3 ms·

PS: Warren has 140 billion sitting in cash right now. He just bought his own stocks because there weren't many opportunities left. The man has been around for 9

PS: Warren has 140 billion sitting in cash right now. He just bought his own stocks because there weren't many opportunities left. The man has been around for 90 years and investing for 80 years. I know we live in a time where youth is glorified and "old people don't understand the world" but I'm pretty sure he learned a thing or two. “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble”

AstralStorm 6y ago
He's also a believer in long term investing and can afford moves other investors would shirk from. How he got his initial money is not a particularly nice story of success...
- jdmoreira 6y ago
  I think he actually has less opportunities than smaller investors. He complains about that a lot. He is managing a lot of money so he can only buy large cap companies. He frequently claims it's much easier to get a higher returns when you can buy all kinds of companies (big, med and small cap). > How he got his initial money is not a particularly nice story of success... Could you expand on this? I'm genuinely curious
  - pinky1417 6y ago
    Buffett has talked about looking for "elephant" sized acquisitions. Berkshire is so large that it becomes difficult to find good investments of a sufficient size to move the needle. As a smaller investor, I can buy portions of a few $1B market cap companies and make a difference in my portfolio. Buffett, even if he bought such companies outright at a 20% premium, would need to find about 100 of them. > How he got his initial money is not a particularly nice story of success... The actual purchase of the failing Berkshire Hathaway textile company perhaps (unless this is about Buffett doing something allegedly unethical)? The textile operation ultimately failed in the mid 1980s, but Buffett was able to, in the meantime, reallocate its cash flows to more promising ventures.
satellite2 6y ago
Berkshire Hathaway's market cap is 583 billions though, so it's still 76% invested.
- jdmoreira 6y ago
  Yes but all those 76% where bought at what he believes were great / reasonable prices. So it's not like he spent 76% of the money at the peak and now has 34% waiting for the bottom. I see it more like. "here I am with all this cash and there is nothing fairly priced to buy now but soon I might be getting great companies at discount prices".
  - dannyw 6y ago
    Doesn't matter. It's equivalent to buying 76% today.
    - NhanH 6y ago
      It is only equivalent if the market has infinite liquidity. At 300B, you have execution issue to convert them to cash.
    - jdmoreira 6y ago
      No, it’s not because you will judge how well he does by his ROI and it makes a huge difference at what price he bought.
  - satellite2 6y ago
    *24%
- MrFantastic 6y ago
  If you own the entire company it's easier to weather market downturns. BRK prefers to own the entire company so they can allocate capital to the sectors than need it.

AstralStorm 6y ago

He's also a believer in long term investing and can afford moves other investors would shirk from. How he got his initial money is not a particularly nice story of success...

jdmoreira 6y ago
I think he actually has less opportunities than smaller investors. He complains about that a lot. He is managing a lot of money so he can only buy large cap companies. He frequently claims it's much easier to get a higher returns when you can buy all kinds of companies (big, med and small cap). > How he got his initial money is not a particularly nice story of success... Could you expand on this? I'm genuinely curious
- pinky1417 6y ago
  Buffett has talked about looking for "elephant" sized acquisitions. Berkshire is so large that it becomes difficult to find good investments of a sufficient size to move the needle. As a smaller investor, I can buy portions of a few $1B market cap companies and make a difference in my portfolio. Buffett, even if he bought such companies outright at a 20% premium, would need to find about 100 of them. > How he got his initial money is not a particularly nice story of success... The actual purchase of the failing Berkshire Hathaway textile company perhaps (unless this is about Buffett doing something allegedly unethical)? The textile operation ultimately failed in the mid 1980s, but Buffett was able to, in the meantime, reallocate its cash flows to more promising ventures.

satellite2 6y ago

Berkshire Hathaway's market cap is 583 billions though, so it's still 76% invested.

jdmoreira 6y ago
Yes but all those 76% where bought at what he believes were great / reasonable prices. So it's not like he spent 76% of the money at the peak and now has 34% waiting for the bottom. I see it more like. "here I am with all this cash and there is nothing fairly priced to buy now but soon I might be getting great companies at discount prices".
- dannyw 6y ago
  Doesn't matter. It's equivalent to buying 76% today.
  - NhanH 6y ago
    It is only equivalent if the market has infinite liquidity. At 300B, you have execution issue to convert them to cash.
  - jdmoreira 6y ago
    No, it’s not because you will judge how well he does by his ROI and it makes a huge difference at what price he bought.
- satellite2 6y ago
  *24%
MrFantastic 6y ago
If you own the entire company it's easier to weather market downturns. BRK prefers to own the entire company so they can allocate capital to the sectors than need it.