Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC)
Bill Gates, the world’s second-richest person, has said that he’s only leaving a fraction of his wealth to his three kids, and the same is true of his “bosom buddy” in billionaire philanthropy, Warren Buffett. Together, the two titans of American capitalism created The Giving Pledge. They’ve been on a multiyear road show across the U.S. and the globe trying to convince the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to donate a majority of their estates to charities. Are these guys simply bighearted billionaires, aiming to institutionalize a social streak that echoes the best impulses of titans of former eras (say, Andrew Carnegie dotting the rural U.S. with libraries)?
Warren Buffett Just Bought This Dividend Stock (DailyFinance)
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) is back in buy mode. The company snatched up NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE), calling into question the recent utilities pullback we’ve seen over the past month. And while “monkey see, monkey do” is the fastest way to financial ruin, the Oracle of Omaha may know something we don’t. Let’s look at why Warren Buffett loves this dividend stock and whether any other utility dividend stocks offer similar deals. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)’s MidAmerican Energy subsidiary announced Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE) for $5.59 billion. That equates to $23.75 per share, a 23% premium over its pre-announcement closing price. Once NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE)’s debt is added into the deal, MidAmerican will have coughed up $10 billion for this dividend stock.
Bidding begins for lunch with Warren Buffett (CNN)
This is the 14th year that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) CEO Buffett is auctioning off a lunch for eight on eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) Proceeds for the lunch, which will be held at New York City steakhouse Smith & Wollensky, will go to San Francisco charity GLIDE, which fights poverty and serves about 800,000 meals each year to the poor. Last year’s winning bid was close to $3.5 million from an anonymous bidder. Since it began in 2000, the auction has raised more than $15 million for the charity, with $9 million of that coming in the last four years alone. The bidders must all be pre-qualified. Bidding started Sunday evening at the minimum $25,000 price and had reached already over $130,000 by Monday morning.
The Intelligent Investor — By Warren Buffett (OutlookIndia)
Chetan Parikh enjoys high recall among value investors in India. Rightly so, as he has contributed the most towards creating awareness about value investing through capitalideasonline. His book, India’s Money Monarchs, co-authored with Utpal Sheth and Navin Agarwal, was the first to chronicle the thought process of prominent Indian investors. Over the years, Parikh has not only built an impressive investing track record, he continues to spread the good word by teaching security analysis at Mumbai’s Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies …Benjamin Graham laid the foundation for value investing, which Warren Buffett built on. But along the way, the architectural design underwent some significant changes.
While Leftists Rail Against Koch Brothers’ Newspaper Plans, Warren Buffett Buys ‘Worst Newspaper In Virginia’ (NewsBusters)
While leftists hyperventilate at the thought that the conservative Koch brothers might buy the Los Angeles Times, liberal financier Warren “Please Raise My Taxes” Buffett has bought another newspaper in Virginia, the Roanoke Times, the 29th daily newspaper owned by Buffett’s BH Media. (He owns another 40 papers that are less than daily.) One reason liberals aren’t upset is that the Roanoke paper has been slashed by conservatives as a liberal rag. Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has been blunt. It seems there’s a newspaper in the state that’s worse for Republicans than The Washington Post. On the Laura Ingraham show, Cuccinelli said the Roanoke Times was “the worst newspaper in Virginia.”
Wells Fargo Is Long on the American Dream (DailyFinance)
Have you heard what the CEO of Warren Buffett’s favorite bank is saying about the housing market? Its more than just words; it’s where the bank is putting its money, too! Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) CEO John Stumpf has been making the media rounds of late, with the housing market on his mind. Stumpf leaves no question about his viewpoint on the subject; Stumpf, and by extension Wells, think that U.S. housing is back. …This quote puts Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC)’s view on housing in no uncertain terms. And Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC)’ financial statements back up that sentiment. Wells’ biggest business is mortgage lending, contributing 26% of total non-interest income in the first quarter. That was the sixth consecutive quarter of mortgage production greater than $100 billion.
3 Reasons to Sell Berkshire Hathaway Stock (DailyFinance)
I’m going to attempt something a little odd today, Fools. Even though Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) stock makes up 3.7% of my real-life holdings, I’m going to be giving you three reasons to consider selling the stock today. Why am I doing this? Recently, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman visited Fool headquarters in Virginia. While visiting, he talked about how a number of different biases can lead us to believe we can predict the future with relative certainty. In reality, he argued, we are just deluding ourselves. It got me to thinking about how I don’t write enough about the risks of owning the stocks I own. So, though I don’t plan on selling my Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) stock anytime soon, I think it’s healthy for me to practice and model this behavior.
