On May 5-6 of 2023, the Annual Shareholder Meeting of Berkshire Hathaway (BH) occurred… if you are not familiar with BH, here is a nice review from Wikipedia.
At 92 (Warren Buffett) and 99 (Charlie Munger) a 7 hour marathon where random, unscripted questions are answered in very good form (if we could all be so lucky) makes for great theatre and some what of a cult like experience…
Until just a few years ago, thanks in part to the lockdown years, BH meetings … while not secret, were behind closed doors and demanded in-person attendance, even if one had to sit in the hall outside of the actual area of the meeting and watch a live feed of the event… today as noted, earlier in our pre-view post not only can you access the event live, but also in replay with the ability to turn up the speed !
Personal High Points of Interest from the Sped Up meeting (Live by comments at end):
Neither man would rather live in a different country or location, even while there are of course, short comings,
Warren would not mind starting over today with nothing, to see if he could do it again, Charlie, not so much.
Charlie: China and the US should just get along, do business together and jointly prosper, rather than bowing up to each other for perceived dominance. Was Russia in the day, today China. (Large Applause)
Not withstanding point one, the bifurcation and hatred in society is disheartening, unproductive and destructive according to both men.
Buffet reversed course on a $5 billion investment in a semiconductor company located in Taiwan due to tension, location and likely provoking point three above.
100 Year Plan/Dream/Desire (question from audience) Buffet explains to operate a Company that compliments society, is good for society and has good people working for it. (Simple, fresh, positive!)
Vice: NetJets – Charlie still rides in coach, even on NJ – Expensive, but worth it according to Warren, especially on overseas extended trips.
Absolutely bash (and do not care for), Venture Capitalists and Private Equity guys at every chance and state that at the onset of most deals, they are already looking for the escape hatch/sale.
BH is actually too big to make agile, more aggressive and growth like investments, which prevents it from being a growth like company. (Reiterated for years now)
Management Skill recommendation – “Phrase by name, criticize by category!”
Live on less then you earn to keep stress down.
You do not have to be lucky to make it.
Be nice to people.
Get toxic people out of your life.
From the infamous Buffett Shareholder letter, released 2-25-23
- The world is full of foolish gamblers, and they will not do as well as the patient investor.
- If you don’t see the world the way it is, it’s like judging something through a distorted lens.
- All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there. And a related thought:
Early on, write your desired obituary – and then behave accordingly. - If you don’t care whether you are rational or not, you won’t work on it. Then you will stay
irrational and get lousy results. - Patience can be learned. Having a long attention span and the ability to concentrate on one
thing for a long time is a huge advantage. - There is no such thing as a 100% sure thing when investing. Thus, the use of leverage is dangerous. A string of wonderful numbers times zero will always equal zero.
Remember, these are Warren and Charlie thoughts, only with a few comments and notes from us!
Have a Happy “Oracle of Omaha’s” day!
John A. Kvale CFA, CFP
Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.
A Dallas Texas based fee only
Financial Planning Total Wealth
Management firm.
May 2023 Audio Video Review – Buffet/Munger Words of Wisdom, Debt Ceiling, – Financial Planning and Capital Market Review – By John Kvale CFA, CFP
Hello and Welcome to our May 2023 Financial Planning and Capital Market Update!
If you are too busy to read, feel free to listen as we describe our post and thoughts in friendly podcast audio format as well as Video!
Newbies –
We like to articulate our thoughts and review on a Monthly basis our Financial Planning Tips, Capital Markets thoughts and current events!
Hope you enjoy!
May 2023 Video –
YouTube
Financial Planning Tip(s)
Berkshire Hathaway – Buffett Munger Words to Live By
In this post Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet are discussed in great details… along with a secret to speeding the time to listen (1.75x speed)…..
Main thoughts to live by from Charlie and Warren:
Early on, write your desired obituary – and then behave accordingly.
irrational and get lousy results.
thing for a long time is a huge advantage.
Particularly added this as just last week, saw a review of the meeting that completely missed several of these points in my opinion.
Capital Market Comments –
Debt Ceiling Fizzle- All done until after next elections
With several comments from the field, we spoke multiple times, here and here about the Debt Ceiling, the history and the most likely outcome…
Much of our confidence on the matter comes from our contacts that we have developed over the years that try to give us a 100% straight scoop as much as possible…. They could always be wrong, but being numbers folks, we go with the odds…
They were right, once again!
Have a Great Day, Talk to You at the End of June !
John A. Kvale CFA, CFP
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Posted in Audio, Economy, Education, General Financial Planning, Interest Rates, Investing/Financial Planning, Market Comments, Monthly Review, Podcast, Video
Tagged Charlie Munger, Debt Ceiling, John Kvale, Monthly Review, Warren Buffet