Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) had its credit rating cut one notch by Standard & Poor’s, which cited a new methodology for evaluating insurers and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)’s dependence on its insurance business for dividend income. The rating was cut to “AA” from “AA-plus,” and S&P assigned a “negative” outlook, suggesting another cut could occur within a few years. S&P left its credit and financial strength ratings for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)’s insurance operating units at “AA-plus.”
Middle school students from Catholic Montessori School in Kirtland to present business plan to Warren Buffett (News-Herald)
Four middle school students from Catholic Montessori School in Kirtland are headed to Nebraska to present their business plan to Warren Buffett. Nearly 4,000 students from across the country participated, and the local team is one of three that made it to the national competition. …Their business is called Family + Food = F2, and its purpose is to help families cook healthy recipes at home and spend time together. The students have designed cloth bags that will be used to sell ingredients to make a meal. The bags will contain all the food necessary to feed four people, a recipe card and a board game. Everything but the food will be returned to the business after the family has used them.
Through the Years: Constant Themes in Buffett’s Letters (Fool)
One of the benefits of attending the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) shareholders’ meeting is learning from the great value investors and Buffettologists who also make the yearly trek to Omaha. In this multipart series, Fool analyst Rex Moore speaks with Lawrence Cunningham, author of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America. The book offers a unique approach by arranging all of Buffett’s shareholder letters thematically, rather than chronologically.
Bill Gates wealthiest man again; Buffett No. 3 (Omaha)
Bill Gates is once again the world’s wealthiest person. The 57-year-old co-founder of Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) recaptured the title from Mexican investor Carlos Slim on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the software maker hit a five-year high. It is the first time Gates has held the mantle since 2007. His fortune is valued at $72.7 billion, up 16 percent year-to-date. Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett is the world’s third-richest person with $59.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg ranking. He is $3.7 billion ahead of Spaniard Amancio Ortega, Europe’s wealthiest person.
Buffett says women key to rebound (TheStarPhoenix)
The Associ-Billionaire Warren Buffett is optimistic about America’s economic future because the nation has begun to unleash the potential of women. Buffett’s views on the role of women appeared online Thursday in an editorial he wrote for Fortune magazine. He says that most of America’s prosperity was created using only about 50 per cent of its talent – the men. So he’s confident the country will prosper as more women excel in the workforce. “For most of our history, w o m e n – whatever their abilities – have been relegated to the sidelines,” Buffett writes. “Only in recent years have we be-gun to correct that problem.”
2 Bank Stocks Buffett Bought (and they’re still reasonably priced!) (Fool)
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) filed its highly anticipated quarterly stock-holdings report with the SEC this week. One clear conclusion from the report: Warren Buffett likes his banks. The Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) CEO raised its holding of Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), the largest bank by market value and the fourth-largest by assets, by 4% in the first quarter. The average closing price of the stock during the first quarter was $35.63; on Thursday, the stock closed at $39.26. …Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) also raised its stake in a comparable institution, U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB). Like Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC), it is well-run, with a disciplined lending culture; together, they are the two largest U.S. banks by assets that aren’t investment banks or universal banks (such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) or Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)).
How Warren Buffett And Joel Osteen Conquered Their Terrifying Fear Of Public Speaking (Forbes)
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett was “terrified” of public speaking. He was so nervous, in fact, that he would arrange and choose his college classes to avoid having to get up in front of people. He even enrolled in a public speaking course and dropped out before it even started. “I lost my nerve,” he said. At the age of 21, Buffett started his career in the securities business in Omaha and decided that to reach his full potential, he had to overcome his fear of public speaking. Buffett enrolled in a Dale Carnegie course with another thirty people who, like him, were “terrified of getting up and saying our names.” Buffett revealed his early insecurity in this interview for Levo League, a career website for young women.
