... Does brk use 5 different firms to execute its trades? How many, others, can trade apple in that size? Has anyone ever asked?

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If anyone still reads all the footnotes to the filings, does brk disclose the amount of unrealized capital gains on its public securities holdings? Presumable brk sold its highest cost apple and BAC but IF, IF, he believes the tax rate might rise 25 % or more, in the next two years, who knows what he might be doing? The strength in the stock sure has surprised most of us, that's, a beautiful thing! Thank you.

Yes, of course Berkshire discloses unrealized gains in their financial statements. They break their equity securities into three categories, (Banks, insurance & finance / Consumer products / Commercial, industrial & other ) and give the cost basis, net unrealized gains and fair value. They also disclose deferred income taxes, which are primarily on unrealized gains at the corporate rate. That's why book value shot up when Trump lowered the corporate rate - that deferred tax liability decreased by billions of dollars (and could increase if the corp. tax rate were to rise).

As for equities trade execution, Warren and Todd seem to use Wallachbeth Capital almost exclusively for the last several years. Ted Weschler uses Glen Eagle Wealth for his orders. It is one way you can get clues about which manager is choosing which positions. Both firms specialize in working large orders anonymously and Wallachbeth especially is capable of enormous trades - they handled all of the Apple buys and all of the Apple sales. The orders are typically a percent of daily volume target over a long period of time.

wallachbeth.com: WallachBeth – The leading provider of institutional execution services

gleneagleadv.com: Home — Glen Eagle