Subject: Re: $STEW at 23% discount
<<Last year stew sold over 1/3 of its brkb holdings in the low 400s and half its wmt holdings.<<

True. But STEW is over 32% BRKA, I believe more than 80% of its Berkshire holdings, so the sales you reference of the Bs are not that substantial. As you know, the bulk of the BRK shares were purchased by Stu many years before the Bs even existed. Its exposure to Berkshire portfolio-wise is actually almost exactly the same as a year ago. Berkshire’s outrun the other holdings and the sales proceeds close-to-match that outperformance,

It’s a $2 Billion or so portfolio, and unlike most CEFs employs only light leverage and its borrowing mostly at a fixed rate I believe just over 2%.

The unusual NAV discount combined with this month’s announced 22.2% annual payout increase—will perhaps put this on investment radars. It’s interesting but the discount has been shaved almost 2 full points in a couple days with Berkshire getting crushed—I think there’s a protection on the Berkshire downside case to be made here.

I strongly suspect STEW will sell modest chunks annually of Berkshire going forward and I’d expect each year sales to be at not unfavorable prices. The sales in the $400s were favorable relative to the year’s lower price range. They’re not market timers.