Warren Buffett once said, “Don’t invest in something you don’t understand.” I beg to differ! Investors, especially older ones who struggle to understand technology, would have been shut out of the booming telecommunications sector by following Buffett’s advice. Nothing changes faster than technology, so it is understandable why investors without technological savvy hesitate before investing in tech companies.
Buffett’s Gen Re Adds Alverne Bolitho To Expand In Europe (Bloomberg)
General Re-New England Asset Management Inc., a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), hired Alverne Bolitho as managing director for U.K. and European sales to help start an office in London and expand the firm’s business in Europe. “This is a relationship-driven business and we are confident that Alverne will be very effective at building the long-term relationships that are the cornerstone of our success,” GR-NEAM President Bill Rotatori said in a statement distributed by Business Wire.
How Warren Buffett Differs from Most Investors: Part II (ValueWalk)
Before I begin this evening, let me simply say that where I find intelligence, I appreciate it, whether I agree with all the ethics of the situation or not. Warren Buffett CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) is a bright guy, brighter than most. I have *not* been shy to criticize Buffett when I thought there were ethical lapses — whether it was retroactive reinsurance, life settlements, David Sokol, or anything else.
We run the numbers on FTSE 100 company Hargreaves Lansdown (Fool)
Warren Buffett is one of the world’s smartest-ever investors. Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A.US) (NYSE: BRK-B.US) — the ailing textile company that Buffet bought into in the mid-1960s, and turned into a world-beating investment vehicle — has delivered returns of over 20% per annum since 1965, and turned Buffett himself into the world’s third-wealthiest person. Given all this, many investors make the mistake of thinking that Buffett must use high-tech financial models and advanced discounted cash flow techniques to select the businesses that he buys into.
How to Turn $10,000 into $421 Million with “Stealth Dividends” (DailyWealth)
One hundred billion dollars – that’s how much money IBM has spent on “stealth dividends” since 2003. The company has said it has plans to spend an additional $50 billion on “stealth dividends” through 2015. …Warren Buffett – the best investor alive today – is a big fan of “stealth dividends.” He’s a big shareholder of IBM. And last year, he initiated a similar “stealth dividend” plan for his company – Berkshire Hathaway.
We look at progress on its recovery plan. (Fool)
It came out of the blue, slashing nearly a quarter off the share price. Tesco’s (LSE: TSCO) profit warning in January, its first for 20 years, divided investors between bulls who saw it as a temporary glitch and bears who saw more serious writing on the wall. It wasn’t just among private investors that opinions were sharply divided. Investment guru Warren Buffett rapidly upped his stake to over 5%. But high-yield fund management superstar Neil Woodford took a bearish view, selling out completely in April.
Calgary company’s technology takes flight with NetJets (CalgaryHerald)
Calgary – A Calgary company’s product will soon be flying on Warren Buffett’s fleet of European private jets, NetJets. Flyht Aerospace Solutions has received regulatory approval to install its Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) 228 on 30 of NetJets Europe’s Hawker Beechcraft planes. Flyht inked the deal with NetJets in March, but needed this approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency before activating its technology.
Taxes unfair to working folks (YDR)
Recently when Mitt Romney was being prodded to release more tax returns, he proudly proclaimed that he had paid no less than 13 percent of his income over the last 10 years. This further convinces me that we need to close the tax loopholes that allow Mitt Romney to pay less of a percentage of his income than I do and for Warren Buffett to pay just a fraction more. The difference here is that Warren Buffett knows that this is wrong and Mitt Romney thinks it is fair.
Yelp Is Not Worth $1.35 Billion (SeekingAlpha)
Yelp (YELP), the local review website founded in 2004, has a market capitalization of approximately $1.35 billion. Following the well-publicized and successful IPO on March 2, 2012, the shares have maintained their valuation – unlike some other IPOs this year. As is typical of primary offerings, the insiders and underwriters held the cards: they get to choose the price and time of the IPO. Further, and as is typical, they sold the shares at exorbitant prices to the lowly and uninformed capital holders. Warren Buffett made this point about IPOs in his 1992 letter to shareholders:
