Posts for Ticker ‘WPO’

The More Focused, and More Opaque, Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B, BNI, UNP, NSC, GS, GE, TIF, HOG, WMT, COP, XOM, WFC, RSG, DOW, ETN, WBC, MCO, WLP, UNH, GSK, SNY, GCI, WPO)

This was an important week for investment guru and billionaire watchers to see which gurus were holding which stocks.  The full public equity holdings of Warren Buffett via Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) were particularly of note, particularly with those B shares under “BRK-B” soon to split and giving a chance for even the less astute ranks of Joe Public to own a piece of the Berkshire dream.  Obviously the huge change is via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) buyout.  As part of this deal, Buffett is exiting Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) and exiting Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) stakes of about $600 million and $100 million, respectively, to avoid duplication and internal competition.  The rail transport play now accounts for about one-quarter of the total Berkshire Hathaway entity upon closing. But the less obvious position in that Warren Buffett in 2009 has made it clear that there will be a simpler and probably less “stock-hound” version of Berkshire Hathaway ahead.

Buffett has gone higher up the food chain and is likely to be a creditor now inside or to large institutions.  We have seen this during the crisis.  Buffett negotiated a better deal for Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) than the US Government was able to get.  Buffett’s preferred stock in Goldman Sachs has a dividend of 10% and is callable at any time at a 10% premium; but Buffett also got warrants to purchase $5 billion of common stock with a strike price of $115.00 per share, exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now), and Buffett would effectively get to pocket $61 per share if he exercised those all today at the market (and with a $2.6 billion warrant profit alone).

The General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) stake was listed only as 7.77 million shares of common stock (about $125 million now), the same as it has been for quarters.  Yet last year Buffett came to the rescue with a $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering with a dividend of 10% and warrants to purchase $3 billion of common stock.  The preferred is callable after 3-years (2 years now) at a 10% premium; the warrants have a strike price of $22.25 and are exercisable for a five-year term (4 years now).
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Posted on: November 19, 2009 – 8:59 am in Activist Investor, Bonds, Buffett, Conglomerates, Dividend, Editor's Picks, Infrastructure, Large Cap Stocks, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity, Transports, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Holdings P-Z Q3-2009 (BRK-A, BRK-B, PG, RSG, SNY, STI, TMK, TRV, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC, WBC)

This is the list of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) public US equity holdings as of September 30, 2009.  As noted in the “A to F” and “G to O” lists, there have been changes since the cut off date and those have been noted where applicable. Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, the same as before.
  • Republic Services Inc. (NYSE: RSG) 3.625 million shares; NEW POSITION following Bill Gates.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) 3.079 million shares; DOWN FROM 3.2+ the quarter before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • Travellers Cos (NYSE: TRV) 27,336; NEW POSITION but small.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; Same as quarter before.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 3.4 million shares; DOWN from 4.5 million last quarter and down from over 6 million in Q1.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as quarter before but this does not matter as Buffett is dumping his non-BNSF rail holdings.
  • United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) 1.429 million shares, same as before.
  • Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) 37.8 million; WAY UP from the 19.9+ million shares last quarter.
  • Washington Post (NYSE: WPO) over 1.72 million shares, same as before.
  • Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) 313.3 million shares; ABOVE THE PRIOR 302+ million last quarter and above the 290+ million in Q1.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.394 million; DOWN SLIGHTLY from the 3.5 million last quarter and from the 4.7773 million in Q1.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) IS GONE after being 2.7 million shares last quarter.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’

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JON C. OGG

Posted on: November 16, 2009 – 5:11 pm in Activist Investor, Buffett, Conglomerates, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 11/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The Ohio Attorney General is suing a number of Wall St. firms.

Reuters:   GM will start to repay part of its debt to the US.

Reuters:   Citigroup (NYSE:C) will sell Bellsystem to Bain.

Reuters:   Japan’s GDP numbers were leaked. Read More »

Posted on: November 16, 2009 – 4:00 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , ,

The New York Times’ Coming Jihad Against The Huffington Post

newspaperThe old media is running out of time. The online editions of The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO), New York Times (NYSE:NYT), and Time, Inc (NYSE:TWX) properties do well, but not well enough to off-set losses at their print properties. Read More »

Posted on: October 30, 2009 – 5:22 am in Law, Media, , , , ,

New York Times (NYT) Loses Over 7% Of Circulation, Washington Post (WPO) Down 6%

Daily circulation at the nation’s newspapers dropped 10% for the six months ending September 30 according to industry measurement service Audit Bureau of Circulations.

newspaperIt is not clear whether newspapers are helping themselves by shrinking both the size of the pages they are printed on and the number of daily subscribers that they have. The industry’s theory is that if it charges more for newsstand copies and home delivery that marginal readers will fall away and profit-per-reader will rise.

The only problem with a shrinking reader base is that advertising rates have to come down as well. Fewer readers, and advertisers want a better deal. Read More »

Posted on: October 26, 2009 – 10:37 am in Internet, Media, Old Media, , , ,

Bloomberg On Its Way To Becoming Most Powerful Media Firm In US

    magazinBloomberg is, according to several reports, the most likely buyer of the largest business magazine in America. BusinessWeek is being sold by McGraw-Hill (MHP) Bloomberg has the balance sheet and editorial staff to support the publication’s $40 million in losses and probably bring them down sharply.

    Bloomberg today announced that it will set up a joint venture with The Washington Post (WPO). The Post had a news partnership with the LA Times. The 47-year-old deal was killed earlier this week, perhaps because the huge layoffs that the Times have crippled the paper’s ability to produce good stories.

    The new Post deal with Bloomberg will lead to the paper distributing stories on Bloomberg’s terminals and creating a joint online business section. The Post is losing huge amounts of money. Having a rich business partner with substantial news gathering ability could be critical to it keeping its financial pages among the most important in the US. It will also help the Post compete with the rival New York Times (NYT) and Wall Street Journal in covering global business and economic stories.

    Bloomberg is quickly becoming one of the most important media companies in the nation. Its Bloomberg TV operation is beginning to challenge CNBC. It has broadened it programming with shows including the Charlie Rose interview show, underscoring Bloomberg’s aspirations to move beyond business news.

    Bloomberg now has more than 1,500 editors and writers around the world. That puts it makes it almost as large as the Associated Press. There is no reason Bloomberg cannot go head-to-head as a supplier of content to major newspapers, cable and TV companies, and Internet properties.

    Bloomberg’s advantage is that the company is privately held and has revenue of $4 billion from its trading terminal business. The firm is highly profitable according to most analysts. Bloomberg can afford expanding its news operations in a way that no other organization in the world can.

    Bloomberg is quickly becoming one of the most powerful media companies in the US and that status is likely to grow.

    Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: October 2, 2009 – 5:15 am in Media, Old Media, , ,

Media Digest (10/2/2009) Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:   The retirement package for Ken Lewis of Bank of America (BAC) may be as high as $125 million.

Reuters:   US car sales plunged in September with Ford (F) up and GM down. Toyota (TM) and Honda (HMC) also lost sales.

Reuters:   The CIT (CIT) board approved a restructuring plan. Read More »

Posted on: October 2, 2009 – 3:52 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

BusinessWeek And The Cowardice Of McGraw-Hill (MHP)

magazinBusinessWeek is losing money, over $40 million last year by some accounts, and more if the publication’s corporate overhead is included. There have been questions about whether BusinessWeek is financially viable for some time. McGraw-Hill (MGP) is trying to sell the magazine it launched in 1929 as “The Business Week”. Most analysts would agree that the publication has made McGraw-Hill hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. But, Harold McGraw III, who is the firm’s CEO due to his membership in the firm’s founding family, knows that his shareholders don’t want to be in money-losing operations, so BusinessWeek is for sale. Read More »

Posted on: September 14, 2009 – 4:46 am in Media, Old Media, , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q2-2009 Holdings P to Z (BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Buffett ImageBerkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) has released its public stock holdings for Q2-2009 as of June 30, 2009.  Buffett did make some portfolio changes that have been seen here from the end of Q1 and we have broken these down into 3 groups of ‘A to F’ and  ‘G to O’ and ‘P to Z’ so these are easier to see on one page.  Here are Warren Buffett’s holdings and accompanying notes for the group ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, same as before.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million is same as before after it had been raised in Q1.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 4.5 million; down from over 6 million.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, same as Q1 after growing the Q1 over Q4 position.
  • 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 & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over 302 million; ABOVE the 290+ million shares the quarter before.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 3.5 million; DOWN from the 4.7773 million shares in Q1.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

BUFETT HOLDINGS ‘A to F’

BUFFETT HOLDINGS ‘G to O’
JON C. OGG
AUGUST 14, 2009

Posted on: August 14, 2009 – 5:22 pm in Buffett, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More Stocks For Buffett To Unload (BRK-A, MCO, COP, CEG, GCI, WPO, MTB, WBC)

Buffett ImageHow frequently has Warren Buffett  been bashed by the media over Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s  (NYSE: BRK-A) lackluster performance ?  What was interesting to see is his stake being lowered in Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO).  The only thing that was surprising to us was that it took the Oracle of Omaha this long to begin selling these shares.  Because Buffett is such a large stakeholder, we do expect that he’ll always hold some shares.  Conversely, we think he’ll continue to lighten up his stake in Moody’s.  Along those lines, we reviewed Buffett’s holdings and found several more stocks that he might want to consider selling some or all of his stake.

Some of these positions could include ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE: CEG), Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB) and WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC).  There are others, such as his stakes in drug and health care sectors that could have been mentioned, but those big directional bets may have to wait until after health care reform is enacted.   As you will see, we listed the reasons that Buffett should or could cut the stakes.
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Posted on: July 27, 2009 – 11:48 am in Activist Investor, Buffett, Insider Activity, Value Investing, , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 7/13/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

newspaperReuters:  Social media such as Twitter may not be worth as much as many people believe because of challenges they face in bringing in revenue.

Reuters:   The arrests of Rio Tinto (RTP) employees in China reflects the nation’s financial jitters.

Reuters:   CIT (CIT) financial problems could have a wide impact.

Reuters:   UBS (UBS) is hoping to delay a trial on tax evasion by clients in the hope of reaching a settlement.

Reuters:   Bank of America (BAC) is trying to avoid paying billions in fees to the government for covering losses at Merrill Lynch. Read More »

Posted on: July 13, 2009 – 3:10 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cybersecurity: Obama’s Next Big-Ticket Agenda Item

uncle sam

It’s taken a back seat to health care, but one of the next big agenda items for President Obama’s administration is cybersecurity, a priority that is becoming all the more clear following July 4 hacker attacks on the White House, the Pentagon and the New York Stock Exchange.

The Associated Press reports that the attack on U.S. and South Korean government agencies last week was even broader than first realized. Other agencies targeted by the malicious code included the National Security Agency, Homeland Security Department, State Department, the Federal Trader Commission, the Treasury, the Nasdaq stock market (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO). Read More »

Posted on: July 8, 2009 – 12:33 pm in Defense, Editor's Picks, Software, , , , , , , , , ,

Media Digest 6/22/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg.

newspaperReuters:   Airlines are cutting back on first class seating.

Reuters:   Xstrata wants merger talks with mining rival Anglo American.

Reuters:   Employers are cutting 401 (K) plans.

Reuters:   Brand loyalty is being hurt by the recession.

Reuters:   The children of baby boomers may help the US housing market. Read More »

Posted on: June 22, 2009 – 2:55 am in Autos, Banking, Conglomerates, Drug companies, Emerging Markets, Housing, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway Q1-2009 Holdings P to Z (BRK-A, PG, SNY, STI, TMK, USB, USG, UNH, UNP, UPS, WBC, WMT, WPO, WFC, WLP, WSC)

Buffett ImageWarren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A)(BRK-B) holdings for the first quarter of 2009 are now out for the cut off date here of March 31, 2009.  There are some changes from the end of Q4 here in banking and here is the list of stocks alphabetically ‘P to Z.’

  • Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) 96.3 million, same as before.
  • Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY) more than 3.9 million shares, looks same as before.
  • Sun Trust Bank (NYSE: STI) more than 3.2 million shares, same as before.
  • Torchmark Corp. (NYSE: TMK) roughly 2.82 million, same as before.
  • US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) roughly 69 million; ABOVE last quarter’s 67.6 million.
  • USG Corp. (NYSE: USG) 17.072 million shares, same as before.
  • United Health Group (NYSE: UNH) 4.5 million; down from over 6 million.
  • Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) 9.55 million shares, above our 8.9 million noted 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) over 302 million; ABOVE the 290+ million shares the quarter before.
  • Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) 4.7773 million shares, same as before.
  • Wesco Financial Corp. (NYSE: WSC) 5.7 million shares, same as before.

Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “A to F”
Here is the full list of Buffett holdings “G to O”

Jon C. Ogg
May 15, 2009

Posted on: May 15, 2009 – 4:02 pm in Activist Investor, Banking, Buffett, Buffett Holdings, Conglomerates, Insider Activity, Mutual Funds, Value Investing, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Print Advertising At The Washington Post Down 33%, Kaplan Sales Bolster Top Line

newspaper3The Washington Post (WPO) turned in earnings that showed just how important it is that the company owns the Kaplan education business.

That results at Kaplan helped offset a 33% advertising revenue decline at the company’s flagship paper. Overall revenue at the newspaper group fell 22% to $161 million. Online revenue dropped 8% to $22 million. The newspaper division reported an operating loss of $53.8 million in the first quarter of 2009, compared to operating income of $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2008.

Newsweek also struggled. Revenue for the magazine publishing division totaled $46.1 million for the first quarter of 2009, a 14% decrease. The division had an operating loss of $20.3 million. Read More »

Posted on: May 1, 2009 – 7:44 am in Earnings, Media,

Eleven Of Twenty-Five Largest US Newpapers Lost More Than 10% Of Circulation

newspaper25At one point, three or four years ago, for a major metropolitan newspaper to lose 4% or 5% of it daily circulation would have been considered bad news. For the six month period ending in March, ten of the top twenty-five largest dailies in the US lost over 10% of theirs, according to circulation audit firm The Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The circulation of The New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NWS) was down more than 20% to 558,140. It is the 7th largest newspaper in America. Read More »

Posted on: April 27, 2009 – 12:36 pm in Old Media, , , , ,

The Futility Of Great Journalism

bear28The Detroit Free Press, one of the old city dailies, on the brink of extinction and in the shadow of the failing car industry, won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting. Last year, the paper published text messages between the city’s mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, and his female chief of staff. The mayor went to jail.
The Free Press did something that very few metro dailies can. It devoted two reporters to the developing story and obviously gave them the time and resources that they needed to bring the whole package of investigating and writing articles home. Newspapers cannot afford this kind of effort the way that they could when two Washington Post  (WPO) reporters broke the Watergate story after months of work in 1972 and 1973. The newspaper business was profitable then, very profitable. Some large dailies made margins of over 30%. The Internet as we know it would not be invented for nearly 25 years.

The Pulitzer announcement must have brightened an otherwise dreary newsroom. If any regional economy is at risk for completely collapsing, it is the one around Detroit, where in some parts of that city unemployment is already close to 20%.

Over the last several weeks the rhetoric about whether newspapers can charge for content online has heated up again. The publisher of The New York Times (NYT), which had charged for some of its stories and then stopped, said that he would be climbing back on the bandwagon. This helped trigger more public sparring over how valuable content is when it comes from the pens of real reporters and not off the pages of news aggregators like Google News and The Huffington Post who, according to their sworn enemies in traditional media, live off the effort, expense, and ingenuity of institutions like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Associated Press.

Unfortunately, most newspaper readers will never pay for content online, and the Detroit Pulitzer reveals some of the problems of old world print publications. The Kilpatrick story was about scandal, betrayal, and the abuse of power. In those departments, it was a match for some of Shakespeare’s best work. But, the series of articles probably did not get the Free Press more than a few new subscribers, and no one would have paid for it online. Just after the story broke, the most important and interesting parts of the information were on the local Detroit TV and radio stations and on the Associated Press feed to newspapers and other media outlets around the world. The core of the story was not just taken from the Free Press by the news aggregation service at Google. It was taken from the Free Press by the mainline media whose editors understood that the mayor’s behavior was too good to be true. It was better than fiction. And, traditional media were digesting it and putting it on the internet, the airwaves, and the presses as quickly as they could.

Newspapers are dying and other media may follow because even the very best information is easily transportable to other media and it is done so legitimately and by other content providers who have the best of intentions. They do not want to hurt their peers, but they cannot be without content covering the hottest topics of the day. What a reader cannot find one place, he will find somewhere else. The exceptions to these rules have fallen mostly into the financial news and pornography categories, but news services like Reuters now run summaries of the content of The Wall Street Journal (NWS), even though the paper’s readers, many of those who get the Journal online, have to pay for it.

The best papers, the ones that win the most Pulitzers, the big metro dailies, are in as much trouble as any medium in the country. They are in trouble because the CBS (CBS) affiliate in Detroit will run an excellent summary of the Kirkpatrick will run a wrap-up of the story, even though CBS is under siege from the Internet. The New York Times will run a summary of the story as well, or take it from its Associated Press feed.

The best thing about a newspaper was always that it could be read, saved, and passed around to other readers. No one seems to want to pay for those privileges any more

Douglas A. McIntyre

Read More »

Posted on: April 21, 2009 – 4:07 am in Media, Old Media, , , ,

Blaming Newspaper Management For Newspaper Problems

pc3The New York Times (NYT)  and Washington Post (WPO) both said that they would have to cut jobs and salaries. The falling revenue in the print advertising business is overtaking them and they have no other choice. Sales are dropping, at some newspapers by more than 20% a year. But, many newspapers still have employee and cost bases that were based on the industry’s very successful years at the beginning of the decade. Read More »

Posted on: March 27, 2009 – 4:14 am in Internet, Media, Old Media, , , ,

Media Digest 3/27/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomerg

newspaper25According to Reuters, the Obama financial reforms face a bumpy road.

Reuters reports that the NY State Attorney General has subpoenaed AIG (AIG) over its CDS contracts.

Reuters reports that Obama’s financial remedies may face pushback at the G20 summit.

Reuters writes that Greenspan thinks big banks should not become too big.

Reuters reports that there is tension at Nomura over Lehman bonuses.

Reuters reports that Obama says he will help US automakers.

Reuters reports that The Washington Post (WPO) and New York Times (NYT) cut jobs. Read More »

Posted on: March 27, 2009 – 3:07 am in Press Digest, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Magazine Advertising May Be En Route To Worst Year Ever (WPO)(TWX)(MGP)

bear21The drop in magazine advertising pages is continuing as the first quarter ends, and it looks like Q2 will not be better. According to MIN, which tracks advertising pages for major US publications, Fortune, part of the Time, Inc. division of Time Warner (TWX), is down 30% through its mid-March issue. Rival Forbes is off 17% through the same period.

Through the third week in March, McGraw-Hill (MHP) flagship BusinessWeek’s ad pages are down 32%. Time  Inc.’s Entertainment Weekly is off 39%, Time Magazine is off 29%, and the Washington Post’s (WPO) Newsweek is down 34%.  Sports Illustrated is down 29% through the same period.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: March 23, 2009 – 9:07 am in Old Media, , ,