time highs. "I think we're in a range, and it's a big zone always, of reasonableness. But stocks ought to be higher every 10 years.There's a plow back of earnings that goes back year after year. Stocks will become worth more decade after decade, not in any precise manner, not in an even manner or anything of the sort. But 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, stocks will be worth more than they are today."

Buffett: Coke exec compensation plan was excessive (Fortune/CNN)

Warren Buffett called Coca-Cola's controversial compensation plan excessive, but said he declined to vote against it. The plan -- which will pay Coke managers generously with shares of the company if they achieve specific performance goals -- passed on Wednesday at Coke's annual meeting, but without Buffett's help. Buffett said he abstained in the vote. Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's insurance conglomerate, is one of the largest owners of Coke's stock, with a little over 9% of the company's shares. The fact that Buffett didn't vote against Coke's plan, though, is noteworthy.

Buffett: moving oil by rail safely major industry concern (Reuters)

Warren Buffett, chairman of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, said on Wednesday that safety is a major priority for the rail industry, after a recent spate of accidents raised concerns about how to transport oil safely. "I can tell you that's all they're thinking about," the investor said in an interview with Reuters. "We're going to move a lot of crude in this country, and we have to learn how to do it very safely," he added. He added that the delay in the construction of the Keystone pipeline was unlikely to prompt additional purchases of tank cars at Berkshire railroad unit BNSF.

Christian Brothers doesn't want Buffett on Berkshire Hathaway's board (Pensions & Investments)

Good luck with that...

Christian Brothers Investment Services is opposing the election of all Berkshire Hathaway Inc. directors, including Warren E. Buffett, chairman and CEO, according to the proxy-voting disclosure of the manager of managers whose clients are Catholic institutions. CBIS is withholding its votes for the directors “due to a lack of information on diversity of the composition of the board” and insufficient background about the directors, even lacking photographs of them, said Marietta L. Parenti, CBIS spokeswoman.

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/14/14

A group of MBA students from Western University of Canada's Ivey Business School recently traveled to Omaha to meet Warren Buffett, and were nice enough to publish their notes on-line. There are many interesting business and non-business questions and answers. Here's an excerpt of one of the non-business ones:

Question # 8: How would you rate your own success on a scale of 1-10? Answer # 8: I don't believe I'm very different from others. I still eat the same food, have a good time when I go out with friends, just like others, the only difference is I travel a little better now. I take my jet when I travel. Success for me is doing what you love and are passionate about and as long as you are doing what you like you'll stand out and outperform. If I have to rate myself I'll always believe I'm a 10. I feel that the way the rich often show off their wealth as a form of "elephant bumping". Buying another house would only be an inconvenience, I’d feel obligated to stay in it instead of my current home which is quite comfortable. For example, I don’t like yachts. They only offer the opportunity to do things with greater difficulty at sea, where I feel trapped, that I could have easily done on land (at the Y) for a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, money is not the ultimate measure of success, but rather, it is how many loved ones you have around you.

Toombs nails a billion for MiTek (St. Louis Business Journal)

(This is from 2012, but I saw it this week, and I found it interesting)

As important as the Berkshire purchase was, even more critical to MiTek’s growth was a seed planted in 1990. That’s when the company, at the recommendation of Dave McQuinn, a young MiTek software developer, bought a new software called Microsoft Windows and became an early beta site. [...] With MiTek’s proprietary software, called Sapphire and developed at a cost of more than $100 million, builders who work with MiTek’s customers get three-dimensional computerized structural drawings that detail every part - all MiTek parts, of course - needed to build a structure at the minimum cost. “We sell them everything except the lumber, delivery trucks and forklifts,” Manenti said. [...] Software as sophisticated as Sapphire provides what Buffett calls a moat, a protection against potential competitors. “I don’t care how much you spend on software. You can’t do it in a year,” said McQuinn, 57, now the company’s vice president of software development. “Software takes time, and we have a 10-year head start. We have 80 engineers adding code to this software right now.” Currently MiTek is putting the software into mobile technology.

BNSF Sees Bakken-Area Rail Tie-Up Lasting Until Year-End (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the carrier owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will need the rest of 2014 to untangle train tie-ups in the corridor that serves North Dakota’s Bakken shale region. A system-wide traffic jam, caused by surging grain and crude-oil volumes coupled with harsh weather, is being resolved more quickly on the southern lines linking Chicago and Los Angeles, Chief Executive Officer Carl Ice said yesterday [...] Ice’s forecast underscored the scope of the recovery effort for U.S. railroads after winter storms and rising cargo shipments disrupted operations. BNSF sent 300 additional crew members to its northern region and plans to add 500 locomotives and 5,000 railcars this year to help ease the snarls, Ice said.

Warren Buffett-investee Lubrizol to set up $50 mn CPVC compounding plant in Gujarat (Business Standard)

In what will be Warren Buffett's first investment in Gujarat [India], the Lubrizol Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Thursday announced setting up of a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) compounding plant in Dahej. To be set up at an investment of over $ 50 million (Rs 300 crore roughly), the upcoming plant is part of the company's previously announced $400 million global expansion of its resin and compounding manufacturing capacity. What's more, according to senior Lubrizol officials, the company is also exploring possibilities of setting up a CPVC resin manufacturing plant in India. "Many of the raw materials required for Lubrizol's specialty chemical product portfolio are produced in GIDC. Hence, Dahej makes sense due to raw material availability and proximity to South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa markets. [...]" said Eric Schnur, president of Lubrizol Advanced Materials and corporate vice president of Lubrizol Corporation.

Berkshire Hathaway Company Providing Private Jets to Chinese Market (Global Herald)

The business structure of Chinese companies is never simple. China generally demands that foreign companies do business by setting up joint ventures with domestic companies.

A new Berkshire Hathaway company, NetJets, is making the final preparations to launch a private jet service in China. The company has announced that it is awaiting final government approval for an operating certificate, which is expected to be granted in mid-2014. [...] NetJets Business Aviation Limited is part of a joint venture with NetJets Inc.; Hony Jinsi Investment Management (Beijing) Ltd, a subsidiary of Hony Capital, a leading private equity firm of China; and Fung Investments, part of the private investment arm of the families of Dr. Victor Fung and Dr. William Fung, the controlling shareholders of the Li & Fung group of companies.

Lessons From Rebranding a Berkshire Hathaway Consumer Business (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Companies spend an enormous amount of time and money creating a new brand, but when it comes time to launch, they often miss deadlines, communicate poorly with everyone involved, and fail to coordinate the multitude of moving parts. Opportunities are lost to delay, and worse, the company’s image is tarnished. [...] That was the challenge creating Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, a new real estate franchise formed when Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate affiliate acquired a majority interest in the Prudential Real Estate network. The Prudential affiliates were free to join the new organization or go elsewhere when their existing contracts expired. In addition, we were acutely aware that poor execution might tarnish the Berkshire Hathaway name, which the company has rarely conferred on consumer businesses.

Berkshire Hathaway sees 38.6% growth in excess and surplus lines in 2013 (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s 2013 U.S. excess and surplus lines premiums grew by 38.6% over 2012 to $560.9 million, according to an analysis released by financial information firm SNL Financial L.C. on Monday. Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL said in its report that Berkshire's premium growth represents the largest percentage growth of the top 30 E&S insurers, moving it up five spaces in its ranking to become the 13th-largest E&S writer in the country, and was “well above” the 7.6% increase for the U.S. property/casualty industry as a whole.

Gov. Perry, Warren Buffett attend Katy GEICO ribbon-cutting; 357 new employees added (The Rancher)

Katy is a western suburb of Houston, TX.

Along with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, GEICO announced Wednesday, April 3, that its Katy claims office has already added 357 new employees towards the goal of 1,000 jobs by 2017. The count is very close to meeting GEICO Chairman Tony Nicely’s 2015 goal of 400 associates.

Buffett Will Steer Investors to Airbnb to Avoid Price-Gouging by Omaha Hotels (WSJ MoneyBeat)

The billionaire investor is planning to mention the website at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRKB +0.39%’s upcoming annual shareholders’ meeting on May 3 as a low-cost alternative for shareholders who don’t want to pay the jacked-up rates that Omaha hotels charge while the gathering is taking place every year. [...] According to a recent article in the Berkshire-owned Omaha World-Herald, Mr. Buffett even considered a suggestion by some shareholders to move the meeting to Dallas, a bigger city. However, he was reluctant to leave his beloved Omaha. Instead, he has assigned his financial assistant Tracy Britt Cool to liaise with Airbnb.

Berkshire to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With Fiesta Ducks (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will sell rubber ducks of Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charles Munger wearing Mexican-themed outfits at the company’s annual meeting, which falls two days before Cinco de Mayo. The “fiesta ducks” sport sombreros, multicolored ponchos and -- in Buffett’s case -- a maraca, according to an advertisement in the visitor’s guide to the May 3 event, which will be held at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The souvenirs will be sold by Berkshire’s Oriental Trading party-supply business for $5 a pair. Last year, the unit sold rubber ducks of the executives in business suits.

Not going to the annual meeting? You can buy last year's Buffett & Munger business suit ducks on Oriental Trading's website. $3 for the ducks, but $7 for the shipping? Bah. Amazon Prime has spoiled me.

Oriental Trading will also be selling a Berkshire Hathaway-themed Quirkle game at the annual meeting, but that doesn't make as good of a headline.