No. of Recommendations: 32
I'm probably the longest Berkshire forum/board poster (on this and previous AOL and others boards) who's 'still here' and finally got my original dealraker name back. Somehow one day MF wouldn't let me use it one day.
Very-very appreciative of Manlobbi doing this and his posts...although given a 28 year experience holding BAM I do question many things the company choses to do as to reported FFO. Not a big thing, just my intuition maybe getting the best of me?
For the record: I am a holder of my inherited Berkshire shares since 1975.
Like Blackswanny I'll mention my largest holdings (I own 250 stocks) and why I hold them as per Manlobbi's suggestion:
Largest holding: AJ Gallagher - Why? Because I read some 45 years ago from John Train that Buffett said, 'We should have gone into the insurance brokerage business instead of underwriting: it is a better business.' I hold all the brokers but AJG has impressed me continuosly with its consistency. I think the stock counting div's has appreciated about 17-18% annually since 1994.
2nd largest: Berkshire
3rd largest: Erie Indemnity. I bought Erie, and I bought quite a bit of it, when the local insurance agency/broker aligned with them and he (a close friend...smart as he can be) suggested I buy the stock. Erie seems outrageously priced but I don't sell: I don't sell because the business seems to crank out results that are impressive.
4th largest: Norfolk Southern. I inherited a small amount of NSC also in 1975 when dad died. The shares are part of my grandfathers purchase and have now been in the family for 82 years. My CPA in our investment club did a compound return on NSC two years ago and for the 82 years it has been 11% according to him. I live on a lake front lot and watch the NSC trains every day go over the trestle. That's why I own mostly, but the performance of the business has been excellent. Wish they'd be more selective as to when they buy back stock, and wish too they'd let their employees live a decent life. I understand that even taking time off for a funeral can get you the axe.
5th largest: Markel. I bought Markel at the public offering. My wife (a CPA) is from Richmond and worked for Markel. Everybody, and I mean everybody from Richmond in any kind of finance position clammored to buy Markel stock when it came public in 1987 or so. We were on the list and got shares. After my my wife left Markel and became self-employed was CPA of DeFazio's Restaurant in Richmond for some time (it closed) and Tony Markel often ate there. We had many conversations with him. I hold because I think the business is sound and stable, that shareholders are treated with respect. I was surprised back then because Tony was already selling stock.
6th largest: Lowe's. My family is in the building materials business and Lowe's began not far from our home. We've been shareholders for a long, long, long time. Excellent business, tends to do well in building downturns, and competition is limited.
7th largest: Mondelez. Bought Cadbury in the year 2000 and have ended up with Mondelez. I just considered the business sound and stout, that little would interfere with steady growth over time and there was almost no way to lose money (my theme as to investing is not to lose, to focus on the downside). Already owned Tootsie Roll and Hershey for decades, so the business was similar. Read much about this business in an excellent book named Emperors of Chocolate.
8th Brookfield things: I stumbled upon the predecessor to Brookfield in name (Edper/Brascan) and bought $5000 of the stock because it was crazy cheap and I thought it was cool that they owned dams and such. I'd already invested in this type renewable assets and the attraction of being unique intrigued me. I hold the stocks because the business fascinates me as does Bruce Flatt. I have suspicions about Flatt (seriously LOL) but I won't sell, I basically never sell anything. I think Brookfield does well but not as well as their accounting suggests. Time will tell.
Rambling, think I got it right. Most of what's in my top holdings simply got there over time with patience. I'm not necessarily an expert investor at all, but I use a model (buy/hold) that tends to reward basically everyone who uses it.
Not checking for spelling or grammar.
Have a great day. Thanks again Manlobbi- please keep the board upbeat, but please let people question things. Wasn't long ago 5 of us questioned GE and Jack Welch, even wrote entensively and published things. We got slaughtered...but all 12 of our points of concern proved completely accurate!
Have a good day.
