Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE:UL), H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ)
In last week’s post I mentioned the views of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger at the annual celebration of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) in Omaha: that one should keep on learning over his/her lifetime, I would suggest every day. For me investing is an experienced derived art form, thus I believe that investing should be an everyday practice. Every single day, whether one does or does not make a transaction and/or hold excess cash is an investment decision day. Every day brings both new information and experiences of oneself or others that should be digested.
Buffett Brand Bankers Are Conquering The World: The Coca-Cola Company, The Procter & Gamble Company And Unilever plc (Fool)
The blockbuster brands of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) and Unilever plc (ADR) (NYSE:UL) can get even bigger. Legendary US investor Warren Buffett has been telling us for donkey’s years about the virtues of companies with strong consumer brands. And investing in such companies has helped make the octogenarian one of the world’s richest men with a fortune of over $50bn. A new ‘Brand Footprint’ ranking by market researchers Kantar Worldpanel has identified the world’s ‘most chosen’ consumer brands using a combination of household penetration and frequency of purchase across 32 countries.
What Warren Buffett can teach us all (FT)
Who is the best manager in the world? This column’s nomination would go to an 82-year-old who does not rate a mention in the Thinkers50 awards for the best business minds, is not an innovator, does not do leverage, thinks derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction and runs a bunch of the most basic industries imaginable. His company is a conglomerate. If you had invested $1 in 1965, it would be worth almost $6,000 today. His name, of course, is Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), and he is perhaps the most successful business person ever. He does not write business bestsellers, but he conducts a masterclass via his annual letters to shareholders. Every aspect of Berkshire’s performance shows by opposition all that is wrong with contemporary capitalism.
Warren Buffett, Staying in Bonds is Brutal (LiveTradingNews)
Warren Buffett, Staying in Bonds is Brutal Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), $1-B Note sale shows that while CEO Warren Buffett may pity investors who have stuck with bonds as yields fall to record lows, he will sell them as much debt as they want. The company’s Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corp. sold 5 and 30-yr securities offering the company’s lowest coupons for those maturities ever. Berkshire, whose holdings span insurance, railroads, newspapers and manufacturing, has reduced its bond investments to $28.6-B from $34.1-B in the last 3 yrs, regulatory filings show.
Buffett: The Biggest Misconception (Fool)
The annual Value Investor Conference is one of the premier events surrounding Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) annual meeting in Omaha. The Motley Fool’s Joe Magyer, Michael Olsen, and Rex Moore were in attendance and talked to several value investors. In today’s video, Joe chats with Wedgewood Partners’ David Rolfe about the biggest lesson — and misconception — surrounding Warren Buffett. Thanks to the savvy of investing legend Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s book value per share has grown a mind-blowing 586,817% over the past 48 years.
Buffett and the Berkshire CEOs Spend Big Bucks (WallStCheatSheet)
Warren Buffett is not the only chief executive officer under the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) banner spending big bucks in business deals. While Buffet’s $12.1 billion deal to take H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) private with 3G Capital Management made headlines earlier this year, his spending is matched by managers in the company, according to Bloomberg. The autonomy given to CEOs operating businesses owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) bodes will for the long-anticipated change of leadership when Buffet eventually decides to abdicate his throne. James Hambrick — Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire owned chemical maker Lubrizol — said, “If I don’t take my own cash flow and reinvest, all I do is add to his [Buffet’s] problems.”
Buffett’s advice a lesson for Indian firms (HindustanTimes)
Warren Buffett’s AGM produced some advice on inheritance that Indian business patriarchs would do well to heed. Last week, the annual general meeting of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) took place, as it does every year, in the city where the grand old man of investing is based — Omaha, in Nebraska, USA. While the event, dubbed as the Woodstock for Capitalists was as festive as always, there were some interesting new things this year. For one, Buffett went out of his way to inject an element of adversariality to the event. This kind of a thing is so diametrically opposite of what we are used to in India, that for us it’s hard to believe that someone would actually do this. To question him, Buffett invited Douglas A Kass, a hedge fund manager and a known Berkshire bear.
Buffett benefits women leaders (JournalGazette)
Warren Buffett’s analytical approach, which he’s applied to picking stocks and buying businesses, also benefits female leaders at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), says one of the top-ranking women executives at the company. “He’s said, ‘Well, why would anyone want to exclude 50 percent of the population,’ ” Cathy Baron Tamraz, chief executive officer of Berkshire’s Business Wire unit, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Betty Liu that aired last week. “I mean, Mr. Rational, right? He just makes so much sense.”
Buffett makes Omaha capital of capitalism (TimesDispatch)
My first mistake was not getting up at 4 a.m. to stand outside a convention center with thousands of raving capitalists in a very cold rain to snag a good seat. …My third mistake was not going to Omaha for this annual extravaganza before this year, especially after realizing that the two billionaires who are the real reason to make the trek are ages 82 and 89. (No worries for follow-up experiences, however. They’ll be back. ) Mistakes aside, after witnessing Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger in action, it was easy to believe attendee after attendee who said this was one of those “bucket list” achievements you want to record at least once in a lifetime.
63 Brand-New Quotes From Warren Buffett (Fool)
The tried and true “classic” Warren Buffett quotes are classics because they’re great, timeless bits of investing wisdom. But sometimes they can also feel a bit too well worn. Following are 63 brand-new quotes from Buffett, fresh from the May 4 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) shareholder meeting. 1. On playing table tennis with Ariel Hsing at Borsheims: “If you’re courageous you’ll show up with your paddle and you’ll look like an idiot.” 2. “If the market continues as it has in 2013, this will be the first five-year period that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) has underperformed. … It won’t be a happy day, but it won’t totally discourage us.”
