A Ketchup Buffet.

[albertGQ]

H.J. Heinz Co acquired by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway

H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) confirmed a deal to be acquired by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) and 3G Capital for $72.50 per share in cash or $28 billion.

The per share price represents a 20% premium to Heinz’s closing share price of $60.48 on February 13, 2013, a 19% premium to Heinz’s all-time high share price, a 23% premium to the 90-day average Heinz share price and a 30% premium to the one-year average share price.

http://www.streetinsider.com/Hot+Lis...B/8095326.html

[Slava]

As a Berkshire shareholder I'm pretty happy with this. It looks like a good buy and looks like it will add a fair amount to the bottom line. It looks like some of this might have been leaked though, and I'm interested to see about that side of things...

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Slava

As a Berkshire shareholder I'm pretty happy with this. It looks like a good buy and looks like it will add a fair amount to the bottom line. It looks like some of this might have been leaked though, and I'm interested to see about that side of things...

A Class or B?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

A Class or B?

Only B's. I've held them for years, well before the 50-1 split a few years back. Amassing a whack of A's would be awesome. At one AGM I was talking to an old fella from Alabama and he was trying to buy 100 A's. He owned shares in a bunch of companies, and always at least 100, except for BRK.A.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Slava

Only B's. I've held them for years, well before the 50-1 split a few years back. Amassing a whack of A's would be awesome. At one AGM I was talking to an old fella from Alabama and he was trying to buy 100 A's. He owned shares in a bunch of companies, and always at least 100, except for BRK.A.

I'd be content to own 10-15.

[calgarywinning]

The sad thing is Goldman Sachs was caught recommending that clients sell their shares of H.J. Heinz while buying them immediately off their clients with imminent knowledge of berkshires move. I recommend people read about what Mark Cuban has to say about investing.

http://blogmaverick.com/

[Slava]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

The sad thing is Goldman Sachs was caught recommending that clients sell their shares of H.J. Heinz while buying them immediately off their clients with imminent knowledge of berkshires move. I recommend people read about what Mark Cuban has to say about investing.

http://blogmaverick.com/

Cuban makes a couple of interesting points there, but he is also just plain wrong about others. His points about the now short-term nature of the market and the fact that some basically check their holdings daily for example is all well and good. It has nothing to do with how he (or an individual) invests and sometimes investing where a bunch of short term investors have made their mark is good for the long term investor. It gives you price fluctuations which provide good entry points.

[calgarywinning]

I suppose I was referencing his article where the stock market is no longer for the individual investor, given Goldman Sachs insipid nature that is a game change to investing fundamentals based on the Heinz deal.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

I suppose I was referencing his article where the stock market is no longer for the individual investor, given Goldman Sachs insipid nature that is a game change to investing fundamentals based on the Heinz deal.

Well I scrolled down the page and read the one about the stock market, and I assume that was the one you were talking about?

[calgarywinning]

Hey Slava,

Here is the direct link, sorry about that
http://blogmaverick.com/2012/09/21/w...l-street-in-3/

Also, i notice over at CNBC that there was a myriad of suspicious activity surrounding the acquisition. http://blogmaverick.com/2012/09/21/w...l-street-in-3/

[Slava]

He again makes some good points here and specifically about HFT and steps we should take to eliminate it. I think his points about the issues on Wall Street in general though are somewhat not thought through. He is against buybacks but doesn't say why. He says that things aren't really what they seem in the markets, but never really notes why that matters...and does it?

Clearly with this sale there was some insider action. The numbers are so obvious. I think that's deplorable, but I also don't know how it can be completely stopped. Basically the SEC has taken a hard line in the recent past though and that's probably the best thing that can happen.