Thursday, January 17, 2008

I Love Charts Like This


Berkshire Hathaway v. AIG 2 years.

Something happened in July 2007 or so don't you think? Two stocks that track suddenly start to mirror. I just wish I could afford to buy a share. Just one share. Surely our smarter readers can see some tradeable action here but then again AIG was unfortunate enough today to have the word "insurance" in their name. That alone was good for a loss twice what the Dow saw.

26 comments:

wagga said...

First, what does one share of BH cost? - north of 100K?

Anonymous said...

Buffett is a maggot.

Rob Dawg said...

$131,200.

I expect it to sell below $100k this spring.

Bob said...

AIG? I don't know about July 2007, but in 7/06 an AIG server was stolen with the names & SS #s of about 900,000 customers, which is not good if you're in the identity-theft-insurance biz, following the resignation of Hank Greenberg in 2005, one step ahead of a corporate indictment for the usual.

It's telling that even Buffet couldn't find a bond insurer worth buying. Martin Whitman (TAVFX), a very smart guy, is now sitting on 11% of MBIA's stock, which I'm sure he would love to give back.

segfault said...

BRK.B trades at 1/30 the price of BRK.A. I own one share of it. (Used to own more than one share, but sold them--wish I had kept them!)

Lou Minatti said...

Baby Berkshire shares allow you two own a piece of Warren, only you don't have voting rights. Is that correct?

Rob Dawg said...

Yup, affordable but no voting rights. I've got a friend who owns a couple blocks of 'a.' Bitch's and moans about the lousy parking his G4 gets at the airport for the stockholder meeting.

Akubi said...

Well, I just so happen to own 25 shares of BRK.A (with a pool and koi and stuff) and think the railroad move will work out quite well and doubt it will sell below 100K in spring.

BTW does anyone think Bushtard's economic rescue package will do a damn thing to prevent the inevitable? Also, does anyone still believe we're not heading into a recession with a capital R (besides the MSM and talking heads)?

Akubi said...

I thought I'd give Safeway.com another chance and per the website my groceries have been delivered when in fact they have not been delivered and it's past the short window I paid for so now I guess I have another opportunity to get on the phone and yell at them which I’m really not in the mood for. WTF is up?

Lou Minatti said...

Well, I just so happen to own 25 shares of BRK.A

Jeebus. Like I said, I am the only person here who isn't rich. At least by American standards. Are there any other people like me here with savings in the low six-figures with houses almost paid off and no other debt who still worry that economic calamity will drag them and their family down?

I had planned to duck and cover, but I worry that may no longer be an effective response.

Rob, you should scratch off the Tip Jar and promote your blog to high-value advertisers.

Akubi said...

Hey Kidz,
Saudi Arabia has been waiting like a preying mantis to eat the stupid, over-consuming peeps of this f-ed up country.
If you drive alone, you drive with Bin Laden!
Wake the F up!
Thanks to W and DickHole we are the joke of the rest of the world and it ain't funny any longer.
In fact it is a national f-ing embarrassment.
(I should have moved to another country when I had the opportunity, but something keeps me here.)

Akubi said...

Actually, as a kid I had some pretty groovy praying mantises (Manti?) and liked falling asleep while they did their thing on my head.
It was nice and they got along with snakes, but the big malamute doggie got freaked out and hid under the bed until they were asleep.
Snakes never sleep.

galileanlaborer said...

Lou, Sometimes I feel rich, sometimes poor. Most of the time I feel poor. Must be my upbringing. If I scrape together everything, it would come to about 950Gs cash. No house or car payments, just rent. I sure don't want to start over. I'm to old and to tired, and I'm really worried.

Ogg the Caveman said...

@ Lou Minatti

I only have a cave and some stone tools.

spooq said...

> Like I said, I am the only person here who isn't rich.

Sorry, I'm here dragging down the average as well.

Peripheral Visionary said...

One of the reasons the U.S. economy has held up surprisingly well economically is because there has always been a huge, hidden reserve of assets that people could tap any time the economy turned down. A surprisingly large number of people have trust funds, big stock portfolios, investment properties, etc. that they use to supplement their income (also, a surprisingly large number--30% or more--own their home outright.)

Or, rather, "had". The negative savings rate over the last ten years, but especially over the last five, has steadily drained that pool. In particular, there is an ongoing transfer of wealth between the older generations who have saved it up, and the younger generations who are spending it. The economy will hit a critical inflection point when the older generations run out of reserves.

The big savers on this blog--if the people here do save as much as they claim (insert standard disclaimers about truth and the internet) are probably the exceptions. The best definition of "rich" that I've come across, however, is that you're rich if you earn more than you spend. By that measure, the U.S. and most of its citizens are poor.

Anonymous said...

Are there any other people like me here with savings in the low six-figures with houses almost paid off and no other debt who still worry that economic calamity will drag them and their family down?

Braggart, damn, I need to stop coming here, too depressing for words.

az mls said...

2 things that I think benefit Mr. Buffett:
1.) He stockpiles tons of cash so that he can directly purchase private businesses at reasonable multiples during downturns in a particular industry or the overall market.
2.) His name moves the market so that once the market is aware that he owns a publicly-traded stock, that stock is virtually guaranteed to go up.

Peripheral Visionary said...

Warren Buffet's main advantage is that he can own enough of a company to control it (and to control its management, and to control their compensation.)

I think one of the keys to getting rich is to putting your money places where you can control it (yes, I realize this is one of Robert Kiyosaki's themes, but on this point I think he's right.) The key to losing money is trusting other people to take care of it.

Property Flopper said...

Howdy All -

In NY today, limited time to be online... Anyhow, I'm surprised at the lack of comment on Casey's big appearance.

Same Shit, Different Day basically, nothing surprising at all. I did love G's message to him, talk about a public bitch-slapping.

Did anyone else catch his "tell" though? The long blink. Watch the show and notice how when he is spewing his "I'm going to pay it all back" line (or others like it), he does so with his eyes closed. Same when Dr. Phil is telling him to get a job. Fast blinks when he's talking about flipping, long (like several seconds) blink when he's saying stuff he doesn't believe.

Damn, I'd love to play poker with him, it'd be the easiest game I ever won. No wonder he keeps getting taken, he's got "Mark" tatooed on his forehead.

Winston said...

Flopper,

In poker, doesn't someone usually have to have some money for you to take it? I would think that this might disqualify Snowflake.

Lou Minatti said...

In NY today, limited time to be online... Anyhow, I'm surprised at the lack of comment on Casey's big appearance.

I am just waiting for someone to post it on Youtube.

Akubi said...

In honor of Fishnet Friday, Zillow Book has a very special presentation.

Ogg the Caveman said...

Casey's Dr. Phil appearance just wasn't very discussion-worthy. There were a few things to comment on, but really he was a shadow of his former self. I think people expected Dr. Phil to dish out more of a verbal beating too.

Lou Minatti said...

At some point we Californians should ask ourselves, how we inherited a state with near perfect weather, the world's richest agriculture, plentiful timber, minerals, and oil, two great ports at Los Angeles and Oakland, a natural tourist industry from Carmel to Yosemite, industries such as Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and aerospace—and serially managed to turn all of that into the nation's largest penal system, periodic near bankruptcy, and sky-high taxes.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGNmMTYzNDRmNjJkMGMwMGNmY2E2YWI2NWM4MGFhMjg=

Yes. How did this happen?

chickelit said...

Something made mirror, long ago
that's why we have left from right
to and fro

but when they said it doesn't matter-
-is when things went bad