Also, keep in mind that portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler are still new and those new positions of under $200 million $300 million are likely tied to them.

24/7 Wall St. has gone through line by line of each position to see which stocks have been bought and sold as new positions, as well as having added in whether or not the number of shares grew or shrank on each since the prior quarter. We had added some color in on some of the positions if applicable.

Be advised that the number of subsidiaries that this filing covers is 14 entities rather than 18 entities in the prior quarter. There is also a note in the 13F filing showing that the SEC has granted “Confidential Treatment” on some Berkshire stock holdings and that likely suggests that Buffett is still acquiring a position he does not want the public to know about yet. This filing does not signal the half-dozen or more European shares that Buffett said he bought so that remains an outstanding issue as well.

The value of the stock portfolio was $66,151,587,000 at the end of 2011 and this was listed as $75,300,250,000 at the end of March 2012.

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) was over 151.6 million shares, SAME AS last quarter.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) is now 5.6 million shares, HIGHER THAN the 1,793,915 shares last quarter.

CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS) is the SAME SIZE at 7.106 million shares after having been a new holding in a recent quarter and having been raised one quarter ago.

Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) was right at 200 million shares, SAME AS BEFORE.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is roughly 29.1 million shares, roughly the SAME AS BEFORE but it is still lower than previous quarters in past reports.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) 4,333,363 Shares, SAME AS last quarter after having lowered it before.

Da Vita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) is now 6 million shares worth $541 million and that LARGER THAN BEFORE after having been a new position of 2.684 million shares.

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is a LARGER POSITION listed at 22.999 million worth over $1.13 billion. This one had been 20.348 million shares worth $870 million one quarter earlier and it had been a new position just two quarters ago at 4.249 million shares.

Read The Most Powerful CEOs in America

Read The Least Powerful CEOs in America

The most powerful CEOs fall into three categories. The first are founders who are currently CEOs. They may, by themselves, or with other founders, have voting control over their companies. Larry Page of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the best example of this. He started the Internet search engine with Sergey Brin. Together with Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt, who they hired, the three hold shares that have nearly two-thirds of the company’s voting rights.

The next category is founders who no longer have the majority of the vote in their companies, but who have been in charge successfully for so long that their job security is not in question. Jeff Bezos at Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) is the best example of this group. He owns slightly less than 20% of the company that he started in 1994. This stake is greater than that of any other shareholder. But it is his status as founder and his tremendous success that ensure he will not be replaced unless he wishes to be.

The final category of powerful CEOs are relatives of founders. These CEOs inherited the voting rights, usually from their parents, and they use those rights to run the company for another generation. The best example of this is Brian Roberts of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), whose father started the company. By almost any measure, Comcast has done well financially and in the stock market. Even if it did not, Roberts would have his job.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the corporate structure, governance and voting rights of the 500 largest companies by market cap. Based on a review of company proxies, we identified those companies where the CEO had voting control of the company or was the company’s founder. We then limited the universe to those companies with market cap in excess of $30 billion.

These are 24/7 Wall St.’s most powerful CEOs in America.

Four-Year-High Dow

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a level where it last was at the end of 2007, the year when the index peaked. At the close, the Dow was 13,279.32. Its all-time high of 14,164.53 was set Oct. 9, 2007. There are a number of reasons the index will close in on the record before mid-year. The primary one is that many analysts believe the P/E ratios of a number of large companies are still well below what their prospects should dictate. Among these are the financial firms in the index that have been beaten down by concern about consumer spending and their balance sheets. These include American Express (NYSE: AXP) and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM). Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is also mentioned as an undervalued stock in the index in light of its recent earnings and the upcoming launch of Windows 8, which should prompt upgrades of the operating systems on hundreds of millions of PCs. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) also are mentioned occasionally because their prospects and assets are considered much better than their managements.

Toyota Sales Comeback

Toyota (NYSE: TM) finally has started its U.S. sales comeback, after more than a year of shocking volume drops due mostly to the Japanese earthquake and low supplies of parts. The sales levels of many other large manufacturers fell in April. But the largest Japanese car company posted an improvement of 11.6% and added market share. Demand has been pent-up for some of Toyota’s most sought-after products, particularly the Prius, which remains the world’s most popular hybrid. As a footnote, Chrysler continued its unexpected return from the dead. The company, which was in Chapter 11 and is now controlled by troubled Italian manufacturer Fiat, posted a 20% increase in sales for April.

Chesapeake Energy CEO

Aubrey K. McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), was punished for transactions that allowed him to invest in every well the company drilled. The firm’s board did not care about the arrangement until the press and some investors began to criticize it. McClendon will lose his job as chairman, and the board will look for a replacement. McClendon probably will be gone entirely before that person is picked. The pressure on the board to fire McClendon is relentless. The board was complicit in McClendon’s good fortune. But that will not stop its members from doing what is necessary to salvage their reputations. The easiest way to do so is to identify McClendon as a cancer that affects Wall St.’s opinion of Chesapeake as long as he is there.

Douglas A. McIntyre

There are a number of reasons the index will close in on the record before mid-year. The primary one of these is that many analysts believe the PEs of a number of large companies are still well below what their prospects should dictate.Among these are the financial firms in the index which have been beaten down by concern about consumer spending and their balance sheets. These include American Express (NYSE: AXP) and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM). Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is also mentioned as an undervalued stock in the index in light of its recent earnings and the upcoming launch of Windows 8 which should cause upgrades of the operating systems on hundreds of millions of PCs.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) are also mentioned from time to time because their prospects and assets are considered much better than their managements.

Douglas A.McIntyre

The improvement of the DJIA was driven by an increase in financial shares, especially JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and American Express (NYSE: AXP), and in tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Douglas A. McIntyre

Austerity vs. Stimulus

Germany continues its lonely quest for austerity as the key to the repair of EU finances. The position might not mean much if the region’s largest economy were not the cornerstone of bailout capital. According to the Financial Times, Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble said, “The first precondition in order to have sustainable growth everywhere in Europe is fiscal consolidation. If now we talk about growth, it shouldn’t be understood as a change of direction. That would be a mistake.” The comments must have been taken as an insult because the finance minister of troubled Spain, Luis de Guindos, was present. His nation has an unemployment rate of over 24% and has moved into a recession. He and leaders of other weak nations in the region have argued that austerity be mixed with some level of stimulus. François Hollande, who likely will be the next president of France, has pushed for stimulus as well. Germany’s opposition will not be turned aside. It has too much money.

Bank of America Layoffs

The Wall Street Journal reported a rumor that Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) will cut as many as 2,000 jobs, primarily at its investment bank and commercial units. If this happens it is another sign that Wall St. firms in general have been hurt by a downturn in underwriting, M&A and business loans. Some estimates say that there are tens of thousand of jobs at risk at the largest investment banks, which include Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS). Bank of America has been particularly troubled by its weak balance sheet and fights with state and federal governments over its mortgage and mortgage financial instrument practices. Last year, Bank of America said it would cut 30,000 jobs. What were among the bank’s most-profitable units are now struggling as well.

Dow Rally Continues

The S&P 500 was down slightly last month, as was the NASDAQ. For each, it was the first drop since November. The DJIA rose a tiny amount, which kept its multimonth rally alive. The NASDAQ’s prospects would have been worse if it were not for the success of the shares in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and, to a smaller extent, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Some experts say that the presence of the two companies in the index distorts its prospects. The improvement of the DJIA was driven by an increase in financial shares, especially JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and American Express (NYSE: AXP), as well as in tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Douglas A. McIntyre

Read The American Companies With the Most Customers

The customer bases of many of these companies are in the tens of millions. Each company operates in an industry that provides a product or a service to an extremely wide spectrum of American consumers. The leader in each sector reached its position through innovation, longevity or some combination of the two.

Each of the industries on this list serves a very large base of customers. For example, there are thousands of retailers, serving pretty much the entire population, but only Costco is the leader in membership with over 65 million members. Founded in 1983, Costco (NASDAQ: COST) is a relatively new company. It became a success largely because it charges customers a membership fee for access to its stores and in exchange offers extremely low prices that are never marked up more than 15% above the price Costco pays.

Some industries are huge, but only have a small number of competitors. While there are only a handful of national wireless carriers, there are over 330 million wireless subscriptions in the U.S. — more than the population itself. But there are only four competitors of any size — AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon Wireless, Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) and T-Mobile. Each company has to battle for a share of a market that is no longer growing. The weapons the companies use to gain market share are products, customer service and price. AT&T is the leader. Its share of the market is based to some extent on history. It is a descendant from the original AT&T phone monopoly. But without strong products and intelligent pricing there is no assurance it can stay ahead of number two competitor Verizon Wireless.

24/7 Wall St. examined 10 of America’s largest consumer industries and the customer counts for the biggest two or three companies in each sector. We then reviewed the history of each industry in an attempt to find how the top company in each reached its leadership position. To rank the companies, 24/7 Wall St. took each leader and compared it in size to the leaders in the other industries chosen. We used company and industry data to confirm customer counts. Each company in this ranking is the largest company in its industry, based on customer count.

These are the American Companies with the Most Customers.

Some investors may worry that, if Buffett were to leave, the portfolio would perhaps find a large rotation out of current positions. While anything is possible, we expect almost no change whatsoever to the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio based on the cancer news. Some new stocks may still get added with two new portfolio managers inside the conglomerate. Some stocks also may get paired down further. That being said, Buffett has treated these holdings in many cases as though they are “partner companies” rather than mere stock investments that are to be bought and sold solely based on the price gain or loss at a certain time.

Buffett’s top 10 performers so far this year are significantly outperforming the broader market indexes. The DJIA is currently up about 8.1% so far in 2012, and the S&P 500 Index is outperforming the DJIA with a gain of 11.3%, due to such a high weighting and strong performance of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) is only up by 5.7% so far in 2012, and that is before the effect of Buffett’s cancer news. Only one of Berkshire Hathaway’s 30-plus common stocks is down so far in 2012, and that is Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), with a loss of only 1.2%.

Read Also: Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Full Investment Holdings

What was most interesting about the holdings noted as 2012’s 10 best performers is that the dividends are often paltry. Most have dividend yields that are well below average. We have given some color on each position, shown some trends on each, and shown the price and relative price performance on each. It is no coincidence that the financial stocks in the Berkshire Hathaway portfolio are up so much when you consider that the financial sector led the market in the first quarter and so far this year.

USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) is Warren Buffett’s single best stock performer so far in 2012, as Americans continue to look for ways to play a coming housing recovery. The latest NAHB confidence dip may be a concern, but perhaps a remodel housing economy can be enough to return a turnaround here. What is interesting is that Thomson Reuters is currently looking for a loss of $1.30 per share in 2012 and a loss of $0.52 in 2013, despite what it expects to be rising sales. Unlike most of Buffett’s top stocks, USG pays no common dividend. The $16.89 share price compares too a 52-week trading range of $5.75 to $19.44.

Ingersoll-Rand Plc (NYSE: IR) turned out to be Buffett’s second-best common stock in 2012, with a gain of 32%. The company makes tools, compressed air systems, ARO fluid products and lifting and material handling products, among other products and services. The dividend yield here is roughly 1.6%. At $40.06, its 52-week trading range is $25.86 to $52.33.

Filed under: Activist Investor, Banking, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Financial Stocks, Insider Activity, Large Cap Stocks, Mutual Funds, Shareholder Issues Tagged: AAPL, AXP, BAC, BK, BRK-A, BRK-B, INTC, IR, JNJ, MA, MCO, USG, V, VRSK, WFC ]]> http://247wallst.com/2012/04/18/what-happens-to-warren-buffetts-top-10-performing-stocks-of-2012-brk-b-brk-a-usg-ir-mco-axp-wfc-v-bk-vrsk-intc-ma-aapl-jnj-bac/feed/ 0 AAPLAXPBACBKBRK-ABRK-BINTCIRJNJMAMCOUSGVVRSKWFC Administrator Warren Buffett http://247wallst.com/2012/04/17/what-to-expect-as-warren-buffett-battles-prostate-cancer-brk-a-brk-b-axp-ko-kft-pg-wfc/ http://247wallst.com/2012/04/17/what-to-expect-as-warren-buffett-battles-prostate-cancer-brk-a-brk-b-axp-ko-kft-pg-wfc/#comments Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:46:39 +0000 Administrator http://247wallst.com/?p=141235 ]]> Warren Buffett is supposed to be invincible.  Unfortunately the world is finding out that this is not the case.  A disclosure letter came from Mr. Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) after the close on Tuesday that is certainly going to overtake many of the key earnings reports this week.  Warren Buffett has prostate cancer.

Investors have every reason to be concerned here that the world’s greatest investor of decades past is going to find himself in a different situation than ever before. There are several things to consider here and they are not all dire for the company.

Stage 1 is the earliest stage and  this was picked up because of a rising PSA rather than because of health problems.  Prostate cancer, if caught early on and without having metastasized, is perhaps one of the most treatable forms of cancer for men.  There is an old saying that many old men will die with prostate cancer but they won’t die from prostate cancer.  Man men do not even get treated because the cancer is often so slow to grow.  If one person can afford to get the best treatment in the world, isn’t it the wealthiest man in the world?  It is still very likely that Buffett will be making media appearances to signal that he feels fine and up to his job AND now up to fighting for his life.

Will this make any difference to any of Berkshire Hathaway’s vast equity holdings?  Almost certainly not.  The core holdings of American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO), Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT), Procter & Gamble  (NYSE: PG) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) are unlikely to be touched as they have been core holdings for so long.  Here is a list of the Full Buffett Holdings For Berkshire Hathaway.

Then there is the flip-side.  A daily radiation regimen is not an easy process on anyone, not even on Warren Buffett.  Mr. Buffett noted that his travel schedule will be impacted and it is hard to imagine that he will not really change his daily routine after this treatment starts. Radiation is no walk in the park.  As the treatment gets going, it is very possible that investors will wonder about this perpetual ‘Buffett replacement’ as they have for years.  It is likely that many in the media and the investing community will challenge Mr. Buffett if he does not make better disclosures about his succession plan.

We wish the best to Mr. Buffett and anyone else fighting prostate cancer (and any other cancer)!

A letter to shareholders was released in the form of a personal letter.  Buffett noted as follows:

This is to let you know that I have been diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer. The good news is that I’ve been told by my doctors that my condition is not remotely life-threatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way. I received my diagnosis last Wednesday. I then had a CAT scan and a bone scan on Thursday, followed by an MRI today. These tests showed no incidence of cancer elsewhere in my body.

My doctors and I have decided on a two-month treatment of daily radiation to begin in mid-July. This regimen will restrict my travel during that period, but will not otherwise change my daily routine.

I feel great – as if I were in my normal excellent health – and my energy level is 100 percent. I discovered the cancer because my PSA level (an indicator my doctors had regularly checked for many years) recently jumped beyond its normal elevation and a biopsy seemed warranted.

I will let shareholders know immediately should my health situation change. Eventually, of course, it will; but I believe that day is a long way off.

Berkshire Hathaway shares closed up almost 1.4% at $80.76 on the more liquid B-shares today.  These shares rarely trade at all in the after-hours session and shares are down 1.34% at $79.68 in the after-hours session against a 52-week range of $65.35 to $83.72.

Again, best of luck to Mr. Buffett!

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. has prepared previews on each of the 13 DJIA components as follows: Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C); Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC); International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM); Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ); The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO); American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD); Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT); Travelers Companies Inc. (NYSE: TRV); Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE); and McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD).

We have used Thomson Reuters consensus data, shown the current price and the target prices, and added in color on each if applicable.

Monday, April 16

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is due to report Monday morning and is the third money center bank to report.  It was not allowed to boost its dividend. It seems as though “The Prince” may get more vocal for Citi to get to pay a higher dividend.  This is at a substantial discount to its tangible book value. Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.00 EPS and $19.85 billion in revenue.

Tuesday, April 17

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) is up against multi-year highs with shares around $28.30 and it should be worth noting that the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is currently at the market with a value of $28.33.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.50 EPS and $12.8 billion in revenue.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) has a new CEO and has still been trying to fire on all cylinders while other IT-outfits have suffered.  We will be watching the billions of backlog and its longer-term guidance. With shares around $204 it the current consensus of $207.35 pales in comparison to the street-high target of $230 we saw this last quarter.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $2.65 EPS and $24.77 billion in revenue.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) continues to be under a cloud of recalls and at $63.50 this is down about 6% from its 52-week high now.  The consensus price target is currently almost $72.00 per share.  Thomson Reuters has estimates of $1.35 EPS and $16.26 billion in revenue.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) remains a defensive play as the market moves back and forth between risk and safety.  At $72.20, the stock is barely down $2 from its 52-week high and the Thomson Reuters consensus price target is $76.75 and the consensus estimates are $0.88 EPS and $10.83 billion in sales.

Filed under: Calendar, Earnings, Economy, Editor's Picks, The Week Tagged: AXP, BAC, C, DD, GE, IBM, INTC, JNJ, KO, MCD, MSFT, TRV, VZ ]]>