Owen

Buffett's Financial Bets

Berkshire's report is one of the most honest and forthcoming in the industry. When Buffett screws up, he is the first to admit it and ask for shareholder forgiveness.

Buffett does better with companies he owns outright than with shares of publicly traded companies. The reason for that is that while he is a great investor, he is an even better leader and mentor. People working for him are trying much harder to do a good job than those reporting to a short-sighted, disinterested board of directors.

Warren Buffett Accumulates NRG Energy, Ingersoll-Rand and Union Pacific

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The price of Berkshire stock carries a substantial premium over the price of the stock portfolio it holds. This premium may or may not be justified; Buffett himself prefers buying shares of IR and NRG to buying back shares of BRK, and for a good reason too: he doesn't consider the price of BRK shares to be a bargain, unlike that of IR and NRG.

Berkshire is not a mutual fund or an ETF. If the primary insurance and reinsurance businesses of Berkshire falter, an investor may do much better by holding KO, PG, WFC, AXP and the other stocks in the portfolio than by owning shares of BRK.