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’Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
- Austria takes control of Bank Medici
Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn fraud on Friday claimed its biggest victim to date as the Austrian government was forced to take control of Bank Medici,
Derivatives and the wisdom of the Sage
Poor dear Warren Buffett should have taken his own advice on derivatives, and stayed far away from those so-called financial weapons of mass destruction – because they just may be blowing up in his face.
Goldman executives restrained from stock sales
Goldman Sachs’ top four executives agreed to hold on to 90% of the stock they own in the company as part of Goldman’s agreement to raise money from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, reports Bloomberg.
GE slips 9% on public offering price
General Electric’s shares slipped 9% after the conglomerate priced its $12.2bn stock sale below Tuesday’s close. The public offering, along with a $3bn preferred share sale to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway,
Buffett signs up to $15bn GE plan
General Electric on Wednesday unveiled plans to raise at least $15bn in capital from stock sales to the public and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, in the conglomerate’s latest bid to restore confidence in its financial strength.
Buffett calls his bottom
Paulson, Bernanke, Hume, Cox, Sants, Draaisma, G Cox, Sam, Bush, Rosenburg, Barber, Authers, Tett, Pot Luck, Bandit No1.
Do not underestimate the impact of this story:
Buffett invests $5bn in Goldman By Greg Farrell in New York
Goldman Sachs is raising $7.5bn in capital,
Buffett’s potential windfall from Anheuser sale
Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, may bank a $600m profit if InBev succeeds in its $46.3bn takeover of Budweiser-maker Anheuser-Busch, reports Bloomberg.
Filthy lucre
Unethical? No. Lucky? Very. Real? Who knows.
The graph is the intraday trading in Berkshire Hathaway B shares. Those odd blue lines are supposedly someone making a lot of money very quickly. And supposedly someone else losing it.
“Short sellers are an endangered species, like the dodo bird”
So says Douglas Kass, in an interview with Barron’s. Kass is the founder and president of Seabreeze Partners Management, a hedge fund that oversees about $200m in short positions.
Brazil prices bond deals at lower spreads than Buffett
To be precise, 15bp lower, according to Thursday’s FT. Crunchproof chart of the day:
Related links
The short view: world equities – FT
UK bank holiday catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
DT has Sprint Nextel in its sights
Deutsche Telekom is considering the takeover of Sprint Nextel of the US which would catapult the German telecoms group from number four to number one by users in the US mobile market.
Berkshire in credit ratings probe
Billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is being examined as part of a broad, civil investigation by the Connecticut attorney-general into conflicts of interest in the credit rating industry.
Mars, Buffett confirm $23bn Wrigley deal
Details emerged Monday of the $23bn takeover by Mars of chewing gum giant Wrigley, financed partly by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. In a deal similar to an LBO, privately-owned Mars will provide $11bn in equity and Buffett $4.4bn in subordinated debt.
Mars, Buffett in $22bn Wrigley bid
Mars and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway are close to a pact to acquire Wm. Wrigley Jr. for more than $22bn billion in a deal that would remake the global confectionary landscape, reports the WSJ. A deal would unite two icons of the US candy business:
California eyes plan for bond insurer
California Treasurer Bill Lockyer is exploring the possibility of having state pension funds create a new bond insurer, his spokesman said Thursday, reports Reuters. Lockyer has no immediate plans to use the new bond insurance unit set up by Berkshire Hathaway,
The Sage, again, on financial weapons of mass destruction
Last year I told you that Berkshire had 62 derivative contracts that I manage. (We also have a few left in the General Re runoff book.) Today, we have 94 of these…
So writes Warren Buffett in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual letter to shareholders.
The ‘Sage’ speaks — a lot
In his annual letter to shareholders on Friday, Warren Buffett resorted to customary self-deprecating humour to tackle two thorny issues: his mortality and the future of Berkshire Hathaway, the $220bn conglomerate he developed over 43 years of savvy investing.
Buffett gives Glaxo a bump
Warren Buffett has brought his magic touch to the UK – and generously bestowed it on GlaxoSmithKline, which could do with the help.
The billionaire’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has revealed a stake worth about $76.1m in the pharma company at the end of December,
Buffett move boosts Swiss Re
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway group has taken a 3% stake in and struck a commercial alliance with Europe’s Swiss Re. The move, which lifted shares in the world’s biggest reinsurance company on another uncertain day for global stock markets,
Buffett heads for the Alps (but not to Davos)
Move aside SWFs. Now an Individual Wealth Fund, in the shape of one W Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is riding to the rescue of a battered financial.
Berkshire has taken a three per cent stake in Swiss Re and simultaneously signed a reinsurance contract whereby it will take a 20 per cent share of all Swiss Re’s property and casualty business for the next five years.
Buffett and the bond insurers
After a brief uptick, MBIA shares plunged 14 per cent Wednesday on the news that the bond insurer (monoline) would be slashing its dividend.
This puzzles us. Because MBIA also announced that it was on course to secure its AAA rating by meeting Fitch’s requirement for an extra $1bn in reserve capital to be stumped up by the end of January.
‘Dial a bond insurer’ – how to do it, Berkshire style
It’s hard to remember that not all of Warren Buffett’s undertakings go as smoothly. But the Sage’s entry into the big, wide, wonderful world of bond insurance was charmed – even before his new company,
Buffett’s insurer to enter Puerto Rico
It’s onward and outward for Warren Buffett and his new bond insurance business. The new insurer, Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp, has applied for an insurance license in Puerto Rico and is registering to do business in the commonwealth,
Buffett’s bond insurer to expand to Rhode Island
Warren Buffett’s new bond insurer is looking to expand to Rhode Island after hearing that the state’s treasurer wanted it to apply for a license to operate there, reports Reuters.
Rhode Island state Treasurer Frank Caprio appealed to Buffett in a letter sent after Berkshire Hathaway,
Top of the silly season: Buffett, Merrill, China SWF, Alitalia
Just in case you missed them:
Buffett spends big on acquisitions
Warren Buffett, the US billionaire investor, made some striking moves in late December: On Christmas Day, Buffett’s group Berkshire Hathaway used $4.5bn of its $50bn cash pile to buy 60% of Marmon,
Buffett reduces stake in PetroChina
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold more of its stake in top Chinese oil producer PetroChina in late August, selling about $136m worth of shares as it took profits on what has been a lucrative holding,
Every move you make — being Buffett in a time of market turmoil
Sometimes it’s not easy being the world’s most successful – and famous – investor. Whenever any media outlets float the idea that Warren Buffett may buy into something – in this case it’s the WSJ reporting speculation by some investors that Buffett may scoop up bits of troubled US mortgage lender Countrywide – the report is picked up by wire agencies,
Kraft rises on rumour of Buffett interest
Call option activity in Kraft Foods surged on Thursday on speculation that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is interested in the largest US food company, reports Reuters. Shares of Kraft trade at about 18.7 times next year’s estimated earnings.
Zurich share trade puts focus on Buffett
A large number of shares in Zurich Financial Services Group changed hands on Wednesday as dealers cited billionaire investor Warren Buffett who earlier said insurers were “very prominent” on his radar-screen as takeover targets,
Why Berkshire Hathaway will not dump PetroChina
Warren Buffett’s investments, and his strategy for hanging on to profitable stocks long term, is set to come under fire at the Sage of Omaha’s annual shindig for Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders in Omaha,