The real financial story behind Berkshire Hathaway's first decade under Buffett - 1966 through 1976. I was just
Deciphering Retailing
Personally, I dislike shopping and avoid stores like the plague (except
Costco). If I have to
Fairness Opinions
Those reading through the proxies of the Heinz transaction and other
recent acquisitions – Lubrizol
Due Diligience
I got a call --a referral by a mutual acquaintance-- asking if
I could spend a couple of
Berkshire's Competition: ESOP's
If the phone ain’t ringin’, maybe there’s a reason. The biggest
competition to Berkshire
Newspapers - The Inside Scoop
As readers may have long suspected, if you catch me trying to add some
anecdotal
Berkshire's 250-Million-Dollar Man
We certainly appreciate the influences a single person can have on retailers and brands, but
JCP's New Muse
Maybe a dozen years ago I was sitting in on a session with a successful
private equity
PIPE Dreams, Nightmares
The mention a of PIPE the (private placement of public equity)
financing in a Chinese-controlled
Working Capital - 'Always Invert'
NYU’s Spring
semester MBA classes in Valuation and Corporate Finance are underway --
videos of
Private Companies - An Inefficient Market
Here’s something got me thinking about the private company opportunities. I’ve been lending
More Berkshire valuation notes
It's helpful to keep in mind that in BRK valuations, we’re trying to arrive at a reasonable
Valuing Berkshire - Enhanced Two-Column
Why not do a straight-up valuation of Berkshire? While the exercise may not be for
Alice's Veiled Threat
A reader of Alice's blog posted the simple question regarding Berkshire's offer to buy
Borders Liquidation Economics - Part 2
Hilco and Gordon Bros fund their larger purchases, such as Borders, with short-term
Borders Liquidation Economics - Part 1
The Borders liquidation news is interesting from a number of perspectives, not the least
Wrath of Public Servants: Punishing Presto
National Presto was almost like a long-forgotten high school friend. Berkshire owned
Will 'Deferred Replacement' Help?
There was some disbelief here and there when Buffett said that he thought unemployment
Valuing Burlington Northern Post-Acquisition
Say we wanted to get an updated value of various Berkshire subs – or get an idea of a public-equivalent
Conglomerate Yet? Or still Uber-Private-Equity?
It’s telling that even Berkshire shareholders are starting to think of Berkshire as a conglomerate.
BRK's Succession Activities - Erosion of Confidence
I think I’m a fairly typical long-term Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, as much as there is such a thing.
Global Retail Smack-Down Begins
Each of the four major international retailers - US's Walmart, France's Carrefour, England's Tesco,
Hamburg's Ill-Advised SEC Letter
I’m sure I’m in the small minority in thinking that Hamburg should be cuffed upside the head.
PIPEs - Corporate Finance's 'Death Roll'
We’ll remember that Mark Cuban ran afoul of regulators for selling his stake
A-T-F -- Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
How about an ATF theme. The whole idea is actually intriguing. If we packaged this
NetJets Mystery - Arms-Length Transactions?
It never entirely made sense to me that Santulli's departure was about earnings. Buffett hates losses
Lubrizol - Introduction to 'Fairness Opinions'
Lubrizol’s filing includes the two ‘fairness opinions’ prepared by Lubrizol’s advisers, Evercore and Citi.
Superb Ajit Jain Interview by Anjana Menon
Some of the credit probably should also go to the interviewer, Anjana Menon. We'll notice that her
DJCO's Untapped Value and Related Fantasies
Is DJCO an example of Munger’s Japanese-style model for public ownership?
BNSF Economics - CAPEX disguised as Expense?
Looking into BNSF's capital expenditures...The ATSF merger was finalized at the end of 1996, but
BNSF - Quality of Earnings Still Lags
Hopefully Burlington Northern only gets better from Q1. The $2.25B in dividends paid out
BRK's {$3 Earned + $2 Unearned} Model: Gone Forever?
If we look back from about the beginning of time (Berkshire’s Buffett era) to the end of
Taking 'Two-Column' Mainstream: Looking Beyond PE
Awhile back, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Meyer Shields put that highly publicized ‘sell’ recommendation
BRK Dividend: 'Devil's Advocate'
From the ‘black and white’ perspective, a disgruntled BRK shareholder might be forgiven for
Walmart & Costco - Customers & Trends
Some of us won't spend $30/year at Walmart, and have given up on BJ’s. We'll shop Costco, though. But as a
Valuing Costco & Walmart: Some Caveats
Taking a lesson from Berkshire valuation exercises, sometimes it’s helpful to look at the value of the underlying
Look-Through Earnings Miscalculations
The challenge with look-through earnings over extended periods – and when there is trading – is
Berkshire's Other Retailer
Last I checked, Berkshire’s position in Tesco was almost equivalent (on a dollar basis) to its
Walmart's Comparative Scale
In 2010, Walmart earned more than all of the following retailers combined - on slightly less revenue.
That Remarkably Overused Descriptor: 'Moat'
Long-standing moats seem to be most vulnerable to fundamental changes that initially are not
Valuing Berkshire's Non-insurance Companies
In Berkshire circles there's often discussion as to the PE that might be applied to Berkshire’s
Corporate Cash Levels, Taxes, and the Impact
Companies – foreign or domestic, here and abroad – are generally only required to pay taxes in
Same Store Sales - Retailers' Various Definitions
Here are some of the examples I cited earlier, with the definitions verbatim from the referenced SEC
Thinking Through Retail Gross Margins
Gross profit percentages of major retailers range from the 'teens' to approaching 50%. The margins,
Same Store Sales Games
We might question why wouldn't we give Walmart same store growth credit for any of their ‘same stores’ outside
The Myth of 'Same Store Sales'
'Same store sales' need a bit of clarification. There is no GAAP or industry definition for
Most Respected Companies - Apple, Berkshire...and Amazon?
Barron's ran a featured article entitled Most Respected Companies. Their top pick:
Senate's BNSF Regulation Discussion
I'll be the first to admit that Sen. Rockefeller's crusade to regulate the railroads is a long shot indeed.
Buffett's Support of Beleaguered Colleagues
Few individuals have offered as much, without regard to political correctness. Examples:
Buffett Plays the 'Value Scale'
One of the beauties of Buffett's acquisitions is that he almost always has been adept at playing
The Tata Model: Buying Brands
AIG in India is a reminder of one of my favorite-to-watch companies, Tata. Much as we
Deferred Taxes: BNSF Acquisition Lessons
APB 11 was the accounting profession's initial solution to handling 'book depreciation'
Does the 'Moat' Label Apply to ADP?
atWe’ll remember years ago Buffett liked Pinkerton’s, specifically because his managers
Berkshire's CPA-Abuse?
Munger's periodic criticisms of accountants usually have merit, and always give us
Reinsurance Capacity - January Policies Are Key
The problem, to put it bluntly: too much recent success, both in underwriting
Buffett Spoke, World Listened: Owner's Earnings and FCF
Essentially, Owner's Earnings are pretty much the same as Free Cash Flow .... at least as FCF
When 1st TARP Vote Failed, Flight to...Berkshire
The 2008 spike in price lasted just a few days. That was a monumental few days that
Universal Express - Anatomy of a Fraud
Whenever I read about companies claiming abuse by short sellers, I'm reminded
The Walmart / Tesco / Carrefour Line-up
Walmart/Tesco/Metro/Carrefour - These guys are all in the same boat in terms of
Brazilian Land Nonsense - and Journalism's Slide
A rookie Brazilian-born reporter for Forbes has picked up a short piece in a Brazilian
Hidden In Plain Sight (from Buffett): Vornado's Value
Whenever the IV subject comes up, I think of Vornado. As pointed out in Snowball, Berkshire
Berkshire's No-Due-Diligence: Always Appropriate?
Obviously, Buffett didn’t jump into Gen Re with the idea of changing management. The
Observations on Airline Economics
Since deregulation – and where there is competition on a route – prices will tend to
Two-column, ROCE, and the Usefulness of EV/EBIT
As subscribers to the 'two-column' method for looking a Berkshire, we wouldn't
Buybacks? The Long-Term Reduction of A-Shares
A long term bias towards reducing A shares? Back before Gen Re,
How deep is the 'Buy & Hold' Culture?
While Buffett has long advertised his allegiances to his businesses, his actions suggest an
GS report on BRK
The rating aside, the GS report itself is a trove of information about Berkshire and
Private Equity -- Berkshire Copycats
The term we sometimes see used for the Merkel's, Leucadia's, Brookfield's, etc, etc. At an event
NYSE's Former BRK Specialist: Jim Maguire
A Barron's article included mention of Jim Maguire, NYSE's former specialist for BRK (now
Conglomerate Discount? Or Do We Mean 'Key Man'?
Berkshire notably does not have a 'conglomerate discount', nor does it or its companies warrant
Attorneys' Schadenfreude / CPAs' Dilemma
Some CEO's are intolerant of hearing bad news. That's not just a problem for internal
What's Behind Munger's Stock Gift?
Pure speculation.. but...having no insights on this other than the post above, it just could be that once
Dollar Stores
Dollar stores are the new retail darlings. We can hardly read anything about retailing these days
USG Drivers
Some notes: (a) industry demand for wallboard (20 bill sf) vs current capacity (35 bill sf) is
The Preempted Case for Dividends
I would suggest that anyone wanting to make the case that Berkshire pay a dividend simply invoke
Retailers - Four Tell-Tale Cues
First...Any time a retailer stops reporting monthly 'same store sales' with everyone else, because it
Just How Useful is the Gordon Growth Model?
The Gordon Growth Model: "A model for determining the intrinsic value of a stock, based on a future
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