Buffett CNBC interview

When the Master speaks, we all listen. Here is what he said on CNBC “squawk on the street” Aug 22. Note I don’t pay attention to CNBC and “Squawk on the Street”, unless it’s someone like Buffett or Gross (Pimco) speaking. Here are the transcripts at CNBC. I read it from trader1688 first. Some interesting quotes:

What Chinese company got Buffett interested?
6:22 AM: Buffett reveals that Berkshire made a half-billion dollar bid on a Chinese stock that wasn’t accepted. He wouldn’t say what stock or what industry. He did say that under the right circumstances he could have a lot of money in China, but noted that there are government restrictions on foreign ownership that must be overcome.

Buffett left some money on the table
7:05 AM: Buffett confirms that he sold 60 percent of his Anheuser-Busch [BUD 67.79 0.03 (+0.04%) ] shares at prices around $61-$62 before the company agreed to a friendly merger with InBev at a sweetened price of $70. Buffett says at the time he wasn’t sure the deal would go through given Anheuser’s strong resistance to InBev’s original bid. “In retrospect, I was wrong,” but he says that often happens.

Fannie and Freddie crisis, InBev snaps AB

Fannnie and Freddie crisis
I read Burham’s beat Fannie Mae’s Golden Goose article last Friday, after seeing the dramatic stock actions of FNM and FRE on that day. Following that, I also reviewed Barrons March 11 article, IS this Fannie Mae Toast?

Yeah, it looks like it. The bad thing is, those executives at Fannie and Freddie have made their money, we (tax payers) are bailing them out. So is the US still a free market capitalism country? Seems more like cronyism capitalism to me 🙂

An emotional day in St. Louis
As you may heard from the news, Anheuser Busch accepted the latest cash offer from InBev, and the AB global headquarter in STL will be the North American HQ of combined company Anheuser Busch InBev. Because it’s a cash offer, the current shareholders (Busch family, and Warren Buffett) will NOT have a stake in the new company. Interestingly, this morning I heard from radio Mayor Slay turned 180 degree about the merger, saying “I will work with AB/InBev starting tomorrow, next day, next week, next month…to ensure the success of AB/InBev in the region”.

Hm, what did he say a while earlier (before AB shareholders and board accepted the sweetened offer from $65 to $70 a share). Something like “this merger will destroy the shareholder value, lay off workers in AB, reduce the commitment to community”. All kind of bad things. What a difference $5 can make. Now everybody is happy.

I am back to St. Louis

Bread and gas
Panera officially raised the price of Asiago cheese bagel, from 97 cents to $1.25, which is expected as I read it from news couple weeks ago. The regular unleaded gas is $3.999 in STL. Cheaper than Salt Lake city, but more expensive than Jackson, WY.

Some random thoughts about the trip
Chevlet Impala is good. Dodge Avenager is a piece of xxx.

Mount Washburn and Teton pass (WY-Idaho route 22) are difficult to drive. Perhaps also because I am getting older?

The news I missed
Tim Russert: the number and profile of people attended a journalist’s funeral and memorial service speaks the volume of his legacy. Quote Tim “go to other people’s funeral, otherwise they won’t come to yours”. I will write more about Tim later.

Anheuser-Busch Inbev merger (STLToday): now Buffett is into play because he has 5% stake in A-B. I believe he was incidentally pulled in, because he bought the A-B stock couple years ago mostly out of valution, not speculation on M&A.

InBev come to get Anheuser-Busch?

These days the talk of Belgium/Brazil beer maker potential takeover of Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD) is getting St. Louisians attention. Note Anheuser-Busch is not just a large beer maker based in STL, it’s also has roots in the city and the community.

(Bottles of Stella Artois beer pass along a production line at an InBev brewery in Leuven, Belgium. Stella Artois is one of InBev’s best known brands. Paul O’Driscoll/Bloomberg News)