Longtimebrk is likely referring to the 2008 credit crisis, when WEB dumped his personal treasuries and bought common stocks with that money.
I think it was around 2004, not during the credit crunch.
https://discussion.fool.com/interesting-snippet-quotfor-instance…
I always thought the purchases were for Berkshire, not his personal portfolio, but maybe someone has an unambiguous quote on it.
Jim
I think it was around 2004, not during the credit crunch.
Yes.
I found this interview - look at around 1:07, where he says (from memory) that he bought Korean stocks, “In 2002 or 2003, when I looked, I should have looked earlier, but when I looked, …I bought stock in Chinyang Securities, in Kia, in II steel, …” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niLSilnOtd8
And here’s anothr quote that says it was in 2004, and that this information is in Schroeder’s book about Buffett:
In her book, Alice Schroeder masterfully described Buffett’s screening process when his broker handed him a thick book “the size of several telephone directories stapled together” of Korean stocks in 2004.
“Night after night, he leafed through the tome, studying column after column of numbers, page by page. But the numbers and their nomenclature puzzled him. He realized that he needed to learn a whole new language of business that described a different culture of commerce. So he got another book and figured out everything important there was to know about korean accounting. That would reduce the odds of getting hornswoggled by the numbers.”
Maybe someone who has the book in ebook format could find this.
Hornswoggled?
dtb
IIRC up until that time, Warren held BRK shares and treasuries.
Again, maybe my memory is wrong, but I believe that he dumped his treasuries and bought companies in his private account. These were companies that were too small to move the needle at BRK, but good to replace his smaller treasuries position.
If my memory is wrong, please chime in.
Obviously treasuries have lost their appeal for being a place to house “pocket money”.
