Daily Journal Annual Meeting Questions

[longinvestor]

Fwiw, @ the Omaha meeting, I've noticed some questions Munger doesn't like,

1. Tell me the formula you used so that I can (easily) get rich.
2.  Which competitor / rival would you take out.
3.  Macroeconomic questions in any flavor.

Others?

Asking a question to Munger in public always comes with the possibility of getting dismissed as a stupid question. It may be a good idea to review publicly available videos (Berkshire / DJCO meetings for the past two years, other public interviews etc.) before asking any question. Chances are they have all been asked, in one way or the other. 

Good luck!


 

[nickenumbers]

Great topic about Charlie-

Speak loud, slowly and clearly.

Don't ask him get rich quick stuff.  Zero of these.

Don't ask him for the 3 easy steps of this or that.

Don't ask him for the 3 most important mental models..

He will tell you there is no easy way, and there is no shortcut and they all work together.

I want to hear him talk about BRK's cash pile, and the plan to buy or send out a special dividend.
I would also like to hear him talk about which of his favorite ideas he has trashed in favor of a new and better one.

[redhots]

Ask about BYD!   (They bought more in 2017)

How will all of the EV competition effect BYD?   Is their vertical integration a competitive advantage?   Can they be the low cost producer?

[longinvestor]

I would really like to hear from him why Graham doesn't work. The whole Quality versus Cigar butt thing in more detail.

[wescobrk]

Ask about BYD!   (They bought more in 2017)

How will all of the EV competition effect BYD?   Is their vertical integration a competitive advantage?   Can they be the low cost producer?

Interesting, how much more did they buy in 2017?

[redhots]

You can assume its BYD by comparing the fair values in the 2015 and 2016 10-K and see that they closely align with BYD share price.   

From the latest 10-K

The fair value of the foreign marketable security held in Hong Kong Dollar was $55,000,000 with an adjusted cost of $14,710,000 and $32,814,000 with an adjusted cost of $9,697,000 as of September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

So we know they spent $5,013,000 since the cost went up.    If you look at end price and it is in fact BYD then they bought 929,224 shares at $5.39 a share.   It looks like purchased those around Dec 2016/Jan 2017.   (just looking at closing prices).    So an increase of 19%.     BYD is 25% of their portfolio as of 9/30/2017.

[SlowAppreciation]

I've always wanted to know if, given carte blanche to redo GAAP accounting, what major changes would he seek out?