Subject: Re: Buffett sold more Apple
The quarterly report says:
"In the preceding table, investment gains and losses on equity securities sold during the period represent the difference between the sales proceeds and the fair value of the equity securities sold at the beginning of the applicable period or, if later, the acquisition date."

Ah, yes, thanks for pointing that out.
The meaning is rather non-obvious (to me), so the explanation does require the careful reading you gave it!

I guess the thinking is that it is background information on the earnings in the quarter only, since all of the other mark-to-market changes had been included in earnings in prior quarters since the purchase. When I saw that it was "realized gains only", I jumped to the incorrect conclusion that it was ALL of the realized gains on those positions, but it's more like "realized gains this quarter beyond the sum of all unrealized gains/losses booked on that position in periods up to prior quarter".

Jim