Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM): Three Buffett Predictions for the Rest of 2013

That said, for those of you who still feel the need to guess, Buffett did confirm in a June email to the Omaha World Herald that his successor is male, ruling out speculation that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B)’s young rising star in Tracy Britt would soon fill his shoes.

3. See’s Candies will be just fine
Finally, and on a sweeter note, I’m going to step out on a (very short) limb to predict that Berkshire’s See’s Candies subsidiary will be just fine in spite of last week’s significant chocolate recall.

But don’t get me wrong: The recall was indeed unsettling, considering a customer reported having a severe allergic reaction to See’s Dark Chocolate Blueberries, which was pegged down to milk — an ingredient that had been omitted on the label.

OK, I admit this isn’t much of a “prediction.” It is, however, a perfect opportunity to highlight the fact that, through thick and thin, Buffett sticks by the companies Berkshire acquires. Remember, Buffett purchased See’s Candies through Berkshire way back in 1972, and the company has long stood as the poster child for Uncle Warren’s undying approval.

But that loyalty doesn’t stop with See’s. In 2008, Buffett described the companies he buys as works of art, using the following quirky analogy:

You can sell it to Berkshire, and we’ll put it in the Metropolitan Museum; it’ll have a wing all by itself; it’ll be there forever. Or you can sell it to some porn shop operator, and he’ll take the painting and he’ll make the boobs a little bigger and he’ll stick it up in the window, and some other guy will come along in a raincoat, and he’ll buy it.

Apart from invoking the undeniable urge to wash your hands, that description makes it all too clear that despite any short-term missteps, See’s Candies — and every other company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.B) owns, for that matter — should have no problem surviving and thriving for the foreseeable future.

The article 3 Buffett Predictions for the Rest of 2013 originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Steve Symington.

Fool contributor Steve Symington has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Berkshire Hathaway and owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway and IBM.

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