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Nebraska Furniture Mart

Nebraska Furniture Mart Boosts Pay for Warehouse Workers

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

With new employees hard to come by, and the need to retain current employees critical, Berkshire Hathaway’s Nebraska Furniture Mart is raising its pay for its warehouse workers.

Current warehouse workers at its Dallas-Ft. Worth location at The Colony will receive a pay raise of at least 9 percent, and new hires will be paid between $18.58 to $23.13 an hour, depending on experience and qualifications.

“Nebraska Furniture Mart’s goal is to be the employer of choice in each of our markets,” said Megan Berry Barlow, Human Resources Director, in a statement. “Our new higher wages will help us achieve this goal, along with a 7% annual raise potential, a great benefits package and a unique, fun work culture.”

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Lubrizol

Lubrizol’s Advanced Polymer Technology Provides Extended Life and Performance to Lithium-Ion Batteries

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Lubrizol Corporation has announced new Electro-Rite Polymer Technology for lithium-ion battery-cell construction to deliver new performance capabilities.

As global demands for energy storage continue to expand, lithium-ion battery systems must evolve. With a commitment to its new Electro-Rite Polymer Technology, Lubrizol is dedicated to innovating advanced binder and dispersant technologies for anode, cathode and separator components to improve energy density and extend battery life.

The technology includes polymers designed to improve performance of electrodes, separators, and electrolyte components. Specifically, Electro-Rite polymer technology can help enhance binder slurry formulation, aid in the formulation of advanced anodes and separators, and deliver new primer capabilities.

The company’s Electro-Rite® Technologies for Batteries are advanced material solutions for inside the battery, designed to improve performance of electrodes, separators, and electrolyte components. The Electro-Rite portfolio includes unique binder materials for anodes and separators for improving cell performance. The portfolio also includes dispersants and rheology modifiers that enhance dispersion, viscosity, flow properties and suspension of carbon, graphite, silicon, silicon oxide and ceramic active materials in aqueous slurries for optimal coating applications.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Lessons From Warren Buffett Value Investing Warren Buffett

Lessons From Warren Buffett: You Have to Hit a Few Shots in the Woods from Time to Time

Investors can spend a lot of time rehashing the mistakes they’ve made, be it the money they have lost, or just from imagining the money they could have made if they had done something differently. However, Warren Buffett points out that “You know, if every shot you hit in golf was a hole-in-one…the game would soon lose interest. So you have to hit a few in the woods occasionally just to make it a little more interesting.”

Now, Buffett is not really preaching that you should go out and deliberately make mistakes, and he has tried hard to learn from his own, including the investments he didn’t make.

“Well, the mistakes we made, and we made them, some of them big time, are of two kinds. One is when we didn’t invest at all in something that we understood that was cheap, maybe because we weren’t even working hard enough at looking at the whole list, or because, for one reason or another, we just didn’t, we didn’t take action,” Warren Buffett said at the 2004 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. “And the second was starting in on something that could have been a very large investment and not maximizing it. Charlie (Munger) is a huge believer in the idea that you don’t sit around sucking your thumb when you can, when something comes along that should be done that you pour into it.”

Hear Buffett’s full explanation

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Categories
McLane

McLane Company Hiring Thousands

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

With retail businesses showing robust numbers, Berkshire Hathaway’s McLane Company is looking for thousands of people for jobs as drivers or as warehouse teammates.

The company scheduled a National Hiring Day on July 16, and candidates can apply in person at any of McLane Company’s 70 distribution centers nationwide from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Interested candidates have the opportunity to meet hiring managers, speak with teammates and receive on-the-spot offers. McLane has available roles for any qualified applicant 18 years or older, from students and military service members to retirees, including overnight and daytime jobs.

McLane’s record of people moving from entry-level all the way to the top includes the current CEO CEO and president Tony Frankenberger. More than 35 years ago, after serving in the United States Air Force, Frankenberger began his career as an hourly teammate washing and fueling trucks for McLane Company.

With 22,000 employees, McLane Company is one of the largest supply chain services leaders in the United States, providing grocery and foodservice solutions for convenience stores, mass merchants, drug stores, and chain restaurants.

Through McLane Grocery and McLane Foodservice, McLane operates over 80 distribution centers and one of the nation’s largest private fleets. The company buys, sells, and delivers more than 50,000 consumer products to nearly 110,000 locations across the U.S. Additionally, McLane provides alcoholic beverage distribution through its subsidiary, Empire Distributors, Inc.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio

Berkshire Hathaway-Backed BYD Enters South Africa Bus Market

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed BYD, the world’s leading electric bus manufacturer, has released a joint announcement with Golden Arrow Bus Services (GABS) that two BYD electric buses will be placed into operation in Cape Town, Western Cape province.

These two electric buses will be the first electric buses in South Africa and Southern Africa.

As the largest public transportation service provider in South Africa, GABS is currently running more than 1100 units of buses daily and has more than 160 years of bus operating experience.

Since November 2020, GABS has conducted a series of strict tests on the two BYD electric buses. The test outcome was outstanding and received high praise from GABS. In addition, GABS planned to start the electrification of the local public transportation gradually in the future.

“Introducing electric buses aims to respond to the national and provincial governments’ call for reducing carbon emissions,” said Gideon Neethling, GABS company engineer. “For the first few months, we tested the buses in a range of circumstances without passengers. The aim was to get to know exactly how these vehicles perform before incorporating them into our operations.” He was very pleased with the test result, said: “Testing these vehicles has been a joy for everyone who is part of the project. Each time we carry out a new test or reach a new milestone, the level of excitement increases further,” said Neethling.

The capacity of the BYD electric bus is 40 passengers with the highest range up to 320 km (200 miles). In addition, these buses are equipped with user-friendly features, such as free WiFi and a wheelchair ramp. These two electric buses will operate during the local rush hour, carrying passengers between Retreat and Cape Town.

Transport and Public Works Minister, Daylin Mitchell said: “After taking a ride in this bus, I am confident passengers will feel safe during their journey.”

BYD and Berkshire Hathaway

In 2008, Berkshire Hathaway bet on BYD’s potential, purchasing 225 million shares for $232 million. It’s an investment that has paid off handsomely. Berkshire’s original investment of $232 million had grown in value to $5.897 billion as of December 31, 2020.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway and BYD, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell a stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Berkshire Hathaway Energy

Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Dominion Energy Mutually Terminate the Sale of Questar Pipeline Group

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway Energy and Dominion Energy have agreed to terminate the planned sale of Questar Pipeline Group to Berkshire Hathaway Energy. The decision has no impact on the sale of gas transmission and storage assets to Berkshire Hathaway Energy completed in November 2020. That sale represented approximately 80% of the original transaction value.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Categories
NetJets

NetJets Has Record Demand

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Business is booming at Berkshire Hathaway’s NetJets, with the company experiencing record demand that has eclipsed anything in its 57-year history.

The company has been forced to pause its sales of fractional shares, leases, and jet cards for its Cessna Citation XLS and Embraer Phenom 300 jets because of “unprecedented demand within the private travel industry,” AIN reports.

NetJets is currently hiring 150 pilots to meet the demand, and is also hiring additional service personnel. It aims to have 100 pilots fully trained by October.

The company will add 39 new private jets to its U.S. fleet by the end of 2021, and is scheduled to add 40 planes a year over the next decade.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Categories
Lessons From Warren Buffett

Lessons From Warren Buffett: Volatility is a Huge Plus for the Real Investor

When stocks make sharp moves downward, the news is often full of commentaries decrying volatility. However, for Warren Buffett, volatility is just what he is hoping for.

“Volatility is a huge plus to the real investor,” Warren Buffett said at the 1997 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. “Ben Graham used the example of ‘Mr. Market’. . . . And Ben said, ‘You know, just imagine that when you buy a stock, that you in effect, you’ve bought into a business where you have this obliging partner who comes around every day and offers you a price at which you’ll either buy or sell. And the price is identical.’ And no one ever gets that in a private business, where daily you get a buy-sell offer by a party. But in the stock market you get it. That’s a huge advantage. And it’s a bigger advantage if this partner of yours is a heavy-drinking manic depressive. The crazier he is, the more money you’re going to make. So you, as an investor, you love volatility. Not if you’re on margin, but if you’re an investor you aren’t on margin. And if you’re an investor, you love the idea of wild swings because it means more things are going to get mispriced.”

Buffett’s full explanation on volatility

See the complete Lessons From Warren Buffett series

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Categories
Acquisitions Clayton Homes

Clayton Homes Subsidiary Arbor Homes Acquires R&R Plumbing

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Clayton Homes subsidiary Arbor Homes has acquired R&R Plumbing Inc. in a deal that closed July 1.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Former owner Dick Poynter, who founded R&R in 1989, will remain as president and continue daily management of the operations. R&R has more than 90 employees.

“On behalf of the entire R&R Plumbing community, we are honored to join the Arbor Homes team and look forward to doing our part in providing high-quality affordable housing to central Indiana for many years to come,” Poynter said.

Founded in 1994, Arbor Homes was acquired in July 2018 by Berkshire Hathaway’s Clayton Properties Group Inc., a division of Berkshire Hathaway.

The R&R acquisition is the second for Arbor since it became part of Clayton Properties.

In December 2020, the company acquired Franklin-based Fisher Contracting, a land development company.

Arbor filed 1,372 single-family building permits in 2020, up from 1,188 the previous year. It has built more than 14,000 new homes in the Indianapolis area since its founding in 1994.

“We are excited to welcome this like-minded company into the Arbor Homes family,” Pete Logan, chief operating officer for Arbor said in written rcoook. “This partnership will help expand our mission of building great neighborhoods and homes for people across the state, where they can fully experience and celebrate life.”

Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2003 for $1.7 billion, Clayton Homes has grown into a diverse builder offering traditional site built homes, modular homes, manufactured homes, tiny homes, college dormitories, military barracks and apartments.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Minority Stock Positions Stock Portfolio Todd Combs and Ted Weschler

Berkshire-Backed Paytm Heading for India’s Largest IPO

(BRK.A), (BRK.B)

Berkshire Hathaway-backed mobile payment company Paytm will file a draft prospectus for its long-anticipated IPO on July 12, the date the company has set an extraordinary general meeting in Delhi, India.

Paytm is India’s largest mobile payments and commerce platform.

The IPO is projected to be at a valuation of between $24 billion to $25 billion with the company raising around $2.3 billion, the largest in India to date.

Founded in 2009, Paytm is an Indian e-commerce payment system and financial technology company, based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

In 2018, Berkshire Hathaway made a $356 million investment for a 3-4% stake in One97 Communications Ltd, the parent of Paytm.

In addition to Berkshire Hathaway, China’s Alibaba and Japan’s SoftBank are also stakeholders.

The investment was made by Berkshire portfolio manager Todd Combs, who said at the time, “I have been impressed by Paytm and am excited about being a part of its growth story, as it looks to transform payments and financial services in India.”

“Berkshire’s experience in financial services, and long-term investment horizon is going to be a huge advantage in Paytm’s journey of bringing 500 million Indians to the mainstream economy through financial inclusion,” Paytm’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said in 2018.

© 2021 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.