5 Highlights Of The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting

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Dr. David Kass
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These are 5 highlights of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting:

Q1 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc

Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett

(1) Apple – Both Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are very bullish on Apple.  “We like the fact that it is our largest holding” ($54 billion).  They would buy more shares at a lower price.

(2) Amazon – The recent investment by Todd Combs or Ted Weschler is an example that all investing is “value investing”.

(3) Google – Both Buffett and Munger regret not investing in Google at an earlier stage when they were observing the large payments Geico was making to Google for each click as part of its advertising.

(4) Kraft Heinz – Berkshire paid an appropriate price for Heinz but too high a price for Kraft.

(5) Todd and Ted’s portfolios are outperforming Buffett’s portfolio.  In addition, Todd oversaw the launch of Berkshire’s joint project with Amazon and J.P.Morgan Chase to lower their health care costs.  Ted managed Berkshire’s investment in Home Capital Group in 2017.

Article by Dr. David Kass

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David I Kass Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Finance Ph.D., Harvard University Robert H. Smith School of Business 4412 Van Munching Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-1815 Phone: 301-405-9683 Email: dkass@rhsmith.umd.edu (link sends e-mail) Dr. David Kass has published articles in corporate finance, industrial organization, and health economics. He currently teaches Advanced Financial Management and Business Finance, and is the Faculty Champion for the Accelerated Finance Fellows. Prior to joining the faculty of the Smith School in 2004, he held senior positions with the Federal Government (Federal Trade Commission, General Accounting Office, Department of Defense, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis). Dr. Kass has recently appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNBC, PBS Nightly Business Report, Maryland Public Television, Business News Network TV (Canada), Fox TV, American Public Media's Marketplace Radio, and WYPR Radio (Baltimore), and has been quoted on numerous occasions by Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, where he has primarily discussed Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. He has also launched a Smith School “Warren Buffett” blog. Dr. Kass has accompanied MBA students on trips to Omaha for private meetings with Warren Buffett, and Finance Fellows to Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings. He is an officer of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, DC, and is a member of the investment and budget committees of a local nonprofit organization. Dr. Kass received a Smith School “Top 15% Teaching Award” for the 2009-2010 academic year.