Berkshire News Briefs - 7/30/18

Warren Buffett has set the table for a big stock buyback at Berkshire Hathaway

In a press release late Tuesday, the company said that it has amended its policy regarding share repurchases, now allowing for repurchases of Berkshire stock to be made at the discretion of Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger so long as both men "believe that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined." [...]

Additionally, the company will not repurchase stock in excess of an amount that would reduce its cash and equivalent holdings to less than $20 billion. [...]

Atul Gawande starts first day as CEO of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan health venture

After months of anticipation and fanfare, Dr. Atul Gawande is starting his new job Monday as the CEO of the healthcare venture from Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.

The healthcare community at large seems to be both skeptical and hopeful about the venture and Gawande’s appointment. His goal will be to create innovations in a burdened and dangerously large healthcare industry, lowering the cost of care while improving health outcomes. [...]

Berkshire's Todd Combs Aided Buffett in Showdown Over USG Transaction

Warren Buffett’s investing deputy, Todd Combs, helped the billionaire investor in his effort to exit Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stake in USG Corp. [...]

Combs’s role in the deal highlights his emergence as a top deputy for Buffett. Combs was selected for an investment role at Berkshire in 2010 and was later joined by Ted Weschler. The pair now oversee $25 billion, according to Berkshire’s annual letter released this year. Combs has increasingly been in the public spotlight with his appointment to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s board in 2016 and his recent role helping to craft Berkshire’s health-care venture with JPMorgan and Amazon.com Inc. [...]

Meet the new CIO of BNSF Railway, and learn how technology will shape the railroad's future

[...] In the five years Murugappan has been with the company, he's driven a substantial amount of change in how BNSF utilizes technology.

He was part of the team that modernized the systems BNSF uses to inspect its assets. Predicting when the assets need maintenance is vital, and BNSF is using things like big data to make the process more efficient. [...]

Oil industry concerned over BNSF's move to limit retrofit tank cars

U.S. refiners and producers are seeking ways to counter efforts by BNSF Railway Co to limit use of retrofitted oil tank cars following an Iowa derailment last month, Reuters has learned.

The crackdown by the country’s largest railroad, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, could take thousands of tank cars off a key rail line at a time when producers and refiners are scrambling to hire them.

With latest OK, PacifiCorp moves ahead with wind, transmission additions

With the last necessary state-level regulatory approvals it needed now in hand, PacifiCorp said it will move forward in building 1,150 MW of wind projects and a high-voltage transmission line in Wyoming.

The utility's goal is to complete the three wind projects in 2020 to realize the full benefit of production tax credits. The new projects will increase the amount of owned and contracted wind capacity on PacifiCorp's system by more than 60% [...]

Warren Buffett donates $3.4 billion worth of Berkshire stock

Warren Buffett's annual donation of stock to five foundations is worth around $3.4 billion this year.

In a news release, Berkshire Hathaway said Buffett converted 11,867 of his Class A shares into around 17.8 million Class B shares to make the contributions.

Based on the schedule established in 2006, when Buffett pledged to give away the bulk of his fortune in the coming decades, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be getting a large majority of the shares. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/20/18

Buffett, Bezos, Dimon appoint Dr. Atul Gawande as CEO of their newly formed health-care company

Dr. Atul Gawande will lead the joint health-care venture between Amazon, J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway, the three companies announced Wednesday.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced a partnership in January to tackle rising health-care costs.

They will form a new company for the venture, which will be headquartered in Boston, a hub for biotechnology and medical research. It will be "free from profit-making incentives and constraints. [...]

USG takes $7 billion offer from Knauf after spurned advances

Sheetrock maker USG Corp accepted a $7 billion cash offer from German construction products maker Gebr Knauf KG on Monday after three months of back-and-forth negotiations that began when longtime USG shareholder Warren Buffett teamed up with the German bidder to sell his stake.

The companies agreed to a $44 per share deal, a bump from the $42 initially offered by the private German family-owned company in late March. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc had a 31 percent stake in USG and has said previously it would offload its stake. [...]

The Berkshire Hathaway investment dates back to 2001, when Buffett helped the company out of bankruptcy with a loan that was later converted to a stake in the company’s equity so large that a wholesale acquisition of the entire company remained one of the few ways for Berkshire to exit the investment without pushing down the share price. [...]

Buffett, Dimon urge end to quarterly profit forecasts

Investor Warren Buffett and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon are encouraging public companies to stop predicting their quarterly earnings and focus on long-term goals.

The two executives said on CNBC Thursday that companies that focus on hitting their quarterly numbers may do things that hurt them in the future, such as delaying investments or changing when certain gains are recorded. [...]

Grainger Is Caught Between an Amazon and a Buffett

[...] Intriguingly, Grainger may now have other competition via Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which last year acquired Production Tool Supply. The deal wasn't publicized, but the company has since used it to launch Berkshire eSupply, a wholesale service business that aims to provide smaller distributors with access to e-commerce platforms, fulfillment services and a greater product offering than they’d otherwise be able to support. [...]

Warren Buffet visits metro to announce new GEICO service center, 500 new jobs in Lenexa

Warren Buffett is bringing what he calls his favorite company to [the Kansas City metro area]. GEICO Insurance will open a service center in Lenexa, bringing 500 jobs.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer and billionaire CEO Warren Buffett joined representatives from the city of Lenexa, Johnson County and Geico on Tuesday morning to make the announcement. [...]

Lenexa city leaders said the city did not offer any financial incentives to lure GEICO but said the state did offer some incentives. [...]

Warren Buffett helps Israel sell $80 million in bonds at Omaha dinner

Warren Buffett hosted a dinner in Omaha this week for investors who bought $80 million worth of Israel Bonds, a source of revenue for a country where Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has a major investment.

The dinner at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center was the second time Buffett has helped the Israeli group, the Development Corporation for Israel, formed in 1951 to raise money to build Israel’s economy. Since then, the bonds have raised about $41 billion.

Giving it Away: The Other Buffett Family Business

[...] Now 64 with two grown children, Susie Buffett has a more-than-full-time day job. Her Sherwood Foundation, formerly known as the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, gave away $141 million in 2016, according to the most recent IRS filing, funding dozens of nonprofit initiatives in education, social justice, and poverty alleviation. That’s everything from a local ballet company to Big Brothers/Big Sisters to a black police-officers group to Omaha’s Bike Union—and those are just the Bs. Each of these groups is carefully evaluated before the first check is cut. “I don’t want to come off like I’m complaining,” Buffett says. “I am grateful beyond words for what we get to do. But it’s not so easy to try to do it well, and we are trying to do it well.” [...]

Two billionaires walk into an Omaha Dairy Queen. A blizzard of excitement ensues

Omaha did a double-take when folks there spotted Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban eating lunch Monday in Buffett's hometown at the Dairy Queen near 72nd and Q streets. [...] Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, memorialized his trip to the land of Dilly Bars on his Instagram, where he shared a photo of the two men. [...]

The Omaha World-Herald got the scoop on at least one topic that came up over lunch — basketball. [...] Buffett's office would not disclose what else the two men talked about, the newspaper reported. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/31/14

Ocwen Would Do Well to Follow the Lessons of Berkshire’s Clayton Homes (NY Times)

On the surface, it's a story about Ocwen Financial Corp's struggles, but really it's an extensive story singing the praises of Berkshire subsidiary Clayton Homes's business practices.

Though Clayton also concentrates in subprime loans, it has had an entirely different track record, prospering throughout the financial crisis. It had no increase in customer foreclosure rates. It met all its obligations as a lender, borrower and servicer. And it even acquired several failed competitors to move to No. 1 in its segment from No. 4. [...] What distinguished Clayton Homes was that its financing division, unlike that of competitors, did not engage in predatory lending or exploit its customers’ naiveté. Mr. Clayton attributed the difference to his company’s maintenance of a “sacred wall” between sales and credit that competitors failed to maintain.

Buffett’s DQ bringing soft-serve treats back to Kuwait (Gulf Times)

International Dairy Queen, the fast-food and ice-cream seller owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, is bringing its American-style meals and treats back to Kuwait after an absence of more than a decade. More than 20 locations will open in the country in the next five years, Minneapolis-based Dairy Queen said in a December 23 statement announcing a new franchise agreement. Four to five may begin operations in 2015, Brad Houser, vice president of international development, said in a phone interview. [...] Most food and treats offered in Kuwait will be the same as those on US menus, Houser said. One item unique to the Middle East is the beef kofta, a spicier, gyro-type sandwich. Of the chain’s more than 6,300 locations, about 22% are outside of the US and Canada, about 2 percentage points more than in January.

Railroads, unions to begin collective bargaining talks next month (Omaha World Herald)

Labor negotiations are set to begin between Union Pacific, BNSF Railway and unions that represent about 10,000 railroad workers in Nebraska and Iowa. Formal negotiations are scheduled for next month on a new collective bargaining agreement between the nation’s freight railroads and 13 unions representing about 143,000 workers. The most recent contracts were ratified in 2011 and 2012. Key to the talks will be compensation, health care costs and work rules that describe who is allowed to do what on trains and in rail yards, workshops and offices, according to bargaining notices sent to the unions by the railroads.

Zawawi Minerals' firms now part of Warren Buffett's investment (Zawya)

Not really a "Buffett" investment, but it makes a good headline overseas as businesses are eager to promote themselves as connected to Buffett.

USG Corporation, through its 50:50 joint venture USG-Boral Building Products, is a shareholder in Zawawi Gypsum LLC and USG -- Zawawi Drywall SFZ LLC, which are at the forefront of efforts to create In Country Value for the Sultanate's prodigious gypsum resources. Both firms are subsidiaries of Zawawi Minerals LLC , a prominent player in Oman's rapidly expanding mining sector," said Alawi Zawawi, Chairman of Zawawi Minerals LLC. [...] Berkshire Hathaway's 30.50 per cent stake in USG Corporation effectively gives the US investment conglomerate an indirect shareholding interest in the two Omani firms, amounting to 8.39 per cent in Zawawi Gypsum LLC and 7.63 per cent in USG-Zawawi Drywall SFZ LLC. In essence, the two companies are now part of Warren Buffett's holding company which today ranks as the fifth most valuable public enterprise in the United States, with a market cap of nearly $350 billion.

NetJets adds 10 Signature Series Phenom 300s to Embraer aircraft order (CNN / PRNewswire)

Embraer Executive Jets and NetJets® Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company and the worldwide leader in private aviation, have signed an agreement to convert 10 Signature Series Phenom 300 purchase options into firm orders. At current list prices, this addition to the contract is worth US$ 89.55 million, which will be included in the backlog of the fourth quarter of 2014. In October 2010, a purchase agreement was signed for 50 firm and 75 options. The total value of the deal may exceed US$ 1 billion, if all options are exercised. [...] Embraer has now delivered 36 Signature Series Phenom 300s to NetJets. These aircraft operate in the NetJets fleet, with fractional owners in the U.S. and Europe. Deliveries of the 10 additional aircraft will begin as of January 2016.

Berkshire News Briefs - 8/27/14

Buffett greases $11B Burger King-Tim Hortons deal (CNBC)

Burger King on Tuesday confirmed plans to acquire Ontario-based Tim Hortons for about $11 billion—creating a new company to be based in Canada with combined sales of $23 billion. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett is helping to fund the deal by committing $3 billion of preferred equity financing. The news release on the deal did not disclose the terms for Berkshire, which is only a financing source and will not have any participation in the management and operation of the business.

Burger King, Warren Buffett under fire for Canadian inversion deal (LA Times)

Burger King's overall effective tax rate in 2013 was 27.5%, according to its annual report. Tim Hortons' effective tax rate for the same year was 26.8%. "We don’t expect there to be meaningful tax savings, nor do we expect there to be a meaningful change in our tax rate," Burger King Chief Executive Daniel Schwartz told reporters on a conference call. [...] Buffett said Tuesday that it made sense for the combined company's headquarters to be in Canada. “Tim Hortons earns more money than Burger King does,” he said told the Financial Times. “I just don’t know how the Canadians would feel about Tim Hortons moving to Florida. The main thing here is to make the Canadians happy.”

Buffett’s Berkshire to pay $896,000 over reporting violation charges (Fortune)

This story was just breaking when I included a short brief about it in last week's news briefs. Here's a better story about it.

Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to pay a $896,000 civil penalty in order to settle charges that it failed to give federal regulators advance notice before significantly increasing its stake in Chicago-based drywall maker USG last year. [...] The regulators said that Berkshire violated pre-merger reporting laws in December when it failed to provide advance notice before it exchanged $243.8 million of USG convertible notes for 21.39 million common shares, increasing Berkshire’s stake in USG to roughly 28% from about 15%. [...] What’s more, the FTC says the alleged violation came just a few months after Berkshire produced a similar violation when it increased its stake in financial services company Symetra Financial. The FTC chose not to punish Berkshire for that alleged violation, with the commission instead deciding to take Buffett’s firm on its word that it would comply with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act’s filing requirements going forward.

Squeezed by consumers' focus on fresh foods, Heinz revamps frozen meals (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Known primarily as a maker of ketchup and condiments, Heinz is a major player in the $50 billion frozen food industry, with brands such as Ore-Ida potatoes, Bagel Bites, Weight Watchers Smart Ones, T.G.I. Friday's and Nancy's. But the industry has lately experienced a slump in sales, as consumers give frozen fare a cold shoulder and increasingly choose fresh foods they perceive as healthier. That's put more pressure on Heinz and others in the industry to revamp products.

Heinz recalls four batches of infant food in China (Reuters)

Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co has recalled some infant food in eastern China after it was found to contain lead in excess of the allowable limit, the company said on Monday. The move by Heinz comes after food safety regulators in eastern Zhejiang province said on Friday that they had found "excessive amounts of lead" in the company's AD Calcium Hi-Protein Cereal. [...] "This relates to an isolated regional withdrawal in eastern China," company spokesman Michael Mullen said in e-mailed comments to Reuters. "Extensive testing confirmed that no other Heinz baby food varieties are affected."

Rise of discount retailers hits Heinz's Irish business (Irish Independent)

The Irish arm of food giant Heinz has blamed the increasing impact of discount retailers here for contributing to a 8.4% drop in its Irish business last year. [...] The principal activity of the firm is the manufacture of frozen food products for Heinz's manufacturing supply chain hub. The directors also state that revenues were impacted by "the meat integrity issues that received prominent media coverage in the first half of the current period". Part of the firm's business is to sell, market and distribute Heinz products in the Irish market and according to the directors "while in overall market terms the company's core categories have declined consistent with the softness in the Irish grocery trade, the company has grown relative market share".

Berkshire's Probable Q3 Strategy For Chicago Bridge & Iron (Seeking Alpha)

Chicago Bridge & Iron has become a battleground stock in the last several months, following a short thesis issued by Prescience Point in mid-June, which has resulted in declining share prices, including questions about the quality of CBI's accounting statements. It appears the market was and continues to hold Berkshire Hathaway as the final arbiter for this conflict, as CBI's largest shareholder, and the most recent data indicates Berkshire continues to see value in the company. [...] According to the [13F] filing, Berkshire's position increased by about 12 percent, to 9.89 percent of CBI equity during the second quarter. Bloomberg also reported on August 21st that, according to a report to state insurance regulators, Berkshire bought those shares acquired during the second quarter "at an average price of $70.34 over a stretch that ended June 20." This appears to indicate that Berkshire acquired these new shares immediately following the initial decline that followed the Prescience Point report.

China's BYD shares slide 9 pct in Hong Kong after H1 earnings drop (Reuters)

Berkshire Hathaway owns 10% of BYD.

Shares of BYD Co Ltd were set to open 8.7 percent lower in Hong Kong on Monday after it posted a drop in first-half net profit as sluggish sales of gasoline cars offset a surge in its electric vehicle business. [...] BYD saw its first half net profit fell 15.5 percent to 360.7 million yuan ($58.64 million) from 426.9 million yuan a year earlier, dragged down by a 27 percent fall in vehicle sales volume.

Berkshire News Briefs - 8/20/14

The biggest story of the week was Berkshire Hathaway's 2nd Quarter 13F filing, detailing the changes to the company's stock holdings for the period ending June 30. Here's a easy-to-read chart of the portfolio as it stands now.

This story has a run-down of all the changes in the largest holdings:

Tracking Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio - Q2 2014 Update (Seeking Alpha)

The only two entirely new positions this quarter were Now Inc. (DNOW), the National Oilwell Varco spin-off, and Charter Communications:

Warren Buffett buying into cable (RBR-TVBR)

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is again putting money on cable TV consolidation bets made by Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John Malone. The Oracle of Omaha’s investment company has taken a new, $366 million position in Charter Communications Inc., the Stamford, Connecticut-based cable TV company in which Malone’s Liberty Media is the largest shareholder.

A look at three portfolio moves in particular:

What’s Buffett Doing With His Money? (Wall St. Cheat Sheet)

First, Berkshire added about $340 million worth of IBM. This is not a huge transaction for Buffett, but he is adding this to an already substantial stake now valued at over $13 billion. [...] Second, Buffett has been buying Wal-Mart. While he only bought a small position in the second-quarter, I suspect that he has been buying more recently as the stock has been weak. [...] Finally, Buffett has been adding shares of Suncor — a Canadian oil company — while selling shares in ConocoPhillips and its recent spinoff Phillips 66. This is an interesting move and it probably reflects Suncor’s higher growth and the fact that Canada has a lower — 15 percent — corporate tax rate than we have in the U.S.

Berkshire Hathaway stock tops $200,000 (Yahoo/AP)

Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock, which first topped $1,000 in 1983, on Thursday surpassed $200,000. [...] The stock has had its ups and downs. The Class A shares first hit six figures in October 2006 and peaked at $151,650 in December 2007, when the Great Recession began. They fell as low as $70,050 in March 2009. On Thursday, they reached an all-time high of $202,454.99. Berkshire Hathaway has come a long way since Buffett's investment partnership started buying shares for $7 and $8 apiece in 1962. At that point, Berkshire was a New England textile company.

How Buffett Is Changing The Future Of Berkshire's Float - From Insurance To Uncle Sam (Seeking Alpha)

Insurance float is a concept that Warren Buffett has clearly explained as a source of enduring value for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. However, there are other sources of float that are becoming more important to Berkshire over time, but are not well understood by investors. Deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) are one area worthy of focus, and while I know that tax is boring, you will realize Buffett is truly a genius when it comes to float, so bear with me as I try my best to explain how it works, as it is complex. The first idea that might spring to mind for many people on deferred taxes is unrealised capital gains - to be clear, the focus of this article extends deeper than just this. Read on...

Berkshire Unit Said to Hires Two AIG Executives in Asia (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. hired two Asia-based executives from American International Group Inc. as part of a push to expand its presence in the region, a person familiar with the matter said. Marc Breuil, AIG’s head of country operations in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Marcus Portbury, the regional head of casualty insurance, are joining Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s specialty insurance business, said the person, who requested anonymity because there was no public announcement. Breuil will lead the company’s efforts across Asia and Portbury will be head of casualty in the region, according to the person.

Berkshire to pay U.S. civil fine for violating reporting rules (Yahoo / Reuters)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has agreed to pay an $896,000 civil penalty to the U.S. government for having failed to timely report that it had boosted its voting stake in building products company USG Corp . [...] The government said Berkshire failed to made the necessary filing before swapping some USG convertible notes into common stock last Dec. 9. Berkshire made a corrective filing on Jan. 3, 2014, the complaint said.

Buffett Reveals Dow Chemical Position! (From 2009! It Was Old News!) (WSJ)

On a day when big hedge-fund managers were disclosing their latest positions, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. alerted regulators Thursday to a big investment in Dow Chemical Co. It’s a position the company has held since 2009. The holding was hardly a secret: It was trumpeted by Dow at the time as one of the reasons it was able to complete a big acquisition, and Berkshire and Dow have discussed it in securities filings and public statements since. But Mr. Buffett’s firm, a sprawling conglomerate that famously employs just 25 people in its home office, admitted Thursday that a required “13G” form “was not timely filed” back when it should have been in 2009.

Vacant plant in Harrisburg has a new owner (KMTR 16)

The Monaco Coach plant has sat empty for months, but that will soon come to an end. According to Harrisburg [Oregon] City Administrator Brian Latta, RV maker Forest River Inc. has purchased the plant. Paul Eskritt with Forest River said the plant will start work in September with about 30 employees, most of whom they hope to hire locally. They plan to expand employment this winter with a second production line.

BNSF, CP improve rail service as harvest test nears (Journal of Commerce)

BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway say they are steadily reducing a backlog of grain shipments, but agricultural shippers warn the true test of whether they can handle the upcoming harvest will come quickly, in a week or two. Meanwhile, pressure from Washington, D.C., is mounting on the two railroads to make greater progress in reducing a backlog of shipments caused by the harsh 2013-2014 winter and a surge of freight. Following the U.S. Surface Transportation Board directing in late July that BNSF and CP post weekly updates on backlogged grain shipments, the U.S. regulatory agency said it will hold a public hearing on the issue in early September in Fargo, North Dakota.

Warren Buffett tips Heinz Australia into red (Australia Financial Review)

Warren Buffett, the second richest person in the United States, has inadvertently triggered a tumble into the red by the Australian operations of baked beans, baby food and soup maker Heinz. A heavy restructuring of the balance sheet at Heinz’s Australian operations and a recalibration of tax losses caused the Australian business known as Heinz Wattie’s to tumble to a loss of $12.3 million in its latest financial year.

Huge Geico Insurance Banner Falls on Fremont Home (NBC Bay Area)

One Bay Area couple can now say for certain their house is covered by insurance. A 4,000-square-foot Geico insurance banner being towed by a plane came loose and fell directly on their house Friday in Fremont.

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/7/14

(Also see Berkshire Energy & Subsidiary News for 1/7/14.)

WEB on Stocks in the 20th Century (Fool Boards)

This post from the Fool's public BRK board is a transcript of Buffett talking about the history of the stock market in the 20th century.

The country will do very well over time, but you will see these huge waves and if you can stay objective throughout that—if you can detach yourself temperamentally from the crowd—you get very rich. And you won’t have to be very bright…It doesn’t take brains, it takes temperament. It takes the ability to sit there and look at something—when I started out in 1950, I would go through and find things at 2x earnings. And they were perfectly decent businesses and people wanted jobs at those companies and everybody knew they were going to be around and they wouldn’t buy them at 2x earnings. And that’s when interest rates were 2.5%.

Berkshire Seen Failing Buffett 5-Year Test for First Time (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [...] is poised to report that it failed to increase net worth more rapidly than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index during the past five years, according to analyst estimates. It would be the first time the billionaire investor fell short of the goal since he took over the Omaha, Nebraska-based company in 1965. Buffett, 83, highlights the comparison as a way for shareholders to evaluate his performance against a low-cost fund that tracks the index. The S&P 500 returned 128 percent including dividends since the end of 2008, fueled by the Federal Reserve’s stimulus efforts and higher corporate profits. Berkshire’s book value per Class A share, Buffett’s yardstick, rose 80 percent to $126,766 starting at the same point until Sept. 30, the latest data available.

Berkshire Jacks Up USG Corp Holdings To 30.5 Percent (ValueWalk)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. increased its holdings in USG Corporation to 30.5% following the issuance of shares upon conversion of USG’s 10% Contingent Convertible Senior Notes due 2018. Berkshire now holds 43.43M shares in USG, a building materials company, according to its 13D/A filing. [...] USG Corporation is the biggest manufacturer of gypsum-based building products such as gypsum wallboard in the United States. Warren Buffett has had an interest in the company since 2000 when he had purchased a 15% stake. [...] Buffett is known to have a keen interest in the building industry, though one motive ascribed to this is slightly uncharitable, and, according to investment manager Richar Losch’s blog is “hurricane synergy”: “This is the idea that, if Berkshire Hathaway Inc. can buy enough companies in the building materials, construction, and manufactured housing industries, then, when its insurance companies are paying insurance claims for catastrophic damage due to hurricanes and earthquakes, Berkshire Hathaway, as a company, will just be transferring money from one pocket to another.”

Here's How Warren Buffett Made $9.5 Billion in 3 Months (Fool)

Although we won't know until February what stocks Warren Buffett bought and sold in the fourth quarter, a quick analysis of his most recent investments shows that Berkshire Hathaway probably had one of its best quarters ... ever. Although the acquisition of ExxonMobil was the big news in the fourth quarter, perhaps the biggest news was just how well Berkshire Hathaway did. Provided no stocks were added or sold in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio, Buffett probably made almost $9.5 billion in the fourth quarter, and the portfolio had a return of more than 10.3%.

Buffett Embarrasses Analysts Again in His Latest Big Win (Benzinga)

Remember when Warren Buffett bought all of those newspapers? In fact, he bought 63 in total for $142 million along with loans totaling $445 million. At the same time, he took his fair share of criticism from all of the “experts” [...] But once again, Buffett showed his experience while simultaneously proving to the “experts” that they still have a lot to learn. As part of the deal, Berkshire Hathaway negotiated the right to “penny warrants.” This gave Buffett the right to buy 4.65 million shares of Media General for a penny a piece. According to the Wall Street Journal, Berkshire exercised those rights in September of 2012, taking a 17 percent stake in the company. By the end of last year, that $4 stock when Buffett became involved had a sticker price of more than $22. That makes Buffett’s position worth about $105 million. Add to that the interest Media General is paying to Berkshire for the loan and what you have is profit for Berkshire. Turns out Buffett wasn’t as nutty as people said back in 2012.

The 2 Real Threats To The Future Of Berkshire Hathaway (And Its Defense Against Them) (Seeking Alpha)

There are two areas, however, which may be harder to sustain without the presence of Buffett himself. (1) Human excellence. This is the real Berkshire edge. Will it be maintained? (2) A unique model of decentralized management but centralized capital allocation. This is made possible in part by the excellence of the managers of the various parts and in part by the authority of Buffett himself, who has allocated capital both internally and externally with no formal help beyond the suggestions and inputs of Charlie Munger and a few of his lieutenants. Is this model sustainable without Buffett?

Here it is, your moment of zen...

My Wish for 2014 (Fool Boards)