Watchlist Weekly: The Best of the Week Ending June 6, 2026

Links and Lookbacks

Jun 05, 2026

Your Margin of Safety Might Not Be What You Think It Is

Adam Mead

Jun 3

Your Margin of Safety Might Not Be What You Think It Is

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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.