Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of BRK.ABest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of BRK.ABest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In March 2025, in the thread "Re: OT, out", Umm asked the members: "Do you think it is because America is made up of magical soil that makes businesses based in America magically profitable?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (25) |
Author: mungofitch ✹✺🐝 SILVER
SHREWD
  😊 😞

Number: of 22353 
Subject: Re: Living from Berkshire shares
Date: 06/16/26 11:03 AM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 4
The LLM indicated an approximate value, and I thought that precision wasn't that important in the strategy?

In this case it was close, but only by coincidence. It could equally have been off by a mile, as long as the answer sounded statistically plausible. If it doesn't know what book value per share is/was or what that means, which of course it doesn't, it's not something you'd trust to do any research or calculation that matters.

For fun, I gave the response you received to a different LLM and asked if it was accurate. It responded that no, it was close, but not accurate, and then gave four different book values per B share, all wrong by a bit. (Perhaps by using average shares outstanding during the period rather than shares outstanding at the date of the statements? --admittedly that would be a fairly subtle error that even a somewhat attentive human analyst might make)

Jim
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to mungofitch here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 21,861 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
BRK: Why Not XOM? · 62 recs · 2024
Second quarter comments · 60 recs · 2023
Berkshire's Profit Contributors · 58 recs · 2023
Summary of 2Q 2026 · 55 recs · 2026
3Q Summary · 53 recs · 2024
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (25) |


Announcements
Berkshire Hathaway FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of BRK.A | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community