Warren Buffett 01 (May 08 - Jan 10)

[millionairemind]

Oracle no see green shoots?? What happened to Buy American, I am??

June 25, 2009
US ECONOMY
'No bounce' says Buffett

NEW YORK - WARREN Buffett said on Wednesday that the US economy has 'no bounce' and will take time to recover, but there is no risk of deflation to push it further into despair.

Speaking on CNBC television, the world's second-richest person also praised efforts by the Obama administration and Federal Reserve to jump-start economic activity.

He lamented that the slowdown has hurt his insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway, which runs close to 80 businesses and in the January-to-March period had its first quarterly loss since 2001.

'We have had no bounce' in the economy, Mr Buffett said on CNBC television.

Asked whether the economy was still in a 'shambles,' as he had said in February, Mr Buffett said: 'I'm afraid that's true.' But he added: 'I don't worry about deflation at all.'

US gross domestic product fell at a 5.7 per cent annualised rate in the first quarter.

Government efforts to stimulate business activity remain a work in progress, and President Barack Obama on Tuesday again said the nation's jobless rate will rise above 10 per cent.

'They're doing things, but they take a while to have an effect,' Mr Buffett said. 'You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.'

Buffett nonetheless maintained his long-held belief in the stock market, saying that it is 'attractive over the next 10 years' relative to alternatives.

Asked whether Mr Obama should reappoint Ben Bernanke to lead the Federal Reserve when the chairman's term expires next January, Buffett said: 'I don't see how you could do better.' -- REUTERS

[Musicwhiz]

I think it's ok if there is no "bounce". Let the economy recover slowly and steadily. No harm in that. He's just making comments because he can see what's happening in his subsidiaries, that's all.

[winston]

ON CNBC:-

Gartman: I think Mr. Buffett made some terrible mistakes last year. We all made some mistakes. And the fact that Mr. Buffett was down, what, 45 percent, that Berkshire was down 45 percent, and that not enough action was taken to mitigate those losses, I thought was disconcerting and poor trading. I am short Berkshire Hathaway right now for that reason. It continues to sell at a huge premium to net asset value, so I’m short of it and I’m long of Goldman Sachs. I’m short of Berkshire, and I’m long of [Loews] because they sell at discounts. But I think that Mr. Buffett made some terrible mistakes last year and when you’re down 45 percent for a year, I’m sorry, that’s inexcusable.

Melissa: Right. OK. So maybe not an idiot but maybe some idiotic trading moves. (Laughs).

Gartman: Not an idiot. Clearly he’s not. He’s a genius trader …

Melissa: Of course.

Gartman: … a genius investor …… but when you’re down 45 percent in a year, I’m sorry, I don’t know how you can defend that

[millionairemind]

Hats off to the man.

July 3, 2009
Buffett donates $2.2b shares

NEW YORK - BILLIONAIRE investor Warren Buffett has donated about US$1.5 billion (S$2.2 billion) of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock, in connection with his 2006 pledge of his holdings to charitable causes.

According to a regulatory filing, Mr Buffett on Wednesday donated 428,688 Berkshire Class B shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and 87,884 shares to four family charities.

Following the donations, Mr Buffett still held 350,000 Class A and 1,501,532 Class B shares of Berkshire, together worth about US$36.1 billion based on Wednesday closing prices.

Mr Buffett said he still has a 25.8 per cent stake in Berkshire, and 31.6 per cent of the company's voting power. A Class B share is worth about 1/30th of a Class A share.

Mr Buffett, 78, has built Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire into a conglomerate with close to 80 businesses that sell such things as insurance, clothing, ice cream and paint, and which owns tens of billions of dollars of common stock.

Forbes magazine in March called Mr Buffett the world's second-richest person, trailing only Bill Gates, who is also a Berkshire director. Mr Gates co-founded Microsoft Corp. -- THOMSON REUTERS

[kennynah]

yeah... respectable move...

u too can do the same... doesn't need to be billions of dollars... give $50 to any charity you like...it's the same...

they say..."when u have alot, giving is nothing...when you have little, giving is a lot"

[millionairemind]

yeah... respectable move...

u too can do the same... doesn't need to be billions of dollars... give $50 to any charity you like...it's the same...

they say..."when u have alot, giving is nothing...when you have little, giving is a lot"

This one I DEFINITELY agree with you. 积少成多 .

If every1 give a little and take good care of one's own family, we would have much less suffering in this world.

[kennynah]

i agree...

without being magnanimous...we first make sure we are ok..then, we make sure our immediate loved ones are ok... then...we make sure others around us are ok...and then, we make sure strangers are ok... in this order...

some of us...pretend to be saints...cant even take care of our own mothers...wana pretend to take care of the destitutes....

the worst form of charity is pretence....

[winston]

Warren Buffett's money-making secrets -- and how they could work for you. by Alice Schroeder.

1. Reinvest Your Profits: When you first make money, you may be tempted to spend it. Don't. Instead, reinvest the profits. Warren Buffett learned this early on. In high school, he and a pal bought a pinball machine to pun in a barbershop. With the money they earned, they bought more machines until they had eight in different shops. When the friends sold the venture, Warren Buffett used the proceeds to buy stocks and to start another small business. By age 26, he'd amassed $174,000 -- or $1.4 million in today's money. Even a small sum can turn into great wealth.

2. Be Willing To Be Different: Don't base your decisions upon what everyone is saying or doing. When Warren Buffett began managing money in 1956 with $100,000 cobbled together from a handful of investors, he was dubbed an oddball. He worked in Omaha, not Wall Street, and he refused to tell his parents where he was putting their money. People predicted that he'd fail, but when he closed his partnership 14 years later, it was worth more than $100 million.

Instead of following the crowd, he looked for undervalued investments and ended up vastly beating the market average every single year. To Warren Buffett, the average is just that -- what everybody else is doing. to be above average, you need to measure yourself by what he calls the Inner Scorecard, judging yourself by your own standards and not the world's.

3. Never Suck Your Thumb: Gather in advance any information you need to make a decision, and ask a friend or relative to make sure that you stick to a deadline. Warren Buffett prides himself on swiftly making up his mind and acting on it. He calls any unnecessary sitting and thinking "thumb sucking." When people offer him a business or an investment, he says, "I won't talk unless they bring me a price." He gives them an answer on the spot.

4. Spell Out The Deal Before You Start: Your bargaining leverage is always greatest before you begin a job -- that's when you have something to offer that the other party wants. Warren Buffett learned this lesson the hard way as a kid, when his grandfather Ernest hired him and a friend to dig out the family grocery store after a blizzard. The boys spent five hours shoveling until they could barely straighten their frozen hands.

Afterward, his grandfather gave the pair less than 90 cents to split. Warren Buffett was horrified that he performed such backbreaking work only to earn pennies an hour. Always nail down the specifics of a deal in advance -- even with your friends and relatives.

5. Watch Small Expenses: Warren Buffett invests in businesses run by managers who obsess over the tiniest costs. He one acquired a company whose owner counted the sheets in rolls of 500-sheet toilet paper to see if he was being cheated (he was). He also admired a friend who painted only on the side of his office building that faced the road. Exercising vigilance over every expense can make your profits -- and your paycheck -- go much further.

6. Limit What You Borrow: Living on credit cards and loans won't make you rich. Warren Buffett has never borrowed a significant amount -- not to invest, not for a mortgage. He has gotten many heart-rendering letters from people who thought their borrowing was manageable but became overwhelmed by debt. His advice: Negotiate with creditors to pay what you can. Then, when you're debt-free, work on saving some money that you can use to invest.

7. Be Persistent: With tenacity and ingenuity, you can win against a more established competitor. Warren Buffett acquired the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 because he liked the way its founder, Rose Blumkin, did business. A Russian immigrant, she built the mart from a pawnshop into the largest furniture store in North America. Her strategy was to undersell the big shots, and she was a merciless negotiator. To Warren Buffett, Rose embodied the unwavering courage that makes a winner out of an underdog.

8. Know When To Quit: Once, when Warren Buffett was a teen, he went to the racetrack. He bet on a race and lost. To recoup his funds, he bet on another race. He lost again, leaving him with close to nothing. He felt sick -- he had squandered nearly a week's earnings. Warren Buffett never repeated that mistake. Know when to walk away from a loss, and don't let anxiety fool you into trying again.

9. Assess The Risk: In 1995, the employer of Warren Buffett's son, Howie, was accused by the FBI of price-fixing. Warren Buffett advised Howie to imagine the worst-and-bast-case scenarios if he stayed with the company. His son quickly realized that the risks of staying far outweighed any potential gains, and he quit the next day. Asking yourself "and then what?" can help you see all of the possible consequences when you're struggling to make a decision -- and can guide you to the smartest choice.

10. Know What Success Really Means: Despite his wealth, Warren Buffett does not measure success by dollars. In 2006, he pledged to give away almost his entire fortune to charities, primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He's adamant about not funding monuments to himself -- no Warren Buffett buildings or halls.

"I know people who have a lot of money," he says, "and they get testimonial dinners and hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. When you get to my age, you'll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. That's the ultimate test of how you've lived your life."

http://www.warrenbuffett.com/warren-buf ... -get-rich/

[winston]

Buffett: Three Rules for Average Investors By: Ellen Chang

Warren Buffett’s strategies for investing have never wavered much.

During an interview with ABC, the billionaire suggested three rules for individual investors to follow if they want to see their money increase.

The three rules were:

“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Always look at how much the other guy is making when he is trying to sell you something,” Buffett said. “Stay away from leverage.”

It’s true that the average investor has had a hard time timing the market, said Conrad Gann, chief operating officer at TrimTabs Investment Research of Sausalito, California.

Gann said the average investor gotten it backwards, buying high and selling at low, reported The New York Times.

According to the data compiled by his firm, mutual fund investors put in $300 billion in new cash to equity funds from 2002 to 2007 during the market’s highs.

However, when the market started to tank, investors removed $150 billion of assets, with the majority of it taking place after the September market meltdown.

© 2009 Newsmax.

http://moneynews.newsmax.com/streettalk ... 37800.html

[winston]

Warren Buffett dumping huge amounts of this stock
By 24/7 Wall Street:

Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) just got a rather interesting insider selling shares, none other than Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A).

The listed entities were Berkshire itself, National Indemnity, OBH, and GEICO. The new stake is down to 16.98% from roughly 20.2%. The filing outlines the terms for more shares to possibly be sold ahead. Frankly, this should have come long ago.

Here were the listed sales in the filing:
7/20/09… 1,817,000 at $28.7269 average in open market sale.
7/21/09… 3,915,100 at $26.9188 average in open market sale.
7/22/09… 2,254,200 at $26.6425 average in open market sale.

http://247wallst.com/2009/07/22/buffett ... mco-brk-a/