Education Buffett on the Great depression and never bet against America

Interesting lesson from Buffett about the Great depression and it's effects on people for decades. I can imagine he studies his history well and hence always likes to keep plenty of cash around for the sake of Berkshire and millions of its shareholders even though he keeps facing growing criticism for doing so.

Seriously hope we never see something like this ever again.



Cheers
Oracle

 

It was my first time watching an AGM for BK. The folksy reputation for Warren was bolstered by stories that started with "When the crash of '29 happened, my dad was 26 years old and worked for a bank selling stocks and bonds. He lost his job.". Nine months later, Warren was born. The interesting part was the forward perspective in 1930 when he was born, they still thought it might just be a recession. Nope...things got worse. He wasn't being negative, he's very clear he doesn't know what will happen, but describes some events as "more" or "less" probable.

How he exited from his 10% share in the airlines was him realising that a "less" probable event actually happened, and it was better to own the mistake and get out of the holding entirely. He can see the writing on the wall.

 

Interesting item. Buffett has not done major deals during the recent falls. Something like the Goldman deal done in 2008 did not happen because the Fed supported public debt markets.

 

The sale of stakes in Delta Air Lines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. continues Buffett’s tumultuous history with the industry.

He swore off the sector years ago after a troubled bet on USAir, then in 2016 he dove back in. In March, he told Yahoo Finance that he wouldn’t be selling airline stocks.

“Well, he just rejoined Airlines Anonymous,” said Bill Smead, chairman and chief investment officer of Smead Capital Management, which owns Berkshire shares.

link

Buffett's quote

doesn't mean he won't bail if a stock goes south; he'll sell if he's not convinced of their long term value

Interesting to see the focus on 1929-1951 in which it took the market 22 years to get back to its highs and his concern of a second wave for CV-19 (later in the year?)

Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US