Daily Archives: February 17, 2009

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Disclose Holdings A to G (BRK-A, AXP, BAC, BNI, KMX, KO, CMCSA, CDCO, COP, CEG, COST, GCI, GE, GSK)

buffett_image3It’s that time again.  Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) have filed with the SEC showing what the Oracle of Omaha owns in public stocks as of the quarter or as of December 31, 2008 in this case:  These are broken out alphabetically by company from A to G, along with some color on each stock compared to prior report:

  • American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) over 151.6 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) 5,000,000 shares; same as last quarter but lower than the 9.1 million shares reported in June.
  • Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) 70.089 million shares, higher than the 63,785,418 shares reported previously but we already knew this one was higher from prior transactions.
  • Carmax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) 17.63 million, down from 18.444 million last quarter.
  • Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) right at 200,000,000 shares, same as before.
  • Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) 12 million shares, same as before.
  • Comdisco Holdings (NASDAQ: CDCO) just over 1.5 million shares, same as before.
  • ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) 79.896 million, above the 59.688 million in one unit, but was previously about 83.9 million total.  Hard to know if this is a real change or just more reporting or more/less units….
  • Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) 19.897 million shares, but this may have already ended after the last merger.
  • Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 5.254 million shares, same as before.
  • Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI) 3.447 million shares, same as before.
  • General Electric Corp. (NYSE: GE) 7.777 million shares, same as before but that does not include the 10% interest bought last year.
  • GlaxoSmithkline (NYSE: GSK) 1.51 million shares, same as before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “H to R”

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “S to Z”

Jon C. Ogg
February 17, 2009

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 5:54 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, Mutual Funds, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Disclose Holdings H to R (HD, IR, IRM, JNJ, KFT, LOW, MTB, MCO, NLC, NKE, NSC, NRG, PG)

buffett_image4The second group is out, and here are the year-end holdings of Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A).   This filing shows the holdings alphabetically as “H to R” for stocks and the cut off date is December 31, 2008.  We also added in some color for reference to the prior report:

  • Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) 3.7 Million shares; same as before but down from June.
  • Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) 7.78 million, above the 5.6366 million before.
  • Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) 3.3722 million shares, same as last quarter.
  • Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) 28.6 million shares, down by more than half from about 62 million last quarter.
  • Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) over 138 million.  We had 148 million last time but that could have been a carrying difference we didn’t catch.
  • Lowes Companies (NYSE: LOW) 6.5 million shares, same as last quarter.
  • M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) 6.71 million shares, same as last quarter.
  • Moody’s (NYSE: MCO) about 48 million shares, same as before but may actually be larger since the 12/31 reporting.
  • Nalco Holding (NYSE: NLC) 8.730 million shares; NEW HOLDING from last quarter.
  • Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) 7.641 million shares, same as last quarter.
  • Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) 1.933 million shares, still same.
  • NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) 7.2 million, up from 5 million last quarter.
  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, down from more than 105.8 million last quarter.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “A to G”
BUFFETT HOLDINGS “S to Z”

Jon C. Ogg
February 17, 2009

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 5:50 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Disclose Holdings S to Z (BRK-A, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

buffett_image5The final list of Warren Buffett’s year-end stock holdings from Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) are out and we broke them down alphabetically with this being the “S to Z” stock list.  The cut off here is December 31, 2008 and we have added in some color for how this compares to last quarter’s report:

  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) looks roughly the same at 2.82 million.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) about 67.6 million shares, down from over 72.9 million last quarter.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, looks same as last quarter.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 8.9 million shares, same as before.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) 2.7 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over 19.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) roughly 290.4 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.7773 million shares, same as before.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

BUFFETT HOLDINGS “A to G”
BUFFETT HOLDINGS “H to R”

Jon C. Ogg
February 17, 2009

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 5:48 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Financial Stocks, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

California Kills Its Part Of The Federal Stimulus Program

angrybear5California has decided to demonstrate how quickly a state can dig a hole and swallow up most of the money the national stimulus package is supposed to put into its local economy through municipal aid and private sector financing.

If the new bill to be signed by the President today is meant to save or create three million jobs, the bleeding out of the economy may simply make that impossible. Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 2:31 pm in Economy, Politics

Stanford And Madoff: What Happens When People Want Their Money

95129c2Running a financial scam during a long bull market may actually not be very hard. People believe that they can get consistent outstanding concerns.

When the market turns bad, investors need their money back. As Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford payback can be brutal.

Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 1:03 pm in Law

Activist Jana Unloads Major Financial Stocks (ACE, AET, BAC, CI, LEHMQ, TROW, THG, WFC)

burning-money-pic10Some investors love activist hedge funds.  They can correct many anti-shareholder practices or policies.  But it seems that the power of activists has been limited in the current economic environment.  Jana Partners LLC has exited or lowered stakes in many major financial institutions.  The pain in the sector looks like it was too much.
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 12:55 pm in Activist Investor, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity

Will Compensation Controls Move Wall Street Overseas?

John Tamny,  RealClearMarkets

As this column has regularly argued, government investment is never passive. Once federal bureaucrats slip under the private tent with aid masked as “investment”, all manner of controls are part and parcel of a private/public future. And as this column stated last October, compensation controls are never far behind.

So in the above sense, we shouldn’t be surprised in the least that the alleged stimulus plan being signed by President Obama today includes executive compensation limits for TARP beneficiaries at $500,000. That was inevitable, and as Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute has so astutely observed, if corporations want the presumed good that comes with government handouts, they must also accept the bad, which has to do with the fact that government employees aren’t paid in the way that private sector workers are. Let this be an indelible lesson for future failed enterprises naïve enough to think that government aid doesn’t come with strings attached.

Read more…

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 10:27 am in Uncategorized

Citi Upgrades Torchmark Corp (TMK) to Buy on Two Catalysts

Citi upgrades Torchmark Corp (NYSE: TMK) from Hold to Buy, citing valuation and strong conviction management can grow earnings and book value. The firm lowered their price target from $45 to $37.

Citi analyst says, “While we have trimmed our target price to $37, it still represents ETR of 36.6%. We have also lowered our 2009-10E to $6.15 and $6.55 and established a 2011E of $7.15. Changes follow our detailed review of what we considered to be quite satisfactory 4Q08 results…”

Read more…

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 10:21 am in Uncategorized,

Transocean Misses the Mark (RIG, DO, SLB)

oil-well-image1Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) followed in the footsteps of competitors Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), reporting fourth quarter and full-year results that missed expectations. Transocean announced net income for the quarter of $800 million (EPS of $2.50) on revenue of $3.27 billion. Analysts had expected EPS of $3.70 on revenue of $3.29 billion.
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 10:02 am in Earnings, Oil & Gas, , ,

Exxon Puts More Oil in its Tanks (XOM)

oil-well-imageExxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) reported that it had added 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent to its proved reserves in 2008. That amount is equal to 103% of the company’s production for the year, and 110% of production excluding asset sales.
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 9:54 am in Oil & Gas,

Liberty Media Liberating SIRIUS XM… Sort Of (SIRI, LINTA, LCAPA)

sirius-logo2Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI)  nearly doubled this morning after John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ: LINTA) (NASDAQ: LCAPA) said it was coming to the rescue.  If you look through the terms, this really isn’t “all good news”… but it beats the alternative.  Sirius will be able to repay its February 17 maturity, will be taking on debt and issuing preferred stock to Liberty.
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 9:46 am in Media, Mergers and Buy Outs, Satellite

Green News: Efficiency as an Energy Resource

power-lines-pic1Utility companies have long faced a dilemma. On one hand, in order to grow profits, they must sell more electricity. On the other hand, they must support conservation as a means of keeping their customers’ costs down.  This dilemma contributes to an ever-expanding demand for electricity.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, demand for electricity will grow about 1% a year through 2030. On a base of 3.9 billion kilowatt hours, that is not an insignificant percentage. The EIA estimates that 46,000 megawatts of new generation capacity will come in the form of coal-fired plants.
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 9:19 am in Alternative Energy, Green Biz, Infrastructure, Utilities

Gold Miner Digs for Cash (AGT)

gold-pic1Canadian gold miner Apollo Gold Corp. (NYSE: AGT) is negotiating with its lenders for an additional $70 million to complete the company’s Black Fox project in Ontario. The company may make the deal, but it’s a costly one.
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 9:14 am in Commodities, Metals

Bill Gates Top Holdings (ABT, AN, BRK-A, BP, CNI, CAT, KO, COST, CCI, EK, XOM, FMX, JNJ, MCD, OTTR, RSG, SGP, WMT, WMI)

bill-gates-imageWe compiled a list of the equity holdings of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and for Bill Gates’ personal investment vehicle Cascade Investment.  These are as of December 31, 2008 and we have taken out the positions listed as under $50 million to make this list easier to read.  This list also excludes the massive holdings in Microsoft (MSFT).
Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 8:48 am in Activist Investor, Insider Activity, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Top 10 Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades (CCC, ETR, GOOG, HST, MAR, HOT, CYN, DE, FARO)

These are some of the early bird Wall Street analyst calls we are seeing this Tuesday morning with over two hours to the market open:

  • Calgon Carbon (CCC) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Entergy (ETR) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Google (GOOG) Cut to “Source of Funds” from “accumulate” at ThinkEquity.
  • Host Hotels (HST) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
  • Marriott (MAR) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
  • Starwood (HOT) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
  • City National (CYN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
  • Deere & Co. (DE) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  • Faro Technologies (FARO) Cut to Sell at Baird.

Jon C. Ogg
February 17, 2009

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 7:43 am in Analyst Calls

Wal-Mart (WMT) Brings Home The Bacon

cammonopoly_wideweb__430x325013The last time Wal-Mart (WMT) made official forecasts for Wall St. there was a sense that the recession might be taking down the world’s largest retail despite its appeal to cost-conscious consumers.

Then Wal-Mart delivered strong January same-store sales and investors believed it might be getting some momentum back. Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 7:43 am in Economy, Retail,

Online Advertising: Too Many Ad Pages, Too Few Ads

r218533_8550254Internet display advertising is being challenged by the recession. Traditional media is not the only business being hurt as marketers curtail spending to save money.

Barry Diller recently said that the display advertising at the sites his company controls was down 50% in January. Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 6:38 am in Internet, , , , ,

Microsoft (MSFT) Pushes Mobile (AAPL)(GOOG)

msft2Microsoft (MSFT) is pushing hard to show that it can be a viable competitor in the business of providing operating systems for smartphones. It has done a deal with handset giant LG which will put the new Microsoft mobile OS on many of the Korean company’s smartphones.

But, Redmond may be getting to the game too late. Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 6:16 am in Software, Wireless, , , , , , ,

The Rise Of The $5 Phone (VZ)

iphone4Something like a billion handsets are sold worldwide every year. That is good news for the large phone companies with big cellular businesses. Wireless handsets, calling plans, and data charges have built new revenue for them at a remarkable pace.

But, now the sales at telecom firms are hitting two walls. Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 6:02 am in Telecom, Wireless,

The Long-Shot Case For Oil Going Back Above $100

tx-00338-coil-well-gusher-odessa-texas-posters4By most accounts, The International Energy Agency is the leading expert on the future of the price of oil. It collects production data, future yield from existing fields and those that may be drilled years from now, and import and export trends.

The IEA has concluded that supply is dropping fast enough that oil could spike up again next year. Maybe. Read More »

Posted on: February 17, 2009 – 5:43 am in Oil & Gas