Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

New Howard Marks Memo

Geico Gecko Podcast Appearance?

AAR Weekly Rail Traffic

Bill Gurley Presentation (I just listened to his podcast appearance on TKP)

This Week in Berkshire History

September 26, 2011: Berkshire’s board of directors authorize repurchases of shares at no higher than a 10% premium to book value and so long as cash did not fall below $20 billion. Berkshire would go on to revise this to 1.20x book and then to when Warren Buffett determined it was undervalued.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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Adam

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Private Investment Coaching

In Case You Missed It:

Buffett Steps Down as BRK Chairman

This is one of those surprising-but-not-surprising times. Warren will remain Chairman Emeritus, and his son Howard will take the Chairman spot to guard Berkshire’s culture and values. Berkshire’s transition has been remarkably well done, in my view.

How TTI Built An Empire Inside Berkshire

“Distribution rewards the companies willing to do the unglamorous work of stocking the right part, in the right catalog, before anyone asks for it, and TTI's federation of specialists is one answer to how that work gets organized without losing what made each piece of it good in the first place.”

The Cass Freight Index Turns Positive for the First Time in 3.5 Years

Zeke Ashton on VAH

This Week in Berkshire History

Nothing this week. Warren’s transition to Chairman Emeritus today enters the list for next year.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Copart Buys ACV Auctions for $1.9bn

Big news from Copart.

Chris Bloomstran on William Green’s Podcast

The Lottery and the Leftovers - Small Cap Index Bifurcation

AI Enabled Underwriting at Berkshire’s GenRe

GE Aerospace Pays Up for Castings Supplier

Berkshire paid up for PCC and wrote it down, but the market is validating the purchase. GE is paying 18x EBITDA for a PCC competitor, including projected synergies. Note: Berkshire is NOT selling PCC. One of the current owners of Consolidated Precision Products is Berkshire Partners, which has no affiliation with BRK.

“If you’re standing still, you’re not selling shoes.”

(The kicker: He didn’t even get a commission. It was all internal motivation.)

This Week in Berkshire History

September 11, 2001: Berkshire acquires XTRA for $578 million cash.

Berkshire had the ability to walk away when the stock market closed on 9/11, but didn’t.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Greg Abel in Tokyo on CNBC (Podcast) (Transcript)

Some interesting details on Tungaloy, Alphabet, the Japanese trading houses, Tokio Marine, and how Berkshire is going to integrate Taylor Morrison with Clayton Homes.

Berkshire Robbed! Twice!

Robbers broke into a BNSF train and stole Brooks shoes.

Squishmallows Movie

More Korean Net Nets

Sung Capital

All Korean net nets #2: who’s holding the keys?

As promised in the first batch, the Google Sheet tracking every net net in this series is now live: the price and multiples on the day I wrote each one up, my score from 1 to 5, and the return since, updated live. Premium subscribers will find the link at the end of this post behind the paywall…

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25 days ago · 10 likes · Oliver Sung

The Smart Phone Era 2010s to 2020s

Scenic Route Investing by Wagner Road

TTS Part 2 Continued: The Smart Phone Era

See footnotes for links to parts 1 and 2…

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a month ago · 5 likes · Andrew Wagner

This Week in Berkshire History

August 30, 1930: Warren Edward Buffett born

August 31, 2005: Recreational vehicle manufacturer Forest River acquired.
August 31, 2020: Berkshire announces it has taken a 5% stake in five of the leading Japanese trading companies (sogo shosha).

September 1, 2023: Berkshire Hathaway Energy pays $3.3 billion for an additional 50% interest in Cove Point LNG, increasing its ownership to 75%.

September 4, 2002: Berkshire acquires Garan, Incorporated, maker of GaranamalsR

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Triumph CEO on The Freight Pod

Pilot Flying J EV Charging Hits 300 Locations

Korean Net Nets

Sung Capital

There are ~180 net nets in Korea, and I'm writing up all of them

I’m confident that Korea is the best pond to fish in right now…

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a month ago · 19 likes · 2 comments · Oliver Sung

This Week in Berkshire History

August 18, 1991: Warren Buffett elected as interim chairman of Salomon, Inc.

Read more about the saga in this excerpt from my book:

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Fed Report on Household Credit

“Boomer Candy” (WSJ)

Sounds like a free lunch to me. The downside protection has to come from somewhere. Future returns, most likely. Increased counterparty risk, perhaps. I don’t like it…

CRA Overall for Banks Under $10B Assets

The Book That Helped Bill Ackman Grow Howard Hughes Holdings

That book sounds familiar…

Additional Detail on Brooks’ Q2 Results

Buyback Tracker from Manana. I Love These Charts!

Housing Legislation Analysis

Construction Physics

How Will the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Affect Housing Supply? Part II

This is the second installment of my look under the hood of the recently passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, looking at what each provision actually does and trying to suss out its actual impact on housing supply. You can read my previous essay on Title I of the Act…

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a month ago · 54 likes · 3 comments · Brian Potter

This Week in Berkshire History

Nothing this week.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Salt Batteries (WSJ)

Amazon’s Entry into LTL Shipping

Dan Carlin Alexander the Great - Part IV

h/t I listened to the first three of these in succession and can’t wait to dig into this one!

Why Boring Businesses Win - The fight against entropy.

This Week in Berkshire History

August 7, 2003: Berkshire acquires Clayton Homes for $1.7 billion.
August 7, 1998: Berkshire acquires Executive Jet Aviation (later changed to NetJets). August 8, 2000: U.S. Investment Corporation or USIC, parent of U.S. Liability, acquired.
August 8, 2005: The Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUCHA) repealed.
August 8, 2019: Berkshire invests $10 billion in an 8% preferred stock deal with Occidental Petroleum to assist it in financing the acquisition of Anadarko.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Berkshire Hathaway Completes Acquisition of Taylor Morrison

Home Services 2026 Mid-Year Report (Summary)

Full Report Here

Mid-Year Property/Casualty Report

Prices down 20-25%

Deep Thoughts from Brian Cox

Brian is one of my favorite scientists. This really got me thinking about the preciousness of life.

Construction Physics

Why Is Everyone Trying to Build a Solid-State Battery?

A battery technology that’s getting a lot of attention is solid-state batteries, lithium-ion batteries that replace the liquid electrolyte with a solid material. Chinese battery manufacturer CATL alone had more than 1,000 people devoted to solid-state battery research as of 2024, and battery manufacturers like…

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2 months ago · 150 likes · 6 comments · Brian Potter

This Week in Berkshire History

July 31, 2001: 90% of MiTek acquired for $400 million cash.

August 1, 2000: Justin Industries acquired for $570 million (all cash).

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Jake Taylor’s Essay on AI (Long, But Worthwhile)

100-Ton Wave Energy Buoy

A Detailed View of Precision Castparts

AviationOutlook

Precision Castparts - Company Analysis and Outlook Report 2026 (Updated)

Executive Summary…

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6 months ago · Dipesh Dhital

More Behind NetJets’ First Fatal Crash

Lowering Construction Costs

Construction Physics

Can We Lower Construction Costs with Cheaper Labor or Materials?

Last time in our series on the nature of the construction productivity problem, we looked at economies of scale, finding that capturing economies of scale in homebuilding is difficult. Economies of scale primarily operate on the difference between the costs of the material inputs to some process and the cost of the fi…

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2 months ago · 123 likes · 14 comments · Brian Potter

A Look Into Berkshire’s Investment in Apple

Anomaly Investment Partners

Our Approach to Business Valuation

Most will agree that, to do well in investing, a basic requirement is to invest in businesses at a lower price than what they’re worth, or than their intrinsic value. The idea is simple enough: if something is worth 100 and sells for 60, then we have an investment opportunity. The selling price is always easy to find. The intrinsic value of the business…

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2 months ago · 5 likes · 1 comment · Anomaly Investment Partners

This Week in Berkshire History

Another quiet week in Berkshire’s history.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

I was on two podcasts last week:

Full Warren Buffett CNBC Interview

How America Got Its Banks

Jamie Dimon Interview

A $1.2 million Dam - Built By Beavers

Robert Miles on Talking Billions

Bogumil Baranowski's Substack

Robert P. Miles: What 20 Berkshire CEOs Taught Him About Character, Inside the Temperament, the Moat, and the Culture that Keep Compounding

Robert P. Miles is an author, educator, and the world’s foremost authority on Berkshire Hathaway’s management culture. Robert has written three bestselling books on Warren Buffett, created the only graduate MBA course dedicated to Buffett’s philosophies, and founded the Value Investor Conference in Omaha. His journey from an entrepreneur to a globally r…

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3 months ago · 1 like · Bogumil Baranowski

This Week in Berkshire History

July 17, 2018: Berkshire’s board of directors authorizes an amendment to the share repurchase program, allowing purchases if Buffett and Munger believe the shares to be undervalued, conservatively estimated.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

New President at Copart

On the heels of the CEO transition announcement, Copart announced the promotion of Jane Pocock to President.

Looking at the AI Infrastructure Players

Scenic Route Investing by Wagner Road

Investing in AI Infrastructure (Part 2: The Contractors)

When we talk about data centers built for the AI boom, there are a few different ways to approach it. In Part 1, I mentioned the 5 hyperscalers that are paying for data centers. But there are also 5 companies involved with building the data centers…

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6 months ago · 15 likes · 2 comments · Andrew Wagner

JPM Q3 Guide to the Markets

Brooks Looking to Beat the World Record Mile

This Week in Berkshire History

July 3, 2000: Ben Bridge Jewelers acquired.

July 5, 2006: Berkshire pays $4 billion for an 80% stake in Israel-based ISCAR Metalworking Companies. Berkshire would go on to buy the remaining 20% in 2013 for $2.05 billion, implying a valuation of $10.25 billion, twice the original valuation.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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Out of Office (But Not Out of Mind)

I’m midway through a week’s vacation as you read this.

Never fear, I’ve assembled a list of recently paywalled posts and some frequently revisited ones for your reading enjoyment.

See you next week, same place, same time!

Last Chance…

Oh, and I still have a few spots available this summer for one-on-one private investment coaching.

If you’re on the fence about joining, click here to hear from others who completed the program.

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Adam

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In Case You Missed It:

Fact of the Week:

Greg Abel Becomes A US Citizen

BNSF Just Had It’s Safest Year in History

800 MW Solar Project in Iowa by BHE

First Fatal Crash in NetJets’ History - Since 1986!

Progressive Overtakes State Farm for #1 (GEICO at #3)

Construction Physics

Biological Evolution and Information Acquisition

A few weeks ago we looked at a simulation of technological evolution by economist Brian Arthur, in which he was able to start with simple building blocks (such as a NAND gate) and evolve surprisingly complex circuits (such as a 12-way AND gate or a 4-bit adder) by randomly combining increasingly useful existing components. We analyzed this as a way of s…

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4 months ago · 130 likes · 6 comments · Brian Potter

This Week in Berkshire History

Another quiet stretch in Berkshire’s history. I’ll be on vacation next week, so here’s the following week’s history. Happy 20th BRK-versary IMC!

June 30, 2005: Berkshire acquires Medical Protective Company from a subsidiary of General Electric, paying $825 million in cash.

July 1, 1991: H.H. Brown acquired.

July 1, 2014: Berkshire completes its cash rich split off transaction with Graham Holding Company, acquiring a Miami TV station, cash and Berkshire shares in the process.

July 3, 2000: Ben Bridge Jewelers acquired.

July 5, 2006: Berkshire pays $4 billion for an 80% stake in Israel-based ISCAR Metalworking Companies.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It: The Value Bridge: Zooming In on Copart’s Growth

Fact of the Week: Solar just overtook coal as a supplier of electricity, at 12.8% vs. 12.2%.

BNSF’s BIG Project Approved

BNSF will spend $1.5 billion on a 4,500-acre integrated rail facility.

JP Morgan Report on GLP-1s

New Seth Klarman Video

Squishmallows in Happy Meals

The New Joule Order

China has done a better job with its energy security.

AI Servers Should Get Closer to Wind Farms

This Week in Berkshire History

Another quiet stretch in Berkshire’s history.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Fact of the Week:

The global market for bidets is approximately $50 billion per year.

Latticework Summary of Bloomstran’s Zurich Presentation

NV Energy Betting the House on Data Centers

Benjamin Moore Strategic Collaborations

Guy Spier on CNBC

This Week in Berkshire History

Another quiet stretch in Berkshire’s history. Here’s another excerpt from the book (p.784):

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It:

Fact of the Week:

Banks still had $306B of unrealized securities losses at year-end 2025.
Even after recovering from the worst levels, FDIC-insured banks were still sitting on losses roughly equal to a full year of industry earnings.

The Week Greg Abel Invested $18.5 Billion

Greg Abel is off to the races.

Taylor Morrison

First, with Taylor Morrison, a homebuilder, for $8.5 billion. Taylor reported $8.1 billion in revenue in 2025. Berkshire’s Clayton Homes reported $12.9 billion. Together, Berkshire will have a $20 billion revenue homebuilder operating in both manufactured and site-built homes.

I’m interested in finding out how Greg will integrate this acquisition. Historically, Berkshire has let managers continue to operate as is. Greg seems inclined to usher in an era of internal consolidation (like this in rail; and this in jewelry). I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kevin Clayton named as chairman of the housing unit with TM president responsible for his unit.

Another aspect is the loan portfolio. Berkshire would have one of the top 75 largest banks in the US with its $27 billion loan portfolio. TM originates and sells its mortgages. Even with its borrowing capacity and excellent credit rating, Berkshire may not be able to compete against traditional banks or securities markets. Buffett has also noted how good a deal it is to the homeowner to have a 30 year mortgage and how equally bad it is for the lender.

Alphabet / Google

Days later, Berkshire announced it would invest $10 billion in Google as part of an equity raise. By my math, this is a $4.2 trillion valuation for Google. Call me skeptical. This calls for some optimism, at the very least.

An angle I haven’t seen discussed is a deepened partnership between BRK Energy and Google for data center power agreements. NV Energy already has one in place from 2024. This may be Berkshire’s way to get a first crack at a mega energy deal with Google.

Two New Pilot Stores and 80 Remodels

FedEx Freight Spin-Off

FedEx Freight started trading as a stand-alone company on June 1 after splitting from FedEx. It’s the largest LTL carrier in the US.

Another Plug From Bill Ackman - Thanks, Bill!

This Week in Berkshire History

June 3, 1986: Fechheimer acquired.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It: Russell Rebalancing

Fact of the Week: 4,336: The number of FDIC reporting banks at the end of 2025.

Michael Mauboussin Intern Reading List

A curated list of his reports.

Dairy Queen Incentivizing Growth

Forest River Navigating Tariffs and Shipments Expected to Rise

Walking and Thinking - What the Science Says

Seneca on Wasting Time

The Other GOAT

I’m guessing the overlap of this audience and those interested in dirtbikes is fairly small (please let me know!). I’m working my way through this interview with Ricky Carmichael, the undisputed GOAT of motocross, which has reignited an interest in the sport. I stopped racing about 20 years ago, and I still miss it. I was stoked to hear that RC is still involved in the sport, commentating on races. Equally impressive is his philosophic attitude toward life. Makes me admire the guy that much more. Anyway, I’ll be tuning into the first outdoor event this weekend at Fox Raceway. There’s nothing quite like the smell of race gas and the sound of the controlled explosion of a main event start!

This Week in Berkshire History

Nothing this week. Here’s another excerpt from my book: The economics vs. accounting of reinsurance float.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It: Thoughts on Growth

Fact of the Week: Americans traveled 3.3 trillion miles in 2025

Copart Resumes Buybacks In Force

Copart reported Q3 results and disclosed that it bought back $1.6 billion or almost 4% of the company in the span of two quarters.

GEICO is hiring again after years of cuts under Todd Combs

BNSF Reveals America 250 Locomotives

Berkshire’s 13F

Greg Abel is wasting no time putting his touches on the portfolio. Not surprisingly, we saw the exit of many of Todd Comb’s positions. The big surprises were the additional Alphabet shares and a new position in Delta Airlines. For whatever reason, air seems to be Berkshire’s Achilles heel. Is the third time the charm?

Electric Vehicles in the US

CleanTechnica’s Substack

EV Marketing Failure in USA and Honda's Crisis

I just saw the following headline from the Wall Street Journal: “Honda’s Never Faced a Crisis Like This—and a Comeback Won’t Be Easy.” The subheading is as follows: “The Japanese automaker reported a $2.7 billion loss amid EV whiplash in the U.S., its biggest market…

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4 months ago · 27 likes · 13 comments · CleanTechnica

Built to Rent Housing

Construction Physics

The Rise of Build-to-Rent Housing

A major shift in the housing market in the last several years is the rapidly increasing popularity of “build-to-rent” homes — single-family homes that are built specifically for the purpose of being rented out. According to the National Association of Homebuilders…

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4 months ago · 113 likes · 17 comments · Brian Potter

This week in Berkshire History

May 23, 2003: Berkshire acquires McLane from Walmart for $1.5 billion.

McLane is an interesting case study and proof that it’s not return on sales (margin) but return on capital that matters. McLane, at the time Berkshire bought it, earned 1% on sales but turned its capital many times over. As a result, Berkshire earned a going-in return of over 15% on its purchase price.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It: Copart Valuation Update

Fact of the Week:

Berkshire Hathaway generated more equity capital in the five years ended 2025 than in Buffett’s first 53 years running the company. It generated $321 billion, of which $47 billion was returned to shareholders via buybacks.

Note: This comes from my presentation at VALUExBRK, which you can find here: The Oracle’s Classroom.

(Thanks for the idea, Carter.)

Auto Rates on the Decline in Florida

Auto insurers have enjoyed strong profits in recent years. GEICO’s target is a 4% profit (96% combined), but it has been writing closer to 90% in recent years.

BRK vs. Softbank (Economist)

The Economist argues that either Berkshire (net cash) or Softbank (heavy borrower) will survive. I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive. Berkshire will survive anything, but it doesn’t need a 1929 / 1987 / 2009 to prove its worth. Softbank is fragile and will only look brilliant if things work out.

Driverless Trucks at Berkshire’s McLane

The Galaxy That Doesn’t Spin

This week in Berkshire History

Nothing this week.

How about an excerpt from the 2nd edition of my book? In 2024, Berkshire completed the final purchase of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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In Case You Missed It: Berkshire AGM Debrief + Valuation Update

17th Annual Gabelli Panel

VALUExBRK

Ajit Jain’s Successor Named (WSJ)

This is big news. I'm hoping he’ll join Ajit and Greg on stage next year.

Sue Decker on CNBC: Execution is More Important Than Capital Allocation

A great interview! Some really interesting points and comparisons about Berkshire.

Going A Little Deeper on Changes at BNSF

Lubrizol and AI Cooling

I don’t usually think about Lubrizol and AI being connected, but this shows how the company is important to many industries beyond traditional oil/gas.

This week in Berkshire History

May 3, 2025: Warren Buffett announces his retirement at the end of the 2025 annual meeting and recommends that Greg Abel take over as president and CEO beginning January 1, 2026.

That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.

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Adam

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