Cronyism from the left going to Hollywood
invite response
2014 Oct 16, 2:03pm 13,439 views 67 comments
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Interesting BRK has gotten out of these this year. Buffet must see a shitload of municipal bankruptcies coming down the pike.
He got out of those because he realized that these are weapons of financial destruction. You would have seen more municipal bankruptcies, of course looking at a past-tarp/QE lense it doesn't look that bad. But they will show up again if spending isn't curbed and there is no indication of it. I also wonder why you did not address the last article from the street and keep riding that exposure thing. Last time they DID have direct CDS exposure, the numbers vary a little as CDS are hard to track:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11858752/1/buffett-barely-survived-berkshires-omaha-whale.html
"In 2008, Berkshire also wrote $4 billion in individual swaps guaranteeing the bonds of 42 corporations, trades the firm indicated didn't require initial collateral. Berkshire wrote a further credit protection of $18 billion in notional value tied to the bonds of states and municipalities, the 2009 filing shows, putting the firm's CDS exposure at about $30 billion, at its crisis-time peak."
Sure you can keep saying they are all wrong (Gara used to work at Lehman), we don't know for sure. The reality is much simpler, that there are no oracle traders.
I also wonder why you did not address the last article from the street and keep riding that exposure thing. Last time they DID have direct CDS exposure, the numbers vary a little as CDS are hard to track:
Most of my post was about the street article. Didn't you notice the quote I posted and you reposted was from the street article? I would think you would know what it is you posted.
You're the one that keeps harping on exposure. I don't believe there was any significant exposure. You keep insisting there is. Nothing you have posted addresses that, they just keep regurgitating the raw numbers, not looking at what the numbers mean. I find it very hard to believe that you or the writers you quote could seriously believe that cds on municipal bonds written after the financial crises represented a company destroying threat to BRK. Makes splashy headlines for bloggers looking to make a name, but that's about it.
Gara used to work at Lehman
That means something? Lehman is history, BRK is raking in money. That is the reality.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Cay Johnston mocked claims that higher taxes destroy jobs: “Some research into tax rates indicates that high tax rates have the opposite effect: People may work harder, trying to make more money to achieve a desired after-tax income and may slough off if tax rates are lowered.†In other words, high tax rates aren’t detrimental to the California economy—they may even be the cause of its recent growth.
http://www.city-journal.org/2014/cjc1016sg.html