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“The Berkshire Meeting is a celebration of traditional Midwestern values. At its core, it is another step in the never-ending search for wisdom. My idea of fun is a little different from others. I like sitting near the front of the Meeting…In 2017, this meant waiting in line at 2.15am” (Mark Hughes’ chapter) [Glen: I lost count of the number of people who last week told me they were going to get up in the middle of the night to queue – they wanted a seat as close as possible to Buffett and Munger. I knew that with 40,000 people attending I would not get into the main auditorium if I wanted to lazily meander to the Meeting. However, the overspill rooms are fine. They one I was in was the size of five football pitches (with no columns – how do they do that!), had giant screens and a great sound system. So I could sit there and take notes quite contentedly (I’ll write out my notes next week for you). I knew that after two hours of Buffett and Munger answering questions thousands of people seem to get bored and wander off elsewhere – that is the time to move into the main auditorium]. [Glen: there are cultish elements to the weekend: some people seem to be as interested in the celebrity status as the ideas, and wallow in the hype and hoopla – I suppose they get ideas as well (if they stay sitting, that is)].
“Mr Buffett observed that investors receive one big break from government: tax deferral on unrealised gains.” (Thomas A. Russo’s chapter) [Glen: Don’t churn a portfolio or you’ll pay lots of capital gains tax – hold for the long term].
“Mr Buffett’s belief that one of Berkshire’s core strengths arise from its ‘ability to do nothing and willingness to do anything’ when assessing investments. (Thomas A. Russo’s chapter) [Glen: Buffett currently has over $100bn in cash waiting to be invested – he’s not doing much while prices for businesses are so high. When he’s ready he’ll consider a wide range of actions from buying whole companies, to preference shares in desperate companies, to 10% shareholdings in world leading corporations.]
“Mr Buffett is willing to back any investment that increases per share intrinsic value over
