Warren Buffett doesn’t usually make market predictions, but in an early July letter to shareholders, the legendary investor offered insights to help them through a treacherous stretch for stocks. “I think you can be quite sure that over the next ten years there are going to be a few years when the general market is plus 20% or 25%, a few when it is minus on the same order, and a majority when it is in between,” Buffett wrote. “I haven’t any notion as to the sequence in which these will occur, nor do I think it is of any great importance for the long-term investor.”
Buffett $3 Billion Dow Preferred Stake May Be Repaid (BusinessWeek)
Warren Buffett’s investment in Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) (DOW), which generated $255 million a year for his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) (A), may be redeemed with proceeds the chemical maker will get as part of a legal dispute with Kuwait. Dow Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris said on a conference call today that the award may be used to improve the company’s finances. Asked about preferred shares, which include $3 billion held by Berkshire and $1 billion that were sold to Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, the CEO said, “that’s the balance sheet, and I would say it’s included.”
Berkshire unit buys restaurant food distributor (SacBee)
A subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s company is buying a national restaurant food distributor. The McLane Co., which is based in Temple, Texas, said Thursday that it has agreed to buy Meadowbrook Meat Co. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Meadowbrook, which is based in Rocky Mount, N.C., is one of the nation’s biggest food distributors for restaurant chains. No changes are planned to Meadowbrook’s operations.
Lowered sights, new normal (AFR)
About eight years ago Warren Buffett’s octogenarian offsider at Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, gave one of the most succinct pieces of advice to smart investors. Never one to waste 50 words when three would do, Munger advised simply: “Lower your expectations.” He might have been a little premature in terms of market timing, but his advice would have kept many people from chasing unsustainable returns in the latter years of the madness.
Whither Japan Stocks: Ajinomoto and Seven & i Holdings: Two Reliable Winners for Value Investors (Forbes)
I promised in my last post to name some Japanese stocks that are a “buy” from a value investing perspective. Here are two that meet the criteria. Ajinomoto (OTC: AJINY). This stock closed in Tokyo yesterday at 1,108 yen and in New York at $141.85. The 10 year high of this stock was 1,640 yen reached January 2007; the low was 625 yen hit in March 2009… Warren Buffett would approve of Ajinomoto’s balance sheet. At the March 31, 2012 annual reporting date it was holding JPY 150 billion in cash against total bank and bond debt of JPY 122 billion (consolidated reporting). Its current ratio was 2.2 times. Net assets stood at JPY 650 billion against JPY 446 billion total liabilities. The company used JPY 20 billion last year to buy back its stock, the beginning of a JPY 500 billion program.
Try making millions in Bangladesh without infrastructure (TheTimesNews)
Successful people often claim “I earned everything I have: I did it all myself. Government contributed nothing but wants to redistribute my money to parasites who won’t work.” Hedge fund managers and oil barons alike often resent helping support the society making their wealth possible. They call it “punishing success.” Some billionaires including Warren Buffett know that nobody in America makes it alone. Nobody. Government-sponsored and run investments in education and enterprise facilities, created the most fertile wealth-building soil on the planet. Entrepreneur Jerry Fiddler, Wind River Software, (your car or cell phone probably runs his stuff) was educated at the University of Chicago: Bookseller Thelma Kidd at Texas Tech and Michigan University, Warren Buffett at Pennsylvania and Nebraska Universities.
3 Impact Investing Tips for Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and the Giving Pledge Billionaires (Policymic)
At a recent conference in Santa Barbara, the billionaire members of Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge discussed impact investing as a particularly promising approach to putting their considerable wealth into service in a way that would both do good and make money. Many have made such investments before: the Skoll Foundation has funded industry leaders such as Root Capital and Acumen Fund; the Omidiyar Network has invested in groups such as Mango Money and Tree House. Though impact investing is a new, growing space, investors seeking social impact in addition to financial return will find organizations working to invest in enterprises in ever-more creative ways.
Absolute Software Corp is Now Oversold (Forbes)
Legendary investor Warren Buffett advises to be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. One way we can try to measure the level of fear in a given stock is through a technical analysis indicator called the Relative Strength Index, or RSI, which measures momentum on a scale of zero to 100. A stock is considered to be oversold if the RSI reading falls below 30. In trading on Thursday, shares of Absolute Software Corp (Toronto: ABT) entered into oversold territory, hitting an RSI reading of 27.7, after changing hands as low as $4.81 per share. By comparison, the current RSI reading of the S&P/TSX Composite Index is 50.9. A bullish investor could look at ABT’s 27.7 RSI reading today as a sign that the recent heavy selling is in the process of exhausting itself, and begin to look for entry point opportunities on the buy side.
Chinese maker of US Olympic uniforms baffled by backlash (CharlotteObserver)
A farmer’s daughter who got her start stitching aprons in the countryside, she has built a $300 million company that’s listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Now 66, Li employs 10,000 workers sewing fine clothing for some of the world’s most famous brands and powerful people. Chinese President Hu Jintao and fellow Politburo members are loyal customers of her firm, Dayang Trands. So are U.S. billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Former President George H.W. Bush donned one of the company’s suits.
Simon English: Jerry showing a genius for trousering £9m (Independent)
Outlook Just how brilliant is Jerry del Missier? The £9m pay-off he is getting from Barclays shows the answer must be: extraordinarily. One of the most staggeringly gifted minds on the planet. Some combination of Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton with a hint of Warren Buffett. Good-looking bloke too. His pay-off reflects the fact that he is so brilliant (and handsome). And is indicative of the wider truth that all of the most excellent humans work either in the City or on Wall Street.
