I think it is safe to say there is not much buying going on among the board members, but by definition of a trade, someone is. I doubt they are buying in anticipation of a decline, or a five year real return of 1%. I'm trying to get inside their heads and can come up with few excuses... er umm, reasons.

Momentum? I know that people make money on pure momentum plays. I don't spend much time trying to figure that one out, but data people have shown that it can work with proper parameters.

Insurance pricing? Recent well publicized disasters have given insurance companies some great pricing power, and assuming they are good at risk analysis and not over-regulated, insurance looks to be a growing industry. Likewise in the auto sector, where filling the bumpers and windshields with various high tech sensors has driving the repair bills sky high. What looks like increased costs to insurers is also an opportunity to increase rates, and indeed, they are soaring. I don't know what percentage of BRK profit is insurance, but is it the perception that it can carry the entire stock?

Dumb money? In true Lake Wobegon fashion, we often hear about "the smart money". Everyone can't be the smart money, but no one confesses to being the dumb money. I've been there. I have to agree with Jim that the cold hard numbers are hard to deny, and that either things have to be "different this time" or people are buying with the Tinkerbelle approach, clap if you believe, no need for laying out your expected parameters.

Or am I missing something?