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can't wb just have moody's do the following:
oh, never mind.....
between this and the Fannie credits with Goldman, it looks like Mr. Buffett has to play ball with the banksters... or maybe he's gone over to the dark side?
Don't let Warren's avuncular charm fool you. He is part of the Dark Side. Remember that picture of him (circa 2006) with Lord Rothschild and Arnie Schwartzenegger, at Lord R's english country estate. I'm sure they were just discussing the weather...
I dare to Moody's to follow suit. Grow a set of balls and do what needed to be done in 2006...YOUR JOB!
Moody's downgraded Berkshire from Aaa to Aa2 in April.
Not to suggest Moody's isn't a criminal enterprise that should be put out of business like Arthur Andersen was.
RE. Fannie Credits
Doesn't the gov't save the taxpayers money if it lets then expire worthless?
Why bother to read something from the same people who had AIG "AAA"?
+1
.
I bet the rally fails. My sell signals are slapping me in the face and I can't ignore them anymore.
Adding to short positions right here.
All this makes perfect sense. WB has increased the risk profile both credit and liquidity of the insurance company.
Yeah, that is something a lot of people forget, Buffett is not a money manager in that he is gambling with investor's money.
He is gambling with policyholder's money.
No way does his insurance company deserve a AAA, with the equity exposure it has.
Could be he's on his way to a mea culpa moment a-la Greenspan...."My model was wrong(!!!)"
riddle me this gang, what is going on with the BKX index today (lod) and XLF on LOD (as i write)?
In that brief report, S&P doesn't mention Berkshire's exposure to a long-term decline in global stock markets from 20 year puts it wrote against 4 major stock indices a couple of years ago when markets were near record highs. Even with the big rally since March I think all of those puts are still well in the money, though they can only be exercised at expiration roughly 18 years from now. Berkshire also has some exposure via credit default swap contracts it has written.
I hear the squid has been trying to offload its Berkshire counterparty exposure (octobank well in the money on said trades) at a very attractive discount to certain less sophisticated *cough* Asian *cough* banks for weeks on end now. Don't know if they beat yesterday's deadline, but I'll find out.
Lucky their chinese walls are beyond question, given their role as advisor to BNSF.
I guess loading up with too many railroad spaces on the Monopoly board isn't a good idea... leaves too little available money when you draw the wrong catastrophic "Chance" card ...
Don't you see? Obama is abolishing "Chance" cards in favor of 100% Community Chest!
Oh... now I get it... why didn't I see that earlier... well then I want hotels on everything I own since "Chance" card penalties no longer apply... and it is "Community Chest" bailouts all the way around :-)
Correct MnN... Once again I think his timing is early on this one...
However if the catastrophic "chance card" is $200/bbl oil prices...
http://www.railfanwindow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/bnsf-5005.jpg
This could come in handy...
http://www.bakersfieldqdc.com/bnsfSystemMap.gif
Great pics...and you are right that is probably Buffett's long term play... betting on catastrophic oil prices. However, if oil is at extreme prices, then I would think that the rest of the commodities would not decouple with that trend... so I wonder how the demand for 'stuff' that is transported by rail will be at that point? And in order for peak oil prices to stand out in the overall economy then things like earnings power will have to hold or decrease... only enhancing the need for less 'stuff'. I am sure Mr. Buffett knows exactly what he is doing however...
WTF?
Didn't Buffett just buy BN rail???
Diluted his B shares. 1/200 voting right.
Preferred shares did not split.... got to love it.
Looks good presently, but its about to take a dump along with the rest of the market.
B shares have no voting rights.
Check it:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/compab.html
I can see why you wanted to remain Anon.
Does anyone (TD, hopefully) have any insight into the numbers that ABK put out today? Is that just total creative accounting or did they really make 7.58 a share?
see my post on RTs thread - basically they wrote down the value of their liabilities due to the fact that the market views them as a weaker counterparty. kind of like mark-to-market, except what they marked to market was their weaker counterparty strength.
all smoke and mirrors, but totally legit according to our fradulent accounting rules.
Can't imagine if BKH didn't see this coming. Is it safe to assume they are among a few that these ratings will have only minimal impact on theirday to day operations? (I mean golfing, hanging out in the club, etc.)
A 1 for 50 stock split?
Did I miss the discussion on this already?
If not, I'll say it again in the hopes it will sink in
50 for 1.
A stock currently trading for $3,380 is going to $67.60 and we're aflutter about a politically superfluous rating?
15 million shares outstanding will go to 750 million.
Face it, the flood gates are about to open to the proletariat!
Billy Ray Valentine says: Watch those S cars go!
The Duke brothers, in all their various forms, are aghast!
Way to go Mr. B. "An all in bet on America", indeed!
Whoops, looks like Uncle Warren forgot to make his quarterly payment to his friends at the NRSROs.
Can you really leave a company with a AAA rating if the main operation country is not ? ... so the next step is, might be...
So if Buffet can't make it's insurance payouts. It has a railroad system to take people to death camps with which is better than cash to actually pay?
Does anyone think that perhaps Warren has gotten too old and just wanted to have the world's largest train set? Most have a train model set in their basement, he has one in the backyard of America. If he has a train line that runs from Mexico to Canada in that corridor, he knows NAFTA will give way to the North American Union. It could be the equivalent of owning the Panama Canal, "a toll bridge troll". There was a lot of grief about mexican truckers coming into the US with backlash, so the solution is probably to use trains instead with no complaints.
This might be a NAU border play.
Doesn't anyone else smell another industrial revolution? WB does...I've been smelling one. Lots of stimulus money going to this industry...
So if this cash straps him will we have a pileup on i-95 bailout cause geicko insured most of he cars in the accident?
Railroading will be a great business when the US is ruled by a dictatorship and whole populations transferred around America.
Daily charts of key indices are still giving bearish warnings.
Is the bear market rally ending ?
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