In what may reasonably be interpreted as a sign of growing faith in the domestic housing market, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) is set to buy Prudential’s real estate agent network from Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE:BAM). Berkshire and Brookfield plan to launch a new brokerage brand, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, and will transition existing agents over to the new firm. …Berkshire’s HomeServices of America will be the majority owner; the company already commands local brokerages providing 16,000 agents over 21 states. With the new deal, that will increase to nearly 75,000 agents and nationwide coverage.
“CHINESE WARREN BUFFETT” CONVICTED OF FRAUD (advisor)
Weizhen Tang’s battle against the OSC and the justice system came to a halt yesterday when a jury convicted him of fraud, reports The Globe and Mail. Tang—who bills himself as the “Chinese Warren Buffett”—had his fund shut down by the OSC in 2009, after the commission alleged he’d misappropriated more than $20-million. He’s railed against regulators ever since, says The Globe, and continued to do so to the bitter end. It said the OSC stated, “[He’s] become the enemy of small business and individual investors.” Read more.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Texas CEOs say Buffett manages by not managing (MenaFN)
Warren Buffett is one of the nation’s most successful businessmen. So what’s his key to managing Berkshire Hathaway, a corporation that operates 80 businesses with annual revenue of more than 140 billion? Not managing, according to four Fort Worth executives who work for him. The top executives at BNSF Railway, Justin Boots, Acme Brick and TTI came together Tuesday to share stories about the Oracle of Omaha before 550 people at a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce breakfast. Together, the companies employ about 4,250 people in Tarrant County.
Buffett-Backed BYD Falls After Forecasting Profit Drop (Bloomberg)
BYD Co. (1211), the Chinese automaker partially owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/B), fell the most in a month in Hong Kong trading after the company forecast profit may decline as much as 98 percent this year. BYD dropped as much as 7 percent, the biggest slump since Sept. 26, to HK$14.60, before trading at HK$14.98 as of 1:13 p.m. in Hong Kong. The company’s Shenzhen-traded shares fell as much as 1.7 percent to 14.10 yuan.
3 Ingredients to Making a Warren Buffett Deal (Forbes)
Trains, planes and…cooking utensils? How did Warren Buffett, owner of companies like BNSF Railroad and NetJets get into home parties that sell cooking gear? It started with one of the key techniques of sales; speaking in the buyer’s language. If you want to sell a deal like Warren or to Warren, it is critical you speak in the buyer’s language. As we explain in chapter five of our new book, How to Close A Deal Like Warren Buffett, you can’t land your next Warren Buffett big deal by selling to the same types of people in the same size companies at the same level of organizational authority, speaking the same sales language. You’ve already gotten as much out of that approach as you can. Your prospect is higher up the food chain and has a different problem. You have to think like that prospect thinks if you’re going to cook up a Warren Buffett kind of deal.
Prem Watsa’s Temporary Hedging Losses Could Lead to Outsized Gains Again (Nasdaq)
Prem Watsa ‘s investing prowess with the float of his Canadian insurance company Fairfax Financial often draws comparisons to Warren Buffett , but the firm reported losses in its portfolio for the third quarter. While stocks delivered positive returns, even with the derelict Research In Motion ( RIMM ) in the portfolio, early hedges ultimately outweighed gains. The last time Watsa was early on hedging, he made billions. According to Fairfax’s financial results, in the third quarter its net gains on common stocks were $151.3 million and on bonds were $204 million. Combined with a small gain on preferred stocks, its total net gains on investments were $355.6 million. The company also reported net losses on common stock and equity index short positions of $490.8 million, and on credit default swaps of $10.7 million. Its combined net losses on financial instruments were $477.6 million.
Banco Santander’s 10% Yield (Fool)
Under the scrutiny of Maynard and Owain this time out is the Spanish bank Banco Santander (LSE: BNC). Here, the Fools debate whether a company with a percentage of its operations based in the economically unstable country is a good investment, although its 10-11% yield and the fact that it currently offers a dividend — unlike its rivals on UK soil RBS (LSE: RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) — possibly makes it one to pay attention to… Investing in companies outside of your own country can reap rewards. Just ask the legendary index-trouncing investor, Warren Buffett. Indeed, if you want to bag a possible bargain among the market’s laggards, “The One FTSE Share Warren Buffett Loves” showcases the large-cap faller the Oracle of Omaha is backing today, and the investing logic behind his decision.
DaVita Offers Full 2013 Earnings Outlook Including HCP Acquisition (247WallSt)
DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) has been running very well and it was no mystery as to why Warren Buffett’s new portfolio managers have continued accumulating shares on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A). Now we have the third-quarter earnings report and it is a bit garbled and harder to interpret because of items in the release and because of how a pending merger will impact its profits and sales in 2013. Net income in the quarter was $144.7 million, or $1.50 per share, and but that operating result for the quarter includes an additional $5.4 million of after-tax debt expense, or $0.06 per share. For the three months ended September 30, 2012, operating cash flow was $367 million and free cash flow was $271 million. Operating income for the three months was $341 million on sales of $1.96 billion. Thomson Reuters was calling for earning of $1.56 EPS on sales of $2.01 billion.
