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BRK.A

Berkshire Hathaway Inc

5/24/2013, 2:25 PM ET

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Monday, January 28, 11:40 AM Warren Buffett made a late-2012 play for NYSE Euronext (NYX), according to sources who say "Company A" in an ICE filing (S-4) about a competing bid was Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). Buffett reportedly bid less than ICE and conditioned the buy on the sale of NYSE's European derivatives business at a certain price. 1 Comment [Financials, M&A]
Sunday, January 20, 7:01 AM Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) BNSF Railway Co. intends to invest $4.1B on capex this year in order to handle increasing oil shipments from the Bakken shale formation, which is concentrated in North Dakota. BNSF's spending will include $2.3B on its core rail network and $1B on locomotive, freight car and equipment. 13 Comments
Friday, January 4, 6:21 AM The SEC has closed its investigation into David Sokol, a former top aide to Warren Buffett, for possible insider trading and decided not to press charges. Sokol resigned from Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) in 2011 after he bought shares in Lubrizol about two months before Berkshire said it was acquiring the lubricants company. It was Sokol who recommended that Berkshire purchase Lubrizol.
1 Comment
Thursday, January 3, 12:39 PM Warren Buffett and Carl Icahn are reaping the benefits of surging demand for railroad tank cars to haul shale oil from beyond the reach of existing pipelines, as rail shipping has become the method of choice at new production sites because obtaining permits and rights-of-way can slow pipeline construction and make it more costly. 3 Comments [Energy]
Thursday, January 3, 11:43 AM Maybe less entertaining than Byron Wien, but almost surely more actionable is this list of predictions for 2013 from Ploutos. Among the ideas is outperformance by DELL and HPQ thanks to activist investors taking major stakes. A big purchase by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is being talked about, and Ploutos guesses it will be Cummins (CMI). Will JNJ give up its AAA rating to lever up and return cash to shareholders? 5 Comments [Quick Ideas]
Thursday, January 3, 5:22 AM Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) unit MidAmerican Energy is paying $2-2.5B for two solar projects that it's buying in California from SunPower (SPWR), which is also receiving a three-year contract to build them, and a multi-year deal to operate and maintain them. SunPower closed +9.1% yesterday following news of the deal. The acquisition is Warren Buffett's third major solar PV deal in a year. 1 Comment [M&A]
Wednesday, January 2, 8:37 AM Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) subsidiary MidAmerican Energy agrees to acquire the 579 MW Antelope Valley Solar Projects, two solar power plants in Kern and Los Angeles counties in California, from SunPower (SPWR) for an undisclosed sum. The two combined projects would form the world's largest permitted solar photovoltaic power development. 2 Comments [Energy, M&A]
Thursday, December 27, 2012, 6:25 PM WSJ highlights U.S. companies investing heavily to move oil and natural gas to market from newer shale-rock finds, reversing existing pipelines and beefing up rail and barge. As much as $45B may be spent in 2013 on new or expanded transportation infrastructure, including pipelines, rail cars, rail terminals and other projects. 22 Comments [Energy]
Wednesday, December 26, 2012, 3:12 PM Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B -0.5%) says it's recently completed, ahead of schedule, the sale of two short-line railroads it acquired as part of its purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe. BRK.A discovered owning the railroads this fall, and sold them to satisfy regulators who might have reviewed its acquisition of the BNSF railroad if it had reported owning them. 6 Comments [M&A]
Monday, December 17, 2012, 10:40 AM Insurers could face $11B more in asbestos-related claims than the $23B they currently have set aside, says A.M. Best. It's not enough to cripple the industry (Sandy claims are about $22B), but investors have sold in the past when companies have announced additions to reserves. Those maybe touched: HIG and TRV, and also BRK.B, which has taken on billions in exposure through reinsurance deals. Comment! [Financials]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:59 PM Warren Buffett has just put a $134K floor under Berkshire's A Class stock (BRK.A), writes a giddy Whitney Tilson, amazed he was able to pick up shares today for right about that amount. Buffett is willing to pay 120% of book only because he believes intrinsic value is far higher, argues Tilson, who himself calculates intrinsic value to be $180K today, rising to $201K in a year. (slide deck) Comment! [Financials, Quick Ideas]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 10:57 AM More on the Berkshire (BRK.B +2.3%) buyback: The seller of the $1.2B in shares reportedly may be board member David Gottesman. The sale could potentially save Gottesman hundreds of millions of dollars should Buffett get his wish of higher taxes next year. 2 Comments [Financials, On the Move]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 9:49 AM Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) raises the value at which it will repurchase shares to 120% of book value, from 110% previously. Coincident with that news is the purchase of 9.2K shares of Class A stock at $131K each from the estate of a long-term shareholder. 120% of book is approximately the $87-$90 range for the "B" shares, which are +1.6% to $88.68. 12 Comments [Financials, Breaking News, On the Move]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 9:42 AM Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is halted from trading pending news. 10 Comments [Breaking News, Financials]
Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 8:41 AM Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) accumulation of a 13%, $1.45B stake in DaVita HealthCare (DVA) over the past year has stoked speculation that Berkshire will offer to buy the whole of the dialysis-center operator. Berkshire followed a similar path with railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe and insurer Geico, which it bought after building up stakes.
Comment! [Healthcare, M&A]
Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 7:36 AM Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) is seeking up to $1B from Swiss Re in a dispute over a life insurance deal they agreed to in 2010, according to Swiss Re's latest earnings report. The companies have met, but were unable to resolve the matter. The next step would be an arbitration hearing. 1 Comment [Financials]