Corporate and city leaders hailed a reinvigorated LeachGarner as a reaffirmation of tradition and an investment in the future at the company’s grand opening ceremony Thursday. …But in February, Richline Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Corp., agreed to buy the company and its Attleboro plant with a commitment to keep the manufacturing center and its 500-plus employees working. Richline brought in a new management team and embarked on renovations at the plant and grounds, many of which were on display Thursday.
Warren Buffett Is Right: It’s Time to Ban Private Schools (HuffingtonPost)
What if I said to you that the solution to the problems in our education system would be to “make private schools illegal and assign every child to a [state] school by random lottery”? That’s the view not of Karl Marx or the Chinese Communist Party but of the billionaire US investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett. The “Sage of Omaha” has been a longstanding campaigner for equality of opportunity and social mobility – and sees the existence of private schools as a major barrier to both.
Buffett’s New Bank (DailyFinance)
When it comes to Warren Buffett and banks, we’re used to hearing about the unbeatable Wells Fargo. But, taking a look at the last 13-F, Buffett has tripled his position in another banking stock — suggesting that there’s more than one mega-bank worth a look. This one has low credit risk, a lot of cash, and plenty of room for international expansion. Get out your checkbooks, bank lovers. …Investing in banks ain’t easy. That’s just the truth. They aren’t manufacturing companies that we can forecast out 10 years from now with predictable revenue models. Banks are convoluted, multi-faceted organizations that should only be in your portfolio if you are knowledgeable in the banking industry, or have it on good, and I mean real good, authority. For the latter, you can look to occasionally-mentioned super investor Warren Buffett.
Elizabeth Warren Takes Shots at Romney-Ryan, Blames Stagnant Economy on the Rich: “The System is Rigged” (RedAlertPolitics)
n her first speech to a Democratic National Convention, Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, to task while characterizing the dismal economy as a game meant to squeeze the middle class. “People feel like the system is rigged against them. And here’s the painful part: they’re right. The system is rigged,” she said. “Look around. Oil companies guzzle down billions in subsidies. Billionaires pay lower tax rates than their secretaries.” Warren twice alluded to Warren Buffett’s secretary, echoing a theme President Obama first sounded in his January State of the Union speech.
Warren Buffett Likes Energy. So Should You. (DailyFinance)
Already owning a large position in energy giant ConocoPhillips, Warren Buffett recently added to his position in oil refiner Phillips 66 and opened up a new position in oilfield equipment maker National Oilwell Varco. There’s no doubt that Buffett is finding opportunities in energy right now, and that usually means other investors can as well. In today’s video, Matt and Paul talk Buffett’s latest moves, as well as a few other energy names investors may want to put on their radar.
Philanthropist offers $450,000 challenge for Hannah’s Hope fund (TimesUnion)
Doris Buffett, founder of the Sunshine Lady Foundation and sister of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has agreed to give Hannah’s Hope Fund a $450,000 challenge grant to pay for a clinical trial. Hannah’s Hope was started by the Sames family of Rexford to fund research toward a cure for a rare neurological disorder that affects their daughter, Hannah. The group needs $900,000 to pay for a human clinical trial for children at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Spanish Banks are in BIG Trouble (MoneyMorning)
I’m sure you’ve heard the quote from Warren Buffett: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” The tide he refers to is cash. When the cash evaporates, there’s nowhere to hide. Be it an individual, a corporation, or a government – that’s when you are found out. And right now, cash is evaporating from Spanish banks. This is as serious as it gets. With Europe it’s easy to get complacent. We’re all a little desensitised to the European problem.
Will Windows 8 Be Tragic For Microsoft? (SeekingAlpha)
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows 8 hasn’t hit the shelves yet, but skeptics are already declaring it a colossal failure. Success or failure of this iteration of Windows is not what’s important. As long as Microsoft gets Windows right over the long haul, shares offer investors considerable valuation upside potential. Getting a Feel for Microsoft’s Upside Potential At Valuentum we think earnings and free cash flow drive the valuations of stocks, and we use a tried-and-true margin of safety concept to determine which firms are undervalued. We embrace Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham.
Oversold Conditions For Cineplex (Forbes)
Legendary investor Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. One way we can try to measure the level of fear in a given stock is through a technical analysis indicator called the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, which measures momentum on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30. In trading on Thursday, shares of Cineplex Inc. (Toronto: CGX) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 28.2, after changing hands as low as $28.18 per share.
We Are All Job Creators (Emmaus)
I’m a job creator. So are you. We create and sustain jobs every time we grocery shop, send our kids to school, eat out, buy a car, purchase a washing machine or clothes, and when we call a plumber or electrician. …That’s hogwash, according to billionaire investor Warren Buffett. In a 2011 op-ed piece in The New York Times, Buffett wrote: “I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off.”
Where to Find Buffett’s Next Big Buy (DailyFinance)
In the early years of a Warren Buffett-owned Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYS: BRK.B) , it was impossible to determine where the famed investor’s capital was headed. The young investing extraordinaire-in-the-making was interested in unheard-of, uninteresting companies that was no one paid attention to. But now, with billions in cash and a great deal of public scrutiny, Buffett has far fewer choices for his investments. He can’t drop $10 million and expect any meaningful return for his company and shareholders. For him to continue to impress the world with his all-knowing investing prowess, Buffett has to fire what he calls the elephant gun. The ammo is billions of dollars, and the targets are companies we all know well. In 2010, Buffett told us the gun was loaded, and his trigger finger was itchy. Where will he shoot?
