In this turbulent market, most of my stocks took hits, from China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) to Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI), to Chesepeake Energy (NYSE:CHK), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), not to mention the once-high-flyers such as Sohu (Nasdaq:SOHU) and Wuxi Pharma (Nasdaq:WX), both of which I already sold. At the same time, I am happy to see my two shares of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) stood calm, and even went up a bit. Why?
(Fox interview David Sokol, Chairman of MidAmerican Energy, a Berkshire Hathaway holding)
We can take some cues from “why Buffett did not show up in CNBC” these days. He is working hard, for his shareholders (include himself). This morning we all know his core holding, Mid-American (utilities) bought Constellation Energy (Bloomberg). The other day, before AIG collapse, it was reported Buffett was talking to AIG. See the pattern here? When the media was crying financial crisis all over, when BoA was buying Merrill Lynch, when Bernenke/Paulson was bailing out AIG, Buffett was quitely doing his own thing (for his annual salary of $100,000, much less than the ave. salary package of any large US company).
This morning at Panera, when I was hearing an old couple nervously talking about the stock market, AIG, etc. I have a lot sympathy for them: because retirees are hit the hard in the crisis, and inflation environment. The old lady said “as long as we can eat at Panera,…”
Well, I believe I will have bagels to eat if I keep those two shares of Berkshire B share.