Buffett and Munger dances to “Gangnam Style” + Buffett jokes in the cold and rainy Omaha weather: “If we had a company that sold coats we would have left you out there.”
May 5, 2013 Leave a comment
Here’s What Buffett’s Saying at the Berkshire Annual Meeting
By Matt Koppenheffer | More Articles | Save For Later
May 4, 2013 | Comments (0)
Before Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger even sat down at Berkshire Hathaway‘s (NYSE:BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) annual meeting, the annual “Berkshire video” showed a cartoon version of Buffett and Munger dancing to “Gangnam Style.” With that under your belt, it’s hard to feel that your day didn’t start off right. But that was just the warm-up for the much-awaited Q&A session with Buffett and Munger. Here is a look at some of what Buffett and Munger have been saying so far.
On first quarter earnings. Buffett noted that closures and persistentcy in GEICO policies. He called this trend “solid gold.”
On challenging Ariel Hsing in ping-pong at Borsheims. Buffett: “If you’re courageous you’ll show up with your paddle and you’ll look like an idiot.”
On trailing the market. Buffett conceded that if the market continues on the trajectory it’s on so far in 2013, Berkshire could trail the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC ) for a five-year period for the first time. Buffett said that it “won’t be a happy day, but won’t totally discourage us.” Munger chimed in with: “We’re slowing down, but it’ll still be very pleasant.”
On selling things to Berkshire shareholders. A shareholder asking a question thanked Buffett for letting everyone in early (it was cold and raining in Omaha this morning). Buffett quipped: “If we had a company that sold coats we would have left you out there.”
On selling Berkshire shares. To head off any rash moves by family members, Munger warned: “I want to say to the many Mungers in the audience, don’t be so stupid as to sell these shares.” Buffett quickly followed up with: “That goes to the Buffetts too.”
On negative implications of the H.J. Heinz (NYSE: HNZ ) deal. A questioner wondered whether Berkshire’s preferred position in the Heinz deal and the high price paid suggested that Buffett isn’t optimistic about the returns available in the market. Buffett responded simply that that was “totally inaccurate.” Munger later added on: “As you said, the report was totally wrong.”
On hiring executives from AIG (NYSE: AIG ) . Buffett pointed out that “these are people that reached out to Berkshire, in the case at least one of them had reached out numerous times in the past” and added that “we’ve had a number of people reach out since the announcement was made.” That’s a big positive for Berkshire since it’s looking to aggressively build out its commercial insurance capabilities.
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