Warren Buffett News: Don’t invest in ‘stuff’

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAYBuffett biographer: Don’t invest in ‘stuff’ (InvestmentNews)
Investors should look for companies focused on risk management and digital assets while shorting “stuff” and services, said Alice Schroeder, a former Wall Street analyst who is working on a second book about super-investor Warren E. Buffett. “One of the great growth industries is risk management,” Ms. Schroeder told an Eastern regional meeting of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors in Baltimore on Wednesday. “The sophistication of how we handle risk is growing.”

“Salivating” Buffett Still Has Cash To Burn After Latest Deal (TheGuruInvestor)
While it wasn’t the big acquisition he recently said he’s been “salivating” for, Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway did recently make an addition to its business portfolio. Late last week, the firm announced it will acquire Omaha-based Oriental Trading Company, the nation’s largest direct retailer of value-priced party supplies, arts and crafts, school supplies, toys and novelties. “Oriental Trading is a leader in its industry, has a strong management team and delivers exceptional customer value and service,” Buffett said in a press release. “By increasing revenue, profits and the customer base over the last few years, Sam Taylor and the entire Oriental Trading team have successfully improved the business and positioned it for long-term growth.

Could Warren Buffett Buy The Financial Times? (Fool)
Tycoons such as Rupert Murdoch and Warren Buffett may soon have the opportunity to acquire the Financial Times, if recent reports about the newspaper’s current owner prove to be accurate. According to Bloomberg, FTSE 100 (UKX) member Pearson PLC (NYSE:PSO) may sell the Financial Times division as the group focuses more attention on its larger education businesses. Bloomberg cited unidentif…

Canada’s Warren Buffet stepping down at 87 (StockHouse)
Jarislowsky Fraser says clients need not worry that Stephen Jarislowsky’s decision to step aside as chief executive will alter the philosophy that has guided the investment firm he founded 57 years ago. “It’s a change on the administration for the day-to-day management of the business, not the investment side that concerns the investors,” new lead executive Pierre Lapointe said of his mentor’s departure in an interview Tuesday. German-born Jarislowsky, 87, will remain chairman of the board of the firm that manages about $37 billion of assets, while management will be headed by a committee of senior executives.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway secures NZ insurance licence and will provide earthquake cover for reconstruction in Christchurch (Interest)
Berkshire Hathaway, the company chaired by legendary US investor Warren Buffett, has received an insurance licence from the Reserve Bank and will provide earthquake cover for reconstruction in earthquake hit Canterbury, the Reserve Bank says in its Financial Stability Report released today. “Berkshire Hathaway International Insurance Limited, a UK-based member of the global insurance group Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has obtained a New Zealand insurance licence and intends to provide earthquake cover for construction in Canterbury,” the Reserve Bank, regulator of the insurance sector, says.

Buffett spends day with students (UNOGateway)
Eighteen UNO students from the School of Communication and the College of Business Administration spent Friday morning and afternoon with Warren Buffett. UNO students joined seven other schools, including Columbia, Dartmouth, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas State, Nebraska-Lincoln and the London Business School. The morning started with a tour of the Nebraska Furniture Mart. From there, students met with Buffett for a question and answer session and a lunch at Piccolo’s. The day ended with an optional tour of Borsheims.

4 Ways to Follow Buffett’s Big Bets (Forbes)
In another sign that he thinks the U.S. housing market is recovering, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) announced on October 30 that it is buying the real estate brands Prudential and Real Living. The combined networks of more than 53,000 Prudential Real Estate and Real Living Real Estate agents generated in excess of $72 billion in residential real estate sales volume in 2011, and operate across more than 1,700 U.S. locations. Here is an ugly truth about deal making. When you are looking for a deal, don’t just look at the pretty partners. You should be looking at the ugly too to see if there is an opportunity.

Why I Have Never Said To Invest With Warren Buffett (JutiaGroup)
I have never advised my readers to invest in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A). And it’s not because a single share of the class A stock costs $130,300 or because I think it is overvalued, or any of the other usual reasons for that matter. The reason is actually quite simple… It’s because Warren Buffett has vowed time and time again to never pay Berkshire shareholders a cent in dividends. Consider this… In the most recent quarter, Berkshire Hathaway collected more than $1.34 billion from its 31 dividend paying holdings — enough to pay $812 per share. Yet none of that money made its way back to shareholders.

Katy Perry Aside, Celebrity Musicians Have Been Absent From Election 2012 (PolicyMic)
Superstar performances have filled the final days of the presidential campaigns as big name artists take the stage to galvanize support behind their favorite candidates. Compared to 2008, stars have shined their lights more reluctantly this year, with fewer performing and many waiting until later into the campaign cycle to do so. A recent single by Peter Buffett (the son of Warren Buffett) may explain the frustration of America’s musicians — and Americans in general — with this year’s presidential campaigns.