Subject: Re: Downgrade from buy to hold
"So why did WEB buyback at $335/share last?"

I thought about that too. Maybe his threshold for buyback price is lower now due to the higher inflation, which erodes the value of cash?


If inflation is 3%, Jim's analysis suggests that the central expectation for the return in a year is around 9%. After that, the return should approximate the growth in book value (which may not be too far off from 9% to 10%).

That's the kind of return that Berkshire gets from the utilities business which, obviously, is acceptable to Mr. Buffett. And an investment in Berkshire may be as safe as that in the utilities (if not more).