No cameras are permitted. No transcripts are available. Onlyshareholders are even allowed to attend. But we have a ringsideseat at the Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK-A )( BRK-B ) annual meeting in Omaha, Neb., where Tim Beyers and other MotleyFool analysts are live-blogging from the event of the year. (Jointhe chat here .) For more than four decades, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger haveheld court during these famously witty and insightful Q&Asessions. (The pair has commented on almost everything -- from sex and markets , to China, to Google's ( GOOG ) competitive advantage , to nuclear disarmament .) Here's a closer look at what they talked about in today'smeeting. 1. On his health. Buffett says he loves what he does and still loves coming to work.His energy and enthusiasm during the Q&A seems to corroboratehis claim. Nevertheless, he's suffering from a form of prostatecancer, which makes some investors nervous. Buffett sees four doctors for this condition. Less than a monthago, he and his family visited them, and none of the treatmentrecommendations that came back were all that troubling. Says Buffett: "The ones they recommend do not require a day ofhospitalization. They don't require a day off work, and there's a99% survival rate. Maybe I'll get shot by a jealous husband. In allseriousness, it is a non-event. The med center is about two minutesfrom the office. For two months, I'll walk over there." Munger adds: "As a matter of fact, I rather resent the attention he[Buffett] is getting. ... I don't know [if I have prostate cancer]because I don't let them test for it." 2. On taxes, the economy, and his role as a political figure. Buffett says that if you look at the most recent year, aggregateboth payroll and income taxes, and then take the people with the400 highest incomes in the U.S., they average $270 million each --and of those, about 140 pay tax rates less than 15%, and about 30pay less than 10%. "I would say when we're asking for shared sacrifice, and we'remaking promises on Social Security ... I'd make sure we [are] taxedin a way that's commensurate with how we earned," he says. Buffett recognizes this isn't a popular view in some corners. Alater questioner, who has an 84-year-old relative who won't investin Berkshire because of Buffett's tax-related activism, askedwhether Berkshire's stock would rise more if he were a lesspolitical figure. Buffett dismissed the impact of his politics onthe company's share prices. "It's fine if people disagree with us," Buffett says. "It sounds tome that if that 84-year-old man is making a decision on hisinvestment based upon his politics, he belongs on Fox." As for the economy, Buffett says we've seen worse times: "I boughtmy first stock in June of 1942. We were losing the war, and stockswere cheap." The message? Macroeconomic factors shouldn't replacesound thinking about value, competition, and so forth when it comesto the business of investing. 3. On stock buybacks, dividends, and whether Berkshire is undervalued . Buffett says his aim is not to advertise the attractiveness of hiscompany's stock. Nevertheless, he and Munger both see it as worth"significantly" more than it is trading for right now. So why haven't they repurchased more stock recently? There's noreason to act quickly, Buffett says. What's more, he notes, it'seasy to be dumb about repurchasing shares. Too often, CEOs chooseto pursue buybacks for reasons other than price. Buffett says he won't do that. Moreover, he views himself as a fiduciary for thousands ofinvestors, and in that role, he believes paying dividends isn't thebest use of Berkshire's cash: "I do not think a dividend would be aplus in terms of getting the share price up to [fair] value -- infact, it might be quite the opposite." 4. On the market and stocks versus gold. Buffett says his teacher, the legendary value investor BenjaminGraham, created the simplest formula for obtaining wealth. Allanyone has to do is read chapters 8 and 20 of The Intelligent Investor , in which Graham likens investing in stocks to bargaining with acrazy person -- or, to use Buffett's particular parlance, "apsychotic drunk." "The beauty of stocks is they do sell at silly prices sometimes,"Buffett says. "That's how Charlie and I got rich." But he's beingmodest. Buffett isn't just rich; he's Scrooge McDuck rich. According to Forbes, at a net worth of $44 billion, he's theworld's third wealthiest person. Carlos Slim Helu, the man behindLatin American telecom America Movil ( AMOV ), ranks first with a $69 billion fortune, while Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Bill Gates, a Berkshire director (and in attendance at the annualmeeting) is second with $61 billion. And what of gold, which has become a popular alternative toinvesting in stocks? "When we took over Berkshire, gold was at $20,and Berkshire was at $15," Buffett says. "Gold is now at $1,600 andBerkshire is $120,000." He went on to say he would "bet his life"that Berkshire shares will outperform gold over the long run, andhe says the same about stocks generally. Do you own shares of Berkshire Hathaway? What's the mostinteresting thing you've heard Buffett and Munger say today orduring earlier meetings? Let us know in the comments section. I am an expert from tonerchinese.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Samsung Laser Printer Toner Cartridge , China Dell Compatible Toner Cartridges, Samsung Laser Printer Toner Cartridge,and more.
Related Articles -
China Samsung Laser Printer Toner Cartridge, China Dell Compatible Toner Cartridges,
|