ATLBob

Why Did Buffett Cut Positions in JNJ and PG?

When I read the Buffett letter/Berkshire report on Saturday I also found this tidbit interesting, especially in light of what Jim Cramer has whined about lately regarding Buffett's decision to sell some of his JNJ. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that someone like Cramer, who seems to be a 'bi-polar trader' who needs an 'outrage of the week' would find something to carp about with the JNJ sale. Nothing like taking Buffetts 'buy America' comments to an extreme as an excuse to rant. I guess Cramer failed to recognize that all three of these sold companies were international in scope and that the funds were used to invest in other opportunites in the US.

Basically, Cramer says that it's OK for him recommend that we buy or sell anything at anytime as often as we want, but Buffett should buy and hold every US based equity forever, regardless of the opportunity cost.

Buffett's New Moats: NRG Energy, Nalco

On Feb 19 11:13 AM Did U Think The Ponzi Scheme Would Last? wrote:

> Well it's about time for Buffet to get some new moats because his
> a$$ is sinking fast in the old ones.


There always seems to be an endless supply of people who opine that Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger have "lost it", or that they aren't in touch with the way the markets work today. When Berkshire didn't participate in the 'dot-com' frenzy a few years ago, they were called dinosaurs until the 'dot-coms' became 'dot-bombs' and self-imploded. Warren and Charlie have certainly made some mistakes in the past and will likely make more; however, when all of the day traders and shorts have crashed and burned once again, Berkshire will still be standing.

Berkshire Testing November Lows - Already Down 17% YTD

"A Black Swan event: refers to a large-impact, hard-to-predict, and rare event beyond the realm of normal expectations." (from Wikipedia)

(The following is from "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable", By NASSIM NICHOLAS TALEB)

"A Black Swan (and capitalize it) is an event with the following three attributes.

First, it is an outlier, as it lies outside the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its possibility.

Second, it carries an extreme impact.

Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable. "

2008 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting: Detailed Notes

The next best thing to being there...thanks.

Cramer vs. Buffett: An ETF Perspective

Nice article. You can certainly learn a thing or two from both Cramer and Buffett, and the way you apply the lessons in your personal investing/trading strategy is driven by your risk tolerance, time horizon, willingness to research, and your ability to filter out the daily 'noise' from the marketplace. It's OK to buy and hold, but it's not OK to buy, hold and forget.

Is Berkshire Hathaway Worth More Dead or Alive?

A well done, down to earth explanation of how Berkshire practices might have worked to improve the overall value of STRT. Thanks for this fine work.