We are pleased to announce the availability of the 2010 edition of the Berkshire Hathaway Briefing Book. The Briefing Book contains extensive analysis from The Rational Walk regarding Berkshire Hathaway’s 2009 Annual Report, background information on Berkshire’s diverse collection of ...
Warren Buffett released his annual letter to shareholders this morning along with Berkshire Hathaway's 2009 annual report. Our full package of analysis on Berkshire Hathaway will be available soon as part the Berkshire Hathaway 2010 Briefing Book. For now, this ...
Despite a snowstorm that caused the absence of several speakers, the Columbia Investment Management Conference in New York today included many interesting presentations and panel discussions. The highlight of the day was the conversation between Columbia Professor Bruce Greenwald and ...
In the process of preparing The Rational Walk's 2010 Berkshire Hathaway Briefing e-Book, we are taking a very long term view of the company. It is important to avoid dwelling on quarterly results or even year to year results because ...
It appears that the Volcker Rule is meeting a quick demise in the United States Senate only one month after it was initially proposed. the Volcker Rule is designed to limit the proprietary trading activities of commercial banks. A common ...
Edward Lampert, Founder of ESL Investments and Chairman of Sears Holdings Corporation, has released his annual letter to shareholders. Mr. Lampert’s investment style has often been compared to Warren Buffett’s approach particularly when it comes to capital allocation. While many ...
Technology product introductions have a long history of being met with initial fanfare and enthusiasm only to have the euphoria recede in the subsequent days. It is the technology industry's equivalent of a hangover after a night of binge drinking ...
Those who have followed the career of Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger know that he has a long history of using parables to educate the public regarding business, economic, and political issues. By far, the best compilation of Mr ...
The Birmingham Business Journal has reported that Burlington Northern Santa Fe has purchased a 32 acre facility in Birmingham for $3 million. The company is in the process of evaluating the facility for future expansion. The site is a former ...
During the hurricane season, the news media often reports forecasted losses even before a storm makes landfall. The same was not true during the epic blizzards that impacted the Mid-Atlantic states earlier this month. While there were a number of ...
Swiss Re announced annual results for 2009 yesterday and declared that the measures taken in 2009 to rebuild the company's capital base have been very effective. In a letter to shareholders, Swiss Re Chairman Walter B. Kielholz and CEO Stefan ...
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas M. Hoenig has been a voice in the wilderness for some time. Mr. Hoenig was the only dissenter of the policy action at the January meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee because he ...
There are numerous books and publications that provide detailed accounts of the history of Berkshire Hathaway as well as Warren Buffett’s life and career. It is also impossible to fully understand Berkshire without studying the life and career of Vice ...
Warren Buffett is not known for frenetic trading, so the fourth quarter of 2009 was a particularly active time for Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio of publicly traded stocks. There were changes in eighteen of the forty three positions held at the ...
Today marks the first anniversary of The Rational Walk website. I started The Rational Walk mainly to serve as a soap box for writing about investment related topics. Over the past year, the growth in readership has exceeded my expectations ...
Toyota’s recalls in recent weeks have attracted a predictable amount of attention given the number of impacted vehicles on the road. Rarely a day goes by when Toyota’s latest woes are not reported on the front page of The Wall ...
Berkshire Hathaway has announced the completion of the company's acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe. In addition, Berkshire has announced the final results of the merger consideration to be paid to Burlington shareholders. Read this article for more details on ...
The Financial Times has published a five part video interview with Paul Volcker who is the head of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. Volcker discusses his proposed “Volcker Rule” which would limit the proprietary trading activities of commercial ...
In the CNBC interview shown below, Burlington Northern Santa Fe CEO Matthew Rose discusses the company’s special meeting of shareholders set for 10 am today. At the meeting, Burlington Northern shareholders are expected to approve Berkshire Hathaway’s offer to acquire ...
In a wide ranging discussion this afternoon, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett interviewed former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce annual meeting in Omaha. The topics discussed ranged from insights in Mr. Paulson's ...