BRK has consistently made larger returns than the market as a whole. Plus, BRK is not correlated with the Market. More importantly, BRK's breakup value is far greater than its current share price. Buffet's long-term track record is indisputable.
It’s very clear that Buffett’s investment philosophy - capitalizing on value situations in companies that enjoy strong, sustainable competitive advantages in secular growth markets, and that will perform very well over the long term - has worked much more often than not. And most of the “mistakes” that some analysts point to are actually linked overwhelmingly to short-term market movements that could easily reverse.
The short-term weakness in the U.S. economy - which is reflected in the weakness of Berkshire’s stock price - makes Berkshire a bargain itself right now. And with Buffett at the helm, Berkshire will continue to be one of the most-profitable investments you’ll be able to find anywhere in the world.
But this is not a short-term play - or a stock for trading. It’s a long-term core holding - indeed, one of the best you’ll find. Therefore, I would buy Berkshire Hathaway in incremental stages on any weakness between now and the end of the year, as market conditions improve and tax-loss-selling on U.S. stocks abates.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK)/Bulls/VERY DIFFICULT TO BEAT HIS RETURNS!
Created when NYSE:BRKA was $78.00 | Edit | History
Over the long term, I would find anyone hard pressed to show better returns. This guy is a legend. He invests in companies that produce REAL CASH. At these prices, it is really a once in a lifetime opportunity!
Berkshire is fairly valued for its current business environment. The last time Berkshire represented "value" was exactly 8 years ago, in March 2000, at the height of the dot.com bubble. Since then its share price has risen 256% even after the current drop.Does this mean today Berkshire buyers will not make money? No. They assuredly will.
For all the contributions of the nearly 70 businesses Berkshire owns, it is essentially an insurance company. The unit produced $3.3 billion (down from $3.8 in 2006) of the company's $13 billion in earnings in 2007. Further, $37 billion of the company's reported $44 billion in cash and cash equivalents belong to insurance, proving to be another stellar run for the company.
According to Buffett: Finally, our insurance business – the cornerstone of Berkshire – had an excellent year. Part of the reason is that we have the best collection of insurance managers in the business – more about them later. But we also were very lucky in 2007, the second year in a row free of major insured catastrophes.
Berkshire is trading close to book value. Although the dozens of publicly traded securities held is concentraded in financials and currently held slightly below cost basis, overall this company is poised to profit over the long term with the diversified assets held.
Of course Buffett is the engine behind Berkshire, but lets not forget that many of the businesses will continue to mint money after he passes. GEICO, See's Candy, Burnlington Northern Santa Fe, Isacar, NetJets and the list goes on. These are solid businesses and operate completely independent of the purview of Buffett.
Even if book value growth were to waver from the annual 20% growth rate to something like 10-15% there are few businesses that could match that. Keep in mind Buffett has been saying he won't be able to continue growing at extraordinary rates since 1980.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK)/Bulls/S&P Triple A will return with return of Goldman Sachs $5 Bn plus 10% premium
Top Contributor: Poshea | Created when NYSE:BRKA was $119.00 | Edit | History
+ QE will impact larger entities greater than small, on the margin
+ Commencement of Candidate selection starts to put to rest any uncertainty
+ In last three months, most of the publicly traded investment holdings have appreciated in value
+ The price now is lower than at the start of the year, despite the success of the Burlington's bolt on
+ The level of exposure to housing is still relatively small at just over 5%
+ The recent investments in Re-insurance were made at reasonably attractive earnings yields and look strategic
+ Hurricane season is almost over and has been relatively benign
+ Recent stake in Fiserv is more of note as it makes a departure from old zone of comfort, displaying an enhanced view possible brought through the influence of emerging candidates to replace Buffett as C.I.O.
+ Earnings next week will display growth accross all aspects of the invested components from last qtr/ year
