Late last night, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) indicated that it bought more shares in Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) last week. Last Friday, Berkshire bought an additional 2.3 million shares for roughly $174 million, boosting its stake in the railroad to more than 76 million shares, or a 22.4% stake. Burlington seems to be one of Berkshire's more active investments, as the conglomerate has continued to slowly add to its holdings of Burlington throughout the latter part of 2008 and the early part of 2009. Chairman Warren Buffett has indicated in the past that the competitive positioning of the railroads has improved vis-a-vis truckers over the past several years, which could be one of the reasons he has been building a position in Burlington over the past couple years.
Many of you have asked me if it is better to follow Berkshire's stock picks or to just analyze Berkshire. It's a good question, too. While Buffett is a great investor, he's not perfect, so there is more risk to those that try to only cherry pick the stocks he buys. Furthermore, it's always critical to do one's own work on these potential investments. By analyzing the full conglomerate, on the other hand, one can get a better understanding of the full portfolio of Berkshire's public--and private--businesses, and also benefit from Buffett's stock picks on an aggregate, or portfolio, basis.
I welcome dialogue with my readers, so please send me any questions and comments you have. Also, if you haven’t already done so, please be sure to sign-up for my free email alerts.Justin
The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of Mr. Fuller. This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice. It should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Nor are these comments meant to be a solicitation of business. This content is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.
