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The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
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Author: mungofitch 🐝🐝🐝 GOLD
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Number: of 21937 
Subject: Re: Prices
Date: 09/16/24 4:30 PM
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In 2018 with the adoption of accounting standards Update number 2016-01 issued by the FASB....it required companies to include UNREALIZED Gains and losses from equity investments in their net income.
Comparisons to a period when Berkshire could record those gains or loses in comprehensive income--to me are not useful ( I like the old rules better, so does Waren but...)


You may have misunderstood the accounting change. It had absolutely no effect on book value, only reported EPS. It changed only the line item on which the change was placed: either the earnings line, or the change to comprehensive income. Unrealized gains and losses were always counted in book.

The TCJA, on the other hand, did cause a big one time change in reported book value because the lower tax rates reduced the estimated tax liability from unrealized gains. But it was largely counteracted by the change in TRUE value due to the lower future tax rates. Trying to estimate the relative size of these two changes is extremely subtle, but in general they cancel out, and P/B remains as accurate as a valuation metric as it ever was.

Note, I don't just *assume* that is the case. I do a number of more sophisticated valuation exercises as well, and so far, more or lees by coincidence, the two still match. P/B is so far, as good as it ever was.

Jim
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This community has written 21,448 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
BRK: Why Not XOM? · 62 recs · 2024
Second quarter comments · 60 recs · 2023
Berkshire's Profit Contributors · 57 recs · 2023
Summary of 2Q 2026 · 54 recs · 2026
3Q Summary · 53 recs · 2024
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