Thread by @anandchokkavelu

My 8 key takeaways from Buffett's annual $BRK shareholder letter...

Including the best line and the best number...

1) “A Berkshire Number that May Surprise You”:

Berkshire owns the most American-based property, plant, and equipment of any US company: $154B

#2 is $T with $127B

2) Buffett’s “my bad”

The $11 billion write-down of his 2016 purchase of Precision Castparts.

As usual, he praised management even as he badmouths himself about overpaying: "No one misled me in any way – I was simply too optimistic about PCC’s normalized profit potential."

3) Best line:

In talking about the trick of companies using their own overvalued shares to buy other overvalued companies: “I’ll pay you $10,000 for your dog by giving you two of my $5,000 cats.”

4) Bond commentary:

"And bonds are not the place to be these days. Can you believe that the income recently available from a 10-year U.S. Treasury bond – the yield was 0.93% at yearend – had fallen 94% from the 15.8% yield available in September 1981?"

5) Berkshire’s “Big Four” (in order of size):
1)Property/casualty insurance operation
2a)BNSF railroad
2b)5.4% stake in $AAPL
4)91% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy

6) Berkshire's 2020 buybacks:

$24.7 billion (equivalent of 80,998 "A" shares)

"That action increased your ownership in all of Berkshire’s businesses by 5.2% without requiring you to so much as touch your wallet."

7) Long-term thinking example:

BHE's $18B project to "expand a substantial portion of the outdated grid that now transmits electricity throughout the West. BHE began this project in 2006 and expects it to be completed by 2030 – yes, 2030."

8) Annual meeting notes:

- Virtually from Los Angeles this year...I assume to make it easier for...
- The return of Charlie Munger (!!!), who missed it last year
- Joining them will be Ajit Jain and Greg Abel
- May 1st, Q&A from 1:30pm to 5pm EDT: finance.yahoo.com/brklivestream