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Posted
Dec 27 2007, 01:08 PM
by
Matt Koppenheffer
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
With so much speculation over what would be the next big move from Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, his announced purchase of a 60% stake in Marmon may have been a bit of a letdown for public market investors. After all, rumors this year included him taking big positions in Countrywide Financial and Bear Stearns -- both of which might've made investors reconsider the state of financial services stocks.
As it is, the purchase is being seen as a vote of confidence for America in general from Buffett. And what of nobody seeing this one coming? Let's be serious here, Buffett's original thinking and great secrecy ahead of his investments have led to his great success -- if every Tom, Dick, and Harry had real insight into what he was planning to do, Warren might be in trouble
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Posted
Feb 19 2008, 12:30 PM
by
Matt Koppenheffer
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
For most investors, the big news coming from Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett last week was the $800 billion that Buffett offered to insure municipal bonds. With the traditional muni bond insurers like Ambac and MBIA struggling with the ongoing credit and mortgage crisis, there has been real concern over the future of muni bonds and the municipalities that depend on them for capital.
But that wasn't all that was happening at Berkshire. Last week the company also announced that it had taken sizeable positions in Kraft Foods, GlaxoSmithKline, and Trane.
When you're an investor as successful as Mr. Buffett, you're bound to find people following the big moves that you make, and that's nearly always the case with announcements like these. Of the three, Kraft saw the most action as shares jumped nearly 7%.
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Posted
Apr 28 2008, 01:00 PM
by
Matt Koppenheffer
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
"Classic Buffett." Those were the words that The Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal tagged onto the $23 billion deal for William Wrigley Jr. Candy maker Mars is buying the bulk of the company, but Berkshire Hathaway is taking a $2.1 billion minority interest in the deal and has also offered $4.4 billion in subordinated debt financing.
The beautiful thing about this deal, though, is that it shows once again what makes Buffett, well, Buffett. It's a crazy market out there right now and there have been any number of rumors swirling as to where The Oracle of Omaha might throw some of his Berkshire billions. Certainly it wouldn't be something outside of his circle of competence like solar cells or software. He's not known for chasing after the hottest sectors either, so it's not surprising he hasn't been buying into mining or potash. And every rumor so far of him backing up one of the struggling financials has fallen flat.
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Posted
Jun 02 2008, 06:37 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Did you ever wonder which stocks Warren Buffett holds in Berkshire Hathaway? Here's a snapshot of his various holdings, broken down alphabetically, as of the reporting cut off date of March 31, 2008.
Some have multiple positions because of various entities that are held. Here goes:
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Posted
Jul 10 2008, 06:18 AM
by
Douglas McIntyre
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Dow Chemical recently raised prices on a number of its products by 20%. It said that the price of the core commodities it used in manufacturing was simply up too much. Wall Street wasn't willing to buy in to the theory that Dow could keep the volume of its sales up while passing significant price increases on to its customers. Consequently, Dow sits near its 52-week low, trading at $33.96, down from a period high of $47.96.
But Dow has decided to double down on inflation in a manner which seems almost reckless. It will take over Rohm and Haas, paying $78 per share in cash. Berkshire Hathaway will put up $3 billion toward the $18.8 billion purchase price, but that doesn't make the move any safer.
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Posted
Aug 22 2008, 10:30 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The sour U.S. economy is unlikely to rebound before 2009, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Friday.
He said the credit crunch will continue to worsen, and noted that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn’t have a “magic wand” to strengthen the economy and tame inflation.
“You always find out who’s been swimming naked when the tide goes out,” Buffett told CNBC. “We found out that Wall Street has been kind of a nudist beach.”
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Posted
Sep 24 2008, 10:20 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Despite all the rhetoric and worry Congress will not formulate a deal that goes through this week, financial stocks were generally higher today. Part of the reason is the change in rules by the Federal Reserve that allows private equity investors and other groups to take positions up to 33% (including 15% voting shares) in financial companies. Previously the limits were 25% and 10%.
This is a step in the right direction, according to Steve Schwartzman of the Blackstone Group, but private equity needs to be able to take larger chunks and even make acquisitions. It is unreasonable they would make large investors only to be minorities with limited voices on boards.
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Posted
Sep 24 2008, 10:41 AM
by
Charley Blaine
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
It's positively swell that Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett has agreed to put $5 billion into Goldman Sachs. Especially for him.
Yes, the move is a way to show confidence in a beleaguered stock market and a beleaguered financial stock whose value has been cut nearly in half since October 2007. But make no mistake: He called the shots on this one. That’s what happens when you can put up $5 billion on a moment’s notice.
And because he can do that, he got a much better deal than you or I could get
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Posted
Oct 02 2008, 10:52 AM
by
admin
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
At a time when the country is obsessing over the need for a $700 billion fix for the economy, billionaire investor Warren Buffett is positioning himself to be one of its biggest beneficiaries.
Not that Buffett needs bailing out. Instead, he's doing what he does best: Buying assets on the cheap when he perceives he has an advantage. As BusinessWeek points out, Buffett is doing what investors like John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan have done in crises past, propping up faltering institutions.
But as he does so, Buffett, via his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, is playing salesman to average investors, even as he gets deals they could only dream of. Look at the GE deal: Buffett's buying $3 billion in perpetual preferred stock from General Electric. Buffett's investment has a 10% dividend -- $300 million a year -- and GE can’t undo the deal for three years. Buffett also gets the right to buy $3 billion in GE common shares at a price of $22.25. So he can sit back and watch the GE stock chart, and if it hits $45, for instance, he can double that $3 billion without having risked an extra dime.
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Posted
Nov 09 2008, 07:30 PM
by
Andrew Horowitz
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Upwards of 65% of the S&P 500 companies have reported thus far and we have been continuing to see disappointment after disappointment. Profits for the entire index are estimated to be 11.7% lower than last year. Yet many companies have only started to feel the effects of the significant drop in sales which accelerated through October.
This week will probably add to concerns about the near-term outlook as we continue to accept that this will not be a V-shaped recovery. Though this is the start of a much longer slowdown, there are some opportunities to profit as stocks will bounce around, even in the ugliest of market conditions. Here are a few ideas.
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