ACCESS REALMONEY
Investing
- Article Tools
- Email this Article
- Print this Article
- Rss Feed
- Related Articles
- Jim Cramer's Best Blogs
- Kass Katch: Buying Alliance Bernstein
- Should You Buy It? Not on Dean Foods List
- Del.icio.us
- Digg
- StumbleUpon
Normalized for "non-recurring" derivative losses, Berkshire's recurring first-quarter 2008 earnings missed consensus forecasts. First-quarter Berkshire Hathaway earnings (taking out derivative losses) dropped to $1,247 per share as compared to the Street's forecast of $1,477 per share.
An earnings disappointment is one of the reasons I have shorted Berkshire Hathaway -- I shorted more stock on Friday at $134,810 a share -- and not one member of the adoring media pointed out this reasonably important miss, preferring, instead, to chronicle the quips from the Buffett during Berkshire's Annual Meeting.
Buffett is a great investor and an ultimate marketer. Though arguably the most brilliant investor in modern financial history, Buffett has also become a master marketer. By selling himself as a savior, or Investor of Last (or often First) Resort, Buffett has positioned himself to prosper in the form of getting beneficial terms in acquisitions -- a positive but still a "marketing" technique.
For example, Berkshire contributed over $4 billion of subordinated debt in the recent Mars deal. But what didn't get much press (and it should have!) was that on top of the debt, Berkshire invested over $2 billion of equity in the Wrigley/Mars transaction at a "discount" to the price that Mars eventually will pay for Wrigley's common shares.
On a less significant note, the weekend gala in Nebraska also serves to sell products sold by a number of Berkshire's subsidiaries. For example, Berkshire's Nebraska Furniture Mart sells about 10% of its total annual sales during the weekend of the company's Annual Meeting.
As I have mentioned in my original column on Berkshire, when Buffett finally steps down (and that will likely be sooner than later), the benefits of the Oracle's unique position will be less impactful to Berkshire.
Doug Kass is the author of The Edge, a blog on RealMoney Silver that features real-time shorting opportunities on the market.
Catch up on his thinking on the hottest topics of the past week.
The company enjoys a low tax rate and distributes most of its cash flow in the form of a 5.4% dividend yield.
The dairy-products maker has too much debt to consider for your portfolio now.
Yahoo! is among the most searched stocks on TheStreet.com. Here's what Cramer had to say about the stock recently.
Catch up on his thinking on the hottest topics of the past week.
Investors will have to deal with a Fed meeting and another flood of earnings and economic data.
Ensco International and Echelon have the potential to move higher in coming days.
See who made what calls.
The addition of video is helping telecom companies compete against cable and satellite companies.
The June West Texas Intermediate contract reflects selling pressure ahead of Tuesday's expiration. But stocks in the sector are generally trading higher.
See who made what calls.
Keep on top of the market and the critical information you need to make more profitable investing decisions.
Sponsored by:
RSS
