This weekend came both the Annual Meeting of Shareholders for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B, NYSE: BRK-B) and the quarterly earnings report. So you have seen the stock market’s massive run up from the March 2009 lows. Things are definitely better at Berkshire, and Buffett was definitely in a better mood than a year ago. But there are many takeaways here this weekend in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS), Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT), and even in Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO). Even with the love, reverence, and hype, not all was positive.
We have our own takes in here, but we have also compiled many takes from outlets around the web to highlight the best and worst of Buffett’s weekend in Omaha.
Buffett strongly defended Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) over the weekend at the meeting talking about the SEC having no case. Buffett said that Goldman Sachs does not need to tell trading clients that they are trading against them and he said ACA made a dumb insurance decision. Most importantly, Buffett said he would not be selling his Goldman Sachs stake.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek noted Buffett saying Kraft made two dumb deals with Cadbury. The first mistake was buying Cadbury, the second was selling the Pizza brands. Oddly enough, he still thinks shares may be undervalued. Probably Palm holders who own stock above $10….
Buffett could pay a dividend…. The WSJ Live Blog from Dow Jones News Plus noted that in the context of returning capital “now so large and generates so much cash that it might struggle to find investments that are both big enough and offer enough return.” The second live blog gives a full brief account of the comments made to the shareholders in general.
Reuters noted that Uncle Sam will bail out a failing state; and that he defended investing in ratings agencies, which would be his dwindling stake in Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO). If you look through the Full Buffett Holdings, we have noted on may occasions how that stake has been cut and cut.
Buffett was listed as worried on inflation and called the Greek situation ‘high drama’ according to Reuters.
Reuters noted Buffett would still do a big deal and noted that if he found a $10 billion deal on Monday that made sense he would pull the trigger.
Our own review of Berkshire quarterly earnings shows that it would have been a far different quarter without huge investment gains. Buffett did note that the businesses inside Berkshire have almost all seen a big upswing since March (see video below). Buffett also said Berkshire Hathaway as a reinsurer does have exposure to natural disasters, citing the Chile quake with Swiss Re exposure.
Huffington Post said that Ben Nelson denies that Buffett influenced the financial regulation vote.
- A sidebar on derivatives…Buffett also said before the meeting that Berkshire Hathaway would comply if it was required to post collateral under the proposed financial reform bill. That pertains to derivatives.
VIDEO INTERVIEWS:
- CNBC’s Becky Quick interviews Buffett
- FOX: John Freund speaks about being Buffett’s broker
- FOX: Gabelli says Berkshire is a buy
- FOX: Liz Claman ahead of the meeting on business improving
Lastly, if you go through the videos and transcripts, even at 79 years old Buffett will not disclose publicly who his successor will be. He said if he died the board knows exactly who it will be and they are comfortable with it.
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JON C. OGG
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