Legendary value investors' secrets
November 21, 2024
Berkshire’s Performance vs. the S&P 500 Per share book value of Berkshire Per share market value of Berkshire S&P 500 with dividends included Compounded Annual Gain – 1965-2014 19.40% 21.60% 9.90% Overall Gain – 1964-2014 751,113% 1,826,163% 11,196% Data source: Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Report Excerpt from Warren Buffett’s letter dated February 27, 2015,…
Read More about Berkshire Hathaway’s performance vs S&P 50012/31/13 Shares** Company Percentage owned Cost* Market (in millions) 151,610,700 American Express Company 14.2 $1,287 $13,756 400,000,000 The Coca-Cola Company 9.1 1,299 16,524 22,238,900 DIRECTV 4.2 1,017 1,536 41,129,643 Exxon Mobil Corp 0.9 3,737 4,162 13,062,594 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc 2.8 750 2,315 68,121,984 IBM Corp 6.3 11,681 12,778 24,669,778 Moody’s Corporation 11.5…
Read More about Berkshire Hathaway’s fifteen common stock investments that at FY2013 yearend had the largest market valueIn a September 26, 2011, news release, Berkshire Hathaway announced, to the surprise of many, a program to repurchase Class A and Class B shares of Berkshire. Here is an insight into Warren Buffett’s thinking about share repurchase. In his annual letter (March 1, 2000) to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders for Year 1999, he said, among…
Read More about Berkshire Hathaway repurchase programBerkshire Hathaway’s common stock investments include IBM or International Business Machines Corp. Based on Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders dated February 25, 2012, for FY2011, Berkshire Hathaway has a stake of 5.5% in IBM. Given this 5.5% IBM stake, why did Warren Buffett said this in his annual letter: “We should wish for IBM’s…
Read More about Why Warren Buffett wants IBM shares to languish…In 2011, in what appeared to be another sign of Warren Buffett triggering his elephant gun, reports said the Berkshire Hathaway chairman had invested over US$10 billion in IBM. A Reuters report (Nov 24, 2011) headlined “Buffett sheds tech aversion with big IBM investment” said: “Warren Buffett has always made his distaste for technology investments…
Read More about Warren Buffett invests in IBMWarren Buffett’s views on Berkshire Hathaway’s Big Four marketable securities can be seen in his annual letter (dated February 25, 2012 for FY2011) to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: “…we now have large ownership interests in four exceptional companies: 13.0% of American Express, 8.8% of Coca-Cola, 5.5% of IBM and 7.6% of Wells Fargo. (We also, of…
Read More about Berkshire Hathaway’s Big Four marketable securitiesWhat is the difference between Berkshire Hathaway A shares and B shares? Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett said in a memo dated February 2, 1999 (updated on July 3, 2003 and on January 20, 2010) that Berkshire Hathaway Inc has two classes of common stock designated Class A and Class B. The memo makes it…
Read More about Berkshire Hathaway A and B sharesWarren Buffett’s letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (March 3, 1980) for Year 1999 gave readers a glimpse of Berkshire Hathaway’s listing. Here is a relevant excerpt: “During 1979, NASDAQ trading was initiated in the stock of Berkshire Hathaway. This means that the stock now is quoted on the Over-the-Counter page of the Wall Street journal under…
Read More about Tracing Berkshire Hathaway’s listing