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- Manlobbi
Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ❤
No. of Recommendations: 17
No. of Recommendations: 4
From the 2024 AM:
BECKY QUICK: Hey, Warren, he mentioned Oxy, which I think is a great example where you made the original decision basically on a weekend with some thought. But as [you learned] more about Oxy and the, the asset position, they had their ability to operate in an exceptional manner, and then a strong CEO around capital allocation. I think your confidence, which was reflected in continuing to acquire more shares, is sort of that type of process.
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, it’s exactly to the point. I mean, I just learned more as I went along. I learned enough. You know, I’d never, I’d heard of Occidental Petroleum. Occidental Petroleum happens to [have] been a descendant, not a descendant, but it’s a continuation of Cities Service, which was the first stock I bought. And, of course, I knew a lot about the oil and gas business, but I didn’t know anything about geology, so I knew the economics of it. I had a lot of various things stored in my mind about the business, but I never heard of Vicki Hollub until, I guess, it was a Friday or Saturday, and we met on Sunday morning. We made a deal, but that was one sort of deal. And then as time passed, all [kinds] of different events happened. You know, Icahn came in. I mean, there are a million things you couldn’t predict at the start, and I formed certain opinions as I went along, but then, I learned more as I went along. And then at a point when I heard an investor call, it put things together for me in a way… It didn’t mean I knew I had a sure thing or anything like that. I don’t know what the price of oil was going to be next year, but I knew that it was something to act on. So we did, and we’re very happy we did, and we still don’t know what the price of oil is going to be next year.
I don’t know what [Vicki] does, but I think the odds are very good that it was, but not a cinch, that it was a good decision, and we’ve got options to buy more stock, and when we get through with it, it could be a worthwhile investment for Berkshire. We’re in it, and we’re in it for keeps. There are other things that we own that we aren’t in for keeps."https://steadycompounding.com/investing/brk-2024/He'd never heard of Occidental Petroleum? He doesn't know anything about geology? He doesn't know what Vicki does? Surely he jests.
No. of Recommendations: 3
"it’s a continuation of Cities Service, which was the first stock I bought"
I think this is kind of cool.
No. of Recommendations: 7
"it’s a continuation of Cities Service, which was the first stock I bought"
I think this is kind of cool.Lets see, he's got his OXY and all of GEICO - maybe he can finish off some of his early interests by taking out Greif Brothers Cooperage?
https://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickchart/quick...OXY bought Cities Service in the eighties, which is how Vicki Hollub joined OXY. The refining biz of Cities Service was divested and ended up with the Venezuelans (Citgo).
No. of Recommendations: 5
My first job out of graduate school was as a geologist with Cities Service. They put me through a nine month geophysical training program, which let me wear both hats. I left before Oxy took over. Employees from Cities either were laid off, or rose quickly in Oxy.
No. of Recommendations: 4
No. of Recommendations: 7
You know, I’d never, I’d heard of Occidental Petroleum.
...
He'd never heard of Occidental Petroleum?
This is a transcript which often misses nuance of how people actually communicate.
There's a pretty good chance the "I'd never" was the start of a different sentence that never got completed, like "I'd never really thought about investing them", then he changed his mind and then just said that he'd heard of them, with the implied "but didn't have much more interest than that".
Unfortunately I don't have the live video handy, it's probably clearer that way. We all know he'd heard of Occidental Petroleum, so that interpretation isn't going to be the right one.
Jim
No. of Recommendations: 11
Warren has his price and OXY came back to him -
Yes. Buffett likes round numbers, like the 400,000,000 Coca-Cola shares in the portfolio, and it is getting pretty clear what the OXY buy price is.
Common Stock 06/05/2024 P 524,340 A $59.7452(1) 248,542,468 I See footnotes(2)(3)(4)
Common Stock 06/06/2024 P 654,293 A $59.9342(5) 249,196,761 I See footnotes(2)(3)(4)
Common Stock 06/07/2024 P 1,386,844 A $59.6687(6) 250,583,605 I See footnotes(2)(3)(4)
...
These shares were purchased in multiple transactions at prices ranging from $59.4800 to $59.8650.
It looks like the instructions may be "buy as much as you can under $60."
dtb
No. of Recommendations: 6
It looks like the instructions may be "buy as much as you can under $60."
And "as much as you can" is quite a lot.
In those three days Berkshire's purchases were over 15% of the aggregate OXY trading volume, if my data source is correct. And on the 7th, it was 20% (!).
Jim
