Pokie
Administrator
Dan Pecaut and Corey Wrenn of Pecaut & Co. (712 252 3268) are great admirers of Warren Buffett, and I assume, holders of Berkshire Hathaway stock. They have been attending the Berkshire meetings for years, and have just published a terrific run-down of the latest Berkshire meeting. In 1980 only
12 stockholders attended the annual Berkshire meeting in Omaha. This year an incredible 24,000 stockholders arrived. My comment is that as far as I know, Warren Buffett is the only person in history to amass assets of over one billion dollars strictly by investing.
Just a few of the items noted by Pecaut and Wrenn -- Buffett and his partner, Charles Munger, are unenthusiastic about ethanol. Historically, agriculture processing has not earned high returns on capital. Munger was negative on ethanol, noting that more fossil fuel energy is used than created in the ethanol process.
Buffett feels "stronger than ever" about a weak dollar. Buffett noted that the US is a net debtor to the world to the amount of $3 trillion. He believes that when the comeuppance finally arrives, the currency market will play a major part.
Buffett feels that the one sided-effect of the weaker dollar will be inflation. He noted that it is tempting to governments to inflate in order to make their debts easier to deal with.
Buffett is not optimistic about the media business because of the great amount of competition. This includes newspapers, TV and cable. There's a huge amount of free information on the internet.
Berkshire bought Clayton Homes, which is a leader in manufactured homes.Buffett believes that manufactured homes could be the way of the future, and that Clayton could be a leader in this field.
On terrorism, Buffett called it "the ultimate challenge of mankind." Our of a population of 6 billion, there will always be a small group of crazies intent on damage. But its the technology of today that makes this group so dangerous.
Russell Comment -- Interestingly, Buffett's father, Howard Buffett, was a stockbroker. In 1942 he was elected to Congress with a pledge to keep FDR from "fastening the chains of political servitude around America's neck."
Howard Buffett, was a fierce libertarian and his test on each piece of legislation was "Will this add to, or subtract, from human liberty?"
Howard Buffett summed up his views of America and the world in a speech on the House floor condemning the Truman Doctrine: "Even if it were desirable, America is not strong enough to police the world by military force. If that attempt is made, the blessings of liberty will be replaced by tyranny and coercion at home. Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns. Persuasion and example are the methods taught by the Carpenter of Nazareth, and if we believe in Christianity we should try to advance our ideals by his methods. We cannot practice might and force abroad and retain freedom at home. We cannot talk world cooperation and practice power politics."
An interesting item and maybe a glimpse into the future -- June 13 – Bloomberg (Svenja O'Donnell): "The Russian ruble may become a reserve currency as demand for the money grows, said Dmitry Medvedev, the country's first deputy prime minister... 'The world today is in dire need of a more stable financial system where there is no single dominant reserve currency,'
Medvedev, who is also chairman of OAO Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company, told the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg today."
Russell Comment -- The attack on the reserve status of the US is coming. I can't prove it, but I have the feeling that China is preparing something big along these lines to fit in with the Chinese Olympics of 2008.
12 stockholders attended the annual Berkshire meeting in Omaha. This year an incredible 24,000 stockholders arrived. My comment is that as far as I know, Warren Buffett is the only person in history to amass assets of over one billion dollars strictly by investing.
Just a few of the items noted by Pecaut and Wrenn -- Buffett and his partner, Charles Munger, are unenthusiastic about ethanol. Historically, agriculture processing has not earned high returns on capital. Munger was negative on ethanol, noting that more fossil fuel energy is used than created in the ethanol process.
Buffett feels "stronger than ever" about a weak dollar. Buffett noted that the US is a net debtor to the world to the amount of $3 trillion. He believes that when the comeuppance finally arrives, the currency market will play a major part.
Buffett feels that the one sided-effect of the weaker dollar will be inflation. He noted that it is tempting to governments to inflate in order to make their debts easier to deal with.
Buffett is not optimistic about the media business because of the great amount of competition. This includes newspapers, TV and cable. There's a huge amount of free information on the internet.
Berkshire bought Clayton Homes, which is a leader in manufactured homes.Buffett believes that manufactured homes could be the way of the future, and that Clayton could be a leader in this field.
On terrorism, Buffett called it "the ultimate challenge of mankind." Our of a population of 6 billion, there will always be a small group of crazies intent on damage. But its the technology of today that makes this group so dangerous.
Russell Comment -- Interestingly, Buffett's father, Howard Buffett, was a stockbroker. In 1942 he was elected to Congress with a pledge to keep FDR from "fastening the chains of political servitude around America's neck."
Howard Buffett, was a fierce libertarian and his test on each piece of legislation was "Will this add to, or subtract, from human liberty?"
Howard Buffett summed up his views of America and the world in a speech on the House floor condemning the Truman Doctrine: "Even if it were desirable, America is not strong enough to police the world by military force. If that attempt is made, the blessings of liberty will be replaced by tyranny and coercion at home. Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns. Persuasion and example are the methods taught by the Carpenter of Nazareth, and if we believe in Christianity we should try to advance our ideals by his methods. We cannot practice might and force abroad and retain freedom at home. We cannot talk world cooperation and practice power politics."
An interesting item and maybe a glimpse into the future -- June 13 – Bloomberg (Svenja O'Donnell): "The Russian ruble may become a reserve currency as demand for the money grows, said Dmitry Medvedev, the country's first deputy prime minister... 'The world today is in dire need of a more stable financial system where there is no single dominant reserve currency,'
Medvedev, who is also chairman of OAO Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company, told the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg today."
Russell Comment -- The attack on the reserve status of the US is coming. I can't prove it, but I have the feeling that China is preparing something big along these lines to fit in with the Chinese Olympics of 2008.
