#45 - More $DOGE, Elon Musk on SNL and BRK.B AGM

Episode Notes:

We talk about $DOGE coin, Elon Musk, and the key takeaways from the 2021 Berkshire Hathaway Annual General Meeting.

None of the top 20 companies 30 years ago are in the top 20 list today

- - Investing is difficult, Index Funds make a better case for beginner investors

Equities were still the best place to be

- - The strong case for index investing
- Even if you were right on the sector, its difficult to predict the winner company in that sector
  - Another strong point for sector ETF investing rather than picking individual companies

Airline stocks

- - Because they sold, the airline was able to go to govt for “bailout” money
  - Still bearish on airlines

Bitcoin/Crypto

Buybacks

- - Berkshire bought back $6.8 billion of its stock in Q1 and $24.7 billion in 2020

Apple:

- - Berkshire Hathaway has made a gain of over $100B (~300%) on its Apple investment.
  - These companies have very high ROIC, they are making money with very little cost
  - Selling some Apple last year was a mistake

On China

- China has done really well

They have taken the model that worked in Singapore and made it their own

Quote: They changed communism and incorporated Adam Smith theories into the model which created a free market with a bunch of millionaires and lifted 800 million people out of poverty fast

Inflation:

- “We’re seeing substantial inflation. We’re raising prices, people are raising prices to us. And it’s being accepted,” Buffett said. “We really do a lot of housing. The costs are just up, up, up. Steel costs. You know, just every day they’re going up.”
Robinhood:
- “It’s become a very significant part of the casino aspect, the casino group that has joined into the stock market in the last year, year and a half,” Buffett said of Robinhood. “There’s nothing, you know, there’s nothing illegal about it, there’s nothing immoral. But I don’t think you’d build a society around people doing it.”
- In a blog post, Robinhood panned “the old guard of investing” and argued that Buffet and Munger’s criticism was driven by a fear of innovation compromising their grip on the market.
- “If the last year has taught us anything, it is that people are tired of the Warren Buffetts and Charlie Mungers of the world acting like they are the only oracles of investing,” wrote Jacqueline Ortiz Ramsey, head of public policy communications for Robinhood.
- “We’re not going to sit back while they disparage everyday people for taking control of their financial lives,” she added.