Picking great companies for the long run

[SailorRob]

In my view, next 8 quartes are going to be very cruical for assets markets. The best place to park money now is overlooked undervalued stocks(not value traps).Besides I prefer to be in the market all the time unless I need some funds for urgent matters.

Says the person who's 100% in cash kiwisaver.


The best financial advice you will ever get in your life is what ValueNZ just said.

I'm not kidding.

[SailorRob]

I must first tell you about a new accounting rule – a generally accepted accountingprinciple (GAAP) – that in future quarterly and annual reports will severely distort Berkshire’s net income figures andvery often mislead commentators and investors.

The new rule says that the net change in unrealized investment gains and losses in stocks we hold must beincluded in all net income figures we report to you. That requirement will produce some truly wild and capriciousswings in our GAAP bottom-line. Berkshire owns $170 billion of marketable stocks (not including our shares of KraftHeinz), and the value of these holdings can easily swing by $10 billion or more within a quarterly reporting period.

Including gyrations of that magnitude in reported net income will swamp the truly important numbers that describe ouroperating performance. For analytical purposes, Berkshire’s “bottom-line” will be useless.The new rule compounds the communication problems we have long had in dealing with the realized gains(or losses) that accounting rules compel us to include in our net income.

In past quarterly and annual press releases,we have regularly warned you not to pay attention to these realized gains, because they – just like our unrealized gains– fluctuate randomly.That’s largely because we sell securities when that seems the intelligent thing to do, not because we are tryingto influence earnings in any way. As a result, we sometimes have reported substantial realized gains for a period whenour portfolio, overall, performed poorly (or the converse). With the new rule about unrealized gains exacerbating the distortion caused by the existing rules applying torealized gains, we will take pains every quarter to explain the adjustments you need in order to make sense of ournumbers.

But televised commentary on earnings releases is often instantaneous with their receipt, and newspaperheadlines almost always focus on the year-over-year change in GAAP net income. Consequently, media reportssometimes highlight figures that unnecessarily frighten or encourage many readers or viewers.We will attempt to alleviate this problem by continuing our practice of publishing financial reports late onFriday, well after the markets close, or early on Saturday morning. That will allow you maximum time for analysisand give investment professionals the opportunity to deliver informed commentary before markets open on Monday.Nevertheless, I expect considerable confusion among shareholders for whom accounting is a foreign language.

[Valuegrowth]

Says the person who's 100% in cash kiwisaver.


The best financial advice you will ever get in your life is what ValueNZ just said.

I'm not kidding.

I don't want to play retirment funds with assets, when they are very over valued. My first step is doing home work.

[SailorRob]

I don't want to play retirment funds with assets, when they are very over valued. My first step is doing home work.

You are either a Chinese student or a AI Bot.

I suggest you get on with that first step then!

[SailorRob]

I seriously think Valuegrowth is a ChatGTP driven AI Bot.

[SailorRob]

Chinese student would act more Human

[Valuegrowth]

You are wrong SB. I was a external student for one e-campus where I had to select one company to study and write an assingment. It's under my watch and waiting for a pull back or until It comes to my value to buy.

[SailorRob]

You are wrong SB. I was a external student for one e-campus where I had to select one company to study and write an assingment. It's under my watch and waiting for a pull back or until It comes to my value to buy.

So you are or were a foreign student?

[Valuegrowth]

No. NZ citizen. Immigrated 20 years ago.

So you are or were a foreign student?

[Mafman]

It bothers me that this forum is getting hijacked by name-callers and egotistical types that seem to need to try and humiliate others. Is it not enough to simply disagree? Must we be reduced to personal insults? Boring, but clearly fulfilling for some.