Berkshire News Briefs - 1/10/18

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. News Release

On January 9, 2018, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Board of Directors voted to increase the number of directors comprising the entire Board of Directors from twelve to fourteen. Gregory E. Abel and Ajit Jain were then elected to serve as Directors to fill the resulting vacancies on the Board of Directors. In connection with their election to the Board of Directors, Warren E. Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s Chairman and CEO, appointed Mr. Abel to be Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman – Non-Insurance Business Operations and Mr. Jain to be its Vice Chairman – Insurance Operations. [...]

Warren Buffett: 'I feel terrific,' and moves toward succession are not related to my health

Warren Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday the appointment of two new vice chairs at Berkshire Hathaway is "part of a movement to succession over time," and has nothing to do with any change in his health. [...]

"They are the key figures," Buffett said. "They both have Berkshire in their blood."

"There is not a horse race at all," he added. "They both have their areas of specialty."

Buffett and his 94-year-old longtime partner, Charlie Munger, are staying in their respective positions as chairman and CEO and vice chairman. [...]

Speculation had centered on Abel and Jain as possible successors, and Buffett told CNBC that elevating them would have also made sense five years ago. He said he decided about six weeks ago to make the move, saying to himself, "why not now." [...]

It was Munger's idea for Abel, Jain, and himself to all have vice chair titles, Buffett said. [...]

Warren Buffett wins $1M bet against hedge funds and gives it to girls' charity

In 2007, the famed billionaire investor made a $1 million bet that an S&P 500 stock index fund would outperform a basket of hedge funds over the course of a decade.

The index fund returned 7.1% compounded annually over the 10-year period, easily beating the 2.2% average return of a basket of funds picked by asset manager Protégé Partners, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Buffett promised to give the prize money to his local affiliate of Girls Inc., a non-profit organization that provides programs designed to inspire "all girls to be strong, smart and bold." [...]

Berkshire Hathaway could gain $37 billion from GOP tax cuts

Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led by Warren Buffett, stands to gain an potential $37 billion from the GOP's tax cuts, according to new research from Barclays.

"We now estimate Berkshire Hathaway's 4Q book value could be boosted by about $37 billion resulting from the US corporate tax reform due to a decline in its deferred tax liability," analysts at the firm wrote in a report on Monday.

The authors also said the reduction in the corporate tax rate could lift the company's earnings power by as much as 12 percent "in 2018 and beyond," and it could repatriate some foreign profits and use it for investment. [...]

Warren Buffett Shares the Secrets to Wealth in America

I have good news. First, most American children are going to live far better than their parents did. Second, large gains in the living standards of Americans will continue for many generations to come. [...]

This game of economic miracles is in its early innings. Americans will benefit from far more and better "stuff" in the future. The challenge will be to have this bounty deliver a better life to the disrupted as well as to the disrupters. And on this matter, many Americans are justifiably worried. [...]

Warren Buffett's Love for Burger Joints Is Landing Him Billions of Dollars

The financing deal gives RBI the option to redeem some, or all, of Berkshire's preferred stock. It indicated it would fully redeem the stake, plus dividends that have accrued from it. The redemption rate alone is 9.9%, which means Buffett is getting an effective interest payment of $297 million on the original $3 billion in financing.

On top of that are the dividends, which are hefty at 9% per year. This adds $810 million onto his return, which doesn't factor "an additional amount, if necessary, to produce an after-tax yield as if the dividends were paid by a U.S.-based company," according to a recent Berkshire regulatory filing.

On top of that, Buffett's investment vehicle still owns that RBI stake derived from the warrant. At the most recent closing stock price, that holding would be worth over $523 million, even after we net out the exercise price. [...]

Brooks Needs Runners Who Hate to Run

Within a few years of Weber taking over, Brooks became the best-selling brand at specialty stores. Then Fruit of the Loom Inc., which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., bought the company in 2006. Brooks flew under Berkshire’s radar for a couple of years until Todd Combs, one of Warren Buffett’s investment managers, brought it to his attention. Combs is a triathlete; Ted Weschler, another top Berkshire investment manager, is a marathoner. Buffett may not have realized it, Combs said, but this random shoe company was doubling in size every three years.

Soon after, Buffett met with Weber, who explained his all-­running-only-running strategy. Buffett liked the idea of focusing on a niche market. “He thinks long-term,” Weber says of Buffett, who told him: “Whatever you do, just make the brand stronger.”

So that’s what Weber did. Buffett was so pleased by Brooks’s success that in 2012 he spun it off from Fruit of the Loom, which didn’t have footwear experience. As Berkshire holdings go, Brooks is small, accounting for a sliver of the $24 billion it made in 2016. But for Buffett, it appears to be a source of pride. [...]

Q&A with Lubrizol’s Eric R. Schnur

Q: There are numerous references in company literature to values handed down from its founders. What are those values?

A: Fundamentally, our corporate philosophy comes down to three things. It’s about people and how important they are. I talk to employees at all of our major locations and ask them about the company, its culture and what they would never want to change. The first answer always is our focus on people. They feel the company really cares about people. This is something I felt walking through the door that first day at the pilot plant. There is a focus on safety. You cannot care deeply about people and expect them to work in an unsafe environment. We operate chemical plants. Those can be unsafe environments if you don’t invest in them and have policies and procedures. The last is business and corporate ethics.. Never do anything illegal. When you have thousands of people around the world, that doesn’t mean everyone is acting perfectly every single moment of the day. But we are vigilant about it. We do things the right way. It isn’t just a slogan. We want to move faster and drive quicker decision making, all the things companies our size talk about. But the focus always is on people, ethics and safety. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary to remove idle crude oil rail tankers from New York forest preserve after governor's objections

A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary has decided to remove its idle crude oil rail tankers from a New York forest preserve after the state’s governor objected to their storage there.

Chicago-based Union Tank Car said Tuesday that all 65 cars it has in the Adirondack Forest in northeast New York will be removed by mid-January. [...]

Russell Brands announces layoffs

A total of 75 permanent employees of Russell Brands LLC were notified Friday that they would be laid off. [...] The reduction in force is expected to drop the number of people employed at what is now primarily a distribution center down to around 250 people. [...]

Just six years ago, Russell Brands still had 750 employees in Alexander City. Earlier this year when it was announced that the company would cease manufacturing of athletic team uniforms, company officials said it was unclear how the move would impact the estimated 500 Russell employees who were working in Alexander City at that time. [...]

Oriental Trading CEO who turned company into profitable part of Berkshire dies at 56

Sam Taylor, who guided Oriental Trading Co. from bankruptcy into one of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s local success stories, died more than a year after being diagnosed with a lethal form of brain cancer. He was 56. [...]

Taylor came to Omaha with his family — wife Stephanie and daughters Ashton, Celine and Mallory — in May 2008 to take over the troubled company, which had been saddled with high debt through a series of buyouts and refinancings. [...]

With the turnaround underway, in 2012 Taylor successfully pitched Oriental Trading to Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett, explaining how its La Vista distribution system, catalogs, online sales system and staff could become a profitable part of Berkshire. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - Annual Report Edition - 3/2/17

The 2016 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report came out last Saturday, so naturally most of the news this week is about it.

Berkshire Hathaway's Operating Earnings Slip 6%

Berkshire Hathaway reported that its fourth-quarter net income grew about 15% compared with the year-ago period, helped by gains on its investments and derivatives portfolio. However, operating earnings, the metric Warren Buffett has long explained is the most important for understanding the company's true earnings power, declined about 6% to $4.4 billion, from $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter last year. [...]

Highlights From Warren Buffett’s 2016 Annual Letter

What we can take away from this brief discussion is that the gap between Berkshire’s book value and intrinsic value has grown over time and, with additional successful acquisitions, should continue to grow in the future. To be clear, important aspects of Berkshire’s results will show up in book value in the future. Berkshire’s retained earnings are fully reflected in book value. Additionally, changes in the value of marketable securities (with few exceptions) are also reflected in book value, net of deferred taxes. However, to the extent that the economic goodwill of Berkshire’s wholly owned subsidiaries continue to increase, the gap between book value and intrinsic value will continue to grow. [...]

Mixed Year at Berkshire Doesn’t Change Our View

There was little in wide-moat-rated Berkshire Hathaway's fourth-quarter and full-year results that would alter our long-term view of the firm. We do not expect to make any changes to our $255,000 ($170) per Class A (B) share fair value estimate or to our wide-moat rating. [...]

We remain impressed with Berkshire's ability to increase its book value per Class A equivalent share, which rose 10.7% year over year to $172,108 (higher than our own estimate of $167,878). This was aided by much stronger performance from its investment portfolio during 2016. The company closed out the year with $86.4 billion in cash on its books, up from $84.8 billion at the end of September and $71.7 billion at the end of 2015. [...]

Full transcript of billionaire investor Warren Buffett's interview with CNBC

"I absolutely look at individual stocks. It has nothing to do what the Federal Reserve, it has nothing to do with the election. As it does have, it would have something to do with interest rates if they did something extraordinary. It hasn't had, because they haven't been, they haven't changed that much. But there just were a couple of things I wanted 'em to do and we had the money. And I like investing. And I would much rather have that $20 billion in these companies that I don't look at it as being in stocks, I look at it as being in businesses. It's just small pieces of businesses. [...]"

Warren Buffett's Shareholder Letter: 5 Lessons for All Investors

There are few things more valuable for serious investors to read each year than Warren Buffett's annual letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway.

His letter for 2016, released early Saturday morning, is no exception. In it, Buffett covers his usual range of subjects, from the performance of Berkshire Hathaway and its operating units, to the future prospects of the United States, to advice for corporate executives and individual investors.

The whole letter is worth reading -- it is, after all, less than 30 pages long. But for those of you who want to view the highlight reel, here are my five favorite takeaways from Buffett's latest shareholder letter. [...]

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Bought 72 Million Shares of Apple in One Month

On Monday, Buffett told CNBC his insurance and investing conglomerate had bought 72 million of Apple's shares in the first month of January alone. He also owned up to the fact that Apple is one of the legendary investor's own stock picks, and not one chosen by his lieutenants. [...]

Berkshire started buying shares of Apple in mid-2016, and had 61 million shares by the end of the year. Buffett said Berkshire's Apple stake is now more than double that, and worth about $17 billion and amounts to 133 million shares. Buffett bought his most recent stake between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31—the day Apple reported that its sales rose $2.5 billion, or 3%, in the last three months of 2016, which was higher than expected. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway's Lubrizol takes $365 million loss on oilfield business

The company disclosed in its annual report Saturday that results at its chemical unit, Wickliffe-based Lubrizol, included pretax losses of $365 million last year related to the “disposition in the fourth quarter of an underperforming business.” No other details were provided in the document.

The business? Lubrizol’s Oilfield Solutions unit, according to Julie Young, a spokeswoman for the company. The division was created in late 2014 to house businesses purchased from Weatherford International Plc and Phillips 66, as well as some legacy operations. [...]

Proudly Permabullish

Buffett’s the Permabull-in-Chief. This is not the same as saying that he always believes it’s a great time to buy every stock or that he believes he has some edge on where stock prices will be this year or next. Because neither is true.

One of the hallmarks of Berkshire’s success has been its willingness to raise or lower its formidable cash hoard in response to the presence (or lack thereof) of viable investing opportunities. One of the other hallmarks of Buffett’s approach has been to tune out forecasts and de-emphasize the importance of them in general. [...]

Charlie Munger on Getting Rich, Wisdom, Focus, Fake Knowledge and More

"In the chronicles of American financial history," writes David Clark [...] "Charlie Munger will be seen as the proverbial enigma wrapped in a paradox— he is both a mystery and a contradiction at the same time."

On one hand, Munger received an elite education and it shows: He went to Cal Tech to train as a meteorologist for the Second World War and then attended Harvard Law School and eventually opened his own law firm. That part of his success makes sense.

Yet here's a man who never took a single course in economics, business, marketing, finance, psychology or accounting, and managed to become one of the greatest, most admired, and most honorable businessmen of our age, noted by essentially all observers for the originality of his thoughts, especially about business and human behavior. [...]

Berkshire Subsidiary 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 2, with news about Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiary companies.

(Part 1 - General Business | Part 3 - Miscellaneous)

The Dairy Queen® System Announces Plans to Develop 50 DQ Grill & Chill® Locations in Korea Over the Next Five Years

International Dairy Queen, Inc. today announced the signing of a multi-unit development agreement to expand into the Republic of Korea with plans to open 50 DQ Grill & Chill locations within the next five years. [...]

(On a tangentially related note, did you know you could ask DQ staff to add coffee to a Blizzard? I can't believe I didn't know about this "secret menu" item before last week.)

Fruit of the Loom names Melissa Burgess-Taylor CEO

Fruit of the Loom, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unit, said it named Melissa Burgess-Taylor as the chief executive officer and chairman, following the death of Rick Medlin.

Medlin, who had held the top post at the apparel company since 2010, died on Sunday of natural causes, the company said. [...]

Burgess-Taylor, who has been with the company for more than 17 years, is currently senior vice president of brand management and sales for Fruit of the Loom and Vanity Fair Brands.

Lubrizol names Schnur as CEO

Global thermoplastic polyurethane leader Lubrizol Corp. has named company veteran Eric Schnur as chairman, president and CEO.

Schnur has been with Wickliffe, Ohio-based Lubrizol for more than 27 years. He’s held the roles of president and chief operating officer since June. Prior to that move, Schnur served as president of the firm’s Advanced Materials unit — including TPU — for eight years.

The move was effective Jan. 2. Schnur replaces James Hambrick, who’s retiring after a 38-year career with Lubrizol. [...]

Nebraska Furniture Mart COO Ron Blumkin’s successor named

Nebraska Furniture Mart President and Chief Operating Officer Ron Blumkin will leave his position as part of the company’s long-term succession planning, the company said Friday.

Tony Boldt, director of the Mart’s Kansas City store, will take the role of president and COO. Blumkin will serve as chairman, and Irv Blumkin will remain chief executive. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Unit Acquires Snappy Company

Berkshire Hathaway company unit MiTek Industries, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, M&M Manufacturing, has acquired Snappy Company.

Snappy is a leading supplier of metal duct systems for the residential HVAC market, with manufacturing facilities in Detroit Lakes, MN; Medina, NY; and corporate offices in Marietta, GA.

Snappy will complement M&M Manufacturing, a leading producer of sheet metal products, primarily servicing the air distribution and ventilation markets. [...]

OCI Solar Power seeks to sell Alamo 6 solar farm to Warren Buffett-owned company

San Antonio-based solar developer OCI Solar Power is seeking state approval to sell its Alamo 6 solar farm to a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's multinational holding company Berkshire Hathaway. A sale price has not been disclosed but OCI Solar Power officials confirmed that the company signed a purchase agreement to sell the West Texas solar farm. Located in Pecos County, Alamo 6 remains under construction but once complete it will supply 110.2 megawatts of electricity to San Antonio's municipally-owned utility company CPS Energy. [...]

The sharing economy brings tycoon lifestyles within reach of some

Tycoon living begins with a private jet. Whereas yachts are dispensable (not everyone wants to float around for weeks with the same dinner companions) private jets are necessities for the aspiring billionaire. [...]

No longer do you need a net worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars to have one. With 700 jets, NetJets is now the fifth-largest airline by number of planes, after Southwest Airlines, and it has access to thousands of private airports. Its main innovation was to apply the principle of fractional ownership, or time-sharing, to the ultimate executive tool. Customers buy a share in a jet which entitles them to, say, 200 hours of travel a year. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/9/16

Warren Buffett's NV Energy Is Losing Customers on the Vegas Strip to Renewable Energy (Fool)

MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts have said that paying $102.6 million to leave the utility and find their own energy is better for their businesses than staying with NV Energy. Las Vegas Sands stopped short of committing $23.9 million to leave NV Energy this year but is leaving its options open. As these resorts collectively make up 7% of the demand in NV Energy's territory, this is a big deal for the utility.

Buffett awaits $8 billion of ‘bad news’ with Kraft Heinz payment (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Warren Buffett is about to get back the $8 billion — plus a little extra — that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. invested in Kraft Heinz Co. [...]

The 2013 deal allowed the foodmaker to pay a premium to redeem the preferred shares after three years, a period that expires next week. Mr. Buffett has said Berkshire will get about $8.3 billion, replenishing its coffers after the purchase of manufacturer Precision Castparts Corp. in January, one of his biggest buyouts ever.

Berkshire's Underappreciated Growing Dividend Income Stream (Seeking Alpha)

Today though if you look at Berkshire's 6 largest positions, you see something very different. Gone are the concentrated bets that are likely to double several times in the next decade. Instead, you find a very conservative looking portfolio (although still concentrated) that offers a significant amount of yield. [...]

Berkshire will receive over $2.7 billion in dividends from these [six] positions [KHC, WFC, KO, IBM, AXP, PSX] in 2016. That is basically the size of the entire Berkshire portfolio back when Buffett was buying Coca-Cola in the late 1990s.

Why Warren Buffett Dumped AT&T (Fool)

Warren Buffett never bought AT&T shares for Berkshire, nor did the company's other stock pickers. Instead, the AT&T stake was acquired through an acquisition.

In 2011, Berkshire began to accumulate a position in DirecTV, which it added to several times afterwards. [...] AT&T's acquisition paid shareholders $95 per share.

However, only $28.50 of that amount was in cash, with the remainder payable in AT&T stock, which is where Berkshire's AT&T stake originated. After the sale was complete, Berkshire received 59.32 million shares of AT&T during the third quarter of 2015, but they didn't stay in the portfolio for long. Berkshire unloaded 12.7 million of them during the fourth quarter, and sold the rest during the first quarter of 2016.

Buffett’s Richline Acquires Wearables Maker Viawear (Diamonds.net)

Richline Group, a jewelry subsidiary owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, continued its recent string of acquisitions with the purchase of Viawear, a provider of wearable technology for jewelry brands.

Viawear has developed bracelets that filter mobile notifications so wearers receive important alerts without having to check if they missed something. [...]

Lubrizol Names New President and CEO (Chemical Engineering Online)

The Lubrizol Corp. has announced that Eric R. Schnur, currently executive vice president and chief operating officer, has been named president, effective immediately, and will become chairman and chief executive officer on January 2, 2017. James L. Hambrick, the current chairman, president and chief executive officer, having fulfilled his commitment to remain in those roles for five years following Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of Lubrizol in 2011, has decided to complete his 38-year Lubrizol career. [...]

A two part interview with PacifiCorp execuitve Stefan Bird (PacifiCorp being the Berkshire Hathaway Energy company serving the Pacific Northwest):

Part 1:
PacifiCorp Green: Adapting to Changing Western Power Markets (Energy Times)

"Renewables are definitely a big part of our story. PacifiCorp is the second largest owner of utility- owned wind assets in the country, number two to our sister utility, MidAmerican Energy [...]

We’ve got about 2000 megawatts of renewables out of our total portfolio of 11,000 megawatts. We have a very large hydroelectric fleet and that contributes to our emission-free supply. There are a number of changes that have been pretty exciting in the last year or so as we collaborate more effectively with our neighbors. The Western grid is all physically interconnected, but we frankly don’t use it as efficiently and effectively as we could." [...]

Part 2:
Utility Excitement: Value for Customers (Energy Times)

"Being part by a large private corporation with very strong financial capabilities gives us some unique advantages, from a cost of capital standpoint and our ability to utilize federal tax credits. That allows us to pass those benefits through to our customers in a unique way. We can focus on the long-term, we’re not worried about quarterly results and we really want to make decisions that make sense for our customers to give them a sustainable value proposition for the long haul."

Auction for Warren Buffett charity lunch starts slow (Yahoo)

The annual charity auction for a private lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett is underway.

The top bid to dine with the chairman of the conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc was $200,100 at 12 p.m. EDT on Monday, but will likely surge by the time the auction on eBay ends on Friday night.

Winning bids have reached seven figures every year since 2008, with the record $3,456,789 offer submitted anonymously in 2012. Last year's winner paid $2,345,678.

Auction proceeds go to Glide, a charity in San Francisco's Tenderloin district that provides food, health care and other services to people who are homeless, poor or struggling with substance abuse. Buffett has raised about $20.2 million in 16 auctions for Glide.

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/12/16

Buffett Deputy Jain Will Add Gen Re Oversight as Montross Exits (Bloomberg)

Ajit Jain, long considered a top candidate to replace billionaire Warren Buffett as chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is expanding his oversight of the company’s insurance operations.

Gen Re, one of the major reinsurance businesses at Berkshire, said Tuesday that CEO Tad Montross, 60, will step down by the end of this year. His replacement hasn’t been named, but will report to Jain, said Sabine Denne, a spokeswoman for the reinsurer.

Berkshire Hathaway Sees Power Market as Electrons' Match.com (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy unit has been courting three dozen power transmission operators in the western U.S. to join its utilities and the California grid in trading power across their borders electronically and instantaneously. This means traders wouldn’t need to pick up the phone or send e-mails each hour to schedule the purchase and sale of renewables while hoping the sun and wind hold out until the next hour.

This so-called Energy Imbalance Market is the equivalent of creating a “Match.com for electrons,” Jonathan Weisgall, vice president of government relations at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, said [...]

Clayton Homes buys Alabama manufactured-housing company (Knoxville News Sentinel)

Maryville-based Clayton Homes has acquired manufactured-home builder River Birch Homes of Hackleburg, Ala.

In a release, Clayton Homes said the purchase includes all operating assets of River Birch Homes, and is effective immediately.

River Birch, which makes single- and multi-section homes and markets them in nine states throughout the Southeast, has nearly 240 employees in the Hackleburg area, in northwest Alabama.

The company was started in 1997 by owners Delmo Payne and Gerald Terrell.

Acme Brick Co. to close Springfield and Edina brick facilities for good this year (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Texas-based Acme Brick Co. will officially shut its Minnesota operations for good later this year, a move that will affect 19 employees.

The company will keep its Edina sales office open to serve customer orders through Sept. 30. Its Great Lakes Plant in Springfield, Minn., which stopped producing bricks in 2014, will not restart production as expected. Instead it will sell its remaining inventory at the Edina facility and through select distributors.

Acme acquired the Great Lakes Plant in January 2008. It was Minnesota’s last operating brick plant and was formerly part of Ochs Brick Co. [...]

Fire at Nebraska Furniture Mart warehouse caused estimated $1.4 million in damage (Omaha World-Herald)

Insurance officials still are investigating the cause of a fire that caused an estimated $1.4 million in damage in Nebraska Furniture Mart’s flooring warehouse Sunday.

The flooring center remained closed Monday, but the retailer is operating normally otherwise.

The fire involved boxes of laminate flooring and as a result was quite smoky, retired Furniture Mart executive Bob Batt said. [...]

Acquisitions lead Lubrizol to expand its offerings (Crain's Cleveland Business)

Lubrizol Corp. is expanding its health care product offerings and investing $15 million in the effort, the Wickliffe-based company announced at the Medical Design and Manufacturing West trade show and conference in Anaheim.

Expanding Lubrizol LifeSciences offerings has in part been made possible with the recent acquisition of Vesta Inc. and Particle Sciences, whose capabilities are turning the company’s health-care business into the “polymer-based drug delivery company” of the future, company reps said [...]

Shaw industries land on Forbes' "America's Best Employers of 2016" list (Chatanooga Times Free Press)

Calhoun-based Mohawk Industries, the world's largest flooring maker, and Dalton-based Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet maker, are two the best industrial manufacturers in the country to work for, according to the latest Forbes' "America's Best Employers of 2016" list. [...]

Shaw ranked 282 overall [out of 30,000], and number 18 in the engineering/manufacturing category. [...]

Shaw is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., with more than $4.8 billion in sales and more than 22,000 employees.

Chinese aviation firm to take 25% stake in NetJets China (Flight Global)

Chinese business aircraft manager Business Aviation Asia will take a 25% stake in the China unit of fractional ownership firm NetJets. [...]

NetJets China is a joint venture between the US-based fractional ownership giant and a consortium of Chinese investors, led by private equity firm Hony Capital and Fung Investments. It operates two aircraft on a charter basis in the mainland. [...]

Initial bids for Kansas utility Westar Energy due this week (Utility Dive)

Initial bids for Westar Energy are due this week, according to Bloomberg, and the company has reportedly been courted by a wide range of potential investors, from Canadian investment companies to rival utility Ameren.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has also been named as a potential suitor, with the Hillsboro Free Press reporting it is not the first time the billionaire investor has considered acquiring the utility. [...]

Brooks Unveils London Transit-Inspired Adrenaline GTS 16 (Footwear News)

Brooks Unveils Boston Marathon Shoe Inspired By New England Lifestyle (Footwear News)

Brooks Running is rolling out some unique-looking running shoes in conjunction with some of the most popular marathons.

Top running brands are getting ready for the upcoming Boston Marathon, prepping sneakers for the celebrated race. One such brand is Brooks, with a reimagined iteration of its Adrenaline GTS 16, hitting stores in April. The Brooks “Nantucket” Adrenaline GTS 16 is scheduled to hit stores Friday and retail for $130.

New book offers detailed analysis of Buffett’s investments (Omaha World-Herald)

Yefei Lu, a portfolio manager for Shareholder Value Management of Frankfurt, Germany, analyzes 20 of Berkshire’s investments, from the Sanborn Map Co. in 1958 to IBM in 2011, in a forthcoming book, “Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett” [...]

In a final chapter titled “What We Can Learn From Buffett,” Lu says Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., seeks “an abundance of relevant objective data for the companies in question.”

Berkshire News Briefs - 11/24/15

The quarterly 13F came out last week, detailing the changes in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio last quarter. Dataroma has a convenient chart to visually show what changed.

Berkshire Hathaway Reduces Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart Stakes (ABC)

Buffett told CNBC on Monday that the main reason he reduced Berkshire's stakes in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was to generate cash for his $32 billion acquisition of Precision Castparts Corp. that's expected to close next year. [...]

Warren Buffett is having an unusually bad year (CNBC)

Warren Buffett has seen shares of his Berkshire Hathaway fall more than 11 percent this year. Even worse, Berkshire shares have underperformed the S&P 500 by more than 10 percent.

What makes this highly unusual is that Berkshire famously tends to underperform when the S&P skyrockets and outperform when the stocks as a whole do less well, which makes sense given Buffett's long-term time frame. [...]

Buffett Doubles Down on Big Blue (Fool)

To me, and presumably Buffett, as well, there's a readily identifiable disconnect with IBM's very gradually declining core business and the huge discount the market has placed on the company's future outlook. For context, IBM stock currently trades at a remarkably low 9.5x its LTM earnings, and yields 3.9%. Wall Street analysts expect IBM's revenue to continue to fall into next year, but believe that Big Blue will actually return to EPS growth in 2016. That reversal alone could be enough to inject some much-needed optimism into IBM shares, even as its broader business realignment requires more time to fully materialize.

Is Warren Buffett Still a Bargain Hunter? (CNN Money)

Consider Axalta Coating Systems, which makes automobile finishes and other coatings. [...] Axalta sells for a whopping 130 times its past 12 months of earnings and sports a price/earnings ratio of 22 based on future estimated profits. [...]

On paper, this would hardly seem like a stock that a vaunted bargain hunter would gravitate to. Yet Axalta isn’t the only example.

Berkshire Hathaway [Travel Insurance] expanding again (Insurance Business)

Insurance giant Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) teamed up with VacationGuard, a specialist provider of vacation rental insurance, this week to create customized travel insurance products for timeshares, travel clubs, resorts and vacationers.

Targeted at both property owners and vacation renters, the products protect against trip cancellation, delays, injuries and accidental damage to rental units.

Fire at Leetsdale chemical plant leads to 70 homes being evacuated (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Residents were evacuated from more than 70 Leetsdale homes Tuesday after a fire at a chemical manufacturing plant filled the sky with black smoke and noxious fumes.

Four workers at the Lubrizol Corp. Oilfield Chemistry site in the Leetsdale Industrial Park were adding chemicals used in gas well fracturing to a production tank about 10 a.m. when the fire exploded to life, a company spokesman said. The workers — and about 36 other employees — escaped the buildings, though five of the workers were injured.

Buffett’s Grandson Seeks Own Investment Route: Social Change (NY Times)

At 32, Howard Warren Buffett, the grandson of the Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren E. Buffett, has already enjoyed a diverse career. He teaches at Columbia University, runs a farm in Nebraska, previously oversaw his family’s foundation and worked on economic redevelopment efforts in Afghanistan for the Defense Department. [...]

Now, that is changing. Mr. Buffett has co-founded a permanently capitalized operating company with big ambitions [...] The plan is for the new company, called i(x) Investments, to invest in early-stage and undervalued companies that are working on issues such as clean energy, sustainable agriculture and water scarcity. [...]

Berkshire gets flak from ClimateTruth, others for solar panel policy (Omaha World-Herald)

A climate activist group said Tuesday that Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s utility division favors policies that would hinder the spread of rooftop solar energy panels.

Outside Omaha’s Kiewit Plaza, where Berkshire has its offices, representatives of ClimateTruth.org and other groups gave a security guard what they said was an electronic copy of an online petition with about 100,000 signatures. The petition, addressed to Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett, said, “End your profit-driven challenges to net metering programs in Nevada and all over the country.”

Prominent film company focuses documentary lens on Buffett (Omaha World-Herald)

Kunhardt Films of Pleasantville, New York, is gathering information, photos and videos about the chairman and chief executive of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

When the project airs, possibly within two years, Buffett would join a long list of prominent Americans profiled by the film company headed by Emmy winner Peter Kunhardt.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/15/15

Buffett Builds Rail Superhighway to Grab Truck Freight (Bloomberg)

After this year, BNSF Railway Co. will be more than 99 percent finished with a second, parallel line to its 2,200-mile (3,500-kilometer) Los Angeles-to-Chicago route. Doubling up will create a rail superhighway speeding deliveries of toys, electronics, autos and other goods, because trains won’t have to yield to each other on sidings as they do on single tracks.

The goal: help the unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. grab cargo now going by road. [...]

The Los Angeles-to-Chicago route links the busiest U.S. container port to the biggest mid-continent rail hub, giving BNSF a leg up in the race to find alternatives to those dwindling coal cars. [...]

Warren Buffett: We don't do due diligence — we just look into your eyes (Business Insider)

Buffett told Loomis he met with Precision Castparts CEO Mark Donegan for about 10 or 15 minutes and asked whether he would listen to a takeover offer from Berkshire. After taking this to his board, Donegan agreed to listen to an offer.

And so Buffett made an offer, they talked about it, and then they had a deal. At this point, Buffett said, he and Donegan had talked for about 25 minutes in total.

How does a deal like this come together so quickly? "We basically do no due diligence," Buffett said. "Our due diligence is basically looking into their eyes." [...]

Lubrizol acquires Particle Sciences (Today's Medical Developments)

The Lubrizol Corporation announces that it has acquired Particle Sciences, a leading contract drug development and manufacturing organization with a comprehensive suite of services for the formulation, analysis and production of complex drug delivery solutions. Headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Particle Sciences is a global leader in complex formulations including drug eluting device product development as well as sterile and particulate drug products. This acquisition further expands Lubrizol LifeSciences' pharmaceutical development capabilities, providing full service drug delivery solutions to the market across a variety of dosage forms.

Goldman Sachs is planning to ditch a Warren Buffett-owned news wire for earnings releases (Business Insider)

When Goldman Sachs announces its third-quarter earnings on October 15, it is planning to do so with a release on its own website and a tweet linking to the release.

It does not plan to release its results on Business Wire as it did in the second quarter, however, according to people familiar with the matter. [...]

Buffett's Portfolio Takes Another Hit as Wal-Mart Shares Plunge (Bloomberg)

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s stock portfolio suffered another setback as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plunged after predicting profit would decline in its next fiscal year.

Wal-Mart fell $6.70, or 10 percent, to $60.03 at 4:15 p.m. in New York. That translates to a one-day paper loss of more than $450 million for Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which had about 67.7 million shares as of June 30. [...]

Warren Buffett expected to win over regulators on reinsurers (Financial Times)

Regulators will drop proposals to hit the world’s biggest reinsurance companies with tougher safety rules, thanks in large part to the influence of veteran investor Warren Buffett, the head of one top reinsurer has predicted. [...]

Mr Kieholz said Mr Buffett’s status in US financial and political circles seemed to have helped global reinsurers fend off inclusion in the systemically important insurers list. [...]

Mr Buffett’s office denied suggestions he had directly lobbied contacts in Washington. But he has been outspoken in speeches and interviews, arguing that it would be illogical to apply a systemic label to Berkshire Hathaway, but not to the likes of Apple, ExxonMobil or Walmart.

MasterCard Send Streamlines Berkshire Hathaway Travel Pay (Pymts)

A new partnership was announced yesterday (Oct. 14) between Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection and MasterCard that’s aimed at taking the hassle out of paying travel insurance claims.

Because those payments are traditionally made online, through EFT transaction or paper checks, there’s typically a lag of a few days — or even a few weeks. By using MasterCard Send, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection can streamline that process by facilitating the payments for those claims nearly instantly. This solution then sends funds directly to a personal account through a debit card. [...]

Warren Buffett (still) doesn't want to be an activist investor (Fortune)

Chatting with Carol Loomis, Fortune’s retired senior editor-at-large, Buffett said that activism is a profitable and "salable form," which happens to be attracting big money right now. But it’s spurred a wave of activism that may have gone about as far as it can go. "They stretch for targets, and you’re seeing that now," he said.

A famous buy-and-hold investor, Buffett compared activism—where investors push companies to make major changes to increase shareholder returns—to an old saying: "If you want to guarantee yourself a life of misery, marry someone with the expectations of changing them."

Warren Buffett dumped on hedge funds for a promise that lasts long enough to get them rich (Business Insider)

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, dumped on hedge funds during Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit.

He said that as hedge fund assets grow in size, the fund managers don't really need to worry as much about performance. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/6/15

Marmon and Wells Fargo buy GE Capital rail businesses (Railway Gazette)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon Holdings has bought ‘substantially all’ of GE Railcar Services’ tank wagons with immediate effect, and expects to complete the acquisition of GE Railcar Repair Services in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The wagons will be managed by Union Tank Car Co and Procor, while the repair facilities will expand the UTLX Repair Services and Procor Repair Services networks.

Buffett Cuts Munich Re Stake After Lamenting Reinsurance Slump (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has cut its stake in Munich Re after lamenting a slump in the reinsurance business.

Berkshire’s holding was lowered to 9.7 percent from about 12 percent, Munich Re said in a statement Tuesday, citing a notification from Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based company. [...]

“It’s a business whose prospects have turned for the worse and there’s not much we can do about it,” Buffett told shareholders at his company’s annual meeting in May.

Berkshire's Abel Targeted by Pilots Union Over Board Secrecy (Bloomberg)

A union representing pilots at Berkshire’s NetJets unit said that it took out an advertisement Monday in Abel’s hometown newspaper, Iowa’s Des Moines Register, identifying the executive as a board member of the business. Two other directors remain unidentified, despite attempts to learn who is overseeing the company, the group said on its website.

Berkshire Hathaway Said to Borrow $275 Million for Texas Wind (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. borrowed $275 million for a 300-megawatt wind farm in Texas that’s supplying power to Austin Energy, according to two people familiar with the deal. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway’s BHE Renewables unit owns the wind farm, which it acquired from Chicago-based Lincoln Clean Energy LLC.

Warren Buffett Gets Into Cybersecurity Insurance (24/7 Wall St)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) unveiled two new types of insurance policies on Tuesday, providing cyber liability and breach response coverage. The company now offers risk management resource policies: the Professional First Network Security & Privacy Policy and the Professional First Professional Liability and Network Security & Privacy Policy. Berkshire Hathaway indicated that the latter also includes customizable errors and omissions liability coverage. [...]

As far as what features these policies include, that would be coverage for third party exposures, breach expense and extortion threat coverage, media liability coverage, business interruption coverage, access to the eRiskHub and more. [...]

Warren Buffett Saved Media General: Don't Dismiss Berkshire In A Fight Over Its Future (Forbes)

In the case of broadcasting conglomerate Media General, Buffett similarly helped revive the company through a creative May 2012 deal where he bought 63 of its newspapers for $142 in cash and provided the Richmond, Va.-based company with a $400 million term loan and a $45 million revolving credit facility. [...] This morning Nexstar Broadcasting disclosed that during Media General’s stock slide, it has been lobbying to buy the company in a merger that would instantly create a powerhouse broadcaster touching nearly 40% of U.S. households. [...] Berkshire, according to the BAML analysis, is a potential friendly investor for Nexstar. However, Berkshire, currently a holder of nearly 4% of Media General’s outstanding stock after a series of stock-funded acquisitions, has historically balked at hostile takeover deals. If Media General’s board decides to continue on its path for Meredith and its standalone strategy, odds are Buffett will support the plan. [...]

Lubrizol opens CPVC resin facility in Thailand (Business Standard)

The Lubrizol Corporation, , a Berkshire Hathaway company, on October 5, 2015 opened a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin manufacturing facility in Rayong, Thailand as part of a joint investment with Sekisui Chemical Company Ltd. The plant opening is the latest in the company's efforts to increase global CPVC capacity as previously announced in 2013. [...]

The Thailand facility, combined with Lubrizol's other recent investments in Louisville (Kentucky) and Dahej (India), as well as its existing CPVC operations around the globe, better positions the organisation to support its future business growth. [...]

MetLife Fighting Systemic Tag Asks Why Buffett Gets Pass (Bloomberg)

MetLife Inc., the insurer fighting the U.S. government’s decision to label it a potential threat to financial stability, wants to know why Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has gotten a pass. [...]

“It is difficult to understand why, say, Berkshire Hathaway with $64 billion in debt and $277 billion of market capitalization should not be considered a systemic risk,” Hele said at the November meeting at the Treasury Department in Washington.

Hele also mentioned Visa Inc., noting that the world’s largest payments network had a market capitalization of $135 billion. MetLife’s market capitalization is about $52 billion.

Conservative think tank attacks NV Energy plan to build new power plant (Las Vegas Sun)

The Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative think tank backed by the Koch brothers, released a report Monday condemning a new, $1 billion natural gas plant proposed by NV Energy.

The institute, based at Suffolk University in Boston, said building the new plant could cost consumers $604 million by 2025 and that a new power plant could cost Nevada more than 1,600 jobs and $18 million of private investment.

The Nevada Policy Research Institute, which opposes shutting down coal-fired power plants in exchange for solar and natural gas generation, hired Beacon Hill to do the study. [...]

NV Energy hopes to phase out its use of coal entirely and have one quarter of its electricity generated from renewable sources in the next decade.

Warren Buffett outlasts Ndamukong Suh in final arm-wrestling duel (WPLG 10)

There was more than just football taking place Monday at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility in Davie.

Inside, WPLG Local 10 owner and billionaire Warren Buffett was challenging Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to an arm-wrestling rematch. [...]

It was a struggle, but in the end Buffett, aka "The Bicep," reigned victorious over Suh, aka "The Dominator," once again.

Berkshire Hathaway 1Q15 Earnings

10-Q Quarterly Report

Company Press Release (a brief summary)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Reports a Solid 20% Increase in Operating Income in the First Quarter (Fool)

Ahead of its annual shareholders meeting over the weekend, Berkshire Hathaway reported first-quarter results for 2015. Operating earnings, which exclude the impact of gains or losses in its equity and derivatives contracts, jumped by 20%, to $4.24 billion, up from $3.53 billion in the first quarter of 2014. Net income also jumped 9.7%, to $5.16 billion, or $3,143 per Class A share.

Investment results were less than spectacular, largely the result of losses from its outsize public stock portfolio. The company reported losing $1.02 billion from its equity portfolio. [...]

Berkshire Profit Climbs 9.8% on Burger King, Railroad Gain (Bloomberg)

Berkshire’s biggest unit, the BNSF railroad, contributed $1.05 billion to quarterly earnings, compared with $724 million a year earlier. The railroad said last week that it won back market share for grain and agriculture commodities that it lost to Union Pacific Corp. in 2014. [...]

The manufacturing, service and retail segment, which includes toolmaker Iscar and chemical company Lubrizol, added $1.12 billion to earnings, compared with $933 million a year earlier. Profit climbed 59 percent to $230 million at the segment selling building products as the Shaw carpet business and Johns Manville insulation provider benefited from higher sales and lower costs for energy and raw materials.

Profit at the utility unit, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, fell to $421 million from $452 million a year earlier as milder weather limited demand. The business operates natural-gas pipelines that stretch from the Great Lakes to Texas and power companies in states including Iowa and Nevada. [...]

Berkshire Starts 2015 on a More Solid Note (Morningstar)

Book value per Class A equivalent share at the end of the first quarter was $146,963--up 6% year over year and basically flat when compared with the fourth quarter of 2014. This was lower than our forecast, which had book value per share increasing to $149,841 at the end of the first quarter. The company closed out the first quarter of 2015 with $63.7 billion in cash on its books, up marginally from $63.3 billion at the end of last year, even though the firm spent $4.1 billion to close out the Van Tuyl deal in early March. Berkshire did not buy back any shares during the first quarter of 2015.

Looking more closely at Berkshire's insurance operations, only two of the firm's four insurance lines--Geico and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group--posted earned premium growth during the quarter, with General Re and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group reporting another quarterly decline. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 2/19/15

Even Berkshire's Boardroom Ties Can't Prevent the Costco-AmEx Divorce (Bloomberg)

Billionaire Charles Munger, a director at Costco Wholesale Corp., has likened the company’s focus on expenses to a pious obligation and said the retailer does more to advance society than some large philanthropies. His ties with Costco were no help Thursday to American Express Co., the credit-card lender that’s one of the largest holdings of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., where Munger is vice chairman. AmEx said its relationship with Issaquah, Washington-based Costco in the U.S. will end next year.

Lubrizol Corp. acquires Brazil-based coatings technology manufacturer (Crain's Cleveland Business)

Specialty chemicals company Lubrizol Corp. of Wickliffe said it has acquired a Brazilian company that makes coatings technology for products used in decorative paints, textiles, cement, elastomeric coatings and paper coatings. Terms of the purchase of the company, EcoQuimica Industria e Comercio Produtos Quimica Ltda., were not disclosed. EcoQuimica, headquartered in Paulínia, a municipality in the state of São Paulo, “will expand Lubrizol`s performance coatings footprint in the Latin America marketplace,” according to a news release.

Warren Buffett buys a stake in Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox (Fortune)

In a quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday, Berkshire revealed that it bought 4.7 million shares of the Rupert Murdoch-run company during the fourth quarter. The company was formed as the result of the 2013 split of News Corp.’s publishing and mass media businesses and, last year, Murdoch used it to make an unsuccessful run at buying rival Time Warner. Berkshire’s addition of the Fox stake follows last year’s investment in cable television provider Charter Communications.

Berkshire Sells ExxonMobil Stake: Did Warren Buffett Give Up on Big Oil? (Fool)

So here we are today; Berkshire's latest quarterly 13F statement is out, and its entire 41-plus million share stake -- worth roughly $3.7 billion -- in ExxonMobil is absent, indicating Berkshire sold out last quarter. That's less than two years after the company acquired almost the entire position in summer 2013.

Johns Manville Announces Major Upgrade to U.S. Nonwoven Glass Mat Production Facility (MarketWatch)

Johns Manville (JM), a global materials manufacturer and Berkshire Hathaway company, today announced a significant upgrade to its nonwoven glass mat production plant in Waterville, Ohio. Beginning in late 2015, JM will upgrade an existing nonwoven mat line with advanced manufacturing technology that will allow the company to better serve customers in growing segments of the global specialty glass mat market. JM anticipates the upgraded production line will be fully operational in early 2016. JM is the largest producer of specialty glass mat in North America and is an internationally recognized technology and quality leader. The company’s glass nonwoven products are used in a wide range of residential and commercial building as well as specialty industrial applications, including roofing shingles, carpet tile, vinyl flooring, office panels, ceiling tile, duct liner, exterior sheathing and energy storage.

Warren Buffett to speak at Nebraska Furniture Mart’s new store near Dallas (Omaha World-Herald)

Warren Buffett will be the guest speaker at a fundraiser April 8 at the Nebraska Furniture Mart’s new store north of Dallas. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the majority owner of the Omaha-based furniture retailer, which will raise money for the Cancer Support Community North Texas. The nonprofit organization provides free emotional and social support for cancer patients and their families in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The Mart has not announced an opening date for the new store, its largest yet.

The ‘quiet’ Buffett sibling finds reason to make $100 million splash (Omaha World-Herald)

“Warren’s so famous, and my sister is kind of famous, too,” Roberta “Bertie” Buffett Elliott said. “I’m kind of the quiet one, but this was really exciting. I’m very happy.” Northwestern University’s international studies faculty and students are happy, too, because she gave $100 million to her alma mater, the largest donation in the university’s history. Older brother Warren is known worldwide as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the Omaha-based conglomerate. Older sister Doris has attracted headlines by giving her fortune away through her Sunshine Lady Foundation.

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/12/14

Berkshire Soars as Buffett Shifts Focus to Takeovers (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Not too long ago, Berkshire was seen as a way to buy into the billionaire’s skill picking stocks. These days, it’s primarily a bet on his ability to make acquisitions and distribute funds among the dozens of businesses he bought over the past five decades, including electric utilities, manufacturers, retailers and one of the largest U.S. railroads. “The market’s realizing that it’s more than just that stock portfolio,” said David Rolfe, who oversees about $10.5 billion including Berkshire shares at Wedgewood Partners Inc.

Lubrizol Completes Acquisition of Weatherford Oilfield Chemicals and Drilling Fluid Businesses (Business Wire)

The Lubrizol Corporation announces it has completed the acquisition in the United States and Canada of Weatherford International’s global oilfield chemicals business, known as Engineered Chemistry and its United States drilling fluids business, known as Integrity Industries. Closings in the rest of the world will occur throughout 2015. The transaction was announced on December 1, 2014. With the close of the transaction, Engineered Chemistry and Integrity Industries, along with Lubrizol’s legacy energy and water business and Berkshire Hathaway portfolio company, Lubrizol Specialty Products, Inc., will form Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions, a new business segment for the company. Lubrizol Oilfield Solutions joins the company’s other business segments, Lubrizol Additives and Lubrizol Advanced Materials. Within this new segment, Engineered Chemistry and Integrity Industries will operate substantially as they do now.

Former Skyline RV facility to reopen under new owner (Riverside CA Press Enterprise)

When Skyline Corp. rolled the last RV off the assembly line in the Great Recession and shut down in April 2012, it was a stunning blow to the San Jacinto Valley economy. [...] Forest River Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company, bought the Hemet plant in December from KPL to open its 67th assembly plant in the nation. [...] Miller did say Forest River would spend more than $1 million to retrofit two buildings on the 18-acre site for the assembly work for Salem, Wildwood and Evo travel trailers, and the Stealth, Shockwave and Sand Storm toy-haulers. [...] Forest River intends to keep the Rialto factory open, Miller said. “When all is said and done, we expect to employ 500-plus people.” “It’s a heartwarming story, one you don’t hear much in the corporate world,” said John Jansons, Hemet’s director of community investment.

The Big Business That Soared at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Fool)

Through the first nine months of 2014 the premiums written -- essentially, revenue -- at GEICO have grown by 10%, rising from $13.7 billion last year to $15.2 billion this year. As shown below, this trend is nothing new, as the 2014 levels now stand 45% above the 2010 levels [...] Yet it isn't just the revenue which is rising, but also the income, as GEICO's underwriting gain -- the difference between its premiums earned minus the losses related to insurance payouts and underwriting expenses -- has grown from $610 million through the first nine months of 2011 to $1 billion so far in 2014. In short, GEICO isn't just growing its top line; it is also becoming more and more profitable as well.

More pilots, attendants to be hired by NetJets (Columbus Dispatch)

An improved economy has led to an increase in business and private-aviation flights. As a result, Columbus-based NetJets plans to hire 187 pilots and as many as 50 flight attendants to meet this growing demand. “Due to the strength of our business, . . . we were able to not only recall pilots who were furloughed in 2009 because of the economic downturn, but grow our business to the point where we can open the door for new team members as well,” NetJets Chief Operating Officer Bill Noe said in a statement. NetJets doesn’t disclose revenue, but officials said the number of hours its planes were in the air rose 7 percent in 2014 after a 6 percent jump in 2013. [...] NetJets and its pilots union have been in talks for a new labor agreement since May 2013, and “ there’s nothing new to report,” Herbert said. The parties are operating under the terms of the expired contract.

Buffett’s Commercial Insurer to Offer Pollution Coverage (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the firm controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, is pushing to sell more insurance to energy and construction companies by offering as much as $25 million in new pollution coverage. The protection is an add-on to traditional general liability coverage, according to a statement today from Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, the parent company’s Boston-based commercial unit. [...] Berkshire is already among the largest reinsurers of asbestos and environmental policies. It has struck deals with carriers including AIG, CNA Financial Corp. and Liberty Mutual Holding Co. to backstop policies.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Commences Operations in Hong Kong (Business Wire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) today announced that it has received an insurance license to carry on all classes of General Business in and from Hong Kong and filled several key positions in its newly established Hong Kong office. [...] Last month BHSI announced that it had received its license in Singapore.

The 3 Things Warren Buffett Requested From His "All-Stars" (Fool)

In December, Buffett issued his latest biennial memo to Berkshire operating company managers (whom he refers to as his "All-Stars"). The Berkshire chairman and CEO requested three things from this select group of businesspeople. [...] Protect Berkshire's reputation [...] Report bad news -- and bad apples -- quickly [...] Succession: Identify the next "All-Star" roster

Warren Watch: Buffett taps ‘Breaking Bad’ (Omaha World-Herald)

It took a while to make it to YouTube, but actress Anna Gunn’s description of meeting Warren Buffett and the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards at a party may still be worth retelling. “I got a tap on the shoulder and turned around and there was Warren Buffett,” the "Breaking Bad" star told Jimmy Kimmel on his ABC talk show. Buffett, a fan of the TV series, praised her acting and the show. She was at a loss for words, but not Kimmel, who said, "See, now that’s the moment where you say, ‘That’s very nice, can I have $20 million?' "

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/2/14

Berkshire to Buy Weatherford Units for at Least $750M (Bloomberg)

Lubrizol, the chemical-additives business at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), agreed to buy two units from Weatherford International Plc for at least $750 million after the seller was squeezed by lower oil prices. The deal includes the Integrity Industries drilling-fluids business and Engineered Chemistry, which provides additives used in fracking. The price can climb to $825 million depending on performance, Geneva-based Weatherford said today in a statement.

Duracell To be Part of Berkshire’s Marmon and Get New Chief (WSJ MoneyBeat)

Duracell will get a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. executive as its new boss once current owner Procter & Gamble Co. closes the sale to Warren Buffett’s company. The executive, Angelo Pantaleo, currently works at Berkshire subsidiary Marmon Group, helping run its water business. Instead of becoming a full-fledged company at Berkshire, Duracell will be overseen by Marmon, people familiar with the matter said.

Berkshire's BNSF To Continue Ramping Up Investment (Investors Business Daily)

Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF Railway plans to spend $6 billion in 2015 to upgrade and expand its facilities to meet rising demand for rail transportation services. It would be a 9% increase for the Fort Worth, Texas-based company from its planned $5.5 billion capital spending this year. The bulk of the 2015 expenditures will go to replacing and upgrading rails, ties and other track components, the company said. BNSF, which operates 32,500 route miles of track in the U.S. and Canada, will also spend nearly $1.5 billion on expansion projects, including $500 million in the Northern region, where it's growing fastest.

AUC approves Altalink sale (Calgary Herald)

The Alberta Utilities Commission approved the $3.2-billion sale of electricity transmission firm Altalink to U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy on Friday after it determined the transaction would create “no harm” for customer power rates or service. The AUC said it will continue to regulate AltaLink as it did before the change in ownership. [...] Over the next five years, Berkshire Hathaway Energy must re-invest 100 per cent of AltaLink’s earnings into the company or elsewhere in Alberta to support AltaLink’s three-year, $2.7-billion investment in Alberta’s energy infrastructure.

The Surprising Lessons Warren Buffett Learned from a Candy Company (Fool)

So what has made See's so successful? First, although it hasn't been a world-beater in growing its sales, it has been incredibly profitable and a cash-generating machine. From 1972-2011 it contributed a staggering $1.65 billion to the bottom line of Berkshire. Knowing it brings in roughly $85 million annually in pre-tax profits, there will soon come a day when the total contribution of See's to Berkshire will top $2 billion. And what has Berkshire done with all that cash? In 2007 Buffett answered that very question by revealing, "After paying corporate taxes on the profits, we have used the rest to buy other attractive businesses."

Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Economies of scale (WindPower)

Berkshire Hathaway Energy, part of billionaire Warren Buffet's empire, is one of America's largest developer and owner of wind energy. It has already committed about $15 billion to renewables, dwarfing most rivals' investments, and recently said it will invest $280 million more in Iowa wind farms. [...] With 719,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, MidAmerican owns more wind capacity than any other rate-regulated utility in the US and has been instrumental in making Iowa the state with the highest proportion of wind on its grid. [...] When Wind VIII is complete, 3.35GW or about 39% of MidAmerican Energy's total owned generation capacity will come from the company's 1,715 wind turbines.

Warren Buffett’s favourite ice-cream chain Dairy Queen comes to the UAE (The National)

Berkshire Hathaway-owned Dairy Queen is coming to the UAE. The restaurant chain [...] has signed a franchise deal with Bajco Group to open as many as 20 outlets. The agreement covers DQ Grill & Chill restaurants and DQ Treat stores. The first outlet is due to open in the first quarter of next year, although the exact location is still to be decided. “The problem is that everybody wants to be in Dubai, which means locations are very hard to guarantee,” said Malik Bajwa, president of the Bajco Group. “We will likely open in the Northern Emirates such as Ras Al Khaimah, and we are also looking at Sharjah and Al Ain. Our flagship standalone store will most likely be in Dubai [...]”

Why Is Warren Buffett Obsessed With Consumer Goods Brands? (Bidness Etc)

Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has always opted to invest in companies with simple business models, as Warren Buffett firmly believes in them. Many of these companies are famous brands of consumer goods like ketchup, batteries, vehicle insurance, or fast food restaurants. Mr. Buffett’s interest in the consumer goods brands can be attributed to the fact that such brands have recurrent and foreseeable cash flows and earnings, with low risk associated to their business models.

Very busy Buffett makes time for Ndamukong Suh (Omaha World Herald)

Warren Buffett’s friendship with athlete Ndamukong Suh started when they were introduced to each other at a Nebraska football game by Tom Osborne, former head coach and athletic director. Since then, Buffett has become a regular financial adviser for Suh, part of a group that includes former TD Ameritrade CEO Joe Moglia, now a football coach, and athlete/businessmen Magic Johnson and Roger Staubach [...]

Warren Buffett On Investment Strategy - Full Interview Fortune MPW (YouTube)

The annual Fortune MPW interview with the world’s most successful investor - Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway. [38 minutes]

Or, if you don't have time for that video, here's this one...

Warren Buffett sings Sinatra to 400 women (YouTube)

Paul Anka and Warren Buffett give Carol Loomis a musical sendoff at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women summit. [5 1/2 minutes]

Berkshire News Briefs - 8/12/14

3 Berkshire companies among national group's 'hot 100' retailers (Omaha World-Herald)

Yet three Berkshire Hathaway Inc. companies made the list of “hot 100” U.S. retailers, measured by increases in sales from 2012 to 2013, according to the National Retail Federation. And they didn’t add any stores or acquire competitors. The three:

• Helzberg’s Diamond Shops of North Kansas City, Missouri, No. 20 with a 15.7 percent increase in sales to $766 million at its 234 stores.
• Jordan’s Furniture, a five-store group from Taunton, Massachusetts, No. 24 with a 15.4 percent increase to $499 million.
• Nebraska Furniture Mart of Omaha, also with a 15.4 percent sales increase to $1.039 billion at its three stores.

Good 2Q for BNSF (Railway Age)

BNSF Railway, wholly owned by Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., has reported second-quarter net income of $916 million, up 4% from $884 million in the comparable quarter of 2013. [...] The Class I railroad noted coal volume rose 6% during the second quarter, while consumer product volume advanced 4% "primarily due to higher international intermodal traffic."

Buffett’s BNSF Losing Freight to Rival as Service Slows (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the only U.S. railroad ordered by the regulator to provide weekly service updates, is losing market share to Union Pacific Corp., its main competitor, as train speeds slow and on-time deliveries drop. The shift in market share had shown up in carload statistics, Union Pacific Chief Executive Officer Jack Koraleski said today. During the second quarter, the Union Pacific’s loads rose 8.2 percent while those of BNSF, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., gained 4.9 percent. [...] Railroad service operations across the U.S. have suffered after harsh winter weather earlier this year coupled with a surge in cargo to create a freight knot that’s still being untangled. BNSF, based in Fort Worth, Texas, was affected most among U.S. rails because its network bore the brunt of a bumper grain crop and the exponential growth of crude oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota.

Related:
Cold Train cites BNSF congestion, suspends service (Railway Age)
Big harvest adds to railroad woes (Farm & Ranch Guide)

Lubrizol Corp. buys medical extruder Vesta Inc. (Plastics News)

Lubrizol Corp. has ventured into the medical device market by acquiring Vesta Inc., a maker of catheters and tubing based on silicone and thermoplastics. [...] The 42-year-old firm has a long history of medical design engineering experience with clinical device applications in cardiology, urology, wound care and bariatrics, officials said. Vesta was acquired by RoundTable in 2007 and grew by acquiring thermoplastic medical tubing maker ExtruMed LLC in 2009 and silicone products maker SiMatrix in 2011. It has about 450 employees.

Buffett Stocks: Investing Essentials (Fool)

Generally speaking, there are about 50 companies held in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio ranging from one position worth less than half a million at the time of writing, to the Wells Fargo holding which is worth a staggering $25.4 billion. Buffett has what he affectionately calls his "Big Four" -- which as you would suspect include Wells Fargo, American Express, Coca-Cola, and recently purchased IBM. At last count, they had a value of nearly $70 billion, which represented roughly 60% of the portfolio. And in total, the 15 biggest positions represented nearly 90% of what Berkshire Hathaway held. All of this is to say, the stocks Buffett really clings to are relatively small in number.

Warren Buffett's Secret Key to Building an Money-Making Empire (Fool)

At Berkshire it's not as simple as, "Well, who should become the chief executive?" You've got to think about that role, the role of the investment officer, the role of the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the role of the controlling shareholder; so it's a much more complicated question. It's not just a personality. It's institution and culture. [...] I did a shareholder survey -- that The Motley Fool helped me do, actually -- and elicited suggestions from shareholders about who they would like to see in an executive role with Berkshire after Warren, and I got a dozen names that were identified scores of times. That's testimony to the deep bench, so that's relatively easy. There's at least a dozen people who could step in and become Chief Executive Officer.

Berkshire Hathaway 2nd Quarter Earnings

Berkshire Hathaway reported their 2014 2nd Quarter Earnings on Friday afternoon.

Key Points:

Revenues: $49.8 Billion, up 11% (vs. 2Q of 2013)
Earnings: $6.4 Billion ($3,889 per BRK-A share), up 41% (vs. 2Q of 2013)
Book Value: $142,483 per BRK-A Share, up 5.6% (from the end of 2013)

Berkshire Profit Jumps 41% to Record on Buffett’s Bets (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as results improved at operating businesses including auto insurer Geico, railroad BNSF and the energy unit.

Net income surged 41 percent to a record $6.4 billion on gains from an asset swap with the former Washington Post publisher, Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based company said yesterday in a statement. Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, were $2,634 a share, compared with the $2,482 estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Berkshire profit soars 41 pct to a record on investment gains (Reuters)

Results included $1.96 billion of investment gains. Berkshire shed $2.86 billion of equities in the quarter, including a swap of a 40-year investment in former Washington Post publisher Graham Holdings Co. [...]

Profit grew 29 percent from manufacturing, service and retail operations, such as Berkshire's Lubrizol chemicals and Forest River recreational vehicle units.

Pre-tax profit doubled in apparel, helped by lower manufacturing and pension costs at Fruit of the Loom.

Profit also increased 34 percent in energy and utilities, largely reflecting a year-end purchase of Nevada's NV Energy.

BNSF Railway's profit grew 4 percent, but Berkshire expressed disappointment, saying, "Service levels continued to be well below our internal standards, as well as those expected by our customers."

Many insurance businesses also posted improved results, with larger underwriting gains from Geico auto insurance and General Re reinsurance, and in a business that provides commercial and worker's compensation insurance.

The insurance results were hurt by a small underwriting loss in a business that insures against major catastrophes, which Berkshire attributed mainly to currency fluctuations. [...]

Berkshire's cash stake surged to $55.46 billion from $48.95 billion at the end of March.