Post #15557 by Texirish on the Berkshire Hathaway board

Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ❤

Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (14)

Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!

No. of Recommendations: 24

But the sole *reason* that it is a pretty good investment over time is because management has the discipline never to allocate capital at low rates of return, which a repurchase today would probably be. The only reason they can get away with a high cash allocation is that the cash that HAS been allocated to date *has* been allocated at high (above average) rates of return. They wait for fat pitches. That is the secret sauce, and the only one.

Thanks Jim, once again, for refocusing people on what's important concerning buybacks.

Warren himself asked the board to set the conditions for buybacks. They were only to be done if - in his and Charlie's estimates - they were to be done below a "conversative estimate" of IV. This wasn't to guide him. It was to set a standard for the future. He had enough voting power to do whatever he wanted. But he wanted to set a firm guideline for the future. He's talked about this many times.

Now I presume it is Warren and Greg. and Greg going forward. But it's a guide against a "do something" action. It sets the limits on when to buyback BRK stock.

Now isn't the time. Or particularly close.

Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!

Print the post

Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (14)

Prev | Next

Announcements

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

A community forum supporting civilized, and highly helpful, self-educating investors that come together for Shrewdness and merry spirits. These message boards closely follow the look and feel of the old message boards at boards.fool.com prior to the boards redirected to discussion.fool.com. Shrewd'm is not affiliated with the comprehensive and excellent investment website, The Motley Fool (TMF), in any way. The Shrewd commmunity here has owed, and continues to owe, gratitude to The Motley Fool for nurturing a culture of jovial irreverence towards Wall St, and that tradition will continue here.