It looks like this has become the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) blog, where it’s all Berkshire Hathaway all the time.
Zuma PressAlready today, I looked at KBW’s concerns surrounding Berkshire Hathaway’s disclosures. Now, Warren Buffett’s investment vehicle has released first quarter financial results.
The Wall Street Journal has the details on Berkshire Hathaway’s earnings:
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported lower railroad and insurance-related net income as the conglomerate posted a 6.6% drop in first-quarter operating profit.
For the first quarter, Berkshire reported net income of $4.71 billion, or $2,862 a Class A share, compared with $4.89 billion, or $2,977 a share, a year earlier. Operating profit, which excludes some investment results, fell to $2,149 a share from $2,302 a share.
Top 10 Beverage Companies For 2015: Metals USA Holdings Corp. (MUSA)
Metals USA Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, provides carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum and specialty metals, and manufactured metal components in the United States and Canada. It operates in three segments: Plates and Shapes, Flat Rolled and Non-Ferrous, and Building Products. The Plates and Shapes segment processes and sells steel plates and structural beams, bars, angles, and tubes. This segment provides processing services, such as cutting, cambering/leveling, punching, bending, shearing, cut-to-length, blast and paint, and tee-splitting. It serves customers in the the electrical and appliance manufacturing, fabrication, furniture, commercial construction, machinery and equipment, land and marine transportation, energy, and aerospace industries. The Flat Rolled and Non-Ferrous segment processes and sells flat rolled carbon and stainless steel, aluminum, brass, and copper in various alloy grades. This segment offers processing services, such as slitting, p recision blanking, leveling, cut-to-length, punching, and shearing. It serves customers in the electrical and appliance manufacturing, fabrication, furniture, machinery and equipment, transportation, and aerospace industries. The Building Products segment produces and distributes aluminum and steel building products consisting of covered canopies and walkways, awnings, sunrooms, solariums, and other products primarily for the commercial and residential building products industries. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Tristan Liu]
Murphy USA (MUSA) first caught my attention after Southeastern Asset Management acquired a massive stake ($668mm) in its former parent company Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) in Q1 2013. One thing about Murphy Oil Corporation I noticed after an initial glance through their 10-K and annual report was its ownership of a valuable fuel and convenience retailer segment with high ROIC, valuable real estate, low CAPEX requirements, and relatively decent growth prospects that was under-followed and whose underlying value was concealed by the parent company's core production and exploration business.
Top Railroad Companies To Invest In 2014: Credit Acceptance Corporation(CACC)
Credit Acceptance Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides auto loans, and related products and services to consumers in the United States. Its loan programs include portfolio program, which advances money to dealer-partners in exchange for the right to service the underlying consumer loans; and purchase program that buys the consumer loans from the dealer-partners and keeps amounts collected from the consumers. The company markets its products through a network of approximately 55,000 independent and franchised automobile dealers. Credit Acceptance Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Richard Moroney]
Credit Acceptance (CACC) provides financing for auto purchases through a national network of nearly 4,500 car dealers. Its programs help dealers sell cars by attracting credit-challenged consumers unable to get conventional loans.
- [By Eric Volkman]
Credit Acceptance (NASDAQ: CACC ) will see big blocks of its shares change hands over the next few days. The company has specified the pricing of a previously announced underwritten public secondary stock common offering of $105.00 per share. Trusts associated with the firm's founder Donald Foss, in combination with Karol Foss and people and entities connected with Prescott General Partners, aim to sell a combined 1.5 million of their shares. Additionally, the underwriters will have a 30-day option to buy up to an extra 225,000 shares.
Top Railroad Companies To Invest In 2014: Sunshine Heart Inc (SSH)
Sunshine Heart, Inc., incorporated on August 22, 2002, is an early-stage medical device company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing its C-Pulse Heart Assist System for treatment of Class III and ambulatory Class IV heart failure. The C-Pulse Heart Assist System utilizes the scientific principles of intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation applied in an extra-aortic approach to assist the left ventricle by reducing the workload required to pump blood throughout the body, while increasing blood flow to the coronary arteries. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was in the process of obtaining regulatory approvals necessary to sell its product.
The Company has developed tools to allow the C-Pulse to be implanted through a small pacemaker-like incision between the patient�� ribs and sternum rather than a sternotomy. Patients implanted through its minimally invasive procedure require a hospital stay of four to seven days in connection with implantation of the C-Pulse System, after which they return home. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company completed enrollment and implantation of 20 patients in the North American feasibility phase of its trial. In April 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an expansion protocol to allow the Company to implant up to 20 additional patients and add two additional centers to its feasibility study.
The Company competes with Thoratec Corporation, HeartWare International Inc., CircuLite, Inc., CardioKinetix, Inc., AbioMed, Inc., Jarvik Heart, Inc., MicroMed Technology, Inc., SynCardia Systems, Inc., Terumo Heart, Inc., WorldHeart Corporation in the United States and Europe, and Berlin Heart GmbH in Europe.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Small cap heart stocks Sunshine Heart Inc (NASDAQ: SSH), Abiomed, Inc (NASDAQ: ABMD) and AtriCure Inc (NASDAQ: ATRC) each find different ways go to the heart of the problem for cardiac�patients and have all been good performers for investors this year. After all and according to statistics collected by the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women as about 600,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year���accounting�for 1 in every 4 deaths. Moreover, roughly 715,000 Americans have a heart attack every year and�ff these, 525,000 are a first heart attack and 190,000 happen to people who have already had one. In other words, there is a big market for the following small cap heart stocks to address:
Top Railroad Companies To Invest In 2014: Compucon Computer Applications SA (COMP)
Compucon Computer Applications SA is a Greek company engaged mainly in the information technology sector. The Company's activities include the manufacture and trade of electronics and software for the embroidery, telematics, laser, Web solutions and medical fields. In the embroidery field it offers album presentation or embroidery designs, lettering with a variety of fonts, frames and specialized features, and realistic three-dimensional views of embroidery designs. The Company also produces laser cutting and engraving devices for the embroidery sector. The range of telematics applications includes automotive positioning systems, fleet management and navigation systems. Its Web solutions offering includes the SiteCosmos, which is an integrated tool for on-line content management and Website design for small and medium enterprises, while the medical applications target the management of patient-oriented information, diet schedules, word processing, prescriptions and other services. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Gallagher]
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) � rose 0.9% to 3,807 while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) � rose by 0.8% and the Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index (MSH) �rose by 0.9%.
- [By Wallace Witkowski]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) �ended the past week down 1.9%, capping a monthly decline of more than 5%, its worst January since 2009, when it fell 8.8%. Likewise, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) �finished the month down 3.6%, its worst January since 2010, when it fell 3.7%. Finally, the Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) �finished down 1.7% for the month for its worst January since 2010, when it dropped 5.4%.
- [By Anora Mahmudova]
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) �was flat at 4,123.83.
- [By Wallace Witkowski and Victor Reklaitis]
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) fell 10.62 points, or 0.3%, to 3,807.36, after touching an intraday low of 3,788.45.
Top Railroad Companies To Invest In 2014: Bunge Limited(BG)
Bunge Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the agriculture and food businesses worldwide. Its Agribusiness segment is involved in purchasing, storing, transporting, processing, and selling agricultural commodities and commodity products, such as oilseeds and grains, primarily comprising soybeans, rapeseed or canola, sunflower seed, wheat, and corn. This segment serves animal feed manufacturers, wheat and corn millers, third party edible oil processing companies, and other oilseed processors, as well as livestock, poultry, and aquaculture producers. The company?s Sugar and Bioenergy segment produces and sells sugar and ethanol; generates electricity from burning sugarcane bagasse; and trades and merchandises sugar. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had a total installed capacity of approximately 144 megawatts; and sugarcane plantations of approximately 183,000 hectares under cultivation. Its Edible Oil Products segment offers packaged vegetable, including pack aged and bulk oils, shortenings, margarines, mayonnaise, and other products to baked goods companies, snack food producers, restaurant chains, foodservice distributors, and other food manufacturers. The company?s Milling Products segment produces and sells various wheat flours and bakery mixes; corn-based products; corn milling products primarily comprising dry milled corn meals, flours, and grits, as well as soy-fortified corn meal and corn-soy blend; and packaged milled rice. This segment serves industrial, bakery, and foodservice companies; and companies in food processing sector. Its Fertilizer segment produces, blends, and distributes nitrogen, phosphate, and potash formulations used for the cultivation of soybeans, corn, sugarcane, cotton, wheat, and coffee. This segment also produces single super phosphate; and ammonia, urea, and liquid fertilizers for the agriculture industry. Bunge Limited was founded in 1818 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Korn and Teller downgraded Mosaic to Equal Weight from Overweight, but expect CF Industries (CF), Agrium and Bunge (BG) to do well in 2014, despite no obvious catalysts.
- [By David Sterman]
He subsequently closed that position with a nice profit, and he should now check out rival Bunge (NYSE: BG), which in my view, holds better value. (I'll have more to say about Bunge in a separate column in coming weeks).
- [By Rich Duprey]
Rivals such as Bunge (NYSE: BG ) already have a larger presence already in the region, with Bunge generating 18% of its $62.9 billion in revenues from Asia. It derives less than a third from the U.S., thus spreading out its geographic risk better.
Top Railroad Companies To Invest In 2014: diaDexus, Inc. (DDXS)
diaDexus, Inc. (diaDexus), incorporated on November 27, 1995, is a medical diagnostics company. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of in vitro diagnostic products addressing unmet needs in cardiovascular disease. diaDexus�� product, the PLAC Test, helps identify individuals suffering a heart attack or stroke, the #1 and #3 causes of death, respectively in the United States. The PLAC Test measures Lp-PLA2, which is a vascular-specific inflammatory marker implicated in the formation of rupture-prone plaque.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has developed an Lp-PLA2 inhibitor (darapladib) and is testing the drug in two large, global, Phase III clinical trials involving over 27,000 patients to determine if inhibition of the enzyme reduces cardiovascular events. The PLAC Test is a blood test, available nationally through clinical reference, hospital, and advanced cardiovascular diagnostic laboratories.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Pulse Network Inc (OTCBB: TPNI), Sterling Consolidated Corp (OTCBB: STCC) and diaDexus, Inc (OTCMKTS: DDXS) have or could start to sizzle for investors. However, I should also mention that two of these stocks have been the subject of paid promotions while a third apparently has not been, and could be the real deal. With that in mind, here is a closer look along with a quick reality check about all three small caps to help you decide whether they are hot or not:
Top Railroad Companies To Invest In 2014: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)
SPDR Trust, Series 1 (the Trust) is a unit investment trust. The Trust is an exchange-traded fund created to provide investors with the opportunity to purchase a security representing a proportionate undivided interest in a portfolio of securities consisting of substantially all of the common stocks, in substantially the same weighting, which comprise the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Price Index (the S&P Index). Each unit of fractional undivided interest in the Trust is referred to as a Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipt (SPDR).
The Trust utilizes a full replication approach. With this approach, all 500 securities of the Index are owned by the Trust in their approximate market capitalization weight.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tom Aspray]
As of early Friday, the Spyder Trust (SPY) is up 2.6% while the Vanguard European Stock Index (VGK) is trailing a bit, up 1.9%. The emerging markets, as represented by the Vanguard Emerging Markets Index (VWO) were unchanged for the year in late January, but by early February, were down 7.6% for the year. VWO has improved from its worst levels as it is currently down just 2% for 2014.
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