Search Captions & Ask AI

Reviewing Warren Buffett's Latest Shareholder Letter - E49

January 29, 2024 / 52:38

This episode discusses Warren Buffett's 2023 annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, featuring insights from Jesse Kramer and certified financial planner Rob Bradley.

Jesse and Rob analyze key points from Buffett's letter, including Berkshire Hathaway's long-term performance compared to the S&P 500, emphasizing the unsustainability of past returns. They highlight Buffett's perspective on stock picking, focusing on business ownership rather than short-term trading.

The conversation also touches on Buffett's views on stock buybacks, the American economy's advantages, and the importance of avoiding major investment mistakes. They discuss the implications of Buffett's investment philosophy for individual investors.

Rob shares his thoughts on Buffett's investment in Apple and the significance of brand loyalty in tech investments. The episode concludes with a discussion on Berkshire Hathaway's diverse portfolio and the importance of understanding the companies one invests in.

Listeners are encouraged to read the full letter and consider the lessons shared by Jesse and Rob regarding personal finance and investing.

TL;DR

Jesse and Rob discuss Warren Buffett's 2023 letter, focusing on investment strategies, stock buybacks, and the importance of understanding businesses.

Video

00:00:01
welcome to the best interest podcast
00:00:04
where we believe Benjamin Franklin's
00:00:06
advice that an investment in knowledge
00:00:08
pays the best interest both in finances
00:00:11
and in your life every episode teaches
00:00:13
you personal finance and investing in
00:00:16
simple terms now here's your host Jesse
00:00:20
[Music]
00:00:22
Kramer hey guys what's up welcome to
00:00:24
episode 49 of the best interest podcast
00:00:27
my name is Jesse Kramer we'll kind of
00:00:29
get right to the point today on Saturday
00:00:32
February 25th 2023 Warren Buffett
00:00:35
published his annual letter to
00:00:38
shareholders for his company Burkshire
00:00:39
hathway it's always a great letter
00:00:41
Warren Buffett is an excellent writer
00:00:43
and there's always a lot to learn not
00:00:45
all of it is nitty-gritty investing
00:00:47
stuff a lot of it is just general
00:00:49
education that we can apply to many
00:00:50
different areas of our life one of which
00:00:52
is personal finance and investing and
00:00:55
one of my friends here in Rochester his
00:00:56
name is Rob Bradley he's a a certified
00:00:58
financial planner CF P he and I have
00:01:01
talked before a lot about Warren Buffett
00:01:03
because we both happen to be Burkshire
00:01:04
hathway shareholders Rob in fact has
00:01:07
even visited Omaha before during the
00:01:09
shareholders meeting and seeing Warren
00:01:11
Buffett and Charlie Munger speak live
00:01:13
which I think is really cool what we
00:01:14
decided to do for today's episode is we
00:01:17
both read through the the letter when it
00:01:18
was published on Saturday the 25th as I
00:01:21
speak to you right now it's Sunday the
00:01:23
26th and we're sitting down on Sunday
00:01:25
afternoon and we're just going to have a
00:01:26
conversation about the letter some of
00:01:28
the interesting things that Warren
00:01:30
Buffett wrote and some of the helpful
00:01:32
takeaways that were walking away with
00:01:34
Lessons Learned CU I figure if it's
00:01:37
stuff that Rob and I have learned maybe
00:01:39
there will be some interesting things
00:01:40
for you guys for you listeners to learn
00:01:42
as well so I hope you enjoy our
00:01:45
[Music]
00:01:58
conversation
00:02:00
[Music]
00:02:01
Rob how you doing Jesse doing well you
00:02:05
know it's fun coming in on a Sunday and
00:02:07
and of all things talking about
00:02:09
birkshire hathway something we both very
00:02:11
much enjoy how long have you been a a
00:02:13
birkshire hathway shareholder great
00:02:15
question so directly for just a little
00:02:18
bit under a decade wish I had invested
00:02:21
sooner and longer ago but just under 10
00:02:24
years okay okay I'm probably at a year
00:02:28
maybe a year and a half myself okay it
00:02:30
was I think it was last it was probably
00:02:32
starting 12 or 15 months ago I got into
00:02:35
some birkshire shareholders YouTube
00:02:37
videos while I was running because if I
00:02:39
listen to music when I run it kind of
00:02:41
amps me up too much and I get tired okay
00:02:44
I'm going for like a long slow run
00:02:46
listening to Warren and Charlie is
00:02:48
actually a great way to pass the time
00:02:50
learn something and not get myself too
00:02:52
amped up Okay so yesterday we had the
00:02:55
shareholders letter get published if you
00:02:58
listeners we we'll throw a link in the
00:02:59
show show notes so you guys can download
00:03:00
the PDF and read it yourself it's only
00:03:03
about 10 pages so it's a pretty quick
00:03:04
read yep I mean I'll just I'll just
00:03:06
throw it over to you Rob I certainly
00:03:07
have some of my notes but let's just
00:03:09
start talking through some of the notes
00:03:10
that we took I see you took some notes
00:03:12
even on the very first page which shows
00:03:14
Burkshire Hathway's returns right over
00:03:16
time what are what are your thoughts on
00:03:17
that page so the first page of the
00:03:19
annual shareholder letter it's always
00:03:21
the same first page it's Berkshire
00:03:24
Hathaways performance versus the S&P 500
00:03:27
compounded and going back to 19 65
00:03:30
showing Year bye in a very simple format
00:03:34
it shows through year end 2022 that the
00:03:37
compounded annual gain was annualized at
00:03:42
19.8% per year for well over 50 years
00:03:47
the S&P 500 over that same time period
00:03:49
is
00:03:51
99.9% so the reason that I highlighted
00:03:54
certain areas of those annual returns is
00:03:58
that what Warren Buffett would tell you
00:04:00
and as very often proclaimed is that
00:04:04
that Advantage a
00:04:05
performance double the S&P on a
00:04:08
long-term basis is not one that's
00:04:10
sustainable at all and that track record
00:04:13
though it's been great over shorter time
00:04:16
periods as well it's heavily skewed by
00:04:19
the returns in the early years so for
00:04:22
example in
00:04:23
1965 Berkshire was up 49.5% versus 10
00:04:28
for the S&P m so a huge Edge 3 years
00:04:32
later was up 78% versus the S&P is 11 a
00:04:36
few years later this is in
00:04:39
1969 or 70 it was up 80% versus 14.6 for
00:04:44
the S&P 500 so the important point to
00:04:48
take from that is that those huge
00:04:51
returns and huge return
00:04:54
advantages over the S&P 500 occurred
00:04:57
when Burkshire Hathway's portfolio of
00:04:59
assets was very very small and so
00:05:03
because of that a few investment
00:05:06
decisions that were relatively small in
00:05:08
size could have had a huge return
00:05:10
advantage over the
00:05:12
S&P and those results of course now have
00:05:15
compounded over another 50 years so
00:05:19
they're not repeatable or sustainable no
00:05:21
investor should expect to double the S&P
00:05:25
500's return if they owned shares of
00:05:28
Burkshire hathway right and Warren
00:05:30
Warren and Charlie have talked about
00:05:31
that before at the shareholders meetings
00:05:34
where you know in a hypothetical
00:05:36
scenario if you were to give them a
00:05:37
million dollars and say go buy a million
00:05:39
dollar company and try to get as big a
00:05:41
return on it as possible they might be
00:05:43
able to find a way to return 50% on that
00:05:46
million dollars in a year but if you
00:05:48
told them here's a billion or 10 billion
00:05:51
or more which those are kind of the
00:05:52
quantities that they're working with
00:05:53
these days when it comes to buying a new
00:05:55
company or or investing in a new stock
00:05:57
it's harder to get that big of return on
00:06:00
that big of a dollar amount that's
00:06:02
exactly right so as a matter of fact
00:06:03
what they would say is they have a hard
00:06:05
time finding things to buy because
00:06:07
anything that they would buy that would
00:06:09
be a meaningful investment would have to
00:06:11
be so massive in order to move the
00:06:13
needle or even be worthwhile for for
00:06:16
Burkshire as an entity to invest in
00:06:19
there are relatively limited
00:06:21
opportunities so you know I I would be
00:06:23
one of in the camp that it is reasonable
00:06:30
and very possible that Burkshire will
00:06:33
continue to outperform the S&P 500 by a
00:06:36
modest margin on a go forward basis
00:06:39
certainly because it's a single company
00:06:42
it could also underperform if it does
00:06:45
outperform it will not be anywhere near
00:06:48
the historical magnitude of what is
00:06:51
really stunning long-term out
00:06:53
performance double the S&P 500 but not
00:06:57
just for a year or 3 years or 5 years
00:06:59
you know that this is over 58 years it's
00:07:02
a stunning track record that they would
00:07:05
be the first to tell you will not be
00:07:06
repeatable but that doesn't mean that it
00:07:08
won't still be good right right I like
00:07:11
it I like it let's get into some of the
00:07:13
actual uh uh text of the letter yeah
00:07:16
because it's always interesting how how
00:07:17
Warren writes you know we were talking
00:07:19
before the recording how some of it's
00:07:20
kind of folksy wisdom yeah he doesn't
00:07:22
really get into too much of the
00:07:24
nitty-gritty investing accounting kind
00:07:27
of math type details
00:07:29
lose people instead he keeps it pretty
00:07:31
high level at least at this part of the
00:07:33
letter so maybe we can just go through
00:07:35
kind of almost Page by Page and we'll
00:07:37
pause stop talk when either one of us
00:07:39
took notes on on a particular thought
00:07:41
sure let's do it so I know upfront you
00:07:44
wrote a note about this beforehand Rob
00:07:46
about how Warren writes to his investors
00:07:49
almost the way that a financial adviser
00:07:51
writes to their clients in terms of the
00:07:54
the thought and the care that Warren has
00:07:58
for his investors money and and and the
00:08:00
way he he tries to you know he goes
00:08:02
Charlie and I watch with pleasure the
00:08:04
vast flow of Burkshire generated funds
00:08:06
sent to public needs and the the
00:08:09
infrequency with which our shareholders
00:08:11
opt for look at me assets and Dynasty
00:08:13
building I mean in this case he was
00:08:15
saying so many of Burkshire investors
00:08:17
who do have millions tens hundreds of
00:08:20
millions of burshire dollars choose to
00:08:22
donate a lot of that money to charity in
00:08:24
the same way that maybe an adviser might
00:08:26
help their client set up like a Donor
00:08:27
advised fund or something along the
00:08:29
lines yep he speaks very much with the
00:08:31
voice of your friend and trusted
00:08:35
adviser that is stewarding your capital
00:08:38
and helping make decisions for your own
00:08:40
Investment Portfolio and the really
00:08:42
unique thing about the culture of
00:08:44
Burkshire hathway is that is exactly how
00:08:47
they look at how they run that company
00:08:50
and I think it starts with their Roots
00:08:52
so when Warren Buffett started in the
00:08:55
investment business he was a private he
00:08:58
was like a fund manager
00:08:59
he he was a private money manager he
00:09:02
started a partnership then after many
00:09:04
years and much success of essentially
00:09:06
managing money for friends and family
00:09:09
and getting tired of the K1 and some of
00:09:11
the tax complexities then also in the
00:09:15
late 60s or excuse me late 50s early 60s
00:09:18
when he saw the stock market as being
00:09:20
relatively overvalued he actually closed
00:09:23
that first what was called the buffet
00:09:25
partnership and redistributed all the
00:09:27
money back to shareholders because
00:09:29
didn't find anything that he thought was
00:09:31
a great investment at that point this is
00:09:33
when the you know the the nifty50 stocks
00:09:35
of the 60s and 70s we're really starting
00:09:37
to stretch valuations but he's always
00:09:40
approached what he does with that care
00:09:43
of someone that's stewarding capital for
00:09:46
their own friends and family and a lot
00:09:48
of his shareholders are still those
00:09:50
people but he also recognizes that many
00:09:53
of those shareholders have a large
00:09:55
portion of their net worth in birkshire
00:09:58
theyve implicitly trusted Burkshire with
00:10:01
much or most of their life savings and
00:10:04
he takes his approach very personally
00:10:06
and seriously that way right he talks a
00:10:09
lot about his sister maybe sisters who I
00:10:11
think at this point at least one of them
00:10:12
might have recently died in the last
00:10:13
couple years but right they had a lot of
00:10:16
their money with Warren or in Berkshire
00:10:19
hathway and when he writes this letter
00:10:21
he thinks to himself he's writing to his
00:10:23
sisters in a way that they're they're
00:10:25
bright people but they don't really
00:10:27
understand how businesses run don't
00:10:29
understand the underlying complexity of
00:10:31
what's going on so he writes to a level
00:10:33
that they can appreciate and learn and
00:10:35
follow along and helps me out you know
00:10:38
I'm sure maybe I could understand some
00:10:39
of the complex stuff but writing in a
00:10:42
way that people understand is uh a
00:10:44
pretty nice thing to do yeah I think it
00:10:45
may be Einstein who said if you can't
00:10:47
explain something very simply then you
00:10:49
don't really understand it and that's
00:10:52
the approach that he takes to investing
00:10:53
now this is a little bit I shouldn't say
00:10:55
it's a little bit it's a lot sexist but
00:10:58
the way he said it is you know if I
00:11:00
can't explain an investment to my sister
00:11:02
now of course as you said his sisters
00:11:04
are very bright people brilliant even
00:11:07
they just don't play or understand
00:11:10
investment markets or Focus their
00:11:12
intelligence in that area but he's he's
00:11:14
often said if I can't explain it to my
00:11:16
sister then I shouldn't invest in it no
00:11:19
that's a good thought I like this one
00:11:21
Rob on on page two Charlie and I are not
00:11:23
stock Pickers we are business Pickers I
00:11:26
mean that's something that you and I
00:11:28
being kind of followers acolytes of
00:11:30
Warren Buffett we've heard him say
00:11:31
something like that a lot but maybe
00:11:33
someone listening to this podcast hasn't
00:11:35
really heard doesn't really understand
00:11:37
the Nuance difference I mean when you
00:11:38
read Warren Buffett say that Charlie and
00:11:40
I are not stock Pickers we are business
00:11:42
Pickers what do you think well I think
00:11:45
that he is looking to invest in
00:11:48
businesses that he understands and he's
00:11:51
not looking for a hot popular stock or a
00:11:56
company that people start talking about
00:11:58
at a cocktail party because it's the
00:12:01
bright new shiny thing or maybe the
00:12:03
Tesla from five or seven years ago he's
00:12:06
really looking at the way he invests as
00:12:08
being a partner to take an ownership
00:12:11
stake in a portion of a business versus
00:12:15
a short-term Trader or someone that's
00:12:17
investing in something that's doing well
00:12:20
I.E a stock that maybe they really don't
00:12:22
understand yeah one of his other related
00:12:24
quotes is most investors would do better
00:12:27
if the stock market was open once every
00:12:29
5 years or something along those lines
00:12:31
right because maybe the average young
00:12:34
stock picker who was trying to make some
00:12:36
quick money during covid right they
00:12:38
might have been trading on a daily
00:12:40
weekly monthly basis and that is the
00:12:42
antithesis of what Warren Buffett does
00:12:45
they're thinking years decades in
00:12:47
advance by you know their favorite
00:12:49
holding period is forever right right so
00:12:51
kind of the anti- robobin hood effect
00:12:54
approach if you will whereas you know
00:12:56
many new
00:12:57
investors that were young enough to
00:13:00
never have experienced some of the pain
00:13:03
of the great financial crisis jumped
00:13:06
into the markets in their 20s for the
00:13:08
first time over the last say three years
00:13:11
maybe from the start of covid or a
00:13:12
little bit sooner before that and the
00:13:14
Really approach was buy something that's
00:13:16
going up you know there's a meme stock
00:13:20
everyone's talking about it let's throw
00:13:22
,000 into that and see what happens so
00:13:25
you know that would be the definition of
00:13:27
chasing a hot Dot and
00:13:29
speculating you know whereas he of
00:13:31
course is defining investing as
00:13:34
something very differently and more like
00:13:36
being a partner in a business that you'd
00:13:38
be happy to own a portion of and if you
00:13:41
couldn't sell it for five years or more
00:13:43
that wouldn't distress you at all
00:13:45
because that's how you're looking at
00:13:47
your investing time frame but also your
00:13:49
commitment to what you're putting your
00:13:51
money in versus that of a a Trader right
00:13:55
he goes on to write the one advantage of
00:13:57
our publicly traded segment is that
00:13:59
episodically it becomes easy to buy
00:14:02
pieces of wonderful businesses at
00:14:03
wonderful prices it's crucial to
00:14:06
understand that stocks often trade at
00:14:08
truly foolish prices both high and low
00:14:11
efficient markets exist only in
00:14:14
textbooks you know we don't have to go
00:14:16
into too much of the of the professional
00:14:17
side of what we do but the efficient
00:14:19
market hypothesis for those listeners
00:14:22
who are unaware states to some extent
00:14:24
that the stock market finds the price of
00:14:27
a stock more
00:14:29
accurately than you might be able to do
00:14:31
on your own and therefore you could you
00:14:33
should trust the stock market's pricing
00:14:36
essentially is what the effici market
00:14:38
hypothesis says it's the wisdom of the
00:14:40
crowd right if there's known information
00:14:42
about Apple everyone knows it it's
00:14:45
followed by hundreds of thousands of
00:14:48
analysts and investors if not more
00:14:51
around the world and everything that's
00:14:52
publicly known about that company on a
00:14:55
given day is reflected in what the
00:14:57
current Share Price is Right exactly and
00:15:00
I think also Common Sense would tell
00:15:02
anyone that while long-term markets May
00:15:05
operate efficiently they're subject to
00:15:08
pretty extreme short-term swings of
00:15:11
emotions animal spirits of investors
00:15:14
news headlines and the cumulative gain
00:15:18
from the covid trough let's say to a
00:15:21
2021 Peak on the S&P 500 was boy that
00:15:26
was close to a 100% gain let's say
00:15:29
don't have that number in front of me
00:15:30
but no one would argue that the size of
00:15:33
the economy increased 100% over that
00:15:36
time period or its future growth or
00:15:39
earnings potential increased 100% it was
00:15:42
just valued very lowly right 2020
00:15:45
because the amount of uncertainty that
00:15:47
was present in the world and valued much
00:15:51
much more optimistically about two years
00:15:54
later though also in a very important
00:15:57
backdrop where essentially interest
00:15:59
rates went to zero so there were no
00:16:01
other good alternatives to to place
00:16:04
money but he recognizes that those
00:16:06
swings are going to occur and prices are
00:16:09
going to be irrationally high at times
00:16:11
they're going to be irrationally low at
00:16:12
times right and and you can you know
00:16:14
it's that old parable of Mr Market that
00:16:16
Benjamin Gran liked so much is is you
00:16:19
don't have to do business with someone
00:16:20
who's being irrational right and if if
00:16:23
the stock market is irrationally high
00:16:25
you don't necessarily you don't have to
00:16:27
buy at IR rationally high price
00:16:29
if the stock market's irrationally low
00:16:31
you don't have to sell in fact what
00:16:33
Benjamin Graham would say is you should
00:16:34
try to do the opposite you should try to
00:16:36
you know take advantage of the Market's
00:16:38
irrationality which is is something that
00:16:40
you know Warren and Charlie clearly have
00:16:42
done a few times over their careers we
00:16:45
were talking earlier Rob about the great
00:16:47
financial crisis 2008 where I'm not sure
00:16:49
if all these deals were necessarily on
00:16:51
the public markets some of them might
00:16:52
have occurred behind closed doors oh
00:16:54
sure they did but some you know some of
00:16:56
the Investments That Burkshire have way
00:16:58
made in 2008 2009 were essentially large
00:17:02
financial institutions Goldman Sachs you
00:17:05
know Bank of America they had no other
00:17:06
option yeah but to accept money from
00:17:09
Berkshire hathway Y and Warren Buffett
00:17:12
knew the leverage that he had on them
00:17:14
and was able to negotiate very
00:17:16
beneficial terms for Berkshire he was
00:17:19
presented with fantastic investing
00:17:21
opportunities because of the amount of
00:17:24
capital that he had in liquid cash and
00:17:27
short-term treasuries that simply was
00:17:29
not available elsewhere unless it was
00:17:31
from the Federal Reserve so back in
00:17:33
those days the Federal Reserve was
00:17:37
grappling with what is too big to fail
00:17:40
what do we do with weeman after be
00:17:43
Sterns and do we let a Morgan Stanley do
00:17:47
we let a Goldman Sachs Circle down the
00:17:50
drain well the Federal Reserve didn't
00:17:53
have to step into the capital structure
00:17:55
of those investment Banks because they
00:17:57
were able ble to obtain emergency
00:17:59
funding from Berkshire hathway in the
00:18:02
form of warrants and Preferred
00:18:05
Securities that were offered to him at
00:18:08
stunning prices again I we were talking
00:18:11
earlier I think he was offered Goldman
00:18:14
preferreds at 9% with a conversion
00:18:16
privilege to Common Equity as well so he
00:18:18
was going to get 9% one way or the other
00:18:21
and if the common stock did great he
00:18:23
could then also choose to convert those
00:18:26
into common shares which which he Ely
00:18:28
did and then sold and he still owns a
00:18:31
large stake in Bank of America from that
00:18:33
so the point is just that because of who
00:18:36
he is and his position in the financial
00:18:39
world and his
00:18:40
liquidity Burkshire was presented with
00:18:44
investment opportunities that
00:18:45
individuals just would not have had the
00:18:48
volume um or the opportunity to to put
00:18:50
their money into right and then there's
00:18:52
a good lesson just in that very last
00:18:54
sentence you said Rob which is that when
00:18:56
you happen to be the person who's
00:18:58
running a multi hundred billion dollar
00:19:00
business and you do have billions and
00:19:03
billions of cash and treasury bonds
00:19:04
sitting in your bank account quote
00:19:07
unquote bank account right you will be
00:19:09
presented with opportunities that you
00:19:11
and I sitting here will never be
00:19:12
presented with right you know no one on
00:19:14
Wall Street was calling Jesse Kramer or
00:19:17
Rob Bradley correct in 2008 saying will
00:19:19
you please help us bail out Leman
00:19:21
Brothers Goldman sacks Etc so so Warren
00:19:24
has kind of positioned himself simply as
00:19:27
a function of the size of burshire
00:19:29
hathway the way that it's compounded
00:19:30
over the last 60 years in just a
00:19:32
completely unique way that you and I or
00:19:36
the average listener will never
00:19:37
experience but it's it's been pretty
00:19:40
beneficial for shareholders of Burkshire
00:19:42
hathway yeah yeah they they're a unique
00:19:45
entity in the financial world and that
00:19:47
they have the type of cash liquidity
00:19:50
that no one other than a central Banker
00:19:52
can match and are interested in being
00:19:56
opportunistic at the the the right time
00:19:59
right and and I'm skipping ahead to
00:20:01
something that Warren wrote at the end
00:20:03
of the letter where he goes you know the
00:20:05
CEO of Berkshire hathway whether it's
00:20:07
him as it is right now or whoever it may
00:20:09
be in the future is the chief risk
00:20:11
officer and one thing I've always loved
00:20:14
about the way Warren and Charlie
00:20:15
approach business is their view of risk
00:20:18
management aligns very much with the way
00:20:21
I think and I I think it's the way that
00:20:23
a lot of common folks think about risk
00:20:25
management about you know one of
00:20:27
Warren's famous quotes is why risk
00:20:30
something that you have and need for
00:20:32
something that you don't have and don't
00:20:34
need it's a great question and you know
00:20:36
a perfect example is if you have $10
00:20:38
million let's say and that's all you
00:20:40
need for the rest of your life why would
00:20:41
you put any of that at risk you have it
00:20:43
right now and you need it sure and and
00:20:46
so a lot of businesses would look at
00:20:49
berkshire's hundred billion dollars in
00:20:52
cash and treasury bonds and say like oh
00:20:54
that's such that's just cash that's not
00:20:55
doing anything for you opportunity cost
00:20:58
yeah let's lever this thing up and go
00:21:00
exactly and it's just so interesting
00:21:02
that Warren and Charlie said no we're
00:21:04
not going to risk The Entity that is
00:21:07
Burkshire hathway just to chase some
00:21:09
extra gains with this cash they like
00:21:11
having that cash as a a safety net right
00:21:14
and another one of his quotables is
00:21:15
we've made far more money by avoiding
00:21:18
dragons than slaying them interest I
00:21:21
haven't heard that one I like that so
00:21:22
they are definitely looking at the
00:21:25
investing World from almost a Moneyball
00:21:27
type of pers perspective where they
00:21:29
don't feel that they need to take home
00:21:31
run swings and hit home runs when they
00:21:33
can be very consistent and very patient
00:21:36
with a high batting average and drawing
00:21:38
a lot of walks and hitting singles over
00:21:40
time right right it's a good lesson to
00:21:43
apply to uh doesn't have to just be an
00:21:45
investing lesson there right I mean you
00:21:47
can apply to other parts of your life
00:21:49
too I mean I I think about diet and
00:21:52
fitness is something I I write about
00:21:54
sometimes on the blog where a very
00:21:56
simple kind of single and doubles type
00:21:59
diet and exercise routine is infinitely
00:22:02
better than the idea of hitting home
00:22:04
runs I mean I don't know what a hitting
00:22:06
home run diet and exercise routine would
00:22:07
be working for four hours a day so you
00:22:10
work out for four hours a day and then
00:22:12
you're so physically and emotionally
00:22:14
exhausted and your wife and kids are
00:22:16
angry at the time commitment after two
00:22:18
or three days you're never going to do
00:22:20
it again whereas the person that maybe
00:22:22
works out for 20 to 30 minutes a day but
00:22:25
is absolutely consistent religious and
00:22:28
is saying hey I'm willing to do this a
00:22:31
thousand times right will end up in a
00:22:34
far better end result in the extremist
00:22:37
that tries to get it all done in a day
00:22:39
or another great way that Warren has
00:22:40
said it and he has so many wonderful
00:22:43
turns of phrase I think I actually have
00:22:45
it written here with some of my favorite
00:22:47
Buffett quotes successful investing
00:22:49
takes time discipline and patience no
00:22:53
matter how great the talent or effort
00:22:55
some things just take time you can't
00:22:57
produce a baby in one month by getting
00:23:00
nine women pregnant that's Warren's
00:23:02
quote not mine I don't I don't recommend
00:23:04
that approach to anything but that just
00:23:07
he has a wonderful way of making that
00:23:09
Common Sense lesson of time and patience
00:23:11
really hit home definitely and I know
00:23:13
you know a lot of the listeners a lot of
00:23:15
the folks who will end up listening to
00:23:17
this conversation Rob are they might be
00:23:19
on the younger side of their either
00:23:21
their life or definitely on the younger
00:23:22
side of their infesting career and
00:23:24
there's a lesson there where it's hard
00:23:28
to make up for the way compounding helps
00:23:30
you over time you know it's it's been
00:23:32
written about before where if you
00:23:34
compared someone who just threw a ton of
00:23:36
money at their Investment Portfolio and
00:23:37
then waited five years versus someone
00:23:40
who trickled money in steadily but had
00:23:43
the patience to wait 50 years the power
00:23:46
of that compounding in the long run it's
00:23:48
it's hard
00:23:49
to yeah I mean I you know in today's
00:23:52
investing world where much of the
00:23:55
information is distributed via social
00:23:58
media you have to remember that people
00:24:01
love reporting their winners and they
00:24:05
can become very forgetful when it comes
00:24:07
to telling you how s seldomly those
00:24:10
winners occurred or framing them with
00:24:13
all the losers it took to find one
00:24:15
winner and so you know that that really
00:24:18
is the opposite of his approach because
00:24:21
he's so focused on
00:24:23
fundamentals time and patience when you
00:24:26
are focused on fundamentals time and
00:24:29
patience you don't need to hit a home
00:24:31
run and you don't need to chase a hot
00:24:33
dot you just need to again be consistent
00:24:35
and keep hitting single after single
00:24:38
drawing a few walks and not striking out
00:24:41
too many times with those home run
00:24:43
swings right and he does you know he
00:24:44
goes on and he writes about a couple
00:24:47
which I don't want to put words in in
00:24:48
Warren's mouth but it seems like he's
00:24:50
treating Coca-Cola and American Express
00:24:53
as to at the very least extra base hits
00:24:56
if not home runs he admits that most of
00:24:59
what Burkshire hathway has done over the
00:25:01
60 years has been marginal mediocre
00:25:05
pretty average but then when you add in
00:25:07
the 10 or so big big hits two of which
00:25:11
are are Coca-Cola and American Express
00:25:13
you know the others might be um was it
00:25:15
BNSF the railroad the Energy company is
00:25:18
it BH energy I think is the name so you
00:25:21
add in some companies like that and then
00:25:23
you get home run like performance
00:25:27
compounded over over 60 years right so
00:25:29
you know he would say if you're at worst
00:25:32
average in your investment decisions
00:25:35
most all the time avoid large
00:25:38
mistakes every once in a while you're
00:25:40
going to get lucky and have some massive
00:25:43
upside variance so your results over
00:25:46
time can still be much much more than
00:25:49
satisfactory and I would say that the
00:25:51
most recent decision without question is
00:25:54
the investment in Apple so a little bit
00:25:57
over 40% as of current estimates of the
00:26:01
Burkshire Hathaway Securities portfolio
00:26:04
which is contained within Berkshire
00:26:06
Hathaway the publicly traded company is
00:26:09
invested in apple that stake was first
00:26:12
taken only in 2016 I believe so he
00:26:16
hasn't even invested in Apple for a long
00:26:18
time but has had a massive return just
00:26:22
over the last 6 and a half years that
00:26:24
they've been Apple shareholders to the
00:26:26
point where now because of that and
00:26:28
subsequent Investments it's over 40% of
00:26:31
the Securities that they own whereas
00:26:33
even Coca-Cola and American Express are
00:26:35
closer to the five or six% range a much
00:26:38
smaller share right that is interesting
00:26:40
especially you know Charlie and and
00:26:41
Warren for a long time they got some
00:26:43
flak for not investing in in tech stocks
00:26:45
really you know famously one of Warren's
00:26:48
best friends is Bill Gates but Warren's
00:26:50
never invested in Microsoft it's just an
00:26:52
example I'm just curious I mean do you
00:26:54
do you have a feel for why they invested
00:26:57
in Apple in the first place I mean maybe
00:26:59
you've heard Warren or Charlie talk
00:27:00
about that before yeah I have and I do
00:27:03
and so they have long stated that they
00:27:06
won't invest in anything that they don't
00:27:09
understand very well and fully and that
00:27:13
was their attitude towards most all
00:27:15
technology companies for really most of
00:27:18
the past 30 years since investing in
00:27:21
technology companies became more than a
00:27:23
mainstream thing their decision on Apple
00:27:27
revolved around the brand loyalty and
00:27:30
them seeing it as an indispensable
00:27:32
consumer product and realizing that when
00:27:35
someone was in the Apple ecosystem they
00:27:38
tended to stay there it was very
00:27:41
sticky there was a implied inconvenience
00:27:46
switching cost which no one wants to do
00:27:49
when you're in the Apple ecosystem you
00:27:51
don't want to get a Samsung phone and so
00:27:53
they recognize the power of the brand
00:27:55
they recognize the value of subscription
00:27:59
services that Apple has slowly been
00:28:01
ramping up and understand that company
00:28:04
as a consumer product versus a
00:28:07
Technology stock and that's why they got
00:28:09
really comfortable investing in apple
00:28:11
but I would also say I think they got
00:28:13
really comfortable investing in apple
00:28:15
because they have a very well planned
00:28:19
succession in my opinion you're saying
00:28:21
apple has a well planned succession no
00:28:24
berer does yeah and that succession is
00:28:26
that war is had two investment deputies
00:28:29
Todd comes and Ted Wexler that have been
00:28:34
influencing his decisions on Capital
00:28:37
allocation specifically with regards to
00:28:39
individual stock purchases and so it's
00:28:42
believ that one of them was actually the
00:28:46
first to get him to cross the Rubicon
00:28:49
and invest in Apple and as he became
00:28:52
more aware saw how Apple itself handled
00:28:56
its business and purchased its own
00:28:58
shares which of course Berkshire always
00:29:02
recently in particular has loved to do
00:29:05
essentially got him on board and so
00:29:07
those two individuals that have now
00:29:09
worked with Warren for over 10 years on
00:29:12
the investment decisions of Burkshire
00:29:13
Hathaway are the succession plan and so
00:29:16
one of the reasons that you know when
00:29:18
you think about the long-term risk of
00:29:20
that company of course people wonder
00:29:23
what would happen when waren passes away
00:29:25
he's
00:29:26
92 and and still incredibly bright
00:29:29
poised and engaged but no one beats
00:29:34
father time or the reaper and so he's
00:29:37
got two deputies that have been there
00:29:38
for succession purposes but also to I
00:29:41
think help keep their thinking
00:29:43
conservative while being Progressive as
00:29:46
far as accepting of technology companies
00:29:48
right and if you study the birkshire
00:29:50
hathway equity portfolio you'll see
00:29:53
Amazon has a role you'll see uh
00:29:56
snowflake Lake the cloud services
00:29:59
company and data Lake company that they
00:30:02
have invested in actually before it's
00:30:04
IPO and some other very interesting
00:30:06
names that are creeping into the
00:30:09
Burkshire hathway portfolio which now
00:30:11
has more Technology stock exposure
00:30:14
thanks to Apple than the S&P 500 as a
00:30:16
whole wow that's I didn't know that
00:30:18
that's an interesting stat that final
00:30:19
stat you you just read off Rob what's
00:30:21
your thought you mentioned stock
00:30:23
BuyBacks there briefly and Warren writes
00:30:25
about stock BuyBacks here in the letter
00:30:28
I was just trying to scroll back through
00:30:29
and find the exact quote where he
00:30:31
mentioned you know a silver tongue
00:30:33
demagog very very tasty words from
00:30:36
Warren with regards to how the issue of
00:30:40
stock BuyBacks has been
00:30:43
politicized and really caused companies
00:30:47
that are buying back shares to be
00:30:51
villainized as far as extreme
00:30:54
capitalists that are you know perhaps
00:30:58
exploiting their employees and not
00:31:01
investing in their own companies in
00:31:04
capital
00:31:05
expenditures maybe in giving better
00:31:08
employee pay or raises so this becomes a
00:31:10
very politicized issue right and at the
00:31:13
State of the Union President Biden had
00:31:16
said something that Warren who was a
00:31:18
Biden supporter really bristle that
00:31:21
which is that he wanted to quadruple the
00:31:25
corporate excise tax on stock BuyBacks
00:31:29
because he he really this is Biden uh
00:31:33
you know implied it was capitalists
00:31:36
really exploiting their position instead
00:31:38
of doing something that was better for
00:31:40
people gotcha and and so I mean just
00:31:42
taking a step back let's go really
00:31:44
simple with this a stock buyback if I'm
00:31:47
Warren Buffett and let's say I do have a
00:31:49
hundred billion dollar in the bank I
00:31:52
could choose to buy my own stock that's
00:31:56
selling out there on the Public Market I
00:31:57
can buy Burkshire halfway stock and then
00:32:00
here's where I get I just you know I'm
00:32:02
looking for confirmation on this Rob
00:32:04
essentially I choose to dissolve some of
00:32:06
that stock in a way that's right and it
00:32:08
reduces the total number of shares that
00:32:10
are
00:32:11
outstanding which therefore if you and I
00:32:13
are sitting here as shareholders our
00:32:15
percentage ownership of burk your
00:32:17
hathway actually goes up just went up
00:32:18
yeah just went up so it's stock BuyBacks
00:32:21
depending on the price are usually good
00:32:24
for shareholders yes usually good for
00:32:27
the CEO who's executing those BuyBacks
00:32:30
but I'm spending money that's in the
00:32:32
bank that what Joe Biden would say is
00:32:35
you could be spending that money on your
00:32:36
employees or some other way in the
00:32:38
company rather than just making your
00:32:40
shareholders a little bit richer that's
00:32:43
exactly right yeah so so Warren sees
00:32:45
share BuyBacks as a way to concentrate
00:32:50
and improve shareholder returns and
00:32:53
shareholder value which they
00:32:54
unquestionably are the I would say the
00:32:57
the left side of the political aisle
00:32:59
especially the far left has really
00:33:02
targeted that practice and villainized
00:33:06
it in a way that he disagrees with so
00:33:08
here's the quote and this is pretty
00:33:09
strong words when you are told that all
00:33:12
repurchases are harmful to shareholders
00:33:14
or to the country or particularly
00:33:17
beneficial to CEOs you are listening to
00:33:20
either an economic illiterate or a
00:33:24
silver tonged demagogue characters that
00:33:27
are not mutually exclusive so that's a
00:33:30
stinging
00:33:31
rebuke and it is pretty clearly directed
00:33:35
at President Biden and this is from
00:33:37
someone who is a lifelong and well-known
00:33:40
Democrat that is Warren Buffett who was
00:33:42
a supporter of President Biden supporter
00:33:45
of Hillary Clinton's campaign this is a
00:33:48
well-known Democratic supporter
00:33:50
absolutely who is you know certainly a
00:33:52
capitalist but sees capitalism as not
00:33:56
being
00:33:58
anti-democratic in its values and pretty
00:34:01
sharply criticizing the the president
00:34:03
over his inclusion of share repurchases
00:34:08
as being exploitative of the common good
00:34:12
right and then Warren does he describes
00:34:14
you know an example uh he uses an auto
00:34:16
dealership as an example where maybe
00:34:18
they concentrated ownership through some
00:34:20
sort of price share buyback and then he
00:34:23
says you know who who has that
00:34:24
transaction harmed is the manager harmed
00:34:27
or favored over passive owners has the
00:34:29
public been hurt and essentially his
00:34:31
argument is if you do share Buybacks in
00:34:33
a responsible way if you ensure that the
00:34:36
price is in some way responsible so that
00:34:38
no one's getting exploited too much then
00:34:40
it really is kind of a no harm no foul
00:34:42
situation the shareholders benefit
00:34:45
simply from getting a more concentrated
00:34:47
ownership stake but that the public
00:34:49
doesn't have to be hurt by it and so I
00:34:50
think that's really what he's getting at
00:34:52
as far as if someone out there is saying
00:34:55
that all share BuyBacks are bad then
00:34:58
that's that's painting with too broad of
00:35:01
a brush way too broad of a brush yeah I
00:35:03
think he feels that it's been lumped in
00:35:06
with issuing huge amounts of stock
00:35:08
options to CEOs for excessive corporate
00:35:13
executive compensation and the gap
00:35:15
between the average CEO compensation and
00:35:19
the average employee I think he's right
00:35:21
in that that is a practice that you know
00:35:24
should not be villainized right so Rob I
00:35:27
want to know what your thoughts are
00:35:28
there's a section here on page seven
00:35:30
where he talks about our journey to 2023
00:35:32
a bumpy road involving a combination of
00:35:34
continuous savings by our owners that is
00:35:36
by Burkshire retaining earnings power of
00:35:39
compounding our avoidance of major
00:35:41
mistakes we already touched on that one
00:35:43
but most important of all according to
00:35:45
Warren Buffett is that Burkshire hathway
00:35:47
benefited from the American Tailwind the
00:35:49
American Tailwind right America would
00:35:51
have done fine without Burkshire but the
00:35:54
reverse is not true so I'm curious from
00:35:57
a from an investing point of view I
00:35:59
mean I in my work I always talk about
00:36:02
all the S&P 500 historically has
00:36:04
returned 10% per year but that statistic
00:36:07
itself birkshire hathway success it all
00:36:10
falls within the shadow of this is the
00:36:13
American Stock Market the American
00:36:15
economy the American tailwind and is
00:36:19
that Tailwind going to exist moving
00:36:20
forward if so how strong might it be I'm
00:36:23
just curious what your thoughts are on
00:36:25
International diversification not
00:36:27
necessarily for birkshire hathway but
00:36:28
just kind of in general as a as an
00:36:30
investing concept yeah well let me start
00:36:32
by sharing why I think that Warren's
00:36:35
opinion of it is what it is he certainly
00:36:39
likes investing in things that he
00:36:41
intimately understands and wants boots
00:36:43
on the ground familiarity with
00:36:45
everything that he invests in and
00:36:47
allocates capital to so that's certainly
00:36:50
one of the reasons for his very very
00:36:52
strong domestic
00:36:55
bias this is a common theme that he hits
00:36:58
on going back to the great financial
00:37:01
crisis where in the fall of 2008 he
00:37:03
published a letter in the Wall Street
00:37:05
Journal that was titled by American I am
00:37:10
and you know he believes in the
00:37:12
Ingenuity of the American Spirit he
00:37:15
believes in the business friendly
00:37:17
environment in the United States which
00:37:20
does have some business friendly
00:37:22
advantages that even major developed
00:37:24
economies around the world don't
00:37:27
could you share with me for example
00:37:29
Jesse who the uh Australian equivalent
00:37:32
of Amazon is or is there an Apple that
00:37:36
was born in Germany or perhaps you found
00:37:39
a Netflix in Great Britain the reality
00:37:42
is those companies in the comparables
00:37:45
they simply are not there Warren takes
00:37:48
that to an extreme in investing almost
00:37:52
exclusively domestically almost
00:37:55
exclusively at another point in our
00:37:57
conversation we should talk about is
00:37:59
devasure of Taiwan semiconductor stock
00:38:02
okay which is a very interesting move
00:38:05
but yeah he clearly believes that
00:38:07
there's a advantage to us companies and
00:38:12
the US business Spirit and the US free
00:38:15
market system that even most other
00:38:18
developed economies and democracies
00:38:21
don't enjoy and when you think about
00:38:23
that question that I just mentioned why
00:38:25
isn't there a Microsoft that was started
00:38:27
in South America and then ask yourself
00:38:30
the next question about why isn't there
00:38:32
an alphabet that came from Europe it is
00:38:35
interesting that so many huge world
00:38:38
changing new businesses and technology
00:38:41
companies have only been birth in the
00:38:43
United States now as far as the broader
00:38:46
perspective for most investors having
00:38:49
International
00:38:51
diversification of significant
00:38:53
proportion anywhere from 30 to 40% of
00:38:55
their Equity EXP exposure is prudent and
00:38:58
for one reason among several is because
00:39:01
of currency exposure if the United
00:39:03
States went through a period where its
00:39:05
currency was depreciating against those
00:39:09
around the world international
00:39:11
non-currency hedged Investments would be
00:39:14
one of the only ways to protect against
00:39:16
a risk like that so without getting into
00:39:20
some of the political extremism and the
00:39:23
thought about the US debt SE
00:39:27
and default issues that we are really
00:39:29
facing in 2023 I would say there are
00:39:32
many reasons that International
00:39:34
diversification of meaningful amount is
00:39:37
prudent for any investor though again
00:39:39
Warren likes really really concentrated
00:39:41
bets and he's chosen America as
00:39:44
essentially his one and only right right
00:39:46
it's funny how I think investors all
00:39:48
over the world I was reading a paper a
00:39:50
few months ago almost all investors in
00:39:52
the world have some sort of Home Country
00:39:54
bias home bias yeah everyone does you
00:39:56
know if you look at like the average
00:39:57
Germans stock portfolio there's a lot of
00:40:00
German stocks in there that you and I
00:40:02
have probably never heard of we just
00:40:04
happen Warren just so happens we we've
00:40:06
got lucky with with the ovarian Lottery
00:40:09
and that we were born in a place where
00:40:10
our home country bias is the best home
00:40:12
country bias to have had over the past
00:40:14
Century right and of course there are
00:40:16
many charts out there that will show you
00:40:18
almost never is the broad US Stock
00:40:21
Market the best performing Market in the
00:40:23
world just by law of large numbers that
00:40:26
doesn't happen very often but over long
00:40:30
periods of time it's produced excellent
00:40:32
returns and certainly some unique
00:40:35
companies that you cannot say they're
00:40:37
peers of in an international stock index
00:40:40
right and that that stat of America's
00:40:43
rarely number one but we're somewhere in
00:40:45
the middle you know I don't know maybe
00:40:47
the third quartile we're we're usually
00:40:49
above average and and pretty solid it
00:40:51
reminds me of Howard Marx and a couple
00:40:53
things you said earlier reminded me of
00:40:54
Howard Marx and his investment
00:40:56
philosophy if you're familiar with him
00:40:59
but one of his major philosophies it's
00:41:01
similar in a lot of ways to Buffett is I
00:41:03
don't need to be first but I refuse to
00:41:06
be last and if I can just be average
00:41:09
most of the time maybe slightly above
00:41:11
average really work hard to avoid
00:41:14
catastrophic losses then in the long run
00:41:17
a lot of the competition is going to
00:41:19
fall by the wayside and in the long run
00:41:22
my performance is going to be way above
00:41:24
average simply because I avoid anything
00:41:27
that was was too bad I think if you were
00:41:29
to look at say the American Stock Market
00:41:31
over the last 50 years I bet that's what
00:41:34
you would see it certainly has been
00:41:36
better than average but in very few
00:41:38
years has it been the best returning
00:41:39
market right right
00:41:41
exactly one thing that might be fun to
00:41:44
remind listeners is that I didn't print
00:41:46
it but if they look in the annual report
00:41:49
they can actually email questions to
00:41:52
Becky quick of CNBC yeah for
00:41:55
consideration to be asked to Warren and
00:41:58
Charlie at the shareholder meeting in
00:42:00
Omaha in May cool so I I actually think
00:42:03
that both you and I should submit a
00:42:05
question over email and see if we can
00:42:07
throw our hat into that Lottery yeah
00:42:10
because I've always thought it would be
00:42:12
very cool to have a question asked at
00:42:14
the shareholder meeting when I was there
00:42:16
last year I did try so you have to enter
00:42:20
a lottery at one of about 10 or 11
00:42:22
microphone locations I entered the
00:42:24
lottery I did did not get picked four
00:42:28
people from my section of the basketball
00:42:31
arena where the shareholder meeting is
00:42:33
held did get picked but they talked for
00:42:36
so long only one of them actually got to
00:42:39
ask their question so I was kind of glad
00:42:41
I didn't get picked a bummer cuz I would
00:42:42
have been nervous sitting there for like
00:42:44
five or six hours just hoping that I
00:42:47
wouldn't stumble fumble or lose Poise on
00:42:51
the mic right because you know I'm
00:42:53
fairly poised in front of a mic but
00:42:55
that's still a stage to be on yeah when
00:42:58
you're literally addressing an investing
00:43:00
Legend with a live question that's being
00:43:03
listened to by probably hundreds of
00:43:05
thousands of people listen to that Sher
00:43:07
their meeting around the world yeah but
00:43:08
that would be interesting to submit a
00:43:10
question and I think the the perspective
00:43:13
on what's happening with China and why
00:43:15
they reduced a recent and fairly
00:43:19
meaningful investment in Taiwan
00:43:22
semiconductor ticker symbol TSM the
00:43:25
largest chip manufacturer outside of the
00:43:28
United States I believe that they had
00:43:30
just bought in the third quarter of 2022
00:43:34
they cut it by 86% in the fourth quarter
00:43:36
of 2022 huh so he will probably be very
00:43:41
reticent to tell you exactly what he
00:43:43
really thinks but certainly there's a
00:43:45
lot of risk about Taiwan and this
00:43:48
Chinese Invasion eie political tension
00:43:51
that has been heightening so terribly
00:43:54
with China for the past few years right
00:43:56
you know when we really think about
00:43:58
China over the last 20 years they've
00:44:01
been our friend a huge supplier to so
00:44:07
many US companies right trading partners
00:44:10
H trading part they also make so many
00:44:12
components for Apple does that cause him
00:44:14
concern about his huge investment in
00:44:16
apple that much of their manufacturing
00:44:19
is located in Chino very interesting
00:44:21
questions right and that's a really good
00:44:23
point it's so far today we've been
00:44:25
talking about all the things that we
00:44:27
have seen here in the shareholders
00:44:29
letter which there's a lot of good
00:44:30
things to see but yeah that's a very
00:44:32
conspicuous absence and especially one
00:44:34
would think if this is the right this is
00:44:36
the Roundup of
00:44:37
2022 why wasn't that part of the letter
00:44:41
hope hopefully he does expand on that in
00:44:43
in May there were a few things that he
00:44:45
could have commented on so he didn't
00:44:47
comment at all on the collapse of FTX
00:44:51
and various aspects of
00:44:54
cryptocurrency those several years years
00:44:56
ago he went on record as saying that he
00:44:59
thought Bitcoin I believe the direct
00:45:01
verbiage he used was it's probably rat
00:45:04
poison
00:45:05
squared probably yes he put a qualifier
00:45:08
in there so he didn't say anything about
00:45:11
the unraveling of of many different
00:45:13
aspects of crypto he didn't talk about
00:45:16
inflation barely at all in the letter
00:45:19
and he didn't talk about systematically
00:45:22
higher interest rates though you know he
00:45:25
is Ley rubbing his hands together
00:45:28
because his cash pile that a few years
00:45:30
ago was earning 0 to 1% is now earning
00:45:34
four to maybe 5 a half% which by itself
00:45:38
is probably four five billion dollar of
00:45:42
free spending money of course to warn
00:45:45
that means investing money right to
00:45:47
Birch your
00:45:48
hathway every year going forward as long
00:45:51
as as short-term interest rates stay
00:45:53
elevated like that so I was a little
00:45:56
surprised he didn't say anything about
00:45:57
higher interest rates yeah I mean just
00:45:59
that was the prevailing economic story
00:46:01
of 2022 and I know Warren and Charlie
00:46:04
they at times will say we don't really
00:46:06
make decisions based on macroeconomic we
00:46:09
don't make macroeconomic predictions
00:46:11
they don't really care about
00:46:12
macroeconomic policy that much they much
00:46:15
rather would talk about individual
00:46:16
businesses and how they run but at the
00:46:19
same time Warren has said before
00:46:21
interest rates are to financial
00:46:23
instruments as gravity is to matter
00:46:26
gravity in that interest rates affect
00:46:29
everything that we're talking about
00:46:30
today so it is interesting that right he
00:46:32
was didn't really make a comment on
00:46:34
interest rates at all he did not no he
00:46:36
did not you reminded me of one of my
00:46:39
other favorite quotes when Warren has
00:46:41
said we're not interested in anyone's
00:46:44
predictions including our own they they
00:46:47
they are intrinsic value discounted cash
00:46:51
flow based investors they are not
00:46:54
prognosticators
00:46:56
so that's one thing that that I rever in
00:46:58
love about their approach you know Rob
00:47:01
I'm just looking over the rest of the
00:47:02
letter I think you know if I would
00:47:03
encourage listeners to go pull this PDF
00:47:06
like I said the link will be in the show
00:47:08
notes couple interesting sections on on
00:47:10
federal taxes we don't have to get into
00:47:12
that although I do think it's
00:47:13
interesting how much tax Burkshire
00:47:15
hathway has paid over the past decade
00:47:17
yes essentially one 1,000 I believe of
00:47:20
all of all the federal taxes federal
00:47:22
taxes came from Berkshire hathway as a
00:47:25
corporation and that's one of the
00:47:26
reasons he really doesn't care to be
00:47:28
called out for share repurchases though
00:47:32
he didn't connect the dots between those
00:47:34
two comments they are clearly connected
00:47:36
like Hey we're paying way more than our
00:47:39
fair share please don't villainize us
00:47:42
for trying to concentrate our
00:47:44
shareholders value and do what's really
00:47:46
just being a good Steward for our
00:47:48
shareholders right by buying back our
00:47:50
own stock that's not villain Behavior
00:47:53
it's just sound economic and investing
00:47:56
behavior on behalf of people that
00:47:57
entrusted their life savings to us and
00:48:00
and I will say as I read the section on
00:48:01
taxes Warren I think again very
00:48:04
intentionally
00:48:05
omitted a remaining part of the argument
00:48:08
which is go ask this same question of
00:48:11
the Amazons of the world right how much
00:48:13
federal tax have they paid over the past
00:48:15
decade right compare that to what
00:48:17
burshire Hathaway has paid you know not
00:48:19
the pick on Amazon but they're one of
00:48:21
many corporations that ought to be
00:48:22
picked on when it comes to federal taxes
00:48:25
right yeah Berkshire doesn't have an
00:48:27
Irish subsidiary that they're running
00:48:30
their International sales through
00:48:32
exactly they're not storing huge amounts
00:48:34
of international profits overseas in no
00:48:37
or low income tax countries they're
00:48:40
paying their fair share so as he likes
00:48:42
to say every Berkshire shareholder can
00:48:44
say I gave it the office exactly when it
00:48:47
comes to federal income tax payments and
00:48:49
then I like also there's a section we
00:48:51
won't get into details here but there's
00:48:52
a section of essentially bulleti quotes
00:48:55
from Charlie yeah he he pulled some
00:48:59
quotes from it must have been a podcast
00:49:00
that Charlie Munger on it was not the
00:49:02
best interest podcast I will say that
00:49:04
Charlie merer has not been on the best
00:49:05
interest we're working on Charlie
00:49:07
getting Charlie on the podcast here but
00:49:08
there's a really good list of quotes for
00:49:10
people who like lists of little py
00:49:12
quotes that I recommend folks read as
00:49:14
well other than that Rob any other
00:49:16
thoughts well let's make sure if we have
00:49:19
any interested investors or maybe even
00:49:22
seasoned Buffet
00:49:24
loisto address for Becky quick that's
00:49:28
the one that's specifically for
00:49:30
questions at the annual shareholder
00:49:32
meeting and Jesse I'm going to put you
00:49:33
on the spot with the question so
00:49:36
birkshire Hathaway has a very broad
00:49:38
array of consumer products businesses
00:49:41
we've talked about for example American
00:49:44
Express apple and cocacola some of the
00:49:46
large stocks they hold as well of all of
00:49:49
the Burkshire wholly owned companies and
00:49:55
equity ities that they own what would
00:49:56
you say would be your one favorite
00:49:59
Berkshire Hathaway related product to
00:50:01
consume just as a human just as a person
00:50:05
I've never actually had them but it's on
00:50:07
my to-do list I've never had a seiz
00:50:09
candy oh so Berkshire right you know
00:50:13
listeners might not know this especially
00:50:14
if you're in New York where Seas candy
00:50:17
doesn't really exist not so well known
00:50:19
but on the west coast Sees Candy is a
00:50:21
very well-known brand of candy stores
00:50:24
that's wholly owned by Burkshire holy
00:50:26
owned yeah so I got to think that c
00:50:28
candy has to be up there at the top SE
00:50:30
candy is absolutely fantastic we've used
00:50:33
it from our office as client gifts on a
00:50:36
number of occasions around holiday time
00:50:39
that's a great answer how about you what
00:50:41
what's what would be your favorite
00:50:42
Burkshire product o that's a tough one
00:50:45
so there are a lot of heavy
00:50:48
contenders C's candy would be high up
00:50:51
there Berkshire wholly owns Dairy Queen
00:50:54
oo and since they did open up that
00:50:57
location a number of years ago in
00:50:59
Henrietta for those in the Rochester New
00:51:01
York area where Jesse and I live the
00:51:03
cheese curds are fantastic the blizzards
00:51:06
are fantastic and the I do love their
00:51:09
ice cream cakes as well however for me
00:51:11
the gold medal would have to go to
00:51:14
Brooks running shoes another wholly
00:51:17
owned birkshire hathway company and the
00:51:20
reason that I like Brooks running shoes
00:51:22
are that more so than Dairy Queen and
00:51:25
se's they're really good for me when I
00:51:27
use them they're exceptionally durable
00:51:30
and particularly as a runner that's I
00:51:32
don't want to date myself too much but
00:51:34
I'll say I'm well north of 40 they treat
00:51:37
my feet and my body very very well so I
00:51:40
would say Brooks running shoes would
00:51:42
take the gold medal as far as birkshire
00:51:44
related products but there are many many
00:51:46
fine ones awesome Rob thank you for
00:51:49
sitting down with us on the best
00:51:50
interest podcast this has been fun Jesse
00:51:52
thank
00:51:54
you
00:51:55
thanks for tuning in to this episode of
00:51:57
the best interest podcast if you have a
00:52:00
question for Jesse to answer on a future
00:52:01
episode send him an email at Jesse
00:52:04
bestin interest. blog again that's Jesse
00:52:08
bestter interest. blog did you enjoy the
00:52:11
show subscribe rate and review the
00:52:13
podcast wherever you listen this helps
00:52:15
others find the show and invest in
00:52:17
knowledge themselves and we really
00:52:19
appreciate it we'll catch you on the
00:52:21
next episode of the best interest
00:52:24
podcast
00:52:25
[Music]
00:52:27
the best interest podcast is a personal
00:52:29
podcast me for education and
00:52:31
entertainment it should not be taken as
00:52:33
Financial advice and is not prescriptive
00:52:35
of your financial situation

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 60
    Best writing

Episode Highlights

  • Warren Buffett's Annual Letter
    Warren Buffett published his annual letter to shareholders, filled with insights and lessons.
    “It's always a great letter.”
    @ 00m 35s
    January 29, 2024
  • Investing Philosophy
    Warren Buffett emphasizes the importance of understanding businesses over merely picking stocks.
    “Charlie and I are not stock pickers, we are business pickers.”
    @ 11m 23s
    January 29, 2024
  • Market Irrationality
    Buffett discusses how markets can be irrationally high or low, and the importance of patience.
    “You don’t have to do business with someone who’s being irrational.”
    @ 16m 16s
    January 29, 2024
  • Warren Buffett on Risk Management
    Warren Buffett emphasizes the importance of understanding risk in investment decisions.
    “We've made far more money by avoiding dragons than slaying them.”
    @ 21m 15s
    January 29, 2024
  • The Power of Patience in Investing
    Buffett teaches that compounding and patience lead to greater long-term success.
    “Successful investing takes time, discipline, and patience.”
    @ 22m 49s
    January 29, 2024
  • Buffett's Take on Stock Buybacks
    Warren Buffett defends stock buybacks against political criticism, emphasizing their benefits.
    “When you are told that all repurchases are harmful, you are listening to an economic illiterate.”
    @ 33m 12s
    January 29, 2024
  • Investment Philosophy
    Howard Marx's philosophy: Avoid catastrophic losses to outperform in the long run.
    “I don't need to be first but I refuse to be last.”
    @ 41m 03s
    January 29, 2024
  • Shareholder Meeting Questions
    Listeners can email questions for Warren and Charlie at the shareholder meeting.
    “I think both you and I should submit a question over email.”
    @ 42m 03s
    January 29, 2024
  • China and Taiwan Investment Risks
    Discussion on the risks associated with Taiwan and China's investment decisions.
    “There's a lot of risk about Taiwan and this Chinese Invasion.”
    @ 43m 45s
    January 29, 2024
  • Warren's Tax Insights
    Warren discusses Berkshire Hathaway's significant tax contributions over the past decade.
    “Every Berkshire shareholder can say I gave it the office.”
    @ 48m 44s
    January 29, 2024

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Warren Buffett's Insights00:35
  • Investment Philosophy11:23
  • Market Behavior16:16
  • Risk Management20:15
  • Investment Patience21:45
  • Shareholder Meeting42:03
  • China-Taiwan Tensions43:45
  • Tax Contributions48:44

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Related Episodes

Podcast thumbnail
Practical Reasons Why "Retirement Success" Can Still Be Painful | Rob Berger - E88
Podcast thumbnail
529 Plans Aren't Worth It?! (And Other Important Tax Thoughts) | Sean Mullaney aka The FI Tax Guy...