
Berkshire Hathaway sells US airline shares - rvz
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52518186
======
defertoreptar
He had nothing but positive things to say about the American economy. He spent
a large amount of time at the beginning putting things in prospective, to show
the amazing growth we've had since the nation's beginnings.

He was careful to always talk about "the next 20 to 30 years." That's
something he always does, saying he can't predict what happens over the next
year. However, between the lines, it seems like he was not optimistic about
the short run. I think you could see it on his face.

Maybe it was just not having Charlie Munger around to throw out quips between
questions.

------
Matheus28
This happened sometime in April. They sold enough to get under 10% ownership
(reporting requirements) around early April.

Most institutional investors most likely already assumed they were preparing
to unload the rest of their positions. But now everyone has the confirmation,
they spent the rest of the month after that unloading those shares.

More important than the headline, is that Buffett said they currently aren't
buying anything. They most likely expect another leg down.

------
blackrock
Now that he’s shown his hand, will everyone else that own airline stocks head
for the exits? And effectively cause a “bank run” on the equities.

This coming Monday might be an interesting day in history.

------
axaxs
Apparently Buffet isn't afraid of the printer, which is massively disrupting
what should be a bear market.

~~~
vkou
Regardless of whether or not we are printing money, it's better to invest into
companies that have a future, as opposed to ones that are going to be limping
along.

Airlines will need a lot of government money to stay afloat, and it may come
with strings attached, to the detriment of shareholders.

~~~
axaxs
But that's now impossible to know. Any bailed out company by definition had no
immediate future. Yet here we are.

~~~
ben_w
Understanding the investments, having at least a rough idea of their future
potential, is one of Buffett’s _things_.

That’s why it should be no surprise he’s pulled out of this sector.

~~~
axaxs
And I'm saying it's all fooey. A real 'oracle' in a free market would have
pulled out in January. The government is not going to let the airlines fail.
To be clear, I'm not insulting or saying I know better than Buffet, just that
the Fed throws a wrench in all logic.

~~~
boublepop
You Are trying to reason as if the action happened in a vacuum. He’s not
pulling out the money because he’s certain the entire airline industry is
going to disappear. He’s pulling out because the uncertainty for the industry
is much higher than his investments in other industries. The fact that the Fed
is throwing wrenches in normal logic supports that decision, it doesn’t negate
it.

------
akiselev
_He then said he had been wrong to invest in the airline industry._

Is this really news worthy? A $50bln loss for Berkshire Hathaway is a joke
after decades of relentless compounding growth.

If anything, this should be a boon for his insurance holdings because now
their liabilities are an "act of god."

~~~
neximo64
> Is this really news worthy? A $50bln loss for Berkshire Hathaway is a joke
> after decades of relentless compounding growth.

It's quite obvious you're just headline reading here & don't understand why
its newsworthy. With the loss, He goes into extensive detail about these
losses in his shareholders letters.

~~~
bwb
And, didn't accounting rules change recently for how you report that on your
P&L? He now has to report swings not just value created/lost when he
enters/exits a position.

I remember reading something about that in the last year.

------
rajnathani
This is pretty significant, as besides Berkshire's IBM gaffe [0], Berkshire is
famed to hold positions for long periods of time, even through very tough down
cycles. IMO based on their take here, it says quite a bit about the near
future of the air travel industry.

[0] [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/warren-buffett-says-
berkshir...](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/warren-buffett-says-berkshire-
hathaway-has-sold-completely-out-of-ibm.html)

------
LargoLasskhyfv
Hmmm. What about NetJets?

