Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE)
Warren Buffett Hates Dividends (Nasdaq)
The world’s greatest investor of all time – Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) chairman Warren Buffett – has a real distaste for dividends. It may surprise you to hear that. But it’s 100% true. Now, the Oracle of Omaha doesn’t mind receiving dividends. But Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) has never paid a dividend. And it won’t ever pay one, at least while Buffett and partner Charlie Munger are running the show. I was re-reading Buffett’s latest annual letter to shareholders during my recent vacation at the Oregon coast. I’ve been a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) shareholder for several years, and have the utmost respect for Buffett’s value investing prowess.
Harry Reid Helps Warren Buffett Acquire Big Energy Firm (WeeklyStandard)
Even if you’re Warren Buffett–billionaire investor, founder of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), and Democratic donor–it helps to have friends in high places. Through his holding company MidAmerican Energy, Buffett is currently atttempting to purchase NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NVE), a Nevada-based energy firm, and he’s getting some big help from that state’s senior U.S. senator, Majority Leader Harry Reid. …”This matter will impact Nevada’s clean energy future and is important to investments in the infrastructure necessary to integrate greater amounts of clean energy into our grid,” Reid told FERC in a July 23 letter. “MidAmerican has extensive experience building clean, efficient generation and transmission and they have committed to deploying this experience to the benefit of Nevadans.”
Warren Buffett auctioning tour of See’s Candies’ chocolate factory (BizJournals)
Step aside Willy Wonka, Warren Buffett is offering a tour and brief meeting with a legendary investor — himself — at a See’s Candies chocolate factory in a charity auction. The bidding at CharityBuzz.com, to benefit Communities in Schools, had reached $40,000 as of Tuesday morning. Buffett is once again demonstrating his marketing prowess by suggesting that the tour occur around Valentine’s Day next year. It also will take place in a large media market, Los Angeles. Buffett has held an annual luncheon auction to benefit San Francisco’s Glide Foundation. Last month the auction raised $1 million for the nonprofit to feed and shelter the homeless.
History and Warren Buffett Say Cash Is a Terrible Investment (WallStCheatSheet)
When volatility and uncertainty hit the financial market, investors often become overwhelmed with fear. In order to avoid more pain, many people simply shift their assets into cash. However, history and one of the world’s most well-known billionaires say that cash is a terrible long-term investment. …Warren Buffett, the largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), once explained how investors should view cash. He said, “The one thing I will tell you is the worst investment you can have is cash. Everybody is talking about cash being king and all that sort of thing.
Why Buffett bailed on India (IndiaTimes)
India has long been viewed as a value investor’s dream: Rapid growth, 1.2 billion people pining for a taste of globalisation, and underdeveloped industries ripe for turnarounds. So, it surprised few when the genre’s guru, Warren Buffett, placed a bet on the world’s ninth-biggest economy. What did come as a surprise, though, was last week’s decision by the billionaire’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) to give up on India’s insurance market after just two years. Adding to the drama, the withdrawal came the same week India unveiled plans to open the economy as never before to foreign direct investment.
‘Charity’ Fuels a ‘Perpetual Poverty Machine,’ Says Son of Business Magnate Warren Buffett (ChristianPost)
Peter Buffett, Emmy Award-winning composer and son of business magnate and philanthropist, Warren Buffett, says the charity work of America’s growing nonprofit sector is fueling a “perpetual poverty machine.” The younger Buffett, who is also chairman of the NoVo Foundation, noted in a recent op-ed in the New York Times that even in the face of growing inequality, nonprofits dedicated to a whole host of charitable causes continue to increase but have done nothing more than make the rich feel better about themselves. “Philanthropy has become the ‘it’ vehicle to level the playing field and has generated a growing number of gatherings, workshops and affinity groups,” noted Buffet.
Berkshire’s MiTek Building Supply Unit Buys Benson Industries (BusinessWeek)
MiTek Industries, a building supply unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), bought closely held Benson Industries LLC to expand its offerings to the global high-rise commercial building market. Benson designs, manufactures and installs customized curtain wall systems for hotels, residential, government and institutional buildings, the unit of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) said today in a statement distributed by Business Wire that didn’t disclose terms of the deal.
