Berkshire News Briefs - 1/31/14

Berkshire Is Said to Face Start of U.S. Systemic-Risk Scrutiny (Bloomberg)

Regulators are starting to scrutinize Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to determine whether it is important enough to the financial system to require Federal Reserve supervision, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council staff’s study of Berkshire doesn’t mean the panel is inclined to designate the Omaha, Nebraska-based company, said the people, who requested anonymity because the work isn’t public. Any decision could be months away, they said. The company’s reinsurance operation is the world’s fourth-largest.

Buffett Leans on 29-Year-Old Cool to Oversee Problems (Bloomberg)

Now 29, [Tracy Britt] Cool is one of Buffett’s most-trusted advisers, traveling the country to assist a constellation of companies too small to command her boss’s direct attention. The billionaire said his confidence in Cool is one reason he agreed to buy party-supply seller Oriental Trading. In 2012, she was named chairman of that business and three other units, including paint company Benjamin Moore. [...] “If you have 60 or 70 children, you’re going to have one or two that are going to be problems from time to time,” said Buffett, who focuses on acquisitions, large stock bets, insurance and the railroad. “Part of her job is to make sure that, where there is some area where the companies can benefit from some interaction, they actually do benefit. I’ve never done anything along those lines.”

4 things to know about Warren Buffett adviser (USA Today)

One of the rising stars — perhaps the rising star — at Berkshire right now is a 29-year-old woman named Tracy Britt Cool. Buffett hired her right out of Harvard Business School, and over the course of five years, she has become one of the most interesting and increasingly important people in the business world. Here are a few things to know about Cool.

The Dairy Queen® System Expands Global Footprint (MarketWatch/Business Wire)

The Dairy Queen® system, the international retail treat category leader and part of Berkshire Hathaway , has recently re-entered Taiwan, and also plans to open the first DQ® locations in Vietnam and Guyana during 2014, which will bring the number of countries outside the U.S. where the Dairy Queen system has a presence to 24.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance To Acquire Noel Group's MyAssist Inc. and Insure America LLC (Business Wire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance today announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase from Noel Group the assets of MyAssist Inc., a live-agent personal-assistance and telematics service provider, and Insure America LLC, a niche program administrator which provides insurance products to the travel industry.

Buffett's Berkshire acquires MyAssist in-car concierge service used by Mercedes, Ford (Auto News)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is betting on a service that helps companies including Ford Motor Co. and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz provide live, in-car support to drivers. [...] For Mercedes-Benz, MyAssist provides personalized trip assistance from human attendants using "location-aware technology" from Verizon Communications Inc.

BNSF Wins Appeal of U.S. Rule Lowering Coal Rail Rates (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railroad Co., the carrier owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., won an appeal of a U.S. Surface Transportation Board ruling that its rates for shipping Western coal were too high. [...] The board, which regulates railroad rates,originally ordered BNSF to repay $345 million to shippers represented by the Western Fuels Association Inc. and Basin Electric Power Cooperative Inc. The court today directed the board to explain why its decisions were reasonable, in addition to weighing more data.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Expands into Builder’s Risk Segment (Insurance Journal)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is expanding its property capabilities to include builder’s risk insurance. [...] “These new capabilities enable us to round out our construction offering, bringing large-scale capacity and technical underwriting experience to large projects” [...]

Buffett's $1 Billion Safe Bet on NCAA (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway has insured a $1 billion prize by Quicken Loans Inc. that would pay the winner $25 million a year over the next 40 years, or one lump sum of $500 million. It’s by far the largest payout offered for predicting the National Collegiate Athletic Association's tournament -- Fox Sports recently put up $1 million for the same feat, and Yahoo’s contest would have paid $5 million. With the odds of filling out a flawless, 64-team bracket about 1 in 9 quintillion, Buffett’s money appears to be safe. For reference, you’d have a better chance at hitting four straight holes-in-one or winning three consecutive Powerball lotteries.

Warren Buffett Offering $1 Billion For Perfect NCAA Bracket (The Onion)

“The winner at my office gets a Chili’s gift card. So it’d be pretty sweet if I could win this one too.”

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/19/14

Upstart Managers School Sage of Omaha (Wall Street Journal)

Two investment managers, hired by the 83-year-old billionaire in recent years as part of his succession plan, each posted returns last year that outdid both Mr. Buffett's performance as Berkshire's top stock picker and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, according to people familiar with the matter. The 2013 returns mark the second year in a row that the two men beat the broader market gauge, which gained 32% including dividends last year, as well as their boss. [...] The younger managers' strong performance is further proof that Mr. Buffett "hit the jackpot" with their hires, as he said in his last letter. The 83-year-old billionaire investor hired Todd Combs and Ted Weschler to eventually manage all of Berkshire's investments once he is no longer at the helm, although he has no plans to step down.

The Tiny Companies Making Warren Buffett Billions (Fool Video)

Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett have purchased droves of smaller businesses over the years and brought them under the Berkshire-umbrella. As Berkshire Hathaway continues to transform into a collection of operating businesses, how should investors view this "Other" segment?

Speaking of those tiny companies making billions... Berkshire Hathaway acquired Utah-based R.C. Willey Home Furnishings in 1995.

Bill Child built a company that Warren Buffett wanted to buy (4-Traders)

Just like many of Utah's successful businesses, R.C. Willey Home Furnishings started as a part-time sideline. Rufus Call Willey, a lineman for Utah Power, began selling Hotpoint brand appliances door-to-door in 1932 in rural Syracuse, a tiny town in Davis County. [...] In 1950, Willey built his first tiny store next door to his house in Syracuse, having operated out of the back of his little red pickup truck until then. When he died unexpectedly in 1954, son-in-law Bill Child, recently graduated from college with a degree in education, was asked to take over the business. Based on a loyal customer base and a good reputation, Child said, "OK."

Cannon Equipment acquired by Berkshire Hathaway's Marmon (Cannon Falls Beacon)

This was one small part of the bigger IMI acquisition that was announced in December.

Cannon Equipment [...] officially became part of billionaire Warren Buffetts's empire on January 1. The Marmon Group, headquartered in Chicago, a division of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway company, officially acquired Cannon Equipment as of the start of 2014. [...] Cannon Equipment traces its roots to Point-of-Sales, founded in Cannon Falls by Howard "Speed" Fredrickson in 1966. IMI Corp., out of the United Kingdom, bought the company in 1981. It sold Cannon Equipment and some other similar companies it owned to Marmon for $1.1 billion in cash. Cannon Equipment specializes in design and manufacture of material handling carts, cages, racks and automation equipment used in retail dairy and newspaper sales.

Marmon Highway Technologies Introduces Fontaine Intermodal (Trucking Info)

Fontaine Engineered Products, Inc., a Marmon Highway Technologies/Berkshire Hathaway company, recently established a stand-alone division – Fontaine Intermodal – to design and produce innovative products for the growing intermodal transportation market. Fontaine Intermodal operates a dedicated facility in Jasper, Ala., where it produces the Fontaine Evolution Intermodal Flat Deck product.

Mass. mill that started Buffett's empire razed (Yahoo/AP)

The Massachusetts textile mill that helped billionaire Warren Buffett launch his investment empire, but which he also called one of his biggest blunders, is being torn down. Roland Letendre, the current owner of the Berkshire Hathaway mill in New Bedford, started demolishing the structure on Monday after efforts to sell the property failed. The mill, built in 1927, had been on the market with an asking price of $500,000, but it needs about $1 million in repairs, Letendre said. [...] Buffett, then an ambitious 34-year-old investor, acquired control of the textile manufacturer in 1965. Overwhelmed by foreign competition, Buffett closed the mill in 1985 and sold the complex in 2000 to Letendre for $215,000.

NextEra Energy Fires Up 20 MW Solar Farm (Fool)

NextEra Energy announced today that it has begun commercial operation of its 20 MW Mountain View Solar Energy Project located in North Las Vegas. The latest addition to NextEra Energy's renewable energy portfolio, Mountain View's 84,000 photovoltaic solar panels will push power to Berkshire Hathaway-owned NV Energy.

What's the Difference Between Berkshire Hathaway Class A and B Shares? (Fool Video)

Berkshire Hathaway is known for a lot of things. Its Chairman and CEO, Warren Buffett, its successful track record, and of course, its expensive Class A share price. In this segment of The Motley Fool's financials-focused show, Where the Money Is , banking analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson take a question from their mailbag regarding the the Class A and Class B shares for Berkshire Hathaway.

8 Hilarious Warren Buffett Insights From the Ronald Reagan Era (Fool)

A lot has changed since 1984: Ronald Reagan isn't president, gas costs well more than a dollar per gallon, and Apple personal computers look considerably different. But, if just one thing hasn't changed in 30 years, it's Warren Buffett's letter to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders. Every year, the letter is chock-full of investing insight and witty commentary. Here are eight of Buffett's best lines from 30 years ago. [...] "Our experience has been [big ideas] pop up occasionally. (How's that for a strategic plan?)"