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Warren Buffett takes stage without Charlie Munger for first time

Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A, BRK-B) annual shareholder meeting on Saturday will be the first of a new era for the conglomerate.

For the first time in decades, Warren Buffett is not accompanied by Vice Chairman Charlie Munger as he answers questions from Berkshire shareholders for several hours. Munger died last year at the age of 99.

In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett called Munger the “architect” of the modern Berkshire Hathaway, which took its name from a now-defunct New England textile company and became the largest conglomerate of the S&P 500.

Buffett, along with Berkshire vice chairmen Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, began fielding several hours of questions from shareholders around 10:15 a.m. ET.

For the first time, non-shareholders were also able to watch the annual shareholder film, which featured a montage of some of Munger’s most impactful quotes over the years, as well as some of the celebrity cameos that have been featured in these movies. over the years.

At the start of the Q&A session, Buffett discussed the company’s decision to reduce its stakes in Apple (AAPL) during the first quarter, saying that while the company sold shares, it is, in his opinion, opinion, “extremely likely” that the company will remain its subsidiary. biggest investment in stocks at the end of the year.

As for the company’s growing accumulation of cash and Treasuries, Buffett said it was likely the value of those holdings would exceed $200 billion in the current quarter, noting that it was “quite satisfied” with this position.

Asked about Berkshire’s appetite to increase its investments abroad, and in China in particular, Buffett said: “Our main investments will always be in the United States.”

Live10 updates

  • Florida ‘believes more in the free market’ than other states with insurance problems

    Nationwide insurance rates across all policy types have skyrocketed in recent years.

    And no state has seen more unrest than Florida.

    Asked Saturday about the state of Florida’s insurance market, Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, who runs the conglomerate’s vast insurance operations, said the state’s insurance markets had experienced “a difficult few years”.

    Citing challenges with the state’s legal system and storms that have caused widespread damage in the state in recent years, Jain said the state was one where it was “very difficult for one who takes risks to earn money.”

    In March, U.S. auto insurance rates rose 22.4% from a year earlier, the largest increase in 47 years. The average car insurance premium in Florida now stands at $2,900 per year, the third most expensive in the country.

    Jain also noted that Florida is a market currently subsidized by the rest of the country – meaning that, overall, as a state with a higher rate of more expensive claims, Florida insurers are offsetting those costs by collecting premiums in less volatile markets. – but said this dynamic would not “stand the test of time”.

    Longer term, however, Jain seems optimistic about the market, saying, “I’m hopeful that Florida will be a pretty buoyant insurance market.” Because at the end of the day, they believe in the free market more than some of the other states that have (an) insurance crisis, like California and New York. »

  • Ahead of Apple’s AI versions soon…

    Along with Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates, Warren Buffett takes a cautious tone on AI.

    He said he had an experience with AI that made him very “nervous.”

    He saw an image “before his eyes”, of him and his voice, wearing his clothes and delivering a message “no question from him”.

    “If I was interested in investing in scamming, (AI) would be the growth industry of all time. … Obviously, AI has the potential to do good things too. … As that no one who understands anything at all about it, it has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for evil,” Buffett said.

  • The 2 Stocks Charlie Munger Told Warren Buffett He Should Buy

    BYD (BYDDY) and Costco (COST).

    These are the two stocks that Warren Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday that Charlie Munger fought the hardest for during their years together.

    “Charlie banged the table with me twice and said, ‘Buy, buy, buy.’ BYD was one of them and Costco was the other,” Buffett told shareholders. “I should have been more aggressive at Costco.”

    “It wasn’t inevitable that we weren’t,” Buffett added. “But (Charlie) was largely right, in both companies.”

    Buffett’s response came in response to a shareholder question about what it would take for the company to increase its investments in China. Currently, electric vehicle maker BYD is the company’s only investment in the country.

    Buffett said: “Our main investments will always be in the United States. »

  • Warren Buffett’s next big deal probably won’t come from abroad

    Warren Buffett has a lot of money at Berkshire (BRK.A BRK.B), but don’t expect a big deal to come from overseas.

    Buffett reiterated his love for investing in America:

    “You won’t see us making a lot of investments outside of the United States, even though we participate in the global economy through these companies. I understand the rules, the weaknesses (and) the strengths of the United States- United. I don’t usually have the same feeling all over the world and the good thing is that I don’t have to.

    Buffett, however, reaffirmed his commitment to investing in Japan.

  • Warren Buffett allays Apple concerns

    As Myles Udland points out above, Berkshire (BRK.A BRK.B) sold some Apple (AAPL) stock in the first quarter.

    Buffett was quick to voice his concerns about the tech giant, saying this on whether his views on Apple had changed:

    “No, but we sold shares. …At the end of the year, I think it’s extremely likely that Apple will be the largest common stock portfolio that we currently have. …Charlie and I looked at common stocks… as being businesses, so when we own a Dairy Queen or anything, we consider it a business… We still consider every stock a business.

    Buffett then compared Apple to longtime holdings American Express (AXP) and Coca-Cola (KO), noting that Apple would be a holding when Greg Abel takes over.

    Michael Kelley of Yahoo Finance contributed to this post.

  • If Warren Buffett is worried about the country’s debt situation…

    This does not show up on Berkshire’s Cash and Treasury Bills (BRK.A BRK.B) line on the balance sheet.

    Berkshire revealed that it held $182 billion in cash and Treasury bonds at the end of the first quarter. Buffett told shareholders that figure could reach $200 billion by the end of the second quarter.

    Concerns about the country’s debt began to mount on Wall Street.

    Below is what Bank of America (BAC) CEO Brian Moynihan told Yahoo Finance about our country’s debt.

  • Warren Buffett’s pitch as a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder

    In case you need this fodder at a cocktail party…

  • Berkshire’s insurance operations shine, but won’t repeat this year

    A major driver of Berkshire’s $11.22 billion in first-quarter operating profit came from the company’s insurance operations, which totaled $5.2 billion in the first quarter.

    During a discussion of the company’s first-quarter results, Buffett said that Ajit Jain, who runs Berkshire’s insurance operations, “wants me to point out to everyone that you can’t take insurance revenues for the first quarter and multiply them by four. work this way in insurance.

    The company’s insurance risks are spread across geographies and catastrophe types, but Buffett noted that a major storm along the U.S. East Coast would likely pose the biggest risk to the company. business. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November.

  • Berkshire pays tribute to Charlie Munger

    For the first time, Berkshire Hathaway released its annual shareholder video on Saturday – which precedes the Q&A session at the annual meeting – which featured a compilation of Charlie Munger and some of his best one-liners, a staple of annual meetings and other public appearances.

    Munger died in November 2023 at the age of 99.

    Among the Mungerisms presented in the film, Munger said at a previous shareholder meeting: “If I can be optimistic when I’m almost dead, surely you people can handle a little inflation.”

    Elsewhere, Munger added: “The right way to make decisions in practical life is based on your opportunity costs. When you get married, you have to choose the best that will bring you. And the rest of your life is same way. “

  • Berkshire posts record operating profit as Apple trails investment gains

    Ahead of Saturday’s annual shareholder meeting, Berkshire Hathaway reported first-quarter results that showed record operating profit of $11.22 billion.

    In the first quarter of last year, Berkshire’s operating profits were $8.1 billion.

    The company’s investment gains, however, fell sharply from the year-ago period, amounting to just $1.48 billion compared to some $24.75 billion last year.

    Apple’s (AAPL) first-quarter decline of about 10% weighed on results, with the tech giant accounting for about 40% of Berkshire’s shares.

    In its first quarter report, Berkshire also revealed that it had reduced its holdings in Apple during the first quarter. At the end of 2023, the value of Berkshire’s Apple position was $174.3 billion; at the end of the first quarter, the value of this position stood at $135.4 billion.

    At last year’s annual meeting, however, Buffett took the time to point out to investors that the stock doesn’t actually represent that percentage of Berkshire’s overall portfolio, which includes its other wholly owned subsidiaries.

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News Source : finance.yahoo.com
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Sara Adm

Aimant les mots, Sara Smith a commencé à écrire dès son plus jeune âge. En tant qu'éditeur en chef de son journal scolaire, il met en valeur ses compétences en racontant des récits impactants. Smith a ensuite étudié le journalisme à l'université Columbia, où il est diplômé en tête de sa classe. Après avoir étudié au New York Times, Sara décroche un poste de journaliste de nouvelles. Depuis dix ans, il a couvert des événements majeurs tels que les élections présidentielles et les catastrophes naturelles. Il a été acclamé pour sa capacité à créer des récits captivants qui capturent l'expérience humaine.
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