Why Warren Buffett Keeps Buying IBM (Forbes)
After reading about the company for 50 years without making a move and shunning the entire tech sector for the majority of his career, Warren Buffett suddenly picked up over $10 billion in shares of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) recently for his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A). Buffett said in Nov. 2011 on NBC when he announced owning a stake in the company that “he would not be announcing it if he were not pretty much done” buying shares. But over the next three quarters he has found the stock attractive enough to continue buying, making it the second most-bought stock in his portfolio, and causing investors to ask why. Buffett began to buy IBM shares in the first quarter of 2011, with 4,517,774 shares for a price of $159 on average. Purchasing became more aggressive in the second and third quarter when he cumulatively bought more than 82.2 million shares for $167 and $173 on average. From the fourth quarter of 2011, to the third quarter of 2012, he made smaller purchases at average prices ranging from $185 to $197.
Thursday 10 January sees Tesco Corporation (NASDAQ:TESO) release its Christmas trading update, and investors are hoping for better news than this time last year. Nate Weisshaar and Andy Paul offer a recap, and what the results may tell shareholders… Legendary US investor Warren Buffett increased his stake in Tesco earlier last year. You can find out what attracted Buffett to the company and the price the billionaire investor paid for his shares, by downloading an exclusive Motley Fool report “The One European Share Warren Buffett Loves”.
Mohnish Pabrai: Berkshire After Buffett (DailyFinance)
If you invest in Berkshire Hathaway , you’ve probably asked, “What happens to Berkshire after Warren Buffett passes on?” It’s an uncomfortable question, but it’s one of the most important topics long-term investors need to think about. It may be the biggest threat to the company’s success. Last month, I asked value investing legend Mohnish Pabrai, who has owned Berkshire for years and had a private lunch with Buffett and Charlie Munger, what he thought about Berkshire’s future after Buffett. Here’s what he had to say.
Buffett’s Burlington Sees Crude Cargo Climbing 40% on Shale Boom (SFGate)
Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC, the railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will boost crude-oil shipments by 40 percent this year, helping blunt a decline in coal cargo, Chief Executive Officer Matt Rose said. BNSF will spend “a couple hundred million dollars” on capital improvements to haul more petroleum to refineries from the Bakken shale formation in the northwestern U.S., Rose said in a telephone interview. Crude oil shipments will grow to 700,000 barrels daily by the end of this year, he said.
Berkshire’s Business in Three Great Pictures (DailyFinance)
Last month, multi-billionaire megainvestor Warren Buffett confirmed that Berkshire Hathaway was upping its buyback authorization and would begin buying back stock at prices anywhere up to 1.2 times book value — prompting a lot of investors to respond: “Great! But, uh, what exactly is book value?” …But if that definition just leaves you asking again, “so, um, what does that mean?” then maybe this will help. You know the old expression about a sum being greater than the whole of its parts, right? Well, the price of the “sum” for Berkshire is the price of the stock — currently 1.2 times the price of the parts. And the price of those “parts” — that’s book value.
Berkshire Venture Buys Hendricks in Buffett Apartment Bet (Bloomberg)
Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, the real estate venture backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), acquired closely held Hendricks & Partners to expand in apartment sales and research. Hendricks advises clients on the sale, purchase and financing of multifamily real estate through more than 30 offices in states including California, Texas and Florida. The deal adds to Berkadia’s loan servicing, mortgage origination and proprietary lending operations, the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company said in a statement today.
