Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[Jurgis]

Gee, I don't like that news. Gates was the one I was counting on to keep BRK rational once Warren and Charlie aren't there.

 

He also left MSFT board, so it's not BRK specific.

 

But I don't like it anyway. IMO Gates >> Chenault.

[alpha]

Gates had a number of unique characteristics that made him an ideal board member for BRK, sad to see him go.

[DooDiligence]

This seems like a bad choice.

 

www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-how-amex-lost-costco/

[Mephistopheles]

I don't get it, how many hours a year did Gates have to spend at Berkshire or MSFT? Doesn't seem like much. It seems like he had most of the rest of his time for his foundation. So sad to see him leave.

[Guest longinvestor]

It would stand to reason that the Gates couple is going to focus full time for the rest of their lives on future pandemics and how to mobilize society better. Dr Hans Rosling influenced and implored Melinda Gates to keep it going, nobody on earth is better positioned than this couple to do something about this. We are witnessing epic botching as we speak.

[james22]

Sad to see Bill G leave the board. Perhaps Berkshire can now buy back stock from Gates Foundation w/o any insider conflict of interest issues.

 

Perhaps Berkshire can now buy Microsoft.

[stahleyp]

I wonder how much I should read into things when Buffett isn't saying that he's buying right now. He said he isn't selling but I've not heard a peep about buying either (perhaps he has though?).

[sleepydragon]

I wonder how much I should read into things when Buffett isn't saying that he's buying right now. He said he isn't selling but I've not heard a peep about buying either (perhaps he has though?).

 

He did say he didn’t think this would go away by summer.

And he did say things are very different now from the time he did the CNBC interview.

And he did say we have past the best windows to control the situation.

And he said he listen to bill gates about this. And Gates now resigned from this board seats , likely fully focus on this.

He also said he mentioned epidemics in his annual letter. And we know he also said stock could go down 50%.

He did say it could be not a big deal

[ValueMaven]

Was able to pick up some Berk at $180.40 on Thursday ... I think I got lucky

[wescobrk]

Was able to pick up some Berk at $180.40 on Thursday ... I think I got lucky

 

Should have more opportunities this week. Futures are limit down.

[stahleyp]

I wonder how much I should read into things when Buffett isn't saying that he's buying right now. He said he isn't selling but I've not heard a peep about buying either (perhaps he has though?).

 

He did say he didn’t think this would go away by summer.

And he did say things are very different now from the time he did the CNBC interview.

And he did say we have past the best windows to control the situation.

And he said he listen to bill gates about this. And Gates now resigned from this board seats , likely fully focus on this.

He also said he mentioned epidemics in his annual letter. And we know he also said stock could go down 50%.

He did say it could be not a big deal

 

Good information. thanks.

[Castanza]

[stahleyp]

speculating here...but I wonder if the market will keep dropping until Berkshire has better performance than the S&P 500 since March 2009.

[wescobrk]

I'm so glad he started streaming the annual meeting.

The irony is this will be the best annual meeting Berkshire from his first one in the 60's and no one (physically) will be there.

 

I'm going to have the popcorn ready for that 1st Sat in May!

[gfp]

Berkshire going about their regular business - with a Yen note offering, size unknown - probably small, routine refinancing

 

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312520084148/d861445d424b5.htm

[LC]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/20/private-jet-industry-asks-for-bailout-funding.html

 

The private-jet industry is asking Congress for bailout money, even as many private jet companies say sales are strong as wealthy flyers avoid commercial flights.

 

The National Business Aviation Association, or NBAA, which represents private-jet companies and corporate jets, sent a joint letter with other industry groups to congressional leaders saying the industry is facing “increasing financial uncertainty” and that private-jet companies should be included in any airline or aviation bailout.

 

 

[warrior]

I just wonder, where is Warren Buffet.

No op-ed this time...

[Simple Investor]

Agree.  Be great to hear his thoughts.

[Dynamic]

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-byd-blade-ev-battery-stands-extreme-durability-tests

 

Some coverage in the UK automotive press of BYD's Blade battery and it's extreme testing including high temperature, nail punctures and extreme overcharging.

 

It remains to be seen whether the capacity, energy density, charge and discharge rate and cost are advantageous for mass adoption or whether this will make it preferable for certain niches only such as aero or rugged use cases. I suspect production capacity will be a limiting factor as demand is so high, so unless they licence it to others it's unlikely to dominate

[redskin]

https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2020/03/fed-to-delay-implementation-of-revised-bank-control-framework/

 

The new control regulations are delayed for 6 months.  I was thinking we'd start to see BRK increase its bank holdings after this was implemented.

[wescobrk]

I'm going out on a limb and predicting a preferred deal with warrants by Berkshire in the next 30-60 days. Not a controversial comment. The interesting question is which sector? Airlines is probably near the top.

[aws]

Well hopefully it works out better than the Oxy deal.  I wonder what the market price would be of the preferreds if they traded - probably well below par at this point.  And the warrants have to be considered pretty worthless as well, especially if Oxy starts diluting by paying the preferred dividend in shares.  I'd certainly take another BAC or GS deal.

[rb]

I'm going out on a limb and predicting a preferred deal with warrants by Berkshire in the next 30-60 days. Not a controversial comment. The interesting question is which sector? Airlines is probably near the top.

I'll go ahead and say no. Compared to other times, the Fed is really aggressive. The Fed offers better terms than Berkshire.

 

Pref + warrants make no sense for airlines now. They can't pay the div. So the pref is automatically common now. Why would you do that? It's all in. Buy an airline, use your financial muscle to basically do bridge financing for a year or two? That makes more sense. But if some combo of Fed/Treasury rescues the other airlines you're the biggest moron that God ever let through the door for doing that cause your competition has a lower cost structure than you do.

 

So if you're looking for a pref deal you're probably looking somewhere that really just needs a bridge loan that's not that highly visible that the government would give a shit about. Airlines ain't it. Aercap would be a more likely candidate. But then why would they do a pref deal? Why wouldn't they just do a Berkadia type deal where they just buy the planes and lease them after they start to fly again?

 

I will add that while the pref+warrant deals are shiny because they're high IRR, they're not so attractive from a shareholder perspective. Once markets calm and the storm passes these guys refinance and cash returns to Berkshire at a time when there redeployment opportunities are less. Think about it. They did a ton of pref+ deals during 08/09. How many of those companies are in the Berkshire portfolio today?

[Gregmal]

IDK but given the previous interest in SRG, and the current concerns in the market, I wouldn't be shocked to see something done with a company like Simon. At the end of the day though, no one has a clue what the old man will do.

[UK]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-the-coronavirus-shareholders-will-have-to-share-their-crown-11585829466

 

"As companies of all sizes shut their doors and make claims against their business interruption policies, insurers are coming under the spotlight. Unsurprisingly, few documents explicitly detail how they will deal with this unprecedented pandemic, creating gray areas that insurers and the policyholder will view differently. Claims will be in the “many billions of dollars, if not trillions,” according to Ben Lenhart of law firm Covington. Over the coming months and years these claims will work their way through settlements, arbitration or the courts. But governments are already getting involved. Four U.S. state legislators—insurance is regulated on a state-by-state basis—and a U.K. government committee are all considering both what type of financial support to offer insurers and how to compel or force the companies to be generous with their customers. Insurance, usually considered an economically defensive industry, has underperformed in the current crisis. On both sides of the Atlantic the sector is down about a third this year, compared with 24% for the S&P 500 index and 25% for the Stoxx Europe 600."

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pressure-mounts-on-insurance-companies-to-pay-out-for-coronavirus-11585573938

 

"In at least three states, lawmakers have proposed legislation to force insurers to pay billions of dollars for business losses tied to government-ordered shutdowns. In other states, regulators are pushing insurers to expand coverage under personal-car policies to also cover certain commercial activity, such as delivery of takeout meals by owners and employees of restaurants that are struggling to survive bans on dine-in eating. Some regulators have declared moratoriums on cancellations and nonrenewals of policies. And some are urging car insurers to lower people’s bills. These states note that policyholders now working from home don’t have the commutes they used to and thus aren’t on the roads as much. This push comes despite specific contractual exclusions in most standard policies for claims stemming from viruses. As a result, some insurers are threatening court challenges over these efforts to rewrite policies and provide benefits that weren’t priced in. “If elected officials or courts require payment for perils that were excluded and for which no premium was ever collected, catastrophic results are likely to occur and we may deal with a second crisis: insurance insolvencies and impairments,” said Charles Chamness, president of trade group National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies."