http://blogs.ft.com/gapperblog/2009/05/why-berkshire-hathaway-is-a-tax-arbitrage/
Why Berkshire Hathaway is a tax arbitrage
On paper, Berkshire makes virtually no sense as an operating entity - it combines everything from insurance and reinsurance to steak houses and confectionery manufacture. Probably a better way to regard it is as an
Showing posts with label Berkshire Hathaway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Berkshire Hathaway. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
SEC questioned Warren Buffett's Berkshire on loss accounting
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SEC-questioned-Warren-rb-1660839747.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=
The SEC has absolutely no say in Warren's world.
None of the investment elite play by any regulated set of rules and apparently they just don't have to.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission questioned Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in the second quarter on why it was not writing down large losses on shares in Kraft (NYSE:KFT - News) and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB - News), but the company insisted its accounting was right
In an April letter, the SEC asked Berkshire why it was not recording write-downs on shares with $1.86 billion in unrealized losses, all of which had been in that position for at least a year.
Given the duration of those losses, the SEC said they appeared to be more than temporary and as such should have been written down.
In a detailed response, Berkshire Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg said most of the losses with more than 12 months' duration as of December 31 were concentrated in Kraft and U.S. Bancorp, shares it had acquired in 2006 and 2007.
The SEC has absolutely no say in Warren's world.
None of the investment elite play by any regulated set of rules and apparently they just don't have to.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission questioned Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in the second quarter on why it was not writing down large losses on shares in Kraft (NYSE:KFT - News) and US Bancorp (NYSE:USB - News), but the company insisted its accounting was right
In an April letter, the SEC asked Berkshire why it was not recording write-downs on shares with $1.86 billion in unrealized losses, all of which had been in that position for at least a year.
Given the duration of those losses, the SEC said they appeared to be more than temporary and as such should have been written down.
In a detailed response, Berkshire Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg said most of the losses with more than 12 months' duration as of December 31 were concentrated in Kraft and U.S. Bancorp, shares it had acquired in 2006 and 2007.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Warren Buffett says in future Wall Street chiefs should go broke - and their wives
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8044789/Warren-Buffett-says-in-future-Wall-Street-chiefs-should-go-broke-and-their-wives.html
Here's hoping Warren feels the same way about going broke, when Bershire has to eat all of those Wells foreclosures.
"People have a propensity to gamble, and it gets made easier and easier for them," Mr Buffett told a conference in Washington DC yesterday. "One of the problems we still have is we have unbalanced incentives for managers of huge financial institutions."
In future, chief executives of banks who need government assistance should "go broke", said Mr Buffett. Their wives "should go broke, too", he added
Mr Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, is a major investor in American banks, with a stake in Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.
Here's hoping Warren feels the same way about going broke, when Bershire has to eat all of those Wells foreclosures.
"People have a propensity to gamble, and it gets made easier and easier for them," Mr Buffett told a conference in Washington DC yesterday. "One of the problems we still have is we have unbalanced incentives for managers of huge financial institutions."
In future, chief executives of banks who need government assistance should "go broke", said Mr Buffett. Their wives "should go broke, too", he added
Mr Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, is a major investor in American banks, with a stake in Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.
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