Saturday, April 30, 2011

Better than a Transcript: Three Live-blogs of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Pt. I (BRK.B; BRK.A)

First up, the New York Times' DealBook:
OMAHA, Neb. — It’s time once again for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, the two-day frenzy of Warren Buffett aficionados who have descended here to listen to his latest musings. This year’s meeting promises to be even more interesting than ever, given the controversy over David Sokol, whose resignation has cast a pall over the normally jovial proceedings.

DealBook is on hand for the goings-on: Michael J. de la Merced will be live-blogging the meeting, while Andrew Ross Sorkin will be part of the panel of reporters asking Mr. Buffett questions. And don’t forget to check out the rest of our Berkshire meeting coverage.
2:19 p.m. |A 'clarification of a clarification'
Ron Olson takes the mic again quickly to clarify his clarification -- very lawyer-like, he notes to Buffett's evident amusement -- that Lubrizol wasn't on Berkshire's restricted-trade list. That's reserved for stocks that Buffett owns and discloses publicly.
2:13 p.m. |Buffett doesn't do commodities hedging
When a shareholder asks Buffett if she should bet on or against oil, the Oracle of Omaha admits something: He can't predict the price of commodities. And he has no intention of trying.
"We don't hedge anything in the way of commodities," he says. "Some of our subsidiaries do, and that's fine."
If Berkshire could better make money by sitting in an empty room trading the price of oil, Buffett suggests, why not just do that instead?

"I really think that an intelligent person can make more money over time thinking about productive assets instead of speculating on commodities or fixed-dollar investments for that matter," he said.

2:07 p.m. |Back to BYD
Fortune's Carol Loomis reads a shareholder question about the auto parts maker BYD. Is Berkshire worried about product delays and other problems at the company?
Buffett punts to Munger, who basically says he still believes in the company. "The price is still higher than what Berkshire paid," he notes of BYD's stock.
2:05 p.m. |Back with a word from a Berkshire lawyer
We're returning from lunch with some clarifications on dates by Ron Olson, a Berkshire director and partner at the company's law firm, Munger Tolles & Olson. It's because Berkshire is establishing a legal record w/r/t all matters Sokol....MUCH MORE
Here's Morningstar's take:

And Motley Fool's:
Better than a Transcript: Three Live-blogs of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Pt. II (BRK.B; BRK.A)

Better than a Transcript: Three Live-blogs of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Pt. III (BRK.B; BRK.A)