Subject: Re: Some Thoughts - Maybe Too Many
What would you suggest instead? We are talking about over $100B.

(I've already suggested buying all of Chubb, ~$50B, and the rest of Occidental, ~$50B.)

I believe BRK had close to that amount at the beginning of the year excluding short term investments required for outlier insurance reserve scenarios. I have heard a $30-40B number for reserves, and I've read Bloomstran talk about BRK really needing twice that figure. BRK had $164B cash + treasuries EOY 2023.

And given the chance to invest approximately $80B they put $7B into CB, and have increased cash + ST investments by 65% since then (by 125%, if you treat $80B as reserves). I had BNI shares when BRK acquired BNSF, so I know they can move deliberately, but in the context of the funds available it feels conservative. I don't trust my understanding of how BRK approaches large acquisitions enought to judge this well, honestly.

They have a great balance sheet, so they could take on debt to fund acquisitions, also, like they did with BNSF, without being forced to reduce equity exposure and pay capital gains. *If* they were bullish on equities.

I do think OXY and CB are both interesting and smart ideas. I have a little trouble reconciling acquiring OXY right now with trimming the CVX position, but they are very different E&P companies.

I can't suggest anything else, because I also don't know what to buy right now. Everything feels substantially overvalued and overleveraged. Yields are dropping, I am not constructive on crypto, gold is problematic and has rallied, and various systemic risk levels are high. I already don't feel good about the market, so I notice it when a company I've admired for years builds a large cash pile in a hurry, and at some expense.